Horse doesn’t like unloading from trailer

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Basically the title.

Horse loads great in almost anything, except my straight load with a ramp.

Hes hopped right in some questionable stock trailers and has always hauled like a pro. Unloads well when we are at whatever barn or trail we hauled to, loads 80% when we are going home.

DH uses this horse to move cows (also horses favorite thing)

Last time he had to unload, this horse literally threw himself down on the floor of the trailer, like a spoiled brat.

Today DH used horse to gather, horse was great to load up. Did great working. When he got home to unload baby horse once again he threw himself down in the trailer. Finally unloaded.

Like I said this horse will jump right into any trailer, an unloads 80% of the time.

Am I missing something?! Horse has never behaved badly under saddle, on the ground etc.

Horse is 5, came off the track 2 years ago.

Ive had lots of experience with horses not wanting to get on the trailer 🙄

Like I said 80% of the time he will unload. Sometimes he just throws a tantrum. Horse doesn’t seem to be in any pain, enjoys working. We normally turn him around and he unloads head first.

[SuzieQNutter]

@streamline

Basically the title.

Horse loads great in almost anything, except my straight load with a ramp.

Hes hopped right in some questionable stock trailers and has always hauled like a pro. Unloads well when we are at whatever barn or trail we hauled to, loads 80% when we are going home.

DH uses this horse to move cows (also horses favorite thing)

Last time he had to unload, this horse literally threw himself down on the floor of the trailer, like a spoiled brat.

Today DH used horse to gather, horse was great to load up. Did great working. When he got home to unload baby horse once again he threw himself down in the trailer. Finally unloaded.

Like I said this horse will jump right into any trailer, an unloads 80% of the time.

Am I missing something?! Horse has never behaved badly under saddle, on the ground etc.

Horse is 5, came off the track 2 years ago.

Ive had lots of experience with horses not wanting to get on the trailer 🙄

Like I said 80% of the time he will unload. Sometimes he just throws a tantrum. Horse doesn’t seem to be in any pain, enjoys working. We normally turn him around and he unloads head first.

Is he getting too big to turn around? Does it hurt to turn around?

Have him back on the ground. 2 hooves on and back and praise. 4 hooves on and back and praise. All in and back and praise.

See how that goes.

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@SuzieQNutter

Is he getting too big to turn around? Does it hurt to turn around?

Have him back on the ground. 2 hooves on and back and praise. 4 hooves on and back and praise. All in and back and praise.

See how that goes.

He’s just a little guy… maybe 15.2 on a good day… is a little long in the back.

He backs up on the ground well, turns in a small circle well both ways. I was almost thinking maybe it hurts stepping off the trailer? He wears front shoes or else he’s ouchie. I don’t have x rays.

[SuzieQNutter]

@streamline

He’s just a little guy… maybe 15.2 on a good day… is a little long in the back.

He backs up on the ground well, turns in a small circle well both ways. I was almost thinking maybe it hurts stepping off the trailer? He wears front shoes or else he’s ouchie. I don’t have x rays.

I wasn’t thinking of legs hurting. I was thinking of his sides and neck having to bend more than usual hurting.

[phoebetrainer]

Try doing it in increments.Load him so only his front feet are on the ramp. Back off. Ask for a couple more steps. Back off. Rinse and repeat until he is inside and happy to move all four feet without backing off, and then will back off when you ask him to. It might take more than one session to get him really comfortable. Lots of horses get their feet “stuck” and struggle to pick them up so they can unload.

[clanter]

maybe he just does not like to come home? When I was in college I worked with a show barn where we had a roadhorse who always was loaded into the the six horse trailer behind the truck driver (front two rode backwards) …IF you ever slowed down to 35 MPH she would start kicking the wall behind you … horse just loved to go fast

[Bluey]

@streamline

Basically the title.

Horse loads great in almost anything, except my straight load with a ramp.

Hes hopped right in some questionable stock trailers and has always hauled like a pro. Unloads well when we are at whatever barn or trail we hauled to, loads 80% when we are going home.

DH uses this horse to move cows (also horses favorite thing)

Last time he had to unload, this horse literally threw himself down on the floor of the trailer, like a spoiled brat.

Today DH used horse to gather, horse was great to load up. Did great working. When he got home to unload baby horse once again he threw himself down in the trailer. Finally unloaded.

Like I said this horse will jump right into any trailer, an unloads 80% of the time.

Am I missing something?! Horse has never behaved badly under saddle, on the ground etc.

Horse is 5, came off the track 2 years ago.

Ive had lots of experience with horses not wanting to get on the trailer 🙄

Like I said 80% of the time he will unload. Sometimes he just throws a tantrum. Horse doesn’t seem to be in any pain, enjoys working. We normally turn him around and he unloads head first.

If horse is wearing western saddle, watch that the flank cinch is not binding when it tries to back out of the trailer.

We have had a few colts that had a problem with that.
Since the flank cinch was not always “grabbing” them, it was hard to see where the problem was.
Once we let it out a bit if it was very snug before loading, we avoided that.

Generally that was a transient problem, they got over it as they were older.
Mares were the worst for back cinch “girththiness” if it was to happen, to the point of them falling down when trying to take a step back, if it felt too tight to them.
It seemed to puzzle the horses as much as the humans, why they were being told to back and then grabbed where they could not.
Horses didn’t seem to become hard to load or unload, they didn’t make the connection as such, knew it was not the trailer, backing or unloading where the problem was, to want to avoid hauling.

If the horse is wearing a western saddle, give loosening back cinch a try, maybe yours has that problem.

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@Bluey

If horse is wearing western saddle, watch that the flank cinch is not binding when it tries to back out of the trailer.

We have had a few colts that had a problem with that.
Since the flank cinch was not always “grabbing” them, it was hard to see where the problem was.
Once we let it out a bit if it was very snug before loading, we avoided that.

Generally that was a transient problem, they got over it as they were older.
Mares were the worst for back cinch “girththiness” if it was to happen, to the point of them falling down when trying to take a step back, if it felt too tight to them.
It seemed to puzzle the horses as much as the humans, why they were being told to back and then grabbed where they could not.
Horses didn’t seem to become hard to load or unload, they didn’t make the connection as such, knew it was not the trailer, backing or unloading where the problem was, to want to avoid hauling.

If the horse is wearing a western saddle, give loosening back cinch a try, maybe yours has that problem.

Interesting! We normally do haul in a western saddle… I don’t have him back out of the trailer, I turn him around inside. Will have to double check and make sure my cinches are lose enough.

Yesterday was a total disaster, horse fell down several times and gashed up his back leg and whacked his face. Poor horses got hauled after cattle and I guess the floor was so slick.

Even after banging himself up several different times, he loaded up and unloaded well for me when we got home. Also coming out of the trailer he speeds up and jumps out like an uneducated horse (my bad)

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@clanter

maybe he just does not like to come home? When I was in college I worked with a show barn where we had a roadhorse who always was loaded into the the six horse trailer behind the truck driver (front two rode backwards) …IF you ever slowed down to 35 MPH she would start kicking the wall behind you … horse just loved to go fast

Sounds like my old horse! The minute we would stop, or slow down he would start to paw and kick like a wild man. He always behaved like that.

Sometimes I think current horses problem is not wanting to come home 😂 he usually has too much fun, sitting at home in 20 acres of grassy pasture is obviously boring

[Bluey]

@streamline

Interesting! We normally do haul in a western saddle… I don’t have him back out of the trailer, I turn him around inside. Will have to double check and make sure my cinches are lose enough.

Yesterday was a total disaster, horse fell down several times and gashed up his back leg and whacked his face. Poor horses got hauled after cattle and I guess the floor was so slick.

Even after banging himself up several different times, he loaded up and unloaded well for me when we got home. Also coming out of the trailer he speeds up and jumps out like an uneducated horse (my bad)

Hmm, we only seem to have had that problem when backing inside a trailer.
Horse would take a step or two back, then scramble and some times go down, still in the trailer, not while stepping down.
Once we tried loosening flank cinch a bit, they were fine.
Would not hurt to try, but your horse may have some other problem it needs to work thru.

Hope he is ok today.

[Scribbler]

I sure wouldn’t trailer with saddle on if horse was having any problems loading or unloading. Just another thing to get caught up, or destroyed in the process.

Sounds like he doesn’t trust your rsmp? Am I reading right that he’s OK with the step up?

IME if a horse doesn’t want to leave a place you have problems loading, not unloading at destination.

[Wanderosa]

I might have missed this, but what’s the reason you turn him around on the trailer rather than back him down the ramp?

[grinanride]

Does sound like pain / discomfort… watch if he “squats” and shifts weight to his hind end then becomes sticky and shaky about it - sounds like a real pain in the rear / stifles for your horse
Risa

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@Wanderosa

I might have missed this, but what’s the reason you turn him around on the trailer rather than back him down the ramp?

All the stock trailers we’ve been using don’t have a ramp and there’s enough room to turn them.

Im an enabler and since he couldn’t figure out how to back up out of the straight load w/ramp I took out my divider to turn him around. So I unload the first horse who does back out/down the ramp then swing my guy around and no problems. I’m happy to say we just bought a cute little 16 foot titan stock.

He did load and unload for me great yesterday, after the whole slipping in the trailer ordeal, banging his face up and his legs.

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@grinanride

Does sound like pain / discomfort… watch if he “squats” and shifts weight to his hind end then becomes sticky and shaky about it - sounds like a real pain in the rear / stifles for your horse
Risa

He does have weak stifles for sure. I have to keep him fit or else he gets gimpy. He looks better after a day of hard work vs a few days off.

He has super ugly back conformation as well… he’s downhill and has a super obvious roach back + he’s long backed. I could get some confo photos but he needs his feet done (hopefully tomorrow) he grows decent hoof but still gets those ugly TB pancake feet if they aren’t done every 5 weeks on the dot.

I’d honestly hate to get a full work up done on this horse because I know I’d be upset/devastated. There’s nothing that points to him being uncomfortable, he’s amazing under saddle and has never taken a wrong step with me. I just give him extra TLC compared to the other horses. If I only get another two years out of him oh well he can sit in the pasture with my other unusable horse.

[SuzieQNutter]

@streamline

All the stock trailers we’ve been using don’t have a ramp and there’s enough room to turn them.

Im an enabler and since he couldn’t figure out how to back up out of the straight load w/ramp I took out my divider to turn him around. So I unload the first horse who does back out/down the ramp then swing my guy around and no problems. I’m happy to say we just bought a cute little 16 foot titan stock.

He did load and unload for me great yesterday, after the whole slipping in the trailer ordeal, banging his face up and his legs.

Horses do jot learn like that. It is why the saying is ‘Horses don’t reason.’

They have to be taught to back out,as others have said above. Back away from the ramp praise. 2 hooves on ramp. Praise. Back off. Praise. 4 hooves on ramp. Praise. Back off. Praise. 2 in float. Praise. Back off. Praise. 4 in float Praise. Back off and praise. All the way in.

In the end you can go in 4 steps. Back 2 steps. In 6 steps. Back 3 steps. Forward 6 steps. Back 8 steps. Whatever you want.

[Montanas_Girl]

Have you tried to back him out of the stock trailer? I see a lot of horses panic/slip like this when asked to turn around, which is one of the reasons I don’t turn any horse around inside a trailer unless the horse is very small and/or 100% quiet and reliable.

[Belowthesalt]

Another vote for load front feet, back out, load a little further, back out, etc. My horse got used to turning around in my two-horse step-in slant load in which I had taken out the divider. He’s a big guy but with the divider out, it wasn’t a problem. Trailer was ancient and I sold it to a guy who liked “projects.” When I had to move my horse, he loaded fine in friend’s straight load with a ramp, but getting him out was another thing! He kept wanting to turn around. I kept him straight. At one point, he was standing with front feet almost touching hind feet at the top edge of the ramp, Finally, I leaned into him like a football player pushing a sled and got him to put a hind foot on the ramp. After that, he backed out quietly. shrug After this move, I borrowed a ramp trailer and did the partial load/back out routine so that this won’t happen again. ;0)

[candyappy]

@streamline

All the stock trailers we’ve been using don’t have a ramp and there’s enough room to turn them.

Im an enabler and since he couldn’t figure out how to back up out of the straight load w/ramp I took out my divider to turn him around. So I unload the first horse who does back out/down the ramp then swing my guy around and no problems. I’m happy to say we just bought a cute little 16 foot titan stock.

He did load and unload for me great yesterday, after the whole slipping in the trailer ordeal, banging his face up and his legs.

I back mine out of my stock trailer( no ramp) . It sounds like the turning around part is maybe the problem?

Take some time to train him to back out. It can be scary for some if there is no ramp and they will dangle their foot off the edge and act uncertain , but if you take it slow they do just fine after some training.

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@Belowthesalt

Another vote for load front feet, back out, load a little further, back out, etc. My horse got used to turning around in my two-horse step-in slant load in which I had taken out the divider. He’s a big guy but with the divider out, it wasn’t a problem. Trailer was ancient and I sold it to a guy who liked “projects.” When I had to move my horse, he loaded fine in friend’s straight load with a ramp, but getting him out was another thing! He kept wanting to turn around. I kept him straight. At one point, he was standing with front feet almost touching hind feet at the top edge of the ramp, Finally, I leaned into him like a football player pushing a sled and got him to put a hind foot on the ramp. After that, he backed out quietly. shrug After this move, I borrowed a ramp trailer and did the partial load/back out routine so that this won’t happen again. ;0)

Haha sounds like my guy! Right now I’m 35 weeks pregnant so I don’t feel up to getting squished by baby horse right now.

I haven’t tried to back him out of the stock… but that almost might be better vs turning him around. Who knows.

Thanks for all the tips and suggestions yall! I got some horsie homework to do!