Floating Issues

Nervous Traveller

I have a 10 year old 17hh thoroughbred who is a very honest and personable horse to be around, except when floats are involved. When he came to me, his previous owners delivered him in a horse truck and he was absolutely saturated with sweat, so obviously the loading / journey hadn't been a pleasant one for him. I have attended some courses in Natural Horsemanship and am by no means an expert, but I do practise pressure and release techniques with him in the paddock and there is never a problem. He is
always willing to come with me, back off etc.

When it came to floating however, any pressure from the front end was totally unacceptable. I would ask him to step forward with slight pressure on his halter, ready to release the pressure the instant he would step forward. He wouldn't step forward into the float, but would just throw his head in the air and rear and generally panic. I quickly decided perhaps this wasn't the right approach for him, so resorted to a bum rope behind and used this as pressure and release as soon as he came forward. This worked really well for him and eventually after a lot of time and patience he was finally able to get all four feet into the float. He couldn't stand in there for long, so I just let him back up when he wanted to and then asked him to come forwards again which he was always happy to do, so long as he knew he could escape when it all got too much for him. As he got more comfortable, I also asked him to back out and in again, so it wasn't always just his decision.

I also started feeding him in the float to encourage him to stand in there for longer  periods with me and again this worked well and he was getting calmer each time - by now I wasn't using a bum rope to get him on board. He was just walking up quietly beside me.  Finally I asked my husband to join us and secure a lunge rope to one side
of the rear of the float and bring it around behind my horse and just keep the pressure on to let him know that he couldn't go back. I remained at his head feeding him and generally calming him and when he moved back the first time and realised he had to stay on board, he was fine, no panic at all. We did this a few times and then advanced to putting the back door up. Again I was at his head, calming him just in case and all went fine. We did this about three times on different days and thought to ourselves, the next time we were about ready to just drive around the paddock with him on board and
see how he handled that.

We never got to drive him around the paddock, as have had about a month's break from doing it. Yesterday we hitched up the float to move it, so I suggested we might as well put my horse on board again and see how he went. He walked on straight away just  beside me and wasn't in the least worried about standing in here. Again I fed him on  board.  I then decided to change the routine, as I thought to myself, I'm not always going to be able to stand with him, as mostly when travelling him, I'll be alone and will have to be the one at the back putting up the rear support and door etc. I asked my husband to stand with him, still feeding him whilst I went around the back of the float to secure him. I put the back chain up but didn't secure it yet and there was no drama. I then secured it and he leant back on it and we don't know what on earth happened, but all hell broke loose. He just went into sheer panic thrashing around in there and of course we couldn't undo the back support until he calmed himself down, as he was leaning against it. In the meantime however, with all this thrashing and him being such a big boy, he managed to snap the front of the chassis (unbelievable to me) and by now the float is on a serious lean which didn't help matters. Finally he calmed and we were able to release the back support and walk him off. He cut his foot in all the panic, but it could have been worse......

I'm now desperate for help, as I really thought we were on the right track with him. I was about to sell my old float anyway and re-invest in a newer one, but now I'm quite terrified that he might 'break' this one too, or even hurt himself or me in the process. If you can help as to where we can go from here so that I can get him on and secured and travel off on my own, as I want to broaden his horizons and get him out trekking with others and seeing new sights etc....Thanks so much for any advice and help!!!!!!

Regards...Michelle Day-Williams from Tauranga.

Ps. Sorry it's a bit lengthy, but I wanted to try and give you a full picture of what's been going on...

Hi Michelle,

First off, you and your husband handled the situation exactly as we would have done until that last day. On that last day we would not have changed the routine of you at your horse’s head and your husband on rear duties. I say this because I read the situation to be that you had taken your horse to the stage where he was “leaning” on you but he was not at the stage when he was confident enough to “lean” on anyone else.

But (and good grammar says that you should never start a sentence, let alone a paragraph with “But”) so what? You have all had a “learning experience”.

So take all that you can from your learning experience and have another go only this time you are going to change from being his mother to being his aunt or a really staunch family friend. By this I mean give your horse the confidence not to be a wuss. After all if he hadn’t rocked the trailer he wouldn’t have hurt himself!

Almost all that you did worked, so don’t let dwell on the kerfuffle that you had at the end of the last float training session … repair the float, attach it to a vehicle (so that it is stable and will not tip up when your boy stands on the ramp) and park it so that when the the ramp is down it is positioned in the gateway of a small yard in which your horse has just taken up residence. Tell your horse that all meals for the next week or so will be served in the trailer, so when he is hungry he is free to help himself. Start by positioning the feed bin and haynet where he can reach it if he stands on the ramp and then on a snack by snack basis, move the feed towards the front of the trailer, so that each meal is served a little further inside the trailer than before.

Warn him that he has to live in his yard until he has grown into his shoe size. If you approach this process as though you have unlimited time and patience you won’t need them. However if you are concerned about the time the exercise could take it will feel as though it has taken an eternity!

Tell him that trailers are kind vehicles and that he has got to be big and brave and to trust you. Assure him that you do not want him to have any more uncomfortable experiences in the trailer ever again as veterinary and panel beating bills are very expensive and not allowed for in the budget.

Do not socialise with him and don’t sympathise if he says he is lonely / bored / hungry. All he has to do is screw up all his courage and help himself to the haynet that is hanging at the front of the trailer.

He will eventually pluck up enough courage to stomp on and off to feed himself. At the beginning he will rush off backwards when the haynet rattles but this is all part of regaining confidence and it will remind him that he has nothing to worry about as he is in total control of any trailer movement.

When he can take himself on and off to eat his meals, skip one serving so that he is really pleased and hungry when you next appear. Place his feed at the front of the trailer as usual then take up a position by the ramp so that you could – if you wanted to – lift the ramp or place your hand on his bottom or play with the back chain. You have no intention of doing any of these things but put yourself where – you could – if you felt like it. At this point advise him of a rule change.

From now on he has to go past you to eat his feed on the trailer because when you leave you are going to take the feed with you! From this point onwards, you stop being mother and you turn into the family friend. As a friend of the family you can say and think things like “Wow, I wish all the horses I knew were as brave as you!” and you can call all your friends to come and admire how brave he is. He could find this a little embarrassing but that’s fine, he either gets on with eating at the front of the trailer or he goes hungry. It’s very straight forward.

When he can cope with your presence behind him while he is on the trailer, re-introduce your husband to stand beside the ramp. Make this an occasion. Produce an extra special meal for your horse and enjoy the opportunity to engage in a really long conversation with your husband about any subject you like, as long as it doesn’t involve the horse or the trailer.

When your four legged friend can concentrate on his meal and not your presence behind him you will almost be ready to start the next session from where you left official trailer training last time.

On the day that you decide it is time to officially put your horse on the trailer and take him for a drive I would go all the way. If you have followed the programme outlined above he will have no reason to still be frightened of the trailer. So on ‘D’ Day I would suggest that you work him hard so that he is not exhausted but pleasantly fatigued and looking forward his snack in the trailer. I would put him in a rope halter and make it perfectly clear that he can trust you. If he comes with you into the trailer you will be very, very proud of him but if he is silly - you and your husband will laugh and he will look a fool.

Your float training methods were so successful last time that you should have faith in yourself because you were on the right track, you just changed course a little too soon and so didn’t quite see the training through to it’s completion and you just might have mothered him a bit too much.

He needs to learn to trust you and do what he asked. He needs to respect that you are firm, fair and will give him room to learn and develop the courage to stand on his own four feet but you will not hold his hoof and baby him every inch of the way.

It will be interesting to hear how you get on, so please let us know.