Has anyone seen portable heavy rubber or heavy plastic ramps that work for a set-up trailer? I have a step-up stock/combo Exiss trailer and never had issues with any of my horses, but my current guy is so hesitant about getting out—even frontwards. He’s completely fine stepping up into it, but won’t come out until I pull the trailer level with a small rise that reduces the step to just a couple inches. I’ve seen some on Amazon for driving mowers, carts, etc. up into trailers but just wondering if anyone has tried any of these? They’re heavily textured and nonslip. Thanks!
Sorry – meant “step-up” the first time.
It would probably be easier to just work with the horse getting him more confident on the step-up process. Maybe use the area with the rise you currently do, and then gradually move the trailer to where the rise is less pronounced until it is totally flat? Slowly, one foot at a time on loading, then unloading.
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How much have you worked with him on this?
Is he new to you or is the trailer new to you?
Just like with anything new, horses have to be trained to learn them.
I would practice with him. Start with asking him to put one foot in and one foot out. Do not let him just jump on because as you have discovered, he’s scared to come back off. You have to also teach horses to UNLOAD too, just as you do to load.
I have portable ramps for our stock trailer that we use when we haul things like the four wheelers or lawn mowers, but I would NEVER ever use them to load a horse. The ramps are not sturdy enough for a live load like a horse, especially when they are not secured to the trailer in some way.
Set an entire day aside to work with your horse on loading and unloading. My bet is you will not need the entire day, and will be happy with the result.
If you are still not happy, have a permanent ramp installed on your trailer.
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Handful or bucket full of cut up apples or carrots --ask “step in, step out, step in step out,” and reward either way with a treat. In a couple of practices, spread over a few days --he’ll not only be going in and out smoothly, he’ll probably be asking to hook the trailer for you!!
I would wrap legs, though --always a good idea.
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He will come out.
Slow down. Let him look for as long as he needs. Don’t ask for more without at LEAST 10 seconds of “stewing time”. Practice stepping off of other ledges you have on the property, forwards and backwards. Take him XC schooling and work on a small bank in hand, even if XC isn’t your jam it’s a great way to practice. Back him everywhere - into the barn, into his stall, into his turnout.
Stepping down off of something is a skill he’s going to need for trails, too.
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just a note not all horses like those, we have two believe either an apple or some carrots are directly related to poison
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Your ramp question or a variation comes up every year or so. The usual responses revolve around “why don’t you just train your horse properly?”
However, there are some equestrians who feel that ramps are better for many reasons. In your situation I would not use a removeable ramp unless there is a way to secure it to your specific trailer with something like ratchet straps.
A better choice would be to obtain and install a ramp designed for your trailer. Perhaps the maker of your trailer could ship you one inside another trailer being delivered to a dealer near you, and they could install it.
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Thanks all—to answer some questions…no, he’s not new to me. He’s a 9-year old OTTB that hauled and raced in 5 or 6 states to 9 or 10 different tracks during his career to age 5. He has been fine until now. I’ve had the trailer since 2014. It’s not new to me or him either. I’m also not talking about the portable ramps used to load equipment—heck no for a horse! The ones I’ve seen are solid rubber or heavy plastic/resin rated to hold up to 9,000 pounds. They weigh anywhere from 18-40 pounds each. This last time, we stood for about 10 minutes while he looked—we were back at home—and carrots weren’t doing it. That’s when I finally shut the door, pulled the trailer back down to the little rise where the ground is almost level with the trailer floor and he still was a little hesitant. Took a couple minutes. He never has to back out of this trailer—it’s a stock trailer with a 12’ box and a tack room in front. He can easily turn around and we always come out front ways. And he doesn’t mind stepping UP into it. That’s not a problem.
Won’t hurt to spend more time messing around with him and practicing or feeding him in there. It’s just never been an issue like this for any of my horse—including him—until now.
thanks for the replies.
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My bigger concern is how do these attach to the trailer? Horses move differently than anything else people are designing remove-able ramps for. If he does something goofy and slips, that ramp coming down with him may make him PERMANENTLY refuse to load or unload.
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A couple of ideas.
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Did he recently slip and maybe scare himself coming off the trailer or other step down someplace? Maybe even out in the field and now he’s worried he’s going to slip again. What does he do if you take him to some other type of step down, like a small drop jump or other bank?
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Is he possibly hurting somewhere that is aggravated by the step down? Could be a minor muscle strain or other injury that causes stepping down to hurt.
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might want to have his eyes checked,
Watch your horse as you lead him up and down over a curb, across an object like a thin whip or garden hose, and from a lighted/sunny area into a dark or deeply shaded place. Reluctance to go forward may indicate vision problems.
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Hi, I have a portable ramp that I have used for many years, and works great. When not in use it is tossed into the back of my truck. Let me know if you would like to know how I made it.
I would. Would come in handy—not just for the horse, but also for a longhorn steer who needs an easier way to get in!
How do I get in touch with you?
Howdy! I have been a lurker here for many years, without being able to figure out how to post. Your issue is one I am familiar with - however I am not very good with computers. I will have to figure out how to PM you.
I made this ramp myself, it works for part drafts, and ponies. Not sure it would work for your steer, but it’s the best of both worlds, no ramp if I don’t need it, and it’s under 20 pounds.
heck, let me live dangerously and give you an email address: Not sure it’s allowed, but I can’t find any “help” here, no idea how to message any other way, and I’m not on social media so.....Samhous1990@gmail.com.
I may have figured out the PM thing.
Ultimately, it is up to you if you want to train your horse and fix the problem. Getting him a ramp so he doesn’t have to step down just ignores the problem. It maybe wasn’t a problem last week, but it’s a problem now.
If he is having a problem with this, I would guess there are other things that he might have going on too. Horses rarely have one isolated problem but may have one that is the worst and most noticeable.
What if you have to haul him in a different trailer for some reason?
Would he load?
Could he back off?
You never know sometimes.
I had to retrain 2 of my 3 horses last year when I got a side load with a ramp. All 3 of my horses are extremely experienced haulers, never have a problem loading or unloading, with a step up trailer, slant load. No one cared about the ramp at all, but they just didn’t like the funny angle into the trailer and probably hated the “new trailer” stink. Took a couple weeks to get them solid, working on it every day. Now they load/unload perfectly there too.
I’ve also had them in my mom’s open stock trailer too, step up. They didn’t care.
The more you can expose your horse, and train them, the better off they are.
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