Raising the level of intellectual real estate

[Dry_Clean_Only]

Lots and lots of carrots…

Hmm… that probably didn’t help did it?

I personally don’t have any brilliant ideas (if I did I’d be rich, with all the non-loaders out there) except to do some trailer work everyday for a short time, with lots of reward to make it a positive experience.

[Maria]

another question; does this horse just plant his feet(stubborn) or is he scooting all over the place?(scared and or stubborn)

My guy went through a small stubborn stage. He would just stop and not go in the trailer. All I had to do was pick up a whip and hold it. I think I tapped him once. He perked up and walked right on. Never have had to pick up a whip since.

I have a walk thru trailer and I do still have to walk on with him. As long as I put some grain in the hay bag he stays put until I run around and close the butt bar and ramp.

[Lynne_S]

My horse, when I first got him, did not load well. The first show I took him to, he got on reasonably well with three people to help, but when it was time to go home… no way! I was highly embarassed, to say the least. (Well, yes, we did eventually get him on.)

So here’s what I did, and have done ever since. I don’t like to have to rely on anyone else to help since, as someone above said, sometimes there isn’t anyone else around!

I “prep” the trailer with hay, shavings, etc. and then take a plain (NO CHAINS!) longe line and place the clip (the part that will attach to the halter) on the ramp (if no ramp, then at the mouth of the step-up). I run the rest of the line up through the trailer, and out through the feed door (or escape door is there’s no feed door), back to the back of the trailer, where I coil it neatly on the fender and place a dressage whip where I can reach it w/o bending over or taking my eye off the horse.

Go get horsey. Lead him up to back of trailer. Attach longe line. Remove lead line. Pick up whip.

Use the longe line to keep the horse’s head going where you want the rest of the body to follow. Stand TO THE SIDE of the horse and take most of the slack out, but leave enough so they don’t feel pressured. They can look around, sniff, check it out, while standing outside. Eventually they start to think of leaving.

At that point, take the rest of the slack out and redirect their noses. My technique (works for you but you know your horse best; it helps if they respect the whip!) is to tap the horse gently but rhythmically just above the hocks until they take a step forward. Then stop tapping and praise. Give it about 15 seconds, then ask for another step.

If all goes well they’ll eventually get in the trailer. I let them get right back out again if they want to… they seem to feel safer about getting back in if they know they can exit when they get uncomfortable with the situation.

The first few times I tried this w/ my horse, he got in and out a half-dozen times before he finally went in and stood there. Keeipng the longe line reasonably taut but not pulling, I then put the butt bar up and closed the door, THEN went around and removed the longe line and attached the trailer tie. I just stood and praised and hand fed treats.

Another day, we took a short ride… you know the “desensitization” drill.

Today, I still use this technique, and I still have the whip in hand, but I no longer have to touch him with it. He goes right in with little or no hesitation, and stays there. Occasionally, he’ll walk right in without my having to even tug gently on the longe line.

I suppose that if I keep him and this particular trailer long enough, we might get to the point where I can just through the leadrope over his neck and pat him on the fanny and he’ll load himself…

but I’m satisfied with things as they are. He hasn’t made an issue of loading in the last 4 years…

[Maria]

Gather one very large sling shot. Place horse in sling shot. You and 3 friends pull back the elastic and wamo. One loaded horse.

The same results could be achieved with a catapult.

OH, excuse me, you wanted serious answers. ummmmm, frustrating to say the least. I have not viewed the tape, but I hear John Lyons has a good video on the subject.

Can you walk in the other side of the divider, you know, horse on one side, you on the other, with the horse?

Have you tried the lunge line behind the butt trick?

Can you back the trailer up to a small isleway so there is no escape on the sides? So he only can go backwards or forwards.

Lots of questions, no answers, sorry.

[suzy]

I’m afraid I gave the wrong impression. He’s not a total stinker to load. It’s never taken more than 10 minutes maximum, but most of my other horses have walked on immediately and without my leading them. I’d like to get to that point with this horse. He’s a funny one to figure out because he is Mr. Cooperation in ALL other respects, but this is the one area that he will question me. Also, in spite of the fact that he’s quite laid back, he’s not the type of horse you can give a good wollop to. He gets totally offended (and observably frightened!) and becomes more difficult.

P.S. He loaded beautifully while he still lived in Denmark. The problem seems to have cropped up after his plane ride.

[Keeper]

Get Buck Branaman’s ground work tape. Your horse needs to be better halter broke. I know it sounds crazy, but I just came back from a month with a man you’d probably have to describe as a “horse whisperer”. (But he’d kill me if I called him that. He’s much too humble.) For a living, he rehabilitates problem race horses, show horses (H/J, dressage, whatever), breaks youngsters, and pretty much “fixes” what others have broken or chosen not to train well from the start. I was with him becuase he was halter breaking my 3 year old.(And boy did he do a great job! This little guy is such a pleasure to be around!)

I watched him take a chronic rearer, bad loader, all around trouble-maker warmblood, and over the course of two days, he had that horse JUMPING on the trailer. By himself. Quietly. His owner was almost in tears watching this horse do this.
How did he do it? He’d say, “preparation for the presentation.” In other words, he worked on the horse’s general halter training and ground manners and respect for his human handlers. And only when the horse was ready to load, did he ask him. And it was no problem.

This man has been doing this for 20+ years, so I don’t think I could tell you exactly how he does this, but he told me that the best ground training tape he’s seen is Buck Branaman’s. I am sure you can get it from many web sites. (BYW, Buck was one of the three trainers on a tape series called “The Three Masters” which was the tape of a seminar Geogre Morris, Rodney Jenkins and Buck gave in upstate NY (Buffalo? Syracuse?) a few years ago. The tapes are very expensive, but my trainer actually went to the seminar and she said it was amazing. )

So if you have the interest, try the tape.