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Trailering with feet in the manger
I was told my horse was not a loner. I have had him for a year. My husband & I both go on trail rides normally. Last weekend I thought I would take my horse & go on a trail ride since my husband had to work & we spent a lot of time at this place last summer. He loaded fine & traveled fine to the ride then coming home he loaded & started pawing so I headed out not far down the drive he had both feet in the manger, I got him unloaded fine but he had a small cut on his leg. He went right to eating grass. So I loaded him again & went a very short distance & had to unload him again so than someone else brought him home for me. I have a 3 slant trailer & the other person had a small stock trailer. Can you tell me what was wrong & how to fix it?
Thank you, Sandy
HI Sandy,
Why he started pawing and putting his feet into the manger could be from a number of reasons. Maybe impatience to get home was the issue, something happened on the ride to set him off (create anxiety) before he got into he trailer. Maybe he was more attached to having a buddy along than you thought. I would suggest taking another horse with him. Gradually get him used to being alone. Take hium alone for a very short drive, unload him, let him eat a bit, load back up and go home (only a few minutes drive). Do this for a while and gradually increase the time in the trailer alone. This is the standard proceedure for getting a herd bound horse to get used to trailering on its own. Start with just a minute or two first. Traveling in the two horse straight in trailer may have been just different enough to keep his attention on moving and not so much on putting his feet in the manger (this time).
Good luck and please keep me posted.
Sincerely, Franklin