Loading in a straight load alone

[pAin_t_Misbehavin]

[QUOTE=c0608524;8864581]

So, does anyone tie their horse before the butt bars done up or does everyone own self loading horses?[/QUOTE]

Never no never not ever! Always always always put up butt bar before tying/untie before dropping butt bar.

I teach mine to self-load. I also teach mine to lower their heads and back up quietly. I think unloading is every bit as important as loading. Horses can and do really get hurt flinging their heads upwards as they unload.

Do you have a trailer you can practice with? I think everybody uses pretty much the same method - described already herein - the only thing I’d add is just do a lot of it.

[c0608524]

[QUOTE=pAin’t_Misbehavin’;8865131]
Never no never not ever! Always always always put up butt bar before tying/untie before dropping butt bar.

I teach mine to self-load. I also teach mine to lower their heads and back up quietly. I think unloading is every bit as important as loading. Horses can and do really get hurt flinging their heads upwards as they unload.

Do you have a trailer you can practice with? I think everybody uses pretty much the same method - described already herein - the only thing I’d add is just do a lot of it.[/QUOTE]

Yes I do! And after reading all the replies (thanks everyone!!) I’m definitely going to start practicing ASAP.

[Pennywell_Bay]

All of mine will “self load”. My daughter turned 8 this year and loads her pony and can actually help me but prior to that- I had to do it all alone. Early in the AM, late at night, broad daylight.

When I teach them:

1. I do it before feeding time. So they are particularly hungry
2. Bucket of grain or treats
3. Shake shake, feed, shake etc until they load (depending on the horse this can take a while)
4. I let them eat on the trailer- not tied I am standing there feeding them (I have a front area and escape doors in front of the breast bars
5. After a few successful loads, when it is getting to be old hat
   • if I have the luxury of someone around to help- I have them do the buttbar
   • if I am solo I put the grain in one of those hay bag to keep them interested (I don’t put the bucket on the ground, I guess you could tie it)
6. I leave my escape door and go to the back and put the butt bar up
7. Go back to the escape door, whip out a cookie or treat

It is important that they learn to do it even without a bucket or grain (operant conditioning). You find yourself in a situation where you don’t have grain or a bucket and you want the horse to load.

At this point- I step off to the side of the ramp, throw the lead rope across their neck and they go up, I put the butt bar up and then go to their head.

Loading is a skill that even my old guys get a refresher once a year- maybe every other if they were old show horses, just to make sure they are going to get on in an emergency.

[IPEsq]

Re: backing off… Does your trailer allow you to easily swing the divider over to the side? Once he’s got the basics down re: standing, you can unload by unclipping the front, put on lead rope, undo butt bar, swing divider over (and latch if necessary), and then you have some room inside the trailer where you can get beside him before his head gets too close to the exit where you can grab the rope and coax his head down.

[Silverbridge]

[QUOTE=IPEsq;8865239]
Re: backing off… Does your trailer allow you to easily swing the divider over to the side? Once he’s got the basics down re: standing, you can unload by unclipping the front, put on lead rope, undo butt bar, swing divider over (and latch if necessary), and then you have some room inside the trailer where you can get beside him before his head gets too close to the exit where you can grab the rope and coax his head down.[/QUOTE]

This is exactly what I do.

Unhook in front, attach a lead rope and put it over her withers. Then go around behind, tell her to stand, unhook but bar, swing divider over, tell her to stand, go to head, pick up lead rope, and then ask her to back down the ramp. With the divider swung over, I easily fit in the stall with her.

If the divider doesn’t swing over, then he should back out slowly and allow you to help him from the side or even to stand until you get back toward his head.

If the worry is him hitting his head backing out, then it seems to me that the teaching to stand is the most important part, no matter what the trailer configuration.

[Dutchmare433]

[QUOTE=c0608524;8864581]
So I’ve always been taught that never tie the horse before the butt bar goes up. However, this makes loading my guy a two man operation, which is sometimes not ideal. I totally trust that he’s staying on the trailer once he’s on, he’s a pro at trailering (have to love those OTTBs!), but for unloading sometimes he needs a reminder to keep his head low (he’s 17hh). I worry for self-unloading he’d throw the head up, whack it, and start associating trailering with being a bad experience.

So, does anyone tie their horse before the butt bars done up or does everyone own self loading horses?[/QUOTE]

You may actually find that he’s better about his head if he unloads himself. I had a mare who had to self unload. If you were in there with her she’d get upset and come flying out and whack her head. Unclip her, take down the butt bar and tap on the rump and she’d back out slowly, head down, and straight.

FWIW, I teach all of my horses to self load and unload. I haul alone mostly so it’s safer and easier for me, but I also feel like they get more “confirmed” in loading when they have to do it by themselves.

[Pennywell_Bay]

Interesting. Only 1 of mine self unloads. I have found it safest (in my situation) that when I drop the butt bar, they wait until I go back around and get them.

Our pony will unload if I pat him on the butt. The rest wait, even when they hear the bar drop. I like it that they don’t come out and I don’t have to try to catch the lead. To each their own.

[stb]

I’m another fan of self loading. It’s the first thing I teach a new horse. I have the John Lyon’s video and use his method. I really hate having to get in a trailer with a horse. It feels super dangerous to me. Even the sweetest horse could get spooked or bitten by a wasp and freak out.

Mine self load, I put the butt bar up, then walk to the front escape door to tie.

To unload I untie horse through escape door, throw lead rope over neck, lower butt bar (only when horse is standing quietly, never if they are pushing against bar). I tug on tail and ask them to back out, grabbing lead rope as they go by me. I’m never in the trailer with them.

[jawa]

Be sure your trailer isn’t too short for your horse.

Teach them to self load/unload using the John Lyons method. Teaching them the cues away from the stress of the trailer first. Then teach them to approach the trailer straight, then one foot on, one foot off (an obnoxious number of times AONOT), then two feet on, two feet off (AONOT), then 1/2 way in the trailer and back out (AONOT), then almost completely on and back off (AONOT). By the time you have taught them to self load, you have also taught them to unload.

One thing that may help your horse, since unloading is your worry, is to give your horse a verbal cue when they get to the edge of the trailer when backing. I tell mine careful and step.

The other thing you want them to learn about loading and unloading is not to rush. One foot then the other. Calm and quiet.

I teach mine to back off of the trailer when I tug on their tail. They are not to try and back until then. That gives me time to get the butt bar down and me safely off to the side.

Best of luck!

[jawa]

There was a horse person locally who had loaded and tied her horse prior to putting up the butt bar. The horse pulled back, broke his halter, got off the trailer and went RUNNING. He was missing for 4 days. He was found about 3 miles away in a forested area.

[Engage]

Whilst he’s learning - put a poll guard on him.

[Foxglove6]

Do you have to tie him? I trailer in a straight load without tying and have no issues with that. When you unload him, try using a lead rope to encourage him to keep his head down. You can put the lead rope through his stall and just give a light downward tug if his head goes up.

[Draftmare]

[QUOTE=beowulf;8864592]
I learned the hard way to never tie a horse before the butt-bar is up, no matter how trusty you think they are. Teach them to self-load, and add a bucket of grain at the entrance if you think it’s extra incentive.[/QUOTE]

This exactly. I too learned the hard way to never tie a horse before the back is closed. I am lucky that my mare self loads. I just point her at the trailer and she hops in. Then I close the back door, reach through and put up the butt bar (back of trailer is 3/4 doors), then tie her.

[ecileh]

As an aside–make sure the CHEST bar is also up and secured!

My mare once sauntered out of the man door because I had very conscientiously not tied her before putting up the butt bar and forgot to put up the chest bar as I went around back.

I have NO IDEA how she fit out that door–let alone without hurting herself–but next thing I new she was ambling off to graze nearby.

[Foxglove6]

Oh, also, never practice loading without first hitching up. Always load a horse into a hitched up trailer. Blocks are not enough.

[pAin_t_Misbehavin]

[QUOTE=ecileh;8866124]
As an aside–make sure the CHEST bar is also up and secured!

My mare once sauntered out of the man door because I had very conscientiously not tied her before putting up the butt bar and forgot to put up the chest bar as I went around back.

I have NO IDEA how she fit out that door–let alone without hurting herself–but next thing I new she was ambling off to graze nearby.[/QUOTE]

:eek: Glad your mare was OK. I once wound up stuffing a pony back into one of those front manger trailers through the little half-sized escape hatch. Somebody left it it open and pony went in the back and attempted to go straight out the hatch.:eek: Good thing I happened to be standing there.:yes:

[LilyandBaron]

Got a hugely awesome tip for loading alone from a BO in TX, and still use it. Mine basically self-load, but they want to put their heads down to sniff around, and could easily step on a lead rope and freak out. So I run a lunge line through the side door and around to me - the snap rests on the ramp of my two horse straight load, I lead up to the ramp, snap the lunge on the halter, and since they basically load themselves, I reel in the lunge line as they walk in. The end of the lunge line is on the outside of the trailer. I can give/take as they may pull or not, and if they really pull back, they still have a lead on.

This also works for horses unsure of unloading - you attach the lunge, unhook from the trailer, go around the side where you can hold the lunge and also watch the side of any ramp, and can help them unload as well. This may not work with some trailer designs, but a HUGELY helpful way to be safe. Again, my fear with self loading is them stepping on a loose lead rope in close quarters.

[pAin_t_Misbehavin]

I run a lead rope out the side of my trailer for one of my horses, but it’s to keep his little self from attempting to turn around and come out frontways.

He’s a little fella for a QH and he would just almost fit. Almost meaning I think he’d probably get stuck that way and freak out before I could free him. :eek: :lol: So I run the lead rope out the side and keep enough tension on it to keep him facing forward while he backs out.

I also teach mine to step down when I say “now.”

But I like to teach mine not to freak out when they step on a lead rope. It just seems to happen so often that I like them to know what to do.

[SonnysMom]

One thing I do when self-unloading horses is to either firmly place a hand on a butt cheek or more commonly hold the tail off to the side. I find most horses find that support comforting plus most horses won’t back over a person.
With the extra support I find they also don’t throw their head up. Sometimes it takes couple of times to get over old habits but most of the time it works right away.

[Holly_Jeanne]

My mare has been self-loading for years. Recently, I started having problems getting her on the trailer. An examination found problems with the ramp. After getting it repaired, I had to go backwards a bit. I put a lunge line in the trailer with the clip in at the ramp and the handle end on the outside. I’d get her to the trailer and clip the lunge line. Then I’d put pressure on it while standing beside the ramp until she would go in. She’s now back to self-loading again. I don’t tie her in the trailer as when the tie is long enough for her to eat hay, she gets it over her head. When it is short enough that she can’t get it over her head, she can’t reach the hay. She hauls just fine untied. I can’t speak to unloading, however, as my trailer has a side ramp. My mare just walks out.