A trick to help horses with anxiety in the trailer

[@echinaceapurpurea1234]

Lovely video! I know it's a few years later but you asked for ideas 😅 and i thought someone might still see this. Since you had already achieved so much and she was willing to stay in for such a long time, it might be possible to better utilize environmental factors. You mentioned the heat and the shade. They could help make the trailer a comfortable place for her now that she's in the mental state where she can register such shifts in her environment. What i mean is ride or move her outside in the heat, not crazy adrenaline go-go-go but enough quality work to make her want to rest. Then bring her into the trailer to cool off in the shade for a good while. Have an ice blanket, water, a hose even, a fan, whatever nice cooling things she's comfortable with. Outside away from the trailer heat stress vs inside chill and rest, so that she begins to prefer being tucked away in the trailer and finds the outside less appealing. Having another horse waiting in there might add to her comfort. The benefit of the chill factor, if she finds it relaxing and nice, is that you can keep it going without you being there, and even while the trailer is moving. Nice coolness and rest and a bit of a snack comes to her when she's in and driving around, and back to work in the heat again when the ride stops. This probably wouldn't work too well if the horse was at a stage where it won't stay in the trailer, since the horse needs some time for this spa experience to register as a positive. Again, a nice video and great insight that even in the trailer with so little room you can ask little relaxing things, to help and monitor the mental state of the horse. ❤

[@jthompson13]

Hello I’m getting help from a trainer but I would like to know when you feel the horse is ready to travel in the trailer?

[@magnifinity]

Good question. It very much depends. The mare in the video has a lot of separation anxiety so she travels with a buddy currently. I’m not sure when I will try to take her off property alone. A great way to get an idea for how your horse will do on trips is to load them up and move the trailer a hundred feet or so and then unload them or check how they are responding to the movement. I have done that with Danni. It can help push their tolerance threshold without going over it and making it a good experience every time is key. The buddy system is very successful if you have an experienced, calm horse, to travel with. It helps the young/anxious horse gain experience off property with an “emotional support horse “ to lean on if necessary.