Hi all, i'm seeking help for a friend whos horse has an odd problem!! Before my friend got her at 1 yr she had an accident at her stud and badly damaged her leg. As a result she was shut in a tiny stable with the top door shut as they were afraid she would jump out! This resulted in an understandable fear of enclosed spaces. she arrived with my friend aged 1 after being heavily sedated to go on a lorry.
fast forward to today, she is now 5 and has lived out since she arrived. in the field she is a lovable friendly horse and we hope to have her started this year. this is where we have a problem. we want her to go to an intelligent horsemanship RA in our area but we need to get her there. she panicks as soon as she is anywhere near a lorry and the RA can't come out and work on her at her yard as, well its not a yards its purely a field.
she wont even go into a field shelter her fear is that extreme. although ive followed monty methods for years i'm not confident enough to use them on such a troubled horse and was wondering if anyone had any tips!!!
if worse comes to worse we will lead her the 15 miles to the trainer but as she is still young an inexperienced on the roads, even in hand this is not ideal!
Hi!
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You really seem to have a big problem. My first question is, is there any roundpen available in your near surroundings? You will need it for doing Join-Up, Dually Halter work, desensitizing and longlining.
I am working with a mare who had experienced that trailers are not a good thing, too. She is really claustrophobic. I do not know so much about her story, as the owner could not tell me much about it, but I have started working with her.
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1. First, I would do Join-Up and start doing some Dually Halter work.
2. Then I would go over to desensitizing to accustom the horse to something touching the flanks.
3. After that I would start building a channel out of a fence and some bales of straw, for example. Start with a big channel (about 2 metres in width) and lead the horse through it. As soon as she is walking through the channel in a relaxed manner, make it a bit smaller by moving the bales of straw towards the fence (about 10 centimeters each time). Restart walking the horse through it and make it smaller again as soon as she is relaxed. Repeat this process until your channel has about the width of a two-horse-trailer or a starting gate.
4. Now I would start doing some double-longlining (again there is something touching the horse from both sides: the lines).
5. After she is okay with all these things, you can start with the trailer. Do some Dually Halter work on loading, and she will follow you into the trailer soon, I think.
6. Keep safe all the time!
7. Good luck!
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I hope this will help you. Do all these things in the right order, and I am sure you will be successful.
Please tell us about your progress.
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Best wishes from Hamburg, Germany
Jasmin
Thankyou, that's great advice! No round pen sadly but doubt she would go in one! Thinking of making one from electric fencing as keeps confinement to a minimum, starting work next weekend so fingers crossed!
Thankyou, that's great advice! No round pen sadly but doubt she would go in one! Thinking of making one from electric fencing as keeps confinement to a minimum, starting work next weekend so fingers crossed!
Fantastic instructions Jasmin,
I hope I will remember all of this if I have a problem in the future with Star.
Thank you.
Hi Star!
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If you're not sure you will remember it, print it out and make yourself a folder about all useful tips you find here. :-)
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Good night.
Jasmin
Hi
Jasmin's advice is very good. You can also, in the channel exercise and in the trailer, use a treat to associate that with a pleasant experience and take advantage of horse distractibility . You can also build a shelter and let food inside the shelter.
When introducing the horse to the trailer, let him the time to "smell" it. do things very progressively, letting the horse go in and out until he feels safe.
If possible, you can leave the trailer in his field for several days, then open the doors and put the food inside the trailer (not to deep inside at the beginning)
Remember to keep safe all the time. Looks like you have a really remedial horse and help from a professional may be mandatory. Invite the trainer and he will assess the situation.
As a last resort, You may have to sedate and blindfold the horse to put him safely in the trailer.
Good luck!