help with trailering issues please

I wasn't really sure where to post this but I'm having some trouble with trailering my horse. I have a 2hrse bumber pull and a big appaloosa gelding. A while back we started having this weird jolting feeling when we turned. We thought it was the trailer so we took it to be fixed and it turns out that there was a little problem with the breaks but it continued to happen. I also noticed that my horse had random bumps and scrapes even though he's well "packaged" for delivery. So yesterday I tagged along with my friend to a show and we used her trailer and the same thing was happening. I believe he's having trouble standing up in the trailer... falling down. It's not the driver or speed of turning because we take the turns at a creeping pace and he still stumbles. One friend mentioned that he may be getting lazy and leaning on the divider so when we turn he loses his balance and is falling. I just really don't know how to go about fixing something like this but I need to do something because he's hurting himself, not to mention ruining my shipping boots. Any ideas are very welcomed. Thank you!

Our horse does this, the little turd. I followed behind one day and I discovered that he's so busy trying to kick the trailer to pieces when we turn that he eventually loses his balance and has to fall on his hocks to stay upright. If he didn't kick we wouldnt have the problem and he wouldnt get scrapes on his legs. He only does it when we turn though, and he does it more often and more violently when we make left turns.

I don't know what to do other than trailer more. He's had a break all winter so maybe the next time we load him up he wont be such a moron. The problem coincided with his sudden refusal to load. Before he would just walk right in, but most recently (as of last August) he refuses to load, and it takes almost ten minutes to get him on.

Another thing I noticed about it was that the first trip we ever made without him wearing shipping boots (I had decided to use square quilt pads and polo wraps for better support) seems to be where the problems originated. It was over 100 degrees that day and we had about an hours drive to the venue. I can only imagine how miserable that would have been for him. After that his kicking fits began and he wouldn't load properly. It seems like a stretch but after being used to shipping boots for so long, he may have associated the sudden absense of the boots with the horrible trailering conditions of that day. Who knows what goes through the mind of a horse?

Hopefully a new trailer will help. Ours is definately no newer than 1980's and it might possibly be from the 70's... Our horse just doesn't fit well in it and I think the claustrophobia might be driving him to thrash around.

Don't know if that helped at all, maybe you feel better knowing it's not just you...

What I would do is to have someone drive for a short way for you, and ride in the trailer so you can see what's happening. It can even be a dirt road or something so it's legal, just make a few turns and stops etc. to see what's happening. But, your trailer is a 2-horse, and it'd be dangerous to be stuck in such a small place with a horse that could be falling down. So, you could either borrow a bigger trailer so you could ride back there and not be trapped so close to your horse if he starts thrashing or something; or stand on the fender on the outside of the trailer and watch through the window. Either way is good, (as long as you trust the driver:) ) and you could see exactly what is happening with your horse.

This sounds EXACTLY like my situation... He doesn't have kicking fits but it did come right about the same time he decided not to load the trailer. Which i figured was just a result of him hating the ride because he fell down. I actually stopped putting shipping boots on and changed over to wraps because he was just ripping them up, leaving his legs to be scraped up even more. Our trailer too is small and old :-p but being a daughter of non-horsey parents, it's what i have until i can afford my own. It also occurs mainly going to the left... creepy... maybe our horses have been talking lol If you find a solution please let me know and I would be happy to do the same.