Nikki Italy
Olympic Poster
"To the Greeks, he was a god of beauty, half wild, half tame."
Posts: 628
|
Post by Nikki Italy on Dec 17, 2005 18:52:25 GMT 1
Completely stumped... there's a lovely horse my young daughter rides at a stables near us. Royal Gee.. he jumps and is big, 18 hh, but this doesn't somehow worry my 13 yr old...HOWEVER, for doing the various local competitions here she has to ride another horse as the one she practises on loads, but then goes ballistic once travelling....clearly some trauma issue here. Is there ANYTHING we could work on with him to get him to a stage of being able to travel just a little bit. Monty is doing a demo in Rome next Feb. and we can't risk the journey.... Any suggestions are more than welcome.
|
|
pip
Grand Prix Poster
Posts: 3,797
|
Post by pip on Dec 17, 2005 19:20:53 GMT 1
Try Bach Rescue Remedy in the water bucket the night before. Try loading and unloading but going nowhere.
Has the horse enough room? Is the floor non-slippy? A 18hh horse is a big boy, some like to spread their legs out and a narrow particition means they cannot do that and lose their balance. He might need some bedding on the floor as well, such as straw from the stable that is slightly damp, not nice shiny new straw. Are you travelling in a trailer or a lorry?
|
|
Nikki Italy
Olympic Poster
"To the Greeks, he was a god of beauty, half wild, half tame."
Posts: 628
|
Post by Nikki Italy on Dec 18, 2005 6:57:10 GMT 1
Hi Pip...he'll go in and out like a lamb, it's once travelling he goes beserk (I am told) I don't think he's gone anywhere in 3 yrs because of this problem. I agree, 18 hh is big, and he's been in a 2-horse lorry and I personally think those 2-horse trailers OR lorrys have very little room for the average horse, let alone one that is tall!! What he apparently does is to try and rear, squealing, throwing himself around, which in turn upsets the balance of the lorry, tries to turn, and kicks the inside to pieces.... he's injured himself quite often as you can imagin. So, maybe he's one just to leave behind, a lot less hassel for all concerned, or maybe there is something I can do, just not sure what....I use Bach Flower Remedy on my own horses, but their problems seem so minor in comparison whenever I've had to use it, if you see what I mean. My idea for February, was to drive this horse and my Sabina down to Rome for a demo. Monty is giving, but at this point there is no point in even considering going as my horse would be in severe danger, let alone the other doing himself harm....
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2005 13:01:21 GMT 1
I'd say Pip's along the right lines here. You need to try and find out, if you can, what sort of vehicle he was travelled in before as that may be the cause of the problem. As Pip says, you need to make sure there is plenty of room for a boy that size.
I'd also think about travelling him facing backwards, if you can get that far. It can make a huge difference to a horse's balance.
But, to get that far... How to make the bridge between the loading, which is no problem, and the actual travelling, which is. As far as I can understand, we don't know at what point your horse starts to worry. It may be when the engine is switched on, it may be with the first movement, it may be something completely different. I therefore think you need to break this down into tiny little chunks. Load him, unload him. Load him, put up the ramp, unload him again. Next time, maybe don't put up the ramp but start the engine, then stop it. If he's ok with that, leave it running for a bit. If he's ok with that, close the ramp and start the engine. If that goes ok, then drive off for 20 metres or so, then unload him again.
This may sound tedious, but it should do 2 things. Firstly, it might help him understand that none of these little things are a problem. Secondly, if he does have a specific problem it might help you find out where that is. Hopefully, though, you should be able to build up gradually to a gentle trip round the block.
And (this goes without saying but, what the hell, I'll say it anyway), don't plan on taking him anywhere important until you really know he's happy.
By the way, I'm not sure he'd be a good demo candidate as his problem would not show in the confines of an area. Unless the audience all followed you down the road...!
|
|
Nikki Italy
Olympic Poster
"To the Greeks, he was a god of beauty, half wild, half tame."
Posts: 628
|
Post by Nikki Italy on Dec 19, 2005 5:17:19 GMT 1
Thanks LizP, you have been very helpful as well, and I agree, even IF I could get him down to Rome, he wouldn't, or rather the 'problem' wouldn't be apparent unless everyone set off up the Autostrada!!! I will definitely start on 'finding out' the problem and will start from there. Many thanks for your advice.
|
|
alia
Olympic Poster
Posts: 562
|
Post by alia on Dec 20, 2005 13:21:13 GMT 1
I used to have this problem with my Connemara pony,she used to throw herself around in the trailer and once broke down the partition and we had to walk home (26 miles) We removed the partition and went back to basics,just walking through the trailer to begin with and then feeding her in there then staying with her whilst she munched some hay and very gradually over about 6 months introduced short journeys.We eventually got her to accept travelling but she always had the whole trailer to herself and chose to stand diagonally across the trailer.I found out from a previous owner that she had smashed up a couple of wagons and they thought she had been shot as she was dangerous.This is not the case she was just frightened and claustrophobic.Unfortunatley the wear and tear on her joints has taken its toll and she is now retired as she developed a huge arthritic spur on her hock, As with most things time and patience is required but an 18hh horse will probably feel trapped in most trailers or wagons.I would try and give him at least two horses space and take things very slowly .
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 31, 2005 11:54:13 GMT 1
Nikki, I thought you might be encouraged to hear about a pony with a similar problem who we helped to travel without fuss the other week. The owner of the pony was at her wits end as she was unable to find him a loan home due to the travelling problem. He had on one occasion got himself stuck under the front bar and twice over it. Although he would still load fine, he would start to panic as soon as the ramp closed.
I was hoping to use this pony as a case study but his owner managed to find someone to take him on so I didn't have time to go out and see him first. However, I advised them to leave plenty of time, and to try removing everything from the trailer to give him all the space he needed. He loaded with only a brief question. They cross tied him, gave him a minute to suss his surroundings, then closed the ramp. Apparently he did a little rear, fidgeted around for a moment and that was it. They left it until they felt he was happy before starting the car and then again for a few minutes before driving off. He then travelled like there had never been an issue. The driver said she could feel him finding his balance occasionally but that was all.
The only glitch in the whole history was that he was moved to a field just off the M1 at Hemel Hempsted on the day before the explosion. Poor lad. It took him 2 weeks to get over it. All, however, is now fine and he has been in the trailer a couple of times with the ramp up with no sign of worry. As long as he has the space to find his own position, he's fine.
I hope your horse turns out as easy to solve.
|
|