QR never acted like that when Jimmy Jerkens had him. Now with Pletcher-too much Equipoise-or something else?
That\'s a real leap to assume refusing to load is associated with Equipoise, especially when the horse would be tested for same.
Who knows. You\'d have to know the horse alot better than I do (I know nothing about his barn/schooling temperment/shipping experience to SA, trailering and gate history, etc). He had no intention of going in once he got to the gate area, then it just got worse. Sometimes they just get a bug up their azz for no reason we can tell, even experienced horses. They are horses. That\'s what they do.
Not to mention that horses can sometimes be telling us something, like that they have something hurting and don\'t want to run. Remember that this horse has issues (in addition to his feet) that made it so that he wasn\'t sold at auction despite being a magnificent physical specimen with a nice pedigree.
\"Traumatized Quality Road Will Van Home\" - refused to get on the plane. Long article with good discussion. bloodhorse.com today.
Glad I\'m not the groom going 36 hours non-stop in the back of a horse van with him.
\"Traumatized Quality Road Will Van Home\"
...should read \"Traumatized and Tranquilized Quality Road Will Van Home\"