Go, Quigley!
Not terrible for First Evers 
Shall I make you feel better with my own Trailering Debacle?
(grab a beverage, gonna be long…)
So, my TB Vernon was “OTTB” - quotes as he never raced, but ponied for the trainers for 4yrs.
In & out of trailers, long distance trips (IL to KY & FL) annually. Then I showed him locally, shipping in the trainer’s 6H & larger rigs to local & farther shows.
NEVER a problem on anything from the Commercial 12H semis, to borrowed 2H so tight the buttbar left an impression…
Then, TaDa! DH & I got our very own trailer. Brand New off the dealer’s lot.
4-Star, 2H, straightload aluminum BP, w/ramp 
We go to where we’re boarding & bring Vern out to put him on 1st before DH’s TWH - who we’ve never hauled since he was delivered to us.
Vern strolls up to the ramp, puts a hoof on & STOPS!
Won’t budge.
Circling doesn’t help.
DH pinging small stones off his butt (trainer,-taught trick: horse thinks “Gee, flies are bad, I’ll go in where it’s safe”) doesn’t work.
Running the line around his butt… He tries to sit on it 
Being a boarding barn 
, a lot of unasked-for Help appears.
Blindfold him! No
Here’s a broom to spank him on No
Here’s a shovel instead of the broomNO!
We ask everyone to please Go Away.
Load DH’s horse, no problem.
Vern is still not going on.
He’ll approach the ramp quietly, step on (both fronts), then back off. No fuss, just not going on.
We spend the next weeks riding as usual, then hitching SUV to trailer & practicing loading in barn’s parking lot.
With varying degrees of success, but never a complete Load, Stand, Unload victory 
Of course, the Help reappears in varying numbers.
We repeat NTYVM ad nauseum.
The highlight was when a very drunk guy pulls off the toad, into the lot to offer his expertise.
NOBODY KNOWS WHO HE IS! 
We eventually get Vern loading, but maybe 20% of the time he needs to Stand & Ponder before getting on. No matter if DH’s horse is already on or not.
I miss the opinionated old cuss 
Had him 20yrs.
P.S.
Thanks for the H&R Foal updates 
