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.
42 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
January 13th, 2009 at 5:28 am
I just wanted to share our float loading…….Wunjo came to me terribly neglected (no one could catch him and if they got on him, he bucked them off so they just stuck him in a paddock and left him….no feed and very little water), due to his actions once home, I’m guessing he also had a history of abuse. He was terribly afraid of the horse float, but after months and months of NH with him, I got him to load and unload nicely, although he always tried to speed up and go around the trailer when we approached it (even if I wasn’t going to ask him to load), so it wasn’t really in his comfort zone. After a few weeks of using Bobby and Jenny’s techniques, I walked over to the trailer at liberty and asked Wunjo to load. He walked around the side of the trailer, had a chew then walked back around to the ramp and faced me….I asked him to face the ramp (never touched him, just imagined and used my body energy) and he popped on…..and stayed in until I “kissed” him off. When he got off, I was waiting for the chew and he decided to load himself!!!! Afterwards he was so proud of himself (and thought he deserved some gumnuts for his efforts, which he certainly did). The results we’re getting with Bobby’s techniques are so rewarding…..truly moving toward mutual cooperation vs dominance.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:58 am
I have a 12yrold Australian Stock horse gelding, who when i bought used to self load, until the divider snapped in my friends float and he was trapped in the float. We have done alot of practice with him, and he is usually fine walking on, but recently he has got into the habit of pushing the back down of the float as you try and lift the ramp. He is also terrified of whips, he has also dented the tailgate of our float/trailer, and it almost snapped. The trailer is now repaired but the horse is very nervous when you put the back up.. also when you are travelling if you slow down, he thinks its time to get off, and starts smashing the back down.. It is very scary. Please Help!!
January 28th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Hello Brooke,
That all sounds very worrying. When you think he is “usually fine walking on”, he wasn’t really, he was trying to be generous and then it just got too much for him to bear.
Here’s an excerpt (attached) from my new book Zen Connection with Horses and the float loading chapter from Bobby’s Diaries – Straight from the Horses’s Mouth to You is below.
I’ve seen worse problems than this come completely OK – but I suspect that he will need to be in his deep comfort zone.
Please let me know how you go – the whole of Zen Connection, includng the audio lessons on the CD will give you the techniques for trauma release – see if you can talk someone into buying the whole book for you… Give them this website address http://www.bookswithspirit.com/shop if they want to buy the book.
You need to be “hearing” him so that you can figure out what to do, that’s what the attachment is for. I can have a talk to him if you send me a photo, but there’s no subsitute for you doing it, you are the one loading and travelling him – and anybody can “hear” their horse. I’ve never had anyone who can’t.
Here’s the excerpt from Bobby’s Diaries – use the Zen Connection information and apply it to the chapter of Bobby’s Diaries below.
Good luck and let me know how you go! Regards, Jenny
BOBBY’S AND MY IDEAS ON FLOAT
TRAINING AND TRAVELLING
When you feel fear when you are traveling your horse, it’s probably because you’re both a wreck waiting to happen! Listen to your fear, figure out what is unsafe about what you are doing and change it!
Traveling a horse who is on the outer edges of his not too sure zone or in his oh shit zone in the float or truck is a recipe for a disaster that will happen some day. I made a commitment to my horses a long time ago that I would do my best to make traveling a relaxed and even enjoyable experience. When they are relaxed and comfortable I can be relaxed and comfortable too and we both get to where we are going fit and able to enjoy that competition or that clinic or that lovely ride in the bush, whatever.
In order to do this, I will not shut the back of the float up unless the horse is in his comfort zone. When a horse walks on the float, I do not go “gotcha”. When I’m float training a horse, I need him to be able to walk forwards and backwards, softly, confidently and easily – without coming off the float the whole way – before I will close the back up and travel.
I like my horse to walk on as I point him towards the float and throw the rope over his back. Then I do the back of the float up. Then I walk around the front and tie him up if I’m going to. To load like that is to be able to do it by myself, easily. That’s my big picture.
What’s your big picture? Do you like to send him on from behind like I do, so that it’s quicker and easier to do the back of the float up? Or do you like to lead him on, leave him standing there loose (because you would never tie him up without him being locked in, would you?) and walk around to the back to do the back up?
Either way, you want him standing there politely and happily while you do the back of the float up and then walk around and tie him up if that’s what you like to do.
Almost all horses are claustrophobic to some degree. Claustrophobia is a fear of small spaces. It is quite logical for a horse to be terrified of going into a float. Knowing what we now know about their emotions, we’re going to work their comfort zone so that it includes this cave on wheels, rather than risk them flipping out into the oh shit zone and damaging themselves and the float while they are traveling, if something goes wrong.
There is some preparation that you can do before you walk up to a float to load them for the first time using this model:
· Have you taught him to move forwards when you ask him to with the lead rope? I.e, slide one hand down the lead rope and take up a gentle contact with your horse’s halter. Add a gentle pressure in the forwards direction. Does he step forwards easily and comfortably and reliably? There’s not much point at going anywhere near a float until he does!
· Will he back up from the rope? Getting him on the float is good, but you also have to be able to get them off, easily and smoothly without panicking.
· You could teach him to back up from the tail – that’s a useful way of asking him to come off the float when you’re ready. Once you’ve taught back up from the rope, you stand at his tail, holding the rope in your hand. Imagine him moving backwards when you pull his tail. Pull his tail gently in the backwards direction. Use the rope to get him to step backwards. Stop and wait for the chew. And start again. When he steps backwards from a gentle pull on the tail, “what a star!”
· Does he move his butt away with soft easy movement of his legs when you keep a short rope and walk to his hind end? Because you’re going to use this simple method of changing speed and direction to establish leadership at the float.
· Can he go into tight places that are not the float? Between you and a fence. Between you and a wall. Between you and a leafy bush that will brush against his body as he walks past. The more claustrophobic things he has in his comfort zone, the less fearful he will be when you ask him to go into the float.
There are many different ways of encouraging a horse to move forwards into the float and the following suggestion is only one of them. Remember, connect to his mind so that you can hear what needs to change for him to be comfortable. And if you feel frustration, that’s a message that you need to change something.
Stand at the back of the float and imagine him walking on the float. I was float training someone else’s very difficult horse once and she walked in on “imagine it”. I couldn’t wait to see if it was just coincidence, so I tried again and stuffed it up. I should have spent a long time telling her what a star she was!
Slide one hand down the rope and take up a gentle contact with your horse’s head and point him in the direction of the float. When he steps forwards, stop and wait for the chew.
If there comes a time when you ask him to step forwards and he won’t, then keep a shortish rope in your hand and walk to his back end, changing speed and direction and ask again. You’re not going to add pressure to fear or confusion, so when you have gone through the steps of imagine it, give a clear physical request to step forwards with the rope, give him maybe three rhythmic gentle slaps on the butt to encourage him to move forwards, then you’re going to stop and wait for the chew before you ask him again – even if he didn’t move any closer to the float.
I know, I know, you’re going to be standing there for a while waiting for this chew with a scared horse, maybe even a long time, but it will be worth it in the long run and it will happen – probably faster than you think. This method is much slower to load them than the dominance model. But I think it’s often quicker to have them happy in the float and I think that they are more solid, faster. However, I’ve float trained dozens of horses with Pat Parelli’s more dominating method and if you’re looking for a quicker result, he has a great float training tape and DVD.
Another option in Bobby’s method, is to back him up (changing speed and direction again) away from the float, until you find his comfort zone and work the comfort zone forwards and backwards (approach the float and retreat) step by step getting the float into his comfort zone, waiting for him to chew, allowing him to think every step of the way. (See the first of Bobby’s stories at the back of the book for how I discovered Bobby’s method of dealing with something that are really frightened of.)
Watch closely that in your desire to get him on the float, that you do truly read where he is in his comfort zone model and pay attention to that. Once we start a task like a float loading, it is too easy to slip back into our old way of doing things!
When I used to float train horses as part of my living, I would ask the owner if they had bacon and eggs in the fridge. They usually looked at me puzzled and then I said “well, if we’re still here in the morning I’ll have bacon and eggs for breakfast, thanks, but I won’t still be here the day after that!” This attitude of having plenty of time to get the job done properly, no matter how long it takes to get a positive result, is absolutely essential to a float training and comes straight from my training with Pat Parelli. Also note that a positive result does not have to be going all the way into the float and getting happy about that and going for a drive today. If your time is restricted and the horse very afraid, you may be happy with him being in his comfort zone with the first steps on the ramp. Whatever. There are no rules.
Once they are in the float, I like to be able to ask them to come out of the float and as they step backwards, say “just kidding, please go back inside”. If they step forwards again, softly and easily without needing to come all the way off, then I think they are ready for me to shut the back up and go for a drive.
I like to take them out somewhere where there’s a nice pick of green grass, unload them, eat for ½ an hour or so. Then load up again. And go somewhere else where there’s a nice pick of grass and unload again. Eat for as long as it takes them to find their comfort zone for a while, then load up again. On this first drive out, I like to take them to about 6 – 8 places, unload, eat, load up, until when I point him at the float, he jumps on and says “what yummy places are we going to this time?”
If I’m float training someone else’s horse, I’ll do that for two or three days in a row to get them really solid and very comfortable about the float before the owners come and learn how to load themselves and take them home. If you have access to a float and the time to do it like this, it works well.
If you don’t have a float or trailer of your own, then it’s even more important that you get your horse doing as many claustrophobic things as possible, in his comfort zone before you go and hire a float. To have all these things happening softly and easily is to make it quicker and easier the day that you hire the float.
And you are going to hire or borrow a float for at least one day just for float training BEFORE you actually travel anywhere to do anything. And if your horse was really scared of the float you might have to do it for more than one day before you travel to a competition etc. It will be hire money very well spent!
Here’s some float problems that I’ve found when I’ve been float training horses:
· I had someone leave my place with their horse on the back one day so fast around the driveway that the poor horse was having trouble staying on its feet. No wonder it didn’t want to get in the float!
· Big wide windows can have some horses quite panicky about cars and trucks coming towards them on the other side of the road. When we come across this one, we tape up the window and make it smaller.
· Slippery floors. They have to do a lot of work in there, moving their feet and they need grip to be safe or they go into their oh shit zone.
· Some partitions are so deep that they won’t allow the horse to spread his feet wide apart for balance. That can put a lot of horse’s into their oh shit zone when they go to spread their legs and can’t – and then they will scramble, or climb the walls. It’s worth getting the partition cut down to avoid that one if your horse is not an excellent traveller.
· Float boots that restrict smooth and easy movement will often panic him if he has to move his legs when he’s on the float. Yeah, I know, we put float boots on to protect them and now I’m telling you that they actually cause some travelling problems! If you are concerned about his legs when travelling with another horse, then fetlock and shin boots and rubber bell boots such as used for jumping are a much better option than floating boots. He’s either OK in the float and doesn’t need them or we should be float training him until he IS OK in the float and then he doesn’t need them.
· Floats that move and rattle or are even unsafe. Ride in it yourself, off road somewhere and check it out. Glue sponge into place to stop rattles. Check your flooring. I once went to float train a horse who wouldn’t get on because she was very smart. Sooner or later she was going to go through that incredibly dangerous floor!
· Wheel balancing your trailer makes it a more comfortable ride. The tyre people will often tell you that it’s not necessary on a trailer, but you’ve got the same reasons on your float as you have on your car – longer use out of the tyres and comfort in the ride for your horse. If you can feel the difference, then so can your horse.
· Check your electric brakes are working smoothly and not jerking your horse around. I had a horse come in to do a clinic once because the owner wanted to fix float loading problems. When I saw the lady coming in with her electric brakes grabbing and slamming her horse towards the front window of the float, it was not rocket science to figure out what was wrong with him!
· Travelling them with a horse who is already a good traveller can be a bonus – until they themselves are the good traveller. However, if you truly work his comfort zone, then that’s not necessary.
· Is the float big enough for the size of your horse? If they are big or a long horse, like our horse Celtic Peace, then we cannot expect them to travel happily bent like a banana! Apart from the emotional problems, it damages their muscles and bones!
· What I am NEVER going to do is tie them up while the back door is open. I’ve seen people do it and it makes my blood run cold. I don’t care how good they are at tying up, the smallest thing going wrong can cause a disaster, so it’s not worth it!
· I float trained one horse who was sick from the exhaust fumes of the car pouring into the float through the vents. They had to get an exhaust pipe extension to take the exhaust away from the float vent.
And remember, he is NEVER not going on because he is a “bad boy” – he is NEVER not going on, just to “stick it up you”. We have to remember that our rage and frustration is OURS and he does NOT refuse in order to get at us. – as hard as that may be to accept sometimes!
Train him properly to travel without fear and then you can both enjoy travelling forever.
March 29th, 2009 at 12:16 am
Hi, I have a 9 yr old 14.3 hand pinto who use to straight load float until when she was being unloaded after a show one evening a bolt of lightning struck the ground near her causing her to rear and hit her head (this was with the previous owner). She then refused to straight load float so they started angle load floating her everywhere so she could turn around and walk off. I have been working with her to resolve this problem as I only own a straight load float. I have been using an open float which I have enclosed with soft material so she can’t hurt herself. She will load and unload in a controlled and calm way many times and then for no apparent reason the fear returns. I know when this has happened because when I ask her to back out she refuses to budge and looks around as if to try and turn and walk off. This situation invariably ends with her rushing off in a panic throwing her head which in a proper enclosed float would result in her harming herself. I’m not sure how to deal with this situation when it arises. Do you have any suggestions or do I just have to accept that she will never straight load float again.
Thanks Julie
April 4th, 2009 at 6:46 am
Hi Julie,
What a terrible thing to happen, poor baby! There are two ways of attacking this problem that I feel confident would get at least dramatic improvement. The trauma release in Zen Connection with Horses is one of them. You would do the 8 audio lessons on the CD, which would give you the skills necessary to do the same trauma release with float loading and unloading. If you’re broke and can’t afford the book, email me privately, the contact details are here on the website.
The other method of attack would be to have a healing session done on her, which I can do if you send me a photo, cost $110 AUS, including medicines if any come up as needed. However, I would try the Zen Connection approach first because it is VERY powerful!
April 28th, 2009 at 11:58 am
My name is kelly and i have a 20 year old gelding who wont go in the float. When we get him in , he is fine, he just carries on cause he knows he can. He isn’t scared at all. When we brought him the previous owner had him bluffed but unfortunately we’ve tried everything. Natural horsemanship, whipping him, being nice and getting another horse in before him (which evented in the other horse getting scared and jumping the front bar). The only way we can get him in is to practically use a winch to get him in. Any idea’s? He’s not scared, just a bully. He just rears up, turns his head and runs.
Im only 16 and i dont have the strength to get him in the float with the winche, only my dad can and he has just moved to another state and i don’t know what to do know. He’s a perfect horse and we jump grade 2 together but i cant get him to the events! Really need help. When i float train him i back the float into the round yard so he can’t run far. Im running out of patients. He is an EFA hacker and a very competitive eventer. help!
May 4th, 2009 at 7:44 am
Kelly sunshine, I had to take a deep breath to know where to start. The last time I heard about someone winching a horse onto the float, the horse scrambled over the chest bar in terror and jumped out the front window into the A frame towing section at the front of the float. I never did hear whether the horse lived or died. I am VERY glad that you’re here looking for a way to change what’s happening! Good start. Whew!!
First of all, I have helped hundreds and hundreds of horses and riders with all kinds of problems and I absolutely promise you, I promise you set in cement, your horse is not doing this because he is a bad boy or a bully, just for fun or even just because he can.
He would MUCH rather do what you ask. And if he isn’t, then I promise you, there IS a reason. There are literally dozens and dozens of reasons that a horse might not want to get on a float and I’ve seen most of them. From the float not being safe, to huge windows that had the oncoming traffic frightening the heck out of the horse, to a badly positioned float vent and car exhaust that had the exhaust drowning the horse in fumes at every traffic light, to an arthritic horse who couldn’t move his legs well enough in the float to feel safe, to deep dividers that stopped the horse from being able to spread their legs and balance properly, to horses who are too frightened to move their legs in the float for comfortable travelling without terror, to floats that bang and rattle really loudly and frighten the crap out of them. And that’s just a starting list.
Then there’s the good old claustrophobia that EVERY horse sufferes from to some degree and some to a very large degree. Then there are the really terrified horses that people don’t even realise are so scared because they shut down and go dead in the eye.
Then there’s the things that happen to them after they’ve got on the float. Inconsiderate drivers who go too fast around corners and brake too hard without reason, electric brakes jamming on (I saw one horse go flying towards the front window when his driver stopped the float, no wonder she had a floating problem), and last but not least – if there is ghastly things happening (in their view) whenever they go anywhere – whips, spurs, getting their mouth roughly treated or all kinds of bad treatment – then why would anybody ever want to get on the float?
You’ve made a great start, sunshine, by asking and looking for help. Now you’ve got another decision to make. Are you prepared to do whatever it takes to change it?
Because if you are, Kelly, then I have an answer for your problem.
Make a commitment to your horse that you will not force him on a float again until this is resolved. Then go and get the book and audio lesson set of Zen Connection with Horses right now. And learn how you can listen to your horse and find out what’s going on with this floating business.
Do the eight lessons on the CD. You download them onto your MP3 player and take the lessons out to your horse. In this eight lessons, amongst many other things, you will learn how to release old trauma from your horse about all kinds of things. Once you’ve leanred that, then you can apply that to floating too.
I have come across bigger and nastier problems than this, sunshine, and when the people used this approach, they have a pussy cat on the end of the lead rope – even without a lead rope at all! I’m smiling. There’s nothing better than a horse … nothing more beautiful than a horse.
We even have green riders who don’t know anything at all about horses getting beautiful results with this way of doing things. Imagine what YOU will be able to do? There’s a photo in Zen Connection of a kid laying down and cuddling his horse on the ground in his third lesson with his brand new horse. How would you like that kind of co-operation and what could you do with it?
Get that book and change his and your life forever… Scroll up to the top of the page and click on the shop to go and buy the book.
Kelly, if you can’t afford the book, then email me and I’ll arrange for you to get it anyway. Your horse is even more desperate than you are. … Jenny
October 3rd, 2009 at 2:59 pm
I have a twenty year old 14.1 hh pony who is a complete and utter dude but a few days ago we floated him with my other pony (who he has floated with before) and he scrambled with his back legs only. The next time we drove really slowly with both ponies aboard but going round a gantle corner he scrambled again but with all fours and almost went down. He also has started pulling off his back left floating boot. What can we do? we love him soo much and don’t won’t to endanger him and any other horses travelling with him.
October 10th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Hi Emma, it’s hard to tell without seeing the situation, but here are some things that culd be causing your problem:
* float boots can really get in their way if they have something scarey happen, they can’t move their legs freely and easily, so the very thing we use to protect them with can become the problem. If he lifts his legs high and doesn’t step forwards freeely when they are on, that could be the problem.
* deep dividers (close to the floor) that stop them from spreading their legs properly can cause this problem. Was it a float that you have always travelled in or a new one?
* Also really wide windows can give them a fright as cars or trucks come toweards them really fast and give them enough of a fright to scramble. The solution to this one is to tape a large part of the window up, leaving a couple of feet open in the centre.
* If they start getting a little arthritic, that can cause them to start scrambling. Pat Coleby has a great recipe for arthritis that works really well. I’ll give you the recipe if you would like to try it. Just email me. Healing sessions with me also work really well – arthritis does not have to happen.
* They can have developed a sore back which can spasm with the tension of travelling and cause them to scramble.
* He may have had a fright and be so tight and tense now that he can’t stay on his feet when anything about the float changes.
The information on the audio lessons in the book and CD set Zen Connection with Horses, will give you the ability to clear the trauma of the fright from him and the ability to “hear” him for yourself and then you will know staright form him, what the problem is. I had a seven year old in a clinic last week who couldn’t catch her horse and now he sticks to her like velcro, so you are not too young to “get” it!
here’s the link to have a look at that book. http://www.bookswithspirit.com/books
Give me another email if you need more information or let me know how you go. Cheers, jenny
January 7th, 2010 at 7:29 pm
Hi
About 6 weeks ago my 14.2hh mare fell over in the float when I was traveling over rough ground. Her tail was caught over the bar and she suffered a tail injury. A vet has told me she hadn’t broken it but may have a hairline fracture. She now has no pain in her tail but doesn’t have any balance in the float and can’t stand up even when its not moving, scrambling continuesly. She is not scared of the float and has always travelled fine before. I have been told that some times tail injuries can cause a horse to lose its balance. Is this possible and if so would this problem be permanent?
Thankyou, Alison C.
January 8th, 2010 at 10:51 am
Hi Alison, I’m sorry for your little mare’s trouble. 6 weeks is not very long really, to settle down a major bone trauma as you describe and any inflammation that sounds like she would have had. I would be resting her for a bit longer yet and not travelling during that time either.
The coccyx bones (the tailbone) are deeply connected through the nervous system to the sphenoid bone in the face. It is too complicated to decribe here, just know that they are deeply connected and that when one of those bones is damaged or out of place, then the other is adversely affected.
The sphenoid bone has optic nerves running through it, sinuses (and the sinus has influence on the ears and ears defintely have a huge effect on balance.) So the answer to your question is, yes it is possible for tailbone damage to cause balance problems.
The horse’s tailbone is a very delicate part of the skeleton and can by jolted out of alignment quite easily and put back in just as easily, most times. A good, intuitive Bowen muscle therapist should be able to get the tailbone back into alignment, no worries.
As for the floating accident. That must have been some bump to throw her off her feet if she was truly stable on them in the first place! Are you sure that there wasn’t something going on BEFORE the accident, maybe something that made the accident happen?
You say your horse isn’t afraid of the float, but I suspect that it’s “she didn’t use to be afraid of the float” because it would be very peculiar if she wasn’t afraid of it now. Getting hurt is a sure fire way to get scared for next time.
Also, lets not make any assumptions – was it the same float as the one she had the accident in? And was that the same float as all her other travelling had been done in? Because there are all kinds of things that can be “wrong” with a float that can cause scrambling.
Fear however, is the biggest reason for scrambling, closely followed by muscluar/skeletal pain. If she can stand up on the ground outside the float and move around without any problems at all, then to scramble in the float, before it even starts moving, makes me think that fear at least plays a part.
I give away a copy of one of my books from time to time. Zen Connection with Horses, with its book and audio lessons, will help you understand and work with your horse’s fear.
If I gave you the book, would you read it? And how badly do you want to solve this problem? Do you want to solve it badly enough to work at it? And to get better results and a better relationship with your horse than you had before – no matter how good it already was?
If so, then just email me and you and your horse can be the recipient of this month’s give away… jenny@bookswithspirit .com (just take out the space when you email me)
Zen Connection with Horses will give you a completely diffferent perspective on your horse’s fear and how you can help her get over it. It’s not specifically about floating, but if you apply everything you learn there to floating, you will succeed.
I hope all this helps, Alison. Good luck with your horse. jenny
January 8th, 2010 at 11:00 am
P.S. If you can’t find a Bowen therapist to come and see you – I have done hundreds and hundreds of healing sessions from photos and hair samples, including the Bowen moves. I cannot explain WHY it works so well, just that it DOES work perfectly. So give me a yell if you can’t find anybody. cheers, jenny
January 8th, 2010 at 7:03 pm
Hi Jenny
Thankyou very much for your reply. It has given us alot to think about. We do really want to fix this problem. I will email you my address and would love to apply your techniques to help our pony. There is a bowen therapist in the area so we will be calling him. We are going away for a couple of weeks so will give her a break as you suggest and then get the treatment.
January 11th, 2010 at 2:31 pm
Thankyou so much for your offer of your book. We would love some help with our problem floating our mare Jazz who had an accident about 6 weeks ago hurting her tail.
In answer to some of your questions, she floated well with her previous owner and has been trucked well for 5 years with us. We recently changed to a float and she has had 2 good long journeys in this float with no problems. When she fell over I was turning (slowly) in a circle in a paddock to park at a show. We were very surprised. Our other horse was in the float at the time as well and did not fall. When traveling her home that day she scrambled whenever I turned to the right. Now when she scrambles she leans to the right (no matter which side she is on) and legs go left up the wall or center partition. The center partition has a large space between floor and board. I don’t think anything was going on before the accident to cause the problem. We had just driven off the road after a trip of about 1 hour with no obvious problems.
Jazz is very special to my family. We originally got her for my eldest daughter and now she is ridden by my youngest. She is lovely to handle in every way and is a no nonsense do it the correct way type of school mistress. This behavior is just not her.
Thankyou again for your advise. We will let you know how we get on.
January 11th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
There’s a couple of clues in your next answer Alison. She had been trucked happily for a long period of time before a couple of float loads and then the fall and scrambling. That to me suggests that it’s possible that she was in more fear in the float than you realised and because she IS such an obliging school mistress kind of horse, she just got on with the job until it got simpoly too big to be able to deal with any more.
Whether I am right or wrong, The “Zen Connection with Horses” book and audio set that I posted to you earlier today will give you the ability to get an answer and help her through any issues left after her rest and muscle therapy for her damaged tail.
February 15th, 2010 at 5:08 pm
Just an update on how we are going.
I have received the book and audio. I took your advice and gave Jazz a long rest and some Bowen Therapy. Whilst she is out I turned my attention to my own horse, Tammy,who also has refused to float. Not because she has had an accident but because she was scared and she didn’t know what a float was for, having been trucked alot. I applied your techniques to her and wow!!! Tammy is a whole different story but it worked for her too.
Tammy now loves the float and can’t wait to get in and go to the shows and rides. My daughter has now got a floating horse and can ride her while we take our time with Jazz.
Thankyou, I will keep you posted on Jazz.
February 16th, 2010 at 4:51 am
Thanks for that feedback Alison and keep up the great work! Well done!
August 9th, 2010 at 7:19 am
Hi,
I floated my 2 1/2 year old filly yesterday and she fell over in the float 3 times. It was her back end that went down completely each time. This filly had been floated a few times previously on her own and way fine. Yesterday I floated her with another horse in the float. He was very good and calm so that helped a little. But I am very worried about her falling. I am thinking maybe she doesn’t fall when it is only her is because she splays her feet out further possibly. Anyway, to make matters worse she was too scared to back off the float and I nearly got crushed a few times trying to get her to back down the ramp as eack time she stepped back she got frightened and jumped forward. It took ages to coax her off the float and she would not back down the entire ramp, I got her back far enough that I was able to turn her head slightly so she could turn and walk off (as she was so frightened she was nearly hitting her poll on the roof. What do I do? It was such a horrible experience for her and I dont want it to happen again. The float is a double straight load.
August 16th, 2010 at 2:17 pm
Hi Angela,
I know, when they fall in the float it is so scarey. I used to be afraid every time I floated, but I know now, that the fear that I felt was mostly the horse’s fear and when I helped him to not be afraid, then I could enjoy the trip then too.
There’s quite a few articles here on the website about solving floating problems, including the floating chapter from the book Bobby’s Diaries, that I think will help you. The biggest thing of all though, is to float train her ahead of time, long before you actually have to go anywhere. And I would take her very slowly after such a big terror.
Does she know how to back up happily and from a very light pressure when she is not on a float? Because THAT would be the first thing to teach before she even goes near the float.
Then I would have her front feet on the float and back away from the float and quit for quite a while, maybe even for the day.
Then front feet a bit further up the ramp, rest a bit there, then back off and quite for quite a while maybe even for the day.
Then front feet even further in and back feet (or just one, whatever) on the ramp, rest there for a while and quit for quite a while, maybe even for the day.
I would not even ask her to go all the way into the float until she could back down the ramp happily and easily from further out.
I also taught my young horse how to bring his head down to the light pressure of the rope, to help him not throw his head up in and out of the float. Yoiu are right – that is seriously scarey and quite dangerous for them to do.
There are a couple of possibilities about falling in the float.
1. Horses who are afraid are sometimes frozen with fear on the float, fall easily – when they have to move their feet they panic and fall. If that is what is the matter, then the techniques above will help.
2. Sometimes the divider is too deep, i.e. goes too close to the floor and they can’t spread their legs and balance themselves properly. In these cases, there is usually at least some fear involved here too.
3. Sometimes they have a physical problem that makes them a bit shaky on their feet on the movement of the float. I had an old horse with arthritis that could not travel with anybody else and needed the whole float width, no divider, to balance happily. Otherwise he climbed the walls and fell over. A sore back under certain circumstances can do the same thing.
If you cannot find the Bobby’s Diaries excerpt about floating here, then get back to me and I will email it to you.
Let me know how you go and if you have any problems putting this advice into action. cheers, jenny
October 17th, 2010 at 2:28 pm
Hi ! I hav a 10 year old new horse. When we got him the previous owner didn’t have trouble loading him on the float but on the way home from getting him we stopped at a petrol station and think he may of got a fright from a loud car. We have had trouble floating ever since. we had tried bribing him and it sometimes worked but not well and we hav tried to get him used to the float aswell. A friend took him for a couple of weeks to school him and tried floating and he introduced us to the bum rope. We have started using that now and it works ok? We also taken the divider out. Yesterday i took him to pony club and we used the bum rope to get him on, when we started driving away his paddock mate called to him and he broke his front rope and sarted turning around in the float ,with his head out the back, and ended up kicking a hole in the side wall. on the way home he also kicked the ramp very hard and when we let him out he rushed out.
Basicly we would like to know what to do and how to stop the kicking ?
December 20th, 2010 at 6:39 pm
Hey,
I just bought my Australian Stock Horse Gelding, I loaded him him up onto a track and he walked straight on. I attempted to load him today on a straight horse float, he’d walk on but as soon as he put his last foot on he’d chuck his head up and dash out back wards, we tried for about an hour but it became worse, tried free lounging him but I couldn’t get him to focus just on me. I dont know weather he’s just testing me out or if i need a trainer, but i’m 14 and don’t want him to start testing me out with everything!
Please help me,
Grace.
April 17th, 2011 at 4:38 pm
Hi my horse is absolutely terrified of the float only when he is travelling though.. he will go on and off as much as u want him to but when u start to move he freaks out and tries to escape he has jumped through the front window lucky to get himself back through to where he was.. we have covered the front window so that he can only see around little parts of the front so he does not think he can escape.. then he just tries looking behind him and freaking out what is behind.. have tied his head down so as he can still move but not rear up to jump forward.. i want to take him places and cant cos i just freak out he will do something bad again.. am trying to get as much advise as i can and try all different things and nothing has worked yet.. need more ideas. Thank You
April 22nd, 2011 at 6:51 pm
I have a 4 year old thoroughbred racehorse mare than pigroots in the float. 2 months ago she was travelling in an angle load and managed to get her legs over the divider which resulted in her having 15 stitches and receiving muscle damage… Regardless of whether she is trucked, floated in a double straight load or an angle load float she still does this. She’s not worried about loading and seems quite calm while on, but she squeals and pigroots while travelling or if left alone for any length if time. I have recently put her on regumate with no change. Other than hobbling her does anyone have any solutions to our problem, i’m getting desperate.
April 27th, 2011 at 6:05 am
Hi Tenielle. Wow that sounds like a doozy of a problem, with all sorts of possible causes. Where are you? And have you read Zen Connection yet? It would be specially useful in this situation. The book has exercises on the audio CD attached to the book, that you download into your MP 3 player and take out to your horse. It gives you a VERY different perspective on what might be going on with your horse. I could only speculate from far away about the many possibilities, including things like fright from a wide window and traffic coming towards her, (although you would expect her to not want to get on afterwards), her displeasure at the way you drive ( just a suggestion, I have seen some driving that did not consider the balancing act that the horses have to do in the back). I have seen stuff like car fumes venting straight into the float vent when the car is idling, horses that hate floating boots because of the restriction of movement and discomfort that they can do, dividers that are too deep so that horses cannot spread their legs properly for balance.
Many people think their horse is not frightened, when lots of horses display their fear in different ways, even internalise it until they just have to crack up.
You might just have a very strong mare who wants to be listened to. If you don’t want to buy the book and learn how to get the answers yourself, then one other option might be getting someone else to do a session on her to try and figure out what is going on. I can do that for you if you want or pass you along to someone else who can do that also. I personally believe that the long term benefit of learning how to do it yourself is much more beneficial…
If it has become a habit, rather than a specific fear, it may be worth loading her up and taking her somewhere nice (from her point of view not yours) that is very close by (a very short trip) and holding her on the lead for half an hour of chilling out and a juicy pick of grass at the local showgrounds or something. And repeating that many times to different nice places, then gradually get the trips longer. Some ex race horses or brood mares have only had terrible things happen at the other end of a trip and this can break the cycle.
One thing is for sure – this girl is trying to tell you something! Let me know how you go, cheers jenny pearce
April 27th, 2011 at 6:19 am
Reply to Holly who talks about the man who used the bum rope.
I am not much of a fan of bum ropes, Holly. They might get your horse to get onto the float this time, but they usually do nothing to address the problem that had them saying “no”in the first place.
Since the most common cause of a horse saying “no”to getting on a float is deep fear and maybe even chronic anxiety, then a bum rope will often actually make the problem worse in the long run.
If you want to help your horse with that fear, then go over all my replies in this comment section and have a go yourself at some of those step by step suggestions. We can use your individual problem as the basis for an article if you want to put in the work that is needed to solve the problem.
cheers, jenny
April 27th, 2011 at 6:36 am
Reply to Niomi… Well Niomi, I think that you have a problem that needs fixing before you do any more travelling! Crikey! There are so many possibilities that could be causing this. Have you looked through all my suggestions about travelling problems on this blog? How did you get him on the float in the first place? Does he walk on freely and easily? Is he terrified about getting on the float too and just being incredibly obliging to get on? I am happy to help but need a clearer picture of what is happening. cheers, jenny
September 12th, 2011 at 7:04 pm
I have a 15 year old mare who i recently picked up. she will step on to the float & stand in the float while driving perfectly, but once we stop and are about to take her off, she begins to shake and will rush off the float a million miles an hour. i don’t know much about her, the woman who gave her to me was a very standoffish and i don’t know how to cure her. please help!!
thanks,
danielle.
September 19th, 2011 at 7:56 pm
Hi I have just got a new horse and I am having trouble floating him. I do not own my own float currently but I am looking at getting one. At the moment I hire a float when going out to event. For our first event I picked up a float the day before and practiced getting him on. It took my friend and I over two and a half hours o get him on and the next morning I was alone but only took a about half an hour. Then yesterday I went to take him out and ended up going unmounted because after trying for an hour and a half he wouldn’t budge. He is 162cm and knows he can pull me round and does do this at time. When I went to get him the old owner hit him when he tried to sniff at the float as he had never seen it before and continued to hit and punch him till we backed the float into a shed so he had no where else to go. People have said to use ropes behind him which freaked him out more and didn’t work at all. sometimes I think he may be scared and other times I think hes just having me on for example when he goes up but not far enough for me to do the chain up then comes off again. Having other horses on the float doesn’t help either as he will not follow them on. Once he is on hes a dream to float doesn’t move at all and comes off nicely its just getting him on. I am just looking for any ideas which could help me to get this horse on the float.
September 20th, 2011 at 9:07 am
Hi Danielle. I have answered your and Stacey’s questions together. Come back to me if you need more help.
September 20th, 2011 at 9:07 am
Hi Stacey and Danielle,
Have you read all the training articles on the website that I have written on floating problems? I think your question is answered there. But if you read them and you still have questions, then feel free to come back to me. One thing I promise you – he is not being a bad horse!
Here’s the links to make it easier for you.
http://www.bookswithspirit.com/follow-heidi-and-tilly-as-they-work-through-a-float-loading-problem
This article actually has an excerpt from my book about float training. http://www.bookswithspirit.com/horse-floating-trailering-and-travelling-problems
And this is not an article about floating, but it is about another way to think of your floating problem… http://www.bookswithspirit.com/3066
Cheers, jenny
November 16th, 2011 at 5:00 pm
hi guys, i have a 4 yrd old pacer currently racing, our problem in the past 4 weeks has been when we float her from home to the track and unload her, she tremours with fear even standing in the stall prior to racing ,sweating shaking what can we do , until 4 weeks ago she was good as gold now all her energy is spent prior to racing, what do we do or what can we do for her?
November 17th, 2011 at 7:34 am
That sounds like one seriously terrified horse. Poor thing! You are right to want to get to the cause ASAP because, (apart from our sadness at seeing a horse like that) in my experience they break down fairly quickly when their fear is that intense. OK, here’s your help. Fear is cumulative. That is, each fear when she is unable to act on, to make herself feel safe adds on to the next and the next and the next until you can have a gigantic terror built up of smaller fears. Although crikey, this poor girl doens’t sound like it’s all about smaller fears. You need to systematically work your way through her daily routine and find each thing she is afraid of and take action on it to help her feel safe. I expect she will start to improve a little even when you just make the commitment to her to find it and fix it. It’s a bit hard – understatement, it’s impossible – to put everything you need to figure this out, in my reply here. But I’ll do my best to get you off to a good start.
You would seriously enjoy Zen Connection with Horses – or at least your horse would. There is so much information in it about understanding all the different aspects of fear and how to systematically work to eliminate it. But I’ll see how much I can fit in here!
Do you think floating might be contributing to the fear levels? If so, the chapter on float training that is in Bobby’s Diaries is here on the website at this link http://www.bookswithspirit.com/horse-floating-trailering-and-travelling-problems
Here is another link too, to an article that I wrote called “moving on after a fall”, that has step by step instructions on how to get a quiet mind towards the end of the article. If you sit with your horse at home where hopefully things are a bit calmer and follow those instructions for a quiet mind – you will no doubt get some insights as to what is the matter with her. This might sound like airy fairy stuff, but I promise you it’s not. It’s a very practical thing to do that will in all likelihood get you an idea of the problem.
If you run into problems or want some more help to understand what to do about what you get in terms of insights about your horse, then please come back! I hate the sound of a horse that distressed and am happy to help. My new free lessons The Six Keys for Happiness with Your Horse aren’t quite ready – blast it! – because they would be a big help here. They should be finished within a week or two. Editing has been a HUGE learning curve for me. Anyway good luck with oyur girl and please let me know how you go.
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