Help me not create a problem - trailering edition

[fivestrideline]

Alrighty folks buckle in - and please be courteous.

I am gearing up for hauling out to lessons and schooling shows hopefully this summer. My horse was a bit sticky to load solo for the shipper that brought him to me, so I decided I wanted to take my time and practice at home to make hauling a good experience for him.

Day 1: yep, sticky. I had an hour to burn so I spent it loading and unloading, practicing getting on and halfway off and back on again (with dinner as a bonus for staying on). I have decent control of his feet unless he’s truly alarmed and then I let him back off and immediately reload. Ended on a good note.

Day 2 (today): same spiel but he walked right on this time. Unloaded and reloaded a few times, then closed him in. No issue. This is with my divider swung over (it is NOT easy or quiet to swing, more on that later). Opened up, unloaded, loaded him again, closed up. This time, when opening it up, he spooked a bit at something and started to back out. He hit my full length butt bar (which was still up), broke it, but bounced back into the trailer and stood. I cleaned up the carnage, loaded and unloaded a few times (he was understandably nervous again), and then called it a day.

Two things I’m debating.

• with my full length bar broken (he ripped the upper of the dual wall attachments out of the wall…) I either need to load and swing the divider over and use the regular butt bars or teach him to load in the single width stall. The divider is NOT easy to move and takes some brute force and noise. I’m not sure I can do that with him in there. So, load with the stall at single width??
• I don’t want to teach him to break butt bars. Is there value in shutting him completely in and letting him eat dinner on there for a few days? Or should I skip the standing on the trailer and start taking him for a lap around the block?

My trailer is a two horse straight load bumper pull with a ramp. Thoughts?

[RedHorses]

I would teach loading with the divider in position. When I start with mine I go in with them, step out the front door and go down to the back, letting go of the lead rope when I get to its end. If the horse decides to back out I can catch them on their way by - though I’m confident they won’t back out by the time I try this.

Next step is me going in the other side of the trailer as I lead them in (so the horse is in one stall, and I’m in the other) and I go out the back to do up the bum bar. I then go only as far into the stall as I have to, gradually staying further back, until I’m still standing on the ramp.

Once that’s solid I move to standing beside the ramp and sending the horse in.

[fivestrideline]

I also don’t want him to become a horse that flies off the trailer as soon as the ramp comes down. Hence my worry about the butt bars. I know this is a bit of a ramble and most of it is overthinking (seriously, he’s not the worst one I’ve worked with), but I’m wondering about next steps!

[fivestrideline]

@RedHorses

I would teach loading with the divider in position. When I start with mine I go in with them, step out the front door and go down to the back, letting go of the lead rope when I get to its end. If the horse decides to back out I can catch them on their way by - though I’m confident they won’t back out by the time I try this.

Next step is me going in the other side of the trailer as I lead them in (so the horse is in one stall, and I’m in the other) and I go out the back to do up the bum bar. I then go only as far into the stall as I have to, gradually staying further back, until I’m still standing on the ramp.

Thanks! This is smart. He was 0% about it initially which is why I opened up the divider, so I’ll have to see how that goes. It is much harder in the narrower space!

[RedHorses]

For coming off I teach them to step forward, and don’t actually undo it until they’re calm - which is. probably what you do too.

The key to not having a flying exit is being able to ask for one step back, and halt at any point in the loading process. When your horse can easily halt his backing out, even when he initiated the exit, you’re golden.

You do that by doing what you’re doing. When he goes back, calmly go with him and keep a little “forward” pressure on the halter until he stops and steps forward. If necessary, I will use a second lead with chain over the nose that only comes into effect when the horse goes backwards, and let them release the pressure themselves by stepping forward.

[RedHorses]

The trick I learned from an old horseman is to go into the trailer far enough for the horse to see there is room for them too. Too many people stop right at the back and basically are telling the horse to walk into the human.

Second trick from me - practice loading and unloading without consideration of the butt bar (practice the one step back, halt, go forward or back again) in a gradually decreasing stall. Move the divider a little at a time over days.

[RedHorses]

Third trick - ignore the horse’s bum! Get his head in the trailer and front feet on the ramp, and he can load even if his body is 90 degrees off to the side. Don’t worry about a straight approach!

[fivestrideline]

@RedHorses

Second trick from me - practice loading and unloading without consideration of the butt bar (practice the one step back, halt, go forward or back again) in a gradually decreasing stall. Move the divider a little at a time over days.

Genius! I’ll start here. I really don’t think this is a real problem for him, I just want to be SURE he will load before I go anywhere off property!

[Mersidoats]

Things that worked for me:

• on and off from straightness. No haunches cocked or shoulders offset. Straight.
• wait for calmness and relaxation. Head down, that blowing out sneezy thing, chewing.
• one foot at a time. Once he is straight, then teach one foot on, then two feet on, then three feet on, then four.
• be able to start and stop at any point. Echoing what others said about being being able to move one foot at a time.

You can also practice by setting up poles on the ground in the dimensions of your trailer, and “loading” in and out of stalls.

[fivestrideline]

@Mersidoats

You can also practice by setting up poles on the ground in the dimensions of your trailer, and “loading” in and out of stalls.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve never had luck with this. Not saying it isn’t useful! Just that my horses DEFINITELY know the difference. I realize this is a hole in my training skill set, but I struggle to create the same effect outside the trailer. Well, an enclosed wash stall works too, but we don’t have one of those here .

Yes, straightness is the goal, if only because the edge of the ramp scares me . This horse knows how to yield his hindquarters with a flick of the rope so that helps. It’s the Stay On There, Bud that I have problems with! He is very lazy though, so I’m hoping that will work in my favor

[FjordBCRF]

@Mersidoats

You can also practice by setting up poles on the ground in the dimensions of your trailer, and “loading” in and out of stalls.

My guy isn’t awful with loading, but he doesn’t always march right on. I set this up around this time last year as the training step to help with self loading before the trailer.

[beowulf]

I think you’ve got solid advice so far. I’m sorry to read he broke the full length bar, that must have taken a lot of effort on his part. Not so lazy is he

It’s only day two. I wouldn’t expect transformative behavior yet, keep at it.

I would keep at the single stall width. That’s how he will be traveling, right?

Since you are solo loading, I assume, teaching him to self-load will go a long way. You can do this by leading him in first and having a lunge line clipped on the outside of the trailer, up and around his bum, or you can just do it by leading him in yourself – but obviously, if you are up at the front no one can do the butt bar (hence the lunge). I find that if you hold enough tension in the lunge line most horses assume it = butt bar and don’t move.

I would give him his daily grain in it for a week. Don’t take the trailer for a spin. Just feed him in it only.

That was how I got my iffy loader to become a stellar self-loader. I made it simple and casual and rewarding. He would get his favorite treat (spearmint gum drops) once he was loaded in and the butt bar was in place. Find a high value treat if you aren’t adverse to treating. I’m not; I wouldn’t do anything for a pat on the head, but you could probably get me to do anything for a donut.

For the fly-backward types, the lunge helps with that. Pulling on the lead usually has the opposite effect. You can always try to distract him with treats as he unloads. Sometimes loading up and unloading 3-4x in one session without the trailer moving gets them to think more and be less reactive.

If you are a clicker training fan, this is a good situation to be using it.

Trailers are scary - especially when moving. I have said it before but I am amazed that any horse goes into them more than once.

[fivestrideline]

@beowulf

I think you’ve got solid advice so far. I’m sorry to read he broke the full length bar, that must have taken a lot of effort on his part. Not so lazy is he

He ripped it out of BOTH walls! To be fair, my other horse has bounced off that bar with quite a lot of force on more than one occasion, as well as sat on it for hours. This guy isn’t small either, and he sat HARD.

When you say clip the lunge to the outside and around his butt, are you saying basically clip it to the passenger back side of the trailer (loading him on the driver side) and run it around his backside like a butt rope? I’ve been using the lunge like an extra long lead that I can hold for some tension while I walk in and out of the escape door, but I think an imaginary butt bar lunge line may work even better! Thanks!

And yes, ideally he will travel in the single stall. I’m not opposed to an XL stall with the divider swung over, but I’d like to be able to haul him with friends or my trunk ratcheted in place in the other stall.

Trailers are terrifying. I’ve had my SO drive me around in the back of mine - I’ve tried to dampen as much noise as possible but dang if it ain’t a metal box on wheels . I have earplugs for him just for my own sake, and I’m waiting on shipping boots to practice wearing but not going anywhere (he’s got a capped hock that I’m trying to keep as minimal as possible). My junior jumper would load on anything, anywhere, first try, so my goal is to get this horse that solid.

[beowulf]

@fivestrideline

When you say clip the lunge to the outside and around his butt, are you saying basically clip it to the passenger back side of the trailer (loading him on the driver side) and run it around his backside like a butt rope? I’ve been using the lunge like an extra long lead that I can hold for some tension while I walk in and out of the escape door, but I think an imaginary butt bar lunge line may work even better! Thanks!

Yup. My trailer has two trailer tie loops bolted on the outside of the trailer; one is by where you would normally tie an unloaded horse/haybag off of your trailer. The other is towards the back of the trailer, near where you pin the ramp. That may be a custom option but with a long enough leadrope any configuration is possible really. You clip to one of those ties, and then wrap the lunge line around the back of the horse’s bum (similar to ground driving) and then hold the end. You don’t need to pull but sometimes it doesn’t hurt.

I learned this trick on COTH - sometimes the method of extraction is worse than the actual extraction. Same goes for trailers. With problem loaders this trick works a charm, especially if they haven’t figured out it’s not as strong as them.

[RooTheDay]

Without in any way minimizing the other suggestions here, and with great encouragement to do whatever works for you/your pony, I use the Lyons method and have done so with great success on multiple problem loaders, including helping a stranger who had been trying to get their horse back on the trailer for an hour after XC schooling at my farm. It’s self-loading only, which I like because a) I go places alone mostly and b) I am extremely aware of my own squashiness.

While my current mare came with “loads perfectly first try on anything every time” already installed, my last one emphatically did not (which, to be fair to her, was likely at least in part due to her neuro issues.)

The full method is really worth reading in his book, but the tl;dr is that you use a dressage whip tapping the hindquarters to cue “go forward” without ever touching/pulling on your lead. You start without even touching, just pointing at their hindquarters with the whip; as necessary, you move to touching, then you tap with v e r y slowly increasing enthusiasm until you get a single forward step. You then stop, praise, treat, and let the horse wait until it’s calm, then circle away and do the same thing over and over again until the horse is fully loaded and standing calmly.

Crucial points about this method:

• This is not beating the horse into the trailer. The whip is a cue, not discipline. You increase the strength of the cue until you get a response, just as you would under saddle, but as soon as you get a response, even a weight transfer forward, you stop and praise.
• The horse is allowed to stop and/or back up any time it wants; it just has to go forward again when asked. Going forward and then immediately back again is fine.
• It is totally normal for the horse to fully load but then back off again immediately and/or when you to try to put the butt bar up! This is expected. All that means is that they get to load again. After a few hundred reps they’ll figure out that it’s easier to stand there. I like to practice when hungry with a really tasty haynet in place to emphasize this. Once they’re loading and standing, I’ll hang out to one side of the trailer and just rattle the crap out of the bar before actually doing it up; this usually gets another 3-10 reps of unload/load, but after that they’re solid.
• The horse is allowed to back up. It is not allowed to kick at you, rear, or try to run you over, just as it wouldn’t be allowed to do these things in other contexts. Any of these actions get a three-second CTJ meeting.

I personally can’t be arsed to deal with swinging the divider so all of mine self-load with the divider in place; it’s fine to start with it swung over, but I would continue to teach until you get to that final end state. It’s really handy, and also it means that you don’t have to have your horse be the first on the trailer if you’re loading more than one.

Edited to add one last thing: It may seem like this will take years based on my description. It doesn’t, but the first foot of forward progress takes longer than going from “one foot in” to “fully loaded and standing quietly”–it is an extremely nonlinear process.

[NaturalSelection]

If I could like @beowulf post twice, I would.

I’m seconding the idea of just loading and feeding for a week. I did this for a summer with my horse who had a lot of trailer anxiety. I started with feeding without any constraint, if he changed his mind, he could leave. Then feeding with butt bar up, but doors open, then with trailer fully closed and me standing nearby, finally fully enclosed and I walked away to do chores. For my horse it seemed like most of the worry was being constrained ALONE.

My goal was more than just the obedience of loading, which he was pretty ok about even from the beginning. I wanted to get him really comfortable so that his anxiety was reduced. It helped that he’s incredibly food motivated and I gave him Triple Crown Sr in the trailer, but his usual fare was just ration balancer. I also like food as an indicator: if they’re too worried to eat, then they’re pretty worried!

[fivestrideline]

@NaturalSelection

For my horse it seemed like most of the worry was being constrained ALONE.

Yep, this. And also some worry about leaving his buddies, I think.

I have a mirror to put up, as well. I have a BAD loader that I’ve temporarily given up on (he’s retired), but if I can get this guy solid, then it’s his mare BFF who is iffy as well according to her owner, then the retiree. Lots of trailer training in my future I think, so I might as well do all the things to make it pleasant

[NaturalSelection]

Yes, for my horse I treated trailer practice as a form of equine mediation. Simmy needed to learn to get comfortable in the trailer with his own thoughts!

I am happy to say that he is much more comfortable in the trailer even when we haul alone, much less sweaty, not shaking, and happily munching on his alfalfa hay snack when we arrive at our destination.

[kaya842]

I agree with the standing and eating. My late baby TB would do this lovely trick where she would load perfectly 50% of the time, no indication of when that would be. Sometimes we would load great 3 times in a row, sometimes no loading at all, sometimes load to leave home but not to come back sometimes the other way around. It was tiring. When she didn’t want to load, nothing could get her back feet into the trailer. She never seemed scared just “nope”. So we spent a week or two non stop loading. She eventually ate all her meals in the trailer. Started with it open and her untied (lead rope still attached in case she decided to leave), then the butt bar up but doors and ramp open, then ramp up, then doors closed. I didn’t have any issues after that but always made sure to have a tasty bucket in there for her when she loaded. IMO she was trickier because she wasn’t necessarily worried about it, she just wasn’t a fan of trailering (and I don’t blame her).