Background: I have had Bob a year – there has been lots of fun and learning about each other. Monday, I learned something --or maybe relearned something –
Bob loads. Bob self-loads. I have 10 years of video showing how well Bob loads (each of his four previous owners made videos when each decided to sell Bob specifically showing how well he loads).
Bob loads great --until he doesn’t.
Now when I first got Bob, he self-loaded pretty well --then about two months after that, he suddenly stopped self loading. He got to be difficult to load to the point where I did actually drug him one time to load him (it was going to be him or my husband because they were both extremely agitated --I didn’t know the dosage of ACE for a human, so Bob was drugged and 20 min later, loaded beautifully).
After that, I went on YouTube and watched a bunch of loading videos --Ty Evan’s loading video resonated with me, and I spent a couple of weeks daily hooking my trailer and loading, and unloading Bob.
Ty’s method worked perfectly.
Ty’s mantra is: You don’t have a loading problem, you have a go forward [on cue] problem. His sentiment was the trailer really isn’t the issue, it’s that your horse doesn’t go forward on cue.
His solution, that worked super for me working with Bob is to “apply pressure” until horse takes one step forward then STOP --stop pulling, tapping, stop everything. Anytime the horse doesn’t take a step forward, apply pressure (in Ty’s videos pressure is a flick on the horse’s side with the end of a lead rope -flick, flick, flick --until horse takes one step forward. Stop. [handler stands with left hand on a loose lead, body across from the shoulder, flicked rope with right hand, behind the “drive line.”]
As I said, that worked super and after a couple of days Bob was loading and unloading great --but we kept the lesson up for quite a few days since I had the time and equipment to do so. We also worked on standing quietly in the trailer and unloading on command.
All good --probably loaded and unloaded Bob 50-100 times since then.
Two weeks ago, Bob got sticky loading --he eventually would load, but not the easy peasy way he had been doing at all.
For some reason: my age maybe --I completely forgot to do “Ty’s Method,” and reverted back to yanking, pulling, bribing, getting someone to tap his hocks --all the stuff I’d done before that did not work.
After six times of struggling to load Bob --I thought, hummm, wonder if I forgot something in the Ty Evan’s loading video --watched it again --and there it was!
I didn’t have a loading problem, I had a “go forward” problem.
Went out Monday and put on the rope halter, picked up the end of the 17’ lead, asked Bob to go forward (he blew me off) and I tap-tap-tap. Bob went backwards, sideways, sideways the other way and (I kept tap-tap-tap) and THEN Bob took one step forward. I stopped, I looked at clouds, birds, meditated on the trouble in the world . . .then I asked Bob for one step forward. He took one step and I stopped, looked at clouds . . .etc.
We kept this up until Bob self loaded 5 times. Not always on the first ask --but really much better by the end.
So well, that by the end of our training time, I was “bounce loading” Bob —loaded him, backed him, then when his hind feet touched the ground, reloaded him. Long pauses and rests in between, but it reenforces the “go forward” cue.
So my point is that maybe if there’s a set-back in the horse-rider relationship, maybe it isn’t the horse being “bad” or stubborn --maybe it’s the handler forgetting a basic lesson: When you get the correct response --STOP THE PRESSURE.
Sorry, Bob --I’ll try to do better.
