Help trailering my horse?
ByMy horse is going to his first show in two weeks, he has been trailered before but usually not happily. It is crucial that he load on time this time. As we only have two hours to get him loaded up and drive twenty minutes away.
When loading, he will put his front half in and that’s about it. WIth too much pressure we won’t even get close to it. Unfortunately I do not have a trailer to practice with, they will just have it the day of drop off.
What I have been working on right now is, teaching him to walk past me and halt with basic forward and woah cues. I don’t see a whole lot of improvement.
Any tips or methods you have used would be helpful.
We have tried where you work them outside of the trailer and let him rest inside but he just will run circles for ever.
For the day of, we will have our trainer on stand by but hopefully will not have to call him, and I plan on using Quitexx (horse downer).
Once shut in the trailer he behaves fine, its just getting him in that is painful.
We have two options for trailers right now, either a three horse slant, he will travel with two other horses. Or a stock, where he would either travel alone or with a mini horse
It is a step up, we have tried ramps with him and that was an absolutely heck no.
He steps fine up and down into step ups, when he has loaded, and if we had to we’ve pushed it to an embankment where he can just walk in.
butt ropes and rear pressure aren’t options, he will plant his feet and will not go in that day. And I know about chute loading, heard too many terrible things for people and horses in that attempt.
The show isn’t for two weeks so I have been trying to do everything in my power until then. I’m trying to get the stock trailer the weekend before to do a little practice I just don’t want to push it before the day.
He also is a food-motivated horse, usually grain helps a little, but only for so long. Do you think not feeding him the morning of the trailering day would help? Motivate him more maybe
8 Comments
August 31st, 2010 at 8:26 pm
Best bet is to knock him out and let me eat him. No more problems.
August 31st, 2010 at 8:34 pm
I’d go with a stock trailer and a mini horse inside. They are bigger and have more windows, so a lot of horses are more comfortable with that.
Anyway, first you need to figure out why he isn’t loading. Is he genuinely afraid of the trailer, or has he just learned that he can get away with being stubborn? You need to fix both of those problems differently, and if he’s afraid you need to figure out why. Since he doesn’t respond well to pressure, it makes me think he’s scared not stubborn (but it’s hard to tell without seeing in person).
Is it a ramp or a step up trailer? Some horses are funny about ramps and don’t like the clatter under their feet. For that, walk him across a sturdy wooden platform (a tarp will do if you don’t have one) to get him used to walking over things that are unstable-feeling or noisy.
Some horses don’t like step-ups for whatever reason- they just don’t like taking that big step up onto the trailer! For that, you are just going to have to get him used to stepping onto the trailer.
If he doesn’t like being closed in, get him used to walking through tighter spaces… put make a row of barrels and have him walk through them. That’s a harder issue to fix- horses naturally dislike being closed in, they feel trapped/vulnerable. You are going to have to work on that issue slowly and it’s doubtful that you will fix it in under 2 hours.
I assume you’ve already tried all of the “usual” methods- longing, food, butt-ropes, backing them up, etc.
My horse was a combination of both problems… she was afraid of the trailer because she was involved in a small trailer accident, and she was stubborn because everyone always let her be stubborn using that as an excuse. I got her over the fear with food (she is a very food-motivated horse, that probably wouldn’t work for most), and to get her over the stubbornness I would make her back up whenever she refused to load… eventually she got sick of walking backwards and decided it was easier for her to just walk forwards onto the trailer… but since your doesn’t respond well to pressure, I am guessing that method will not work well with you.
And one last thing- in horse rescue situations they sometimes make a chute out of corral panels then force/chase the horses on… don’t do that though, that’ll just scare him worse! Just pointing it out as an option if you ever need to move him in an emergency situation.
August 31st, 2010 at 8:41 pm
Put hay in a the 3 HORSE SLANT!!! I’m not big on Stock trailers, Keep tempting him with his fav treat, dont ware him out before getting in the trailer, he wont be as good if he has a speed event
Pop him on the butt lightly if he acts up! Keep working!
Good luck!
Also if it gets SO riduclouisly hard, try spooking him in, people will thumbs down me for that, but thats if it gets horrible!
August 31st, 2010 at 8:43 pm
Does he show signs of white eyes? Or is he pooping a lot when you try to trailer him?
If he isn’t you may have to use a dressage whip some and have someone behind him with a rope around his but and push him on in. Of course use a bucket of feed, or treats and have a hay net tied up. You will have to coax him in with each step, give him a break, then keep him moving in. Sometimes having to lift a hind foot in when his rear end is close enough. We had to do this with a tb the other day. First 10 minuets he was nervouse, rest of the time he was being an ass and just not caring. If he backs out, let him one time, do not praise him, take him in a circle near the trailer on a bit of a loose lead, if he tries to eat grass, he’s taking advatage. At this point back him up to get his attention and realize your the boss, then take him back to re-loading him again.
A stock trailer sounds nice, its more open and for him to see. But if so, have him follow the mini inside. It might help him feel more at ease. But I’d rather you use the slant load. If needed, take one of the other horses out and see if he can follow that horse inside. They are herd animals.
Tips: Try not to look him in the eye while his front half is in the trailer. Look away and coax him in. Try not to seem like your blocking his pathway. Having other horses in the trailer should help more.
If someone is behind him with a rope, make sure they know to drop it if he does balk out. Don’t let him keep backing out too much, or he’ll start to think its okay for him to get his half in and then at a point he can back on out.
Eventually get a trailer somehow in the future and set it in the pasture. Set his feed at the end and each day, work it’s way in, until he is comfortable enough to eat fully inside the trailer. Once he does that and your there, you may practice closing the doors and then eventually leading him into the trailer with his feed etc. It’ll take time and paitence, but it works.
August 31st, 2010 at 9:07 pm
I HAD THIS SAME PROBLEM WITH MY MARE FOR A YEAR. IT WAS TERRIBLE. WE MISSED SHOWS JUST BECAUSE IT TOOK 4+ HOURS TO LOAD HER.
WHAT MY COUSIN TOLD ME TO DO (WHICH WORKED AMAZINGLY!!!) WAS TO PUT HER IN A SMALL PEN ABOUT 20X30 AND HAVE THE TRAILER IN THE PEN WITH HER. LET HER STAY IN THE PEN FOR A FEW DAYS, PUTTING HER FOOD AND WATER BUCKET IN THE TRAILER ONLY. IF SHE WANTED FOOD OR WATER SHE WOULD HAVE TO GO IN THE TRAILER TO GET IT. WE DID THIS FOR ABOUT 4 DAYS AND IT HELPED TREMENDOUSLY!
NOW EVERY TIME I OPEN THE TRAILER DOOR SHE RUNS IN BEFORE I LET HER GO lol SHE LOVES HER TRAILER NOW ^_^ EVEN IF THEIR ISNT AN EVEN FOR HER, WE BRING HER ALONG TOO.
IM NOT SAYING IT WILL WORK FOR EVERYONE BUT IT COULDNT HURT TO TRY. BUT EVEYTIME I HAVE A TOUBLED LOADER I PUT THEM IN THE PEN WITH THE TRAILER AND IT WORKS!
GOOD LUCK!!!
August 31st, 2010 at 9:58 pm
This should help
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK4W8w5JKl8
August 31st, 2010 at 10:22 pm
My horse minnie was a NIGHTMARE. When she even saw a trailer she would plant her feet into the ground and not move!
What I did was use a ramp. Open the front ramp to and make the trailer look open and not dark and scary. Also open the partitions so he has more room to walk on and it doesnt look scary.
Get a bucket of feed, and shake it so they are excited and wanting it (if your horse is anything like mine!)
Then, line it up to the trailer and as someone else to shake the feed while you load it on. Dont push the horse in or it’ll just be even less confident (thats why I advice you do it over a period so like every evening this week) just calmly shake the feed and let the horse put one foot on, stay there for a bit, pat him and tell him good boy, keep shaking the feed then he’ll put another foot on and then gradually he’ll go more forward and hopefully get onto the trailer. If he backs off dont get angry, just start again.
If you find this technique doesn’t work, I have another!
Do you have any sort of enclosed arena with a gate? If so, put the horse in the arena and reverse the trailer so its almost being the gate, put the feed in the trailer where you want the horse to go and leave the horse in the field (prefferably grass arena) from the morning untill the evening. When you get back to the yard your horse would be so desperate for is delicious feed he would have eventually plucked up the courage to walk up into the trailer. Do this every day, and also use the 1st technique and your horse will load easily.
These techniques worked perfectly for my horse. Im just hoping your horse loves feed like mine did!
Whatever you do don’t push it, this is what the owners before me did with minnie and knocked her confidence completely and it was very difficult to regain it. Don’t shout, pull, use a whip. Just stay calm and keep reassuring it with ‘good boy’ ect
Hope this helps as much as it helped me!
good luck xx
August 31st, 2010 at 10:47 pm
food,
take him into sheds, enclosed areas across bridges anything diffrent
also pressure and realse wich is were you have a long whip and you tap on the girth/leg area and keep asking till he takes one step forward then stop taping and reward with a pat and give a few seconds and ask again,
also take the divder out he may feel too boxed in, and if he dosint have the divder he can also keep his balance better