Monday, January 13, 2014

TRAPPED!

Kind of cute but never quite happy!
So, as the world turns, these are the days of our lives...  Have I ever ranted about those Eeyore type folks?  You know the ones - the Debbie Downers, the "my life is worse than anyone elses" and the "see, everything happens to me" folks?  Have I?

Probably not since I do not tolerate the victimization of folk.  I believe that what you do, how you view life, how you approach things is what defines you.  Ok, I wasn't going to have that rant today...  No, there is a piece of me that wants to fold into my very own inner-Eeyore...

Desensitizing in 2010
Sugar scrambled in the trailer, once, coming home from her Christmas vacation.  She wasn't hurt but tore a huge hole in her galloping boots.  And, this weekend, while trailering a short distance to our dressage clinic, she did it again.  This time she tore through her bell boots and cut her coronary band.  It felt more violent than our Jersey ride.

I started my blog on 4/11/10.  It was a little piece called "Patience will be the Death of Me Yet".  In January 2010, we had a trailering incident coming home in a snow storm.  I believe Sugar got caught in her Lende shipping boots and panicked wildly.

Because of the snow and some road construction, I couldn't pull over to check her. The racket was terrifying. Then she quieted.   I was scared to death and didn't know what to do...  She remained quiet all the way back to the barn.  When I opened the trailer door, she was standing there rigid, drenched in sweat.  With the exception of some bruising on her ribs, she seemed unharmed.

Thank god she's eye candy
Photo used with permission
From that day and for the next 4 months, she would obediently self-load, stand quietly until the doors shut... then she would try to kill herself.  I do not exaggerate.  It was the scariest thing ever!  I worked with an expert for those 4 months to get her back trailering safely.  {{{Trust me, we tried EVERYTHING.}}}  And, one day, she stopped and then trailered well until this scrambling incident.

God, I want to rail at the world...  I want to cry and I just want to bury my head in the ground.  I can not handle this again.  Let me say that again, I can not handle this again! 

Phew!  That felt a little naughty.  And, the ugly truth is, I could go on and even deeper into the "woe is me!"  But, for this moment, I won't!  The truth is that Sugar scrambled in the trailer.  She is not trying to kill herself.  (I'm trying so hard not to add, "YET")

So, I called my trailering expert who offered me advice which I will take.  I pray that it is just a blip and she'll be back on the road again.  You see, it's not a secret but Sugar is a god awful backyard horse.

Patience will be the death of me yet...  {{{SIGH!}}} 

{{{psst, I don't think I can handle this again!}}}

7 comments:

Amanda said...

Any kind of trailering problems are the worst. I really do hope it is just a blip on the radar that will fade quickly

Boss Mare Eventing said...

My horse William also did this when I first started trailering him. It is scary, I know exactly what you are describing.

I fed him breakfast and dinner on the trailer, and had to drug him lightly for the first few trailer rides and he eventually got over it. My advice is to start taking her for 5 or 10 minute rides around the block a few times a week so she can become accustomed, if not bored with her trailer rides. You wont be far from home and it will be safer that way.

I hope you guys can get through this!

Amanda said...

Oh my God, there is practically no worse feeling in the world than being the driver hauling a trailer with a scrambling horse. It instantly conjures up every worst case scenario you can think of...and you're often away from home and you have to drive somewhere to fix it...and ugh. I feel your pain. I have hauled a scrambler before and even the memory of it makes the pit drop out of my stomach.

I wish you a swift, straightforward resolution to Sugar's problems!

Melissa-ParadigmFarms said...

Any type of trailering problem is HARD to deal with. I think you are entitled to some venting! Hopefully these were just minor incidents and this issue can go quietly into the night again.

Suzanne said...

Your comments on this situation mean a lot to me. It is hard to explain to folks who haven't been through it. Fingers are crossed that this is a tiny blip in our moving forward!

Adriana said...

Hi Suzanne,
I stumbled upon this blog post while scouring the internet in search of a solution for my young horse's trailering problems. It seems that she has a very similar problem to the one Sugar had- she loads fine but panicks once she gets closed in there and we start moving. Like total frantic panicking. Did you ever manage to resolve Sugar's trailering issue? I would love to hear any insight you might have. Thanks so much.

Suzanne said...

Adriana, Yes we did fix it. First we did desensitizing, then when she stopped trying to throw herself to the ground, we opened up the full trailer to be a box stall and let her decide how to ride in the trailer, then we put the divider up, then tied her and finally determined that she liked to ride on the right side. Took about 3-4 months and I never had a problem trailering her after that.