Trailering help?

[Britt nli]

My son's pony, Peppermint, got herself into quite the predicament yesterday. We got her a few months ago and she seemed to trailer home fine, or at least I wasn't aware of any issue (my friend was hauling, I was passenger). She was loose in the trailer that time (a small stock trailer).

Fast forward to yesterday, we were hauling her to a new place I am boarding. This was a different trailer, but the same size and much the same as the first time we hauled her. This trailer has a gap at the top of the back door, though, which has always made me uneasy even when my friend would haul her large horses in it. I figured she hauled home so well, she could just go loose in this trailer as well.

We were about 10 miles down the gravel road, halfway to the new place, and I was driving behind the rig in my vehicle. Suddenly I see Peppermint's head popping up over the back gate. Then I see her get her two front hooves OVER the gate and she is doing everything she can to climb out! So I laid on my horn and my friend pulled over. I tied Peppermint up to a high tie in the trailer and we carried on. We went about 50 feet and she was up again, this time trying to climb out the SIDE window and she busted her hoof through the plexiglass slider on the window. So we stopped again, and I tied her extremely short to a low tie to keep her from going up. Drive a few feet ahead and again, she was climbing the wall to the best of her ability, although she couldn't get as high. As soon as we would stop and park, she was her normal calm self. I went into the trailer with her each time to adjust her ties and she was just standing completely relaxed but awake. Semi trucks were flying by on the gravel road, she didn't have a care in the world.

After great contemplation, and a phone discussion with two separate local veterinarians about the possibility of giving her some sedative for the remainder of the short trip, I decided (on the vet's recommendation) to advise my friend to drive and pray. I also went to my vehicle and got a scarf and toque (sometimes it pays off to have too much stuff in your vehicle LOL) and put the toque over her ears and the scarf over her eyes, all tucked into her halter. I figured if she couldn't see any openings, she wouldn't try to jump for them.

Hauled off and not a peep from her the entire way to the new place. I don't think having to blindfold and muffle the sound for a horse to trailer is normal, I have never ever had to do it before, but it sure worked!

Now if you wouldn't mind putting on your thinking cap for me, can you figure out any way of getting her more used to this? She is completely calm in the trailer at a standstill. When we brought her home, she was reluctant to get on the trailer, so I have worked with her several times loading and eating in the trailer. She has stood in there for an hour before and had her hay, and was perfectly content. When she unloaded at the new place, she was alert because of the new horses calling to her, but completely calm and collected. This plus how relaxed she was when we would stop on the road to readjust makes me question her anxiety, as I don't think she was actually very anxious. Is she anxious, or has she actually escaped before in her past and was making a try for it? I think it was the sound of the gravel bothering her for sure, but I am not sure how to get her used to that. Trying to climb out the window is pretty extreme, so it's not even like I can go a little bit, then stop, then go a little bit, and stop again to get her used to it like you normally would. I also can't put a hay bag in to distract her as I am worried she would get hung up in it. I would consider that method if she was just thrashing around and worried, not trying to climb out of the windows! That's dangerous to her and the other drivers on the road! I definitely will not have her hauled with that trailer again, with the open part at the top of the back door. Should I just blindfold her every time we haul her?

[Britt nli]

This is the same as the trailer she was in (minus all that rust) to give you an idea of the back gate

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[Marci]

Perhaps the gravel noise was too much for her ears? Trailers are very noisy, and the sound seems to echo in them. Good idea to muffle the ears, and cover the eyes.
I imagine one of the high end trailers that are totally enclosed and insulated would be quieter. But miles riding inside with a good old steady for comfort should help. But if it's too noisy for her I imagine that won't be all that is needed. They do make ear plugs for horses.

[Idaho Linda]

Additionally, I would take this trailer to the shop and get it put up on a rack and check for structural soundness. I would pull all the floorboards and check for rot. You would feel horrible if this mare went through the floor going down the road. Hopefully, everything is fine, but that isn't a brand-new trailer. This would not be the first horse to present what looks like a behavior problem when, in reality, there was a structural problem with the trailer

[DorothyB]

Agree with making sure the trailer is sound. Last year I took my trailer in for them to check everything. Turns out they didn't check the floorboards because I have mats on the floor. There were a few rotted boards. Luckily (by the grace of God really), I kept having the "something isn't right" feeling and we checked the floor boards ourselves before anything bad happened.

I have a couple of thoughts. Since she seems calm, what about trying to haul her with a hay bag with extra yummy hay or a pan of feed to distract her? What would she do if hauled with a buddy?

[snelson]

I have only had one horse ever that wanted to get out of the trailer while it was moving....and that was at the beginning of a very very long road trip. I was about 10 miles in and I could feel her struggling in the trailer (she was in a 2 horse with the mangers) and when I stopped she had her feet up on the manger and had kicked the window out. I was along the road so was not able to open the trailer and get her right. I did open the escape door and get her back on all four feet. She rode okay until we slowed down for a town, then she started struggling again. I knew she couldn't get into a situation where she would get hurt so I had to leave her work it out for herself. She rode for 600 miles. After the first 100 she stood like a dream every time I slowed down and even stopped. She would not even try to get out when I stopped to get her water and let her rest.

She walked off the trailer like a pro when we got to where we were going....and funny thing is...she loaded into anything and everything without hesitation after that.

Not that I recommend doing that

[Jenni]

It sounds to me like when you have a horse that paws or jumps around when you leave them tied alone - the minute you return they are calm - when you return you are reinforcing that behavior. So what do you do? You leave them tied safely for patience training. I think as long as you can make it as safe as possible, just keep driving and she will figure it out.

[Britt nli]

Just to remind, the trailer in the picture is NOT my friend's actual trailer, just the same model to give you an idea of the space above the back door. Hers is rust free and the floorboards are in great shape,she is fastidious about the care of her trailer. Thanks for the tips. I was really worried for her safety, I didn't want to be scraping a dead pony off of the road She typically ties great and can be left for an hour + tied if needed.

[Britt nli]

I had a hay bag with me but with her climbing, I didn't want to risk putting the bag in there and having her get really hung up in it. Maybe next time if I do that from the very beginning, she will be calmer. Perhaps a blindfold and a hay net lol. Poor pony.

[ride4fun]

Just make sure to avoid any net type hay holder. Maybe just put a flake of hay on the floor if you would try hauling loose again (which I wouldn't do unless you have a solid back door) or tie one of the solid nylon hay bags up with twine which would break if she put a hoof in the bag and tie her fairly short. Blindfolding and the ear muffling worked well and no reason you can't continue that for any future hauling. There is too much chance of them injuring a leg if they are putting feet through openings in the trailer even if the opening is too small for them to get out so I would say do whatever it takes to prevent that.

[Yip]

No experience so no help, but I wanted to say your last ditch effort was brilliant!