Dreaded trailering!?

Question

I have this great horse, she's willing to do anything, even get into a "terrifying trailer", as long as i'm there with her. She's definatly had a scary past with trailering, which is why I've NEVER used force to get her in. She just walks right in after me. My problem is that when she's in the trailer, she shakes because she is so scared!!! It's really traumatic and even though I practice this with her a few times every week, she just can't calm down. I've tried feeding her in there and giving her treats, and I always leave the door open, so she won't feel trapped or if she panics. Whatever happened to her must've been aweful. So, I'm wondering if I should use something to calm her down. I know there's pastes you can put on the horses lip, or herbal inhalants.

Has anyone used them to ease trailering stress? And how long do they last? I don't want to be on the trail while she falls asleep or something!!!! Any advice would help a lot!

Answer 1

There is a product called B-Kalm (I think that is how its spelled) and others like it. They do work. Just take the edge off. I have a mare that use to be real bad with her feet. I gave it to her about 1 1/2 hours before the shoer came out. And she was mellow. I have worked with her a lot and how is fine with nothing. But you can try those. And they are pretty cheap! Good luck!

Answer 2

Poor thing.  She might never fully get over her trauma but it sounds like you are doing everything you can.

I've never tried Rescue Remedy in particular, but I've tried some other herbal treatments that I think have worked great for different conditions.  I think it's worth a shot for sure.  I've mostly used the herbal products from Chamisa Ridge, and really like them.

I've also heard that lavender oil works great for calming horses.

Answer 3

I'm not sure that you should use a calming supplement. It really sounds like you are following a good program to help your horse be braver about trailering by practicing often. If she had something very scary happen to her in the past, it may take a lot of time and work for her to become confident in the trailer. When you practice with her do you load and unload several times, or just once and leave her in the trailer for some time to eat? I think loading and unloading several times would be good, then have her stand in the trailer for ever increasing amounts of time. The more good experiences she has in the trailer, the easier it will be to cope. And I think its a good idea to leave the trailer door open for now, and only close it when she is feeling a bit better about being in there. Something else that might help is loading and unloading with another horse that is very calm about loading if you can. As herd animals, horses often pattern their behavior on what the other horses are doing. So, if you put an old schoolmaster in the trailer first, he can tell her and show her that the trailer is an OK place to be.

If you really get in a pinch, I have used Calm N Cool paste in the past with some success. Never had a horse fall asleep while using it, but it does seem to take the edge off. But it does take about 4 hours to achieve full effectiveness.

I've tried Rescue Remedy, and on one horse it worked very well, and on another it seemed to have no effect at all.

Answer 4

I would probably give her some bute for the safety of you and your horse in hauling her.