Tuesday, September 18th, 2007...7:21 pm
Horse floating, trailering or travelling problems
Here’s a forum to discuss problems with horses not wanting to get on the float, (that’s what we call a horse trailer in Australia) or having trouble travelling, scrambling, pawing, kicking, falling down in the float or truck and any other floating problems.
Scroll down to “Leave a reply” and write your question or leave a comment.
10 Comments
September 25th, 2007 at 2:19 am
I have an 8year mare who struggles with the concept of getting on a float, 2 bad experiences wiped out the good ones, we started again, gaining her trust is MY problem, how to prove to her l am trustworthy, it is not me personally, it is all humans and the float that frigthen her. Just recently we got to the stage where she got on the float, no lead rope, no head collar, l wanted her to feel free, she is not confident to stay, on and off in the blink of an eye and yet l was so proud of her. Maybe my body language is at fault. What thoughts do others have, what solutions have you found/discovered? Always open to suggestion, thanks.
September 26th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
Wow, Kas, that’s an extremely gentle way that you’re going about resolving this problem. Lovely and thoughtful and very special - congratulations.
To at least some extent, what you are doing IS working, so if you continue to make small steps of improvement, then you will get there.
However, one of the things we (Bobby and I) talk about in Bobby’s Diaries is “if it’s not working, change it”. My first suggestion in looking for “what” to change, (because you are certainly already going about it already in a very nice way!) would be to “do” the mind connection and see if there’s any other issue here rather than just the float itself.
Do the meditation sequence in the front of the e-book “Bobby’s Diaries - Straight from the Horse’s Mouth to You” and do that away from the float for a few times until you feel confident that you are “hearing” your horse. The she can tell you herself if there is some other issue that needs addressing to help her fear.
The next possible area for change is to work the comfort zone more consciously, at the same time as the mind connection and get her in DEEP comfort with each tiny step before moving forward to the next, so that she doesn’t go into the “oh shit I’m dead zone” .
Know that the key to finding DEEP comfort is to spend most of the time in her comfort zone, making small excursions into her “not too sure zone” so that you can help her break the habit of the tension and anxiety of the not too sure zone.
Detail about the comfort zone, “not too sure zone” and “oh shit I’m dead zone” - and practical philosophy and techniques about how you can transform a fear problem quite quickly ( for both horse and/or rider) is in several chapters in “Bobby’s Diaries - Straight from the Horse’s. Mouth to You”.
Please keep us posted about whether this was of use to you and how you’re going generally.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:08 am
My horse is a 14.2hh quater horse mare with a bad problem she scared of beeing in the float, she has no problem getting in or out its when we start to move is when we have the problem she Scrambles really bad. We have tryed putting her on the other side but with no luck. we have also tryed with out the Divider and she stills scrambles. At one stage she has pushed out the chest bar and cut all her neck and legs (she wears float boots on all four legs). Please if you have any ideas let me know ASAP. thanks.
March 17th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Hi Veronica,
The most likely cause is that she is seriously out of her comfort zone. Did you see the whole article about trailer loading here on this website? Click through on the original short article for the full thing.
I know it seems like thumping my own chest - but the book “Bobby’s Diaries - Straight from the Horse’s Mouth to You” that you can buy and be reading in five minutes from this website, DOES have all the answers I think. It explains the comfort zone and how to work it, leadership and how to work that - all in very simple terms and photos.
People have used that technique to fix float loading and scrambling problems.
People all over the world now are loving it!
Once you’ve got the book, there’s a really great discussion group where people who’ve read the book help each other. There’s no point in giving it to you yet though, cos you wouldn’t understand what they are talking about until you’ve read the book - cos the philosophy and terminology is SO different from anything you’ve ever heard before.
Occasionally the horse is sore with arthritis or the like and needs that attended to as well.
Please feel free to come back to me when you’ve read the article and applied the techniques.
Good luck, Jenny.
June 21st, 2008 at 9:27 am
Hi, my horse , enters float, travels well like a seasoned trouper, competes, and is happy to go back in the float, but once he knows he is near home he starts to lose the plot, bucking, kicking, pawing, lurching you name it he’ll try it. Once home he backs off nicely, will walk straight on again, not a problem. He just wants to get out when he can see he is near home. any ideas???
June 21st, 2008 at 11:12 pm
Well, this sure is an interesting one, then! I think we need some more information here…
When you say he’s happy to go back on the float, how do you get him on? i.e. does he walk on by himself, do you lead him on, push him him on, what?
And when you say “when he’s near home” Is that at the same place all the time? Maybe same roundabout, same intersection, same corner?
Sounds like you’ve got yourself a smarty pants who’s trying to tell you something!
June 23rd, 2008 at 10:57 am
I load him alone, like Parelli style, i stand on the ramp and he walks past me in the float. No whip or anything else required. Then i do up the bum chain and tie him up. (currently cross-tied ) he has a haynet to nibble on. I have taken various ways home and that worked for a while but he knows all routes now…. all with the same result. I’m near home and i WANT OUT!!! I have blacked out the window… not much success.
He now spends time at home tied in the float with a haynet and he will throw a tantrum, and will eventually calm himself down. ( 20 minutes +) I let him off and he backs off carefully one step at the time. He goes back on without a question asked… Suggesting that he is not scared. He does get better at home if i practice this daily with him. His tantrums have reduced in severity, the occasional kick and whinny, a fair bit of pawing, but a promising trend. At the moment he has free access to the float and he loads himself and empties and plays with the haynet.
I’m at a loss what he is trying to tell me… other then i want to get out NOW!!!
He’s a 4.5 yr old crossbred who travels weekly/ fortnightly to various educational/ pleasurable occasions.
June 27th, 2008 at 4:04 am
Well, Marion, offhand I’m not sure what he’s trying to tell you either!
His problem is certainly not obvious from your story. Try the “connection with his mind” and see if HE”LL tell you what the problem is. He’s certainly trying to.
The meditation mind connection chapter at the beginning of Bobby’s Diaries will give you an simple way of getting that mind connection so that you can hear him - that’s what the whole book is about, using that mind connection for all kinds of solutions.
Another option is to send me a photo of him and I’ll have a go at asking him directly, myself.
October 12th, 2008 at 7:50 am
i have a 6 year old anglo gelding who is about 16 hand tall and has decided he doesn’t want to get into the float. we sent him away with a man that taught him how to go into the float a few months back and was scared of the man, so he went straight in and didnt even dare coming out again. he was great for a few months, until he decided not to go in again, just lately.
The man he was scared of came for a visit a week ago and he went straight in when the man told him to ‘get in there!’ today when i tried he just refused to go in.
or any male that he knows. please help! thanks Thea xo
I no his playing with me! he isn’t worried or scared of it, and is fine to float once he is in there, his just trying to proving a point, that i cant make him do it. i have tried to growl at him but his not scared of me!
October 13th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Hello Thea,
Sorry it took a few days to get back to you, I was teaching a particularly wonderful clinic and bypassing anything but urgent emails.
Re your floating query… Do you really want your horse to be scared of you? Or do you want a really special relationship with him where he WANTS to do what you want him to do?
See, the guy who float trained him was using dominance techniques. They’re not wrong, but YOU have to be good enough, YOU to have enough skills for them to work for YOU, cos pretty soon he figures out that you’re not the dominant trainer and then your horse starts to play dominance games back on you.
That does not in any way make him a “bad horse”. There’s no such thing, I promise you! That’s what horses do … that’s the way the whole species interacts with each other when dominance is involved. They are just being a horse, like every other horse, when they do that.
What WE teach you to do with Bobby’s Diaries (and the new book that’s about to be launched) is how to get the most awesome co-operation from yor horse, where you don’t even have to be really skilled to get it. That’s what’s sooo… different about this method and sooo… special.
Float loading, like everything else is easy when we have their co-operation. I had a dead beginner rider in the last clinic, getting results that a three star event rider was green with envy over - because the beginner had the most amazing co-operation from their horse. (The three star eventer is there now too and wo, it is beautiful!)
The floating chapter out of the book is here on hte website in the problems section. But I think it’s not as much use to you as the details of the mind connection and the comfort zone and leadership and how to use them to get what you want. Which is all a bit big to write here - it took me a whole book to do that!
So get someone to buy the book for you as a present. People tell me that it’s the best money they’ve ever spent on their horse!
Good luck, Thea, and let me know how much your horse loves the book.
Jenny
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