Solo trailering

[SharonA]

I’m hopefully getting my first trailer soon so my horse and I can enjoy more of the area trails, and we will probably be riding alone the vast majority of the time (5-10 miles through conservation land in semi-rural areas – not hard-core stuff). We ride alone on the trails from the barn as it is and we’re both perfectly happy with it. But because we have done so little traveling since I’ve owned her, my horse can be nervous when she gets off the trailer at a new place. I’ve always had someone (a barnmate, the trailer driver, the ride organizers, etc.) available to hold her while I get on, keep her company while I get the last few pieces together, etc. Does anyone have suggestions for how to streamline the trailhead departure process so that my horse does not have too much time to get herself worked up over nothing, or systems for staying organized so that you’re not doing five things at once when you arrive a new trailhead?

I should point out that my horse is a gem who does her best to take care of me when her brain is present, and I expect her to get accustomed to trailering to new places very quickly – it’s just the first few times that we may both be nervous when we first hop off the trailer.

TIA!

[LookinSouth]

@SharonA;4353089

I’m hopefully getting my first trailer soon so my horse and I can enjoy more of the area trails, and we will probably be riding alone the vast majority of the time (5-10 miles through conservation land in semi-rural areas – not hard-core stuff). We ride alone on the trails from the barn as it is and we’re both perfectly happy with it. But because we have done so little traveling since I’ve owned her, my horse can be nervous when she gets off the trailer at a new place. I’ve always had someone (a barnmate, the trailer driver, the ride organizers, etc.) available to hold her while I get on, keep her company while I get the last few pieces together, etc. Does anyone have suggestions for how to streamline the trailhead departure process so that my horse does not have too much time to get herself worked up over nothing, or systems for staying organized so that you’re not doing five things at once when you arrive a new trailhead?

if you feel it’s safe and your horse will tolerate it trailer tacked up. Just put on the bridle & your helmet when you get there and voila! Off you go. I’ve never had any real issues with my horse getting nervous when we’ve trailered to off property alone. That said, I’ve hauled tacked when I’ve been super crunched for time but wanted to haul down the road to do hillwork or something. Again, I’d only suggest it for horses that haul in the trailer exceptionally.

[Auventera_Two]

I ride and trailer alone a lot, and seriously the ONLY way to get the horse used to it is to just do it.

First, pack a haybag, and other treats like carrots and apples, or a bucket of soaked beet pulp and alfalfa cubes. Then pick a day when you have all the time in the world. Load her up, once at the trail head, set up her goodies, and let her eat. Spend time grooming. You can longe her, or do ground work, and just hand walk her around. Basically just spend time letting her know that this whole process is happy and carefree.

If you try to just tack her up and jump on and go, you might make her more nervous. You’ll be rushing around trying to remember everything and the horse is going to feed off your nerves.

Make sure your trailer is well organized, and park the horse close to the tack room, so you don’t have her on one side of the trailer, and you on the other.

Just make those first few trips as carefree and relaxed as possible. If you try to rush her through it, and just jump on and go, you might make her more nervous. View this as a training opportunity, just like anything else. You wouldn’t rush her through learning cavaletti poles or lead changes, so don’t rush through this either.

After 2 of 3 trips, it will be old hat, and once you get there all you’ll need to do is throw on your tack and go. But for those first few times, just take your time at the trail head, and show her that everything is fun and easy going.

Oh yeah - usually I groom, do flyspray, feet and hoof boots at home. I prefer doing that in my own barn aisle than at the trail head. Once I get there, I hang up her haybag, tie her up, then tack up, and I can be on the trail within 10 minutes or so.

Don’t forget to lock your truck and stash your keys in a safe place! And always always check your hitch, brake cable, and chains before you leave to go home in case somebody messed with them while you were riding.

[katarine]

[QUOTE=SharonA;4353089]
I’m hopefully getting my first trailer soon so my horse and I can enjoy more of the area trails, and we will probably be riding alone the vast majority of the time (5-10 miles through conservation land in semi-rural areas – not hard-core stuff). We ride alone on the trails from the barn as it is and we’re both perfectly happy with it. But because we have done so little traveling since I’ve owned her, my horse can be nervous when she gets off the trailer at a new place. I’ve always had someone (a barnmate, the trailer driver, the ride organizers, etc.) available to hold her while I get on, keep her company while I get the last few pieces together, etc. Does anyone have suggestions for how to streamline the trailhead departure process so that my horse does not have too much time to get herself worked up over nothing, or systems for staying organized so that you’re not doing five things at once when you arrive a new trailhead?

I should point out that my horse is a gem who does her best to take care of me when her brain is present, and I expect her to get accustomed to trailering to new places very quickly – it’s just the first few times that we may both be nervous when we first hop off the trailer.

TIA![/QUOTE]

various thoughts:
does she lunge? Might not be a bad idea to get to a trail head that has good footing/room to do so- unload, and put her to work. just small circles, lots of transitions. Might amp her up or get her focused. Depends on the horse.

YOU- have everything as you want it, before you go- already tacked up is great if that’s possible. If not- do it quickly but smoothly. Don’t get there and decide it’s time to swap bridles and reins around. Have your map in your pocket, water in horn bag/saddle bag, etc. Get as organized as you can so she’s not fretting and waiting on you.

A hay bag of a lovely treat like alfalfa placates some horses.

Do NOT think worried thoughts, do NOT let her get away with crap out of ‘oh she’s worried, poor dear’- nope- if she must wiggle make her move those feet- trot her out inhand like it’s Rolex, make her stand square like it’s Devon, require her to be good and if she just MUST move- direct those feet how and where you want them. Reward her efforts to be good for you with a rub and go on.

NOthing worse than oh pookey’s scared, pet her- Nope, give her a task to do she can do, and praise her for doing it.

baby steps good luck.

[Beverley]

In my experience, the ‘just do it’ approach works best. If when you get to a strange place, you do things you don’t normally do before you ride at home, you just make the horse wonder that much more.

I pick a good trailhead and trail and just haul to that one the first few times with a young 'un. I do haul tacked, and they are typically tied to the trailer with access to the hay manger while I putz around for a few minutes before bridling. They just go- because they are used to my just getting on and going.

If it might help alleviate a qualm or two- I’d suggest a normal, at home workout first- then haul and ride somewhere.

[matryoshka]

I ride and trailer alone quite a bit and am currently in the process of bringing a greenie (Arab) along, too.

I use a Blocker Tie Ring for securing to the trailer. You can get the horse used to tying to the trailer at home, and tack up there a few times so your horse doesn’t find it odd when you first ride at the trail. I don’t like to haul tacked up because it is a straight load and I worry about the saddle getting hung up when the horse is coming off the trailer. I figure it is much better to prevent a bad experience than to retrain because of one.

I also bring a mix of Aloe Vera Juice (for their stomachs), hay cubes, and beet pulp soaking in water to feed when we arrive. Sometimes the greenie is too wired to eat, but it’s always there for her. Sometimes she’s still too wired to eat it when we get back, but I keep trying. I’ve done this with every horse I’ve trained to trail ride. I also pack water and pour a bucket for them first thing. It’s a routine they get used to.

For the greenie, I have some relaxation techniques we did when I first started riding her, and we do these at the trail head before I mount. She gets a tense neck and sets her jaw, so this is what I work on. We do some in-hand work, just leading at my pace, turns, quiet breathing until she licks and chews. Then I mount up and head out.

There are times when she won’t totally relax (for example, if there are race horses training in the distance), and I mount up anyway. Or I might walk her down the trail a ways. It depends on my mood and whether I want to deal with her nervousness.

The important thing is to stay calm and insist on good manners. When your horse is looking at you as the boss, they stop worrying about other things so much, because you are their herd. If you aren’t worried, they often stop worrying.

[Simbalism]

I’m also in the group that says just do it. I have been trailering my horse alone for ages. When I got my own trailer and no longer had to rely on anyone for a ride, I first had to train my horse to get in my 2h straightload. I also had to train her stand tied to the trailer. I provide a hay bag to help occupy her, while I am tacking her up. I usually set things out like helmet, fly mask, fly swish, boots(for horse) fanny pack with my first aid stuff. Then I get mare out(usually groom her at farm before going), tack her up at a regular pace and get on and walk around a bit in the trailer area, then head out.

[SharonA]

Thanks all! We will figure it out, thanks to your help.

Alittle groundwork before trailering, with an ultra-quick repeat at the trailhead, sounds like a great idea. Other than that, I think it will work best to get Madame on the trail and put her to “work” quickly; she’s done this enough so that she knows that you get off the trailer and go do something – I would definitely get the “Are you kidding me?” face and she would get even more worked up if I putzed around too much. Again, I expect this to improve after a few trips.

Speak to me of trailering in a rope halter… my trainer advises against trailering in them because they’re not breakaways. I have plenty of regular breakaway halters; it’s just that when up way too late and doing retail therapy on the Internet one night, I bought a very comfy-looking, light bridle designed to snap on over a rope halter – the idea being that you never have to take the halter off, from barn to trail to barn. Again, not a big deal; just wondering what others preferred. If you do trailer/tie in a rope halter, do you have another breakaway system in place (twine at the end of the rope or whatever)?

And on a personal note (forgive me), damn, isn’t it great how empowering it can be to be part of a team with a horse? That’s what gives me the courage/stubborness/state of denial to ignore the accountant, the hubby, etc. and get my freakin’ trailer and go!

[Icecapade]

Just do it.

I ride a stallion and the more time I spend fussing the more time he has to get into trouble. Do your regular routine- I find that my horse only gets more agitated with ground work- ground work usually means he has misbehaved and is getting punished- i.e. WHERE ARE YOUR GROUND MANNERS YOUNG MAN!!!
So circling and lunging in a foreign area- just going to be annoying to him.

I ride alone or sometimes meet someone else there as no one at my barns ever wants to trailer and ride 10+ miles. they want to walk for 4 hours. bleck- I digress he has to do his job of standing and then riding w/ or w/o company. Thats his job.

anyway horse and saddle are same side, I don’t usually brush head of time- but if he was dirty and I was worried about a fussy horse I would pre-groom- but like I said I just get there and do what I always do.

Pull out tack- pull out horse- tie- spay flyspray/mane w/ detangler, brush the back and girth saddle pad saddle girth, braid mane, grab bridle and helmet and lock up the trailer and go.

Don’t deviate from what you would normally do at home- don’t rush it either just ho hum off to work we go.

I also find I’d rather be on the back of a nervous horse than next to him so I just get on and go- always walking first and if they are super fussy I force the walk a little longer to sort of make the point then off to high gear trotting to get those wet saddle pads!

Good luck and fantastic that you get your own trailer- there is something so awesome about having the freedom to do whatever you want and go where you want w/ your own stuff and your own horse! When I ever I have a bad day I remember- I literally have everything I could possibly want in the world. Horse- truck-trailer- and best friend for a roommate who puts up with my shit. Doesn’t get much better than that!

[Auventera_Two]

I guess I have to disagree with the “just mount up as quick as you can” mentality. ALL horses need PATIENCE. They need to know that if I want them tied to the trailer for 4 hours, they have to do it quietly and peacefully. You never know when something will happen and the horse HAS to have patience. I’d rather have trained that ahead of time than make excuses “Oh, he’ll get into trouble, or he’ll get annoyed.” Too bad! Get annoyed until your little heart’s so annoyed you can’t stand it, then get annoyed some more for all I care. :winkgrin:

I don’t want a horse who paws or gets into trouble at the trailer because she has no patience at the trail head.

I’ve trailered my stallion out once to ride at a different trail, and he ended up tied to the trailer for over an hour. He danced around a little bit at first, but he ate his beet pulp and alfalfa, and watched the traffic go by and the Amish buggies coming home from church. The more we do, the more it will get to the point I just tack up and go, but they need patience as well. The last thing I want is a horse setting down on his rope after 7 minutes because he thinks you’re taking too long to get your act together.

I tie Andre (the stallion) up in the barn aisle, and I clean his stall, then I clean the other stalls, put out hay, feed the cat, fill the water tank, then I come back for him, after he’s been there for 45 minutes. He’s just standing there waiting. I do this with all my mares too. Horses need patience. That’s not optional. When they don’t have any patience, they WILL get in trouble.

[Auventera_Two]

@SharonA;4360594

Speak to me of trailering in a rope halter… my trainer advises against trailering in them because they’re not breakaways. I have plenty of regular breakaway halters; it’s just that when up way too late and doing retail therapy on the Internet one night, I bought a very comfy-looking, light bridle designed to snap on over a rope halter – the idea being that you never have to take the halter off, from barn to trail to barn. Again, not a big deal; just wondering what others preferred. If you do trailer/tie in a rope halter, do you have another breakaway system in place (twine at the end of the rope or whatever)?

I trailer in leather halters, but if you want to use your rope halter, you can attach the trailer tie to the tie ring with a short section of bailing twine. If something happens, the bailing twine will break and the horse will be free.

[katarine]

teaching patience comes over time and with experience. We don’t even know if the OP’s horse ties. so she’d have to leave her on the trailer. Asking a horse to stand alone on a trailer at a trailhead - where she may be the only horse …when they’ve never done that before would not be kind or courage-building for that horse. If they DO tie, then sure, you could try leaving them tied for an hour with a hay bag, but I’d plan for that. take a paperback along and plan for and commit to hanging out until they settle. What I wouldn’t do is get there and think oh crap I wanted to switch headstalls, all the while you’re worrying about the horse who is wiggling or looky. Either plan and use down time, or plan against it and be prompt and methodical about mounting up and going on. That is all I’m suggesting. Sharon, at first, I’d put her to work on let’s go ride or do some ground work…at the end of the day, plant your butt in a lawnchair, let her eat some hay, tied (I’m assuming she ties well- if she doesn’t it’s high time she learned), and relax. Let her watch the world go by when some of the fresh is off. JMO.

I haul in rope halters with permanent leads. I don’t tie in my slant load at all, but I do tie in a stock trailer. YMMV. You may elect to tie to a loop of haystring, or use tie-straps and just leave the leads draped over their backs .

[tkhawk]

It depends on the horse and how much training he/she has. If you are just starting out, maybe go on a trail ride with another horse first and then go back to the same trailhead -now the horse knows the trail. But it depends on the horse. My girl is on her best behaviour in a new trail. If she hasn’t been there, she is very tuned into me . But if we go to familiar trails-she is more like hey why go down that way-this way is better-not this way you moron, it is too steep-the way around is easier , how many times do I have to tell you?!:lol: She will listen, but in a new trail she usually never has an opinion and looks to me for tips.

[Auventera_Two]

I agree Katarine. You can’t leave a horse tied, if he doesn’t tie reliably. That is dangerous. You make a plan, stick to it. You can’t tie the horse up and go to the other side of the trailer and dig in your tack box for 10 minutes if your horse isn’t well trained and experienced enough to stand there.

It’s all about baby steps.

[SharonA]

Again, thanks everyone for the input!

Horse ties beautifully and has patience in many forms, entirely consistent with her being “une femme d’un age certain” (she is 19). She has no problems with trailering other than not having done it enough in the last couple years. And, with her own trailer (reportedly a quiet, airy one), Herself might come to feel as regal and entitled about the trailer as she does about many things. In any case, the more I walk through it in my mind, the more “no big deal” I feel about the whole thing, so I think I can give her the required confidence at this point.

Off to stimulate the economy!

[matryoshka]

I do like the halter/bridle combinations so that I don’t have to take a halter off to put on a bridle. I haul in non-breakaway halters, but I only tie the one horse who tries to turn around in the straight load. Eventually she’ll haul just with a shank draped over her back.

If you want to haul in one halter but use another during riding, you could change it on the trailer before you unload.

For my OTTB, I leave his halter on under the bridle. I use a bridle with no noseband and just slip it on over the halter before we head out. Then if I dismount to let him graze during the ride, I can slip it back off.

I LOVE having snaps on the end of my reins, too. I bought those separately, and all of my reins snap on and off. This way I can switch them to the halter ring if I need to tie the horse on the trail. You can bring a separate shank for tying, but I use my reins and have so far not had a problem. Watch, the next time I ride I’ll end up with a broken rein and cuss myself out for a fool. Still, so far, so good with that tactic.

When I do ground work, it is all in hand, with a wand or a crop. I don’t like to lunge. Different strokes for different folks. Do whatever you and your horse are comfortable with. For my skittish mare, in-hand work means we are trying to relax. I do a bit of massage to free up her shoulder and neck. I’ve also got some other things that work well (head lowering) when she is fussy. It’s never a punishment for her, and she knows this. Last time I rode her alone, we stopped on a cattle bridge over a busy road and did some relaxtion exercises in hand. I had gotten off to walk her across to avoid pin-balling from side to side as she worried about the cars whizzing by under her. She walked off the bridge with head low, licking and chewing. I’m thinking next time I can ride her across without a problem. We’ll see.

The most important thing is for you to be relaxed. Your horse will catch it from you. Forgive yourself for being a little tense the first time out. Don’t mount until you feel comfortable. That’s when it will be the best time for your horse, too.

[Beverley]

@Auventera Two;4360718

I guess I have to disagree with the “just mount up as quick as you can” mentality.

I don’t think that’s been the intent of the ‘just do it’ posts, so maybe some clarification is in order. Personally, I was making the point that you haul to the trailhead, get ready as you normally would, and go. No fancy groundwork if you don’t normally do that before riding at home. (For sure no longeing- I wouldn’t dream of longeing a horse out in the open at a strange place, quite different from longeing in an arena before riding and definitely not a safe thing to do if the horse gets scared and bolts).

As for tieing- absolutely, that is one of the skills that has to be locked down at home before you try it in a strange place. If your horse won’t tie at home (or stand still for hours without pawing) it for sure won’t do it at a trailhead or other ‘new’ place.

I don’t do treats- or offer anything other than the standard hay they get when hauling. If you need bribery to keep a horse calm- it may be YOU that needs the calming and the horse is picking up on that;)- or it may be the horse doesn’t have the basics it needs at home first, day in and day out, before you go traveling. The biggest thing that keeps a horse calm in my experience is the leadership of the human. If it’s no big deal to you, it’s no big deal to the horse.

[Icecapade]

[QUOTE=Beverley;4361683]
I don’t think that’s been the intent of the ‘just do it’ posts, so maybe some clarification is in order. Personally, I was making the point that you haul to the trailhead, get ready as you normally would, and go. No fancy groundwork if you don’t normally do that before riding at home. (For sure no longeing- I wouldn’t dream of longeing a horse out in the open at a strange place, quite different from longeing in an arena before riding and definitely not a safe thing to do if the horse gets scared and bolts).

As for tieing- absolutely, that is one of the skills that has to be locked down at home before you try it in a strange place. If your horse won’t tie at home (or stand still for hours without pawing) it for sure won’t do it at a trailhead or other ‘new’ place.

I don’t do treats- or offer anything other than the standard hay they get when hauling. If you need bribery to keep a horse calm- it may be YOU that needs the calming and the horse is picking up on that;)- or it may be the horse doesn’t have the basics it needs at home first, day in and day out, before you go traveling. The biggest thing that keeps a horse calm in my experience is the leadership of the human. If it’s no big deal to you, it’s no big deal to the horse.[/QUOTE]

ditto

I don’t ‘rush’-I just am brisk and buisness like- we are here to ride, you stand to be saddled- I get on and we go. no muss no fuss.

now if I want to stand around and smoke and joke I will do it- but when I trailer out- I trailer out to ride, my time is extremly precious to me, I get up and leave early and I try to be back at the barn NLT than 1 or 2 so I can get on w/ the rest of my day. usually he stands hobbled at the barn and I smoke and joke and he gets stand and hang out by his highness’s self there.

I think most of us who said that are the- do your normal routine and go… if your normal routine is to spend a half an hour tacking up… do that. If your normal routine is a 5 minute tack up- do that. Making a big event out of it is not the way to go thats all we ascribe to I would imagine.

[goeslikestink]

[QUOTE=SharonA;4353089]
I’m hopefully getting my first trailer soon so my horse and I can enjoy more of the area trails, and we will probably be riding alone the vast majority of the time (5-10 miles through conservation land in semi-rural areas – not hard-core stuff). We ride alone on the trails from the barn as it is and we’re both perfectly happy with it. But because we have done so little traveling since I’ve owned her, my horse can be nervous when she gets off the trailer at a new place. I’ve always had someone (a barnmate, the trailer driver, the ride organizers, etc.) available to hold her while I get on, keep her company while I get the last few pieces together, etc. Does anyone have suggestions for how to streamline the trailhead departure process so that my horse does not have too much time to get herself worked up over nothing, or systems for staying organized so that you’re not doing five things at once when you arrive a new trailhead?

I should point out that my horse is a gem who does her best to take care of me when her brain is present, and I expect her to get accustomed to trailering to new places very quickly – it’s just the first few times that we may both be nervous when we first hop off the trailer.

TIA![/QUOTE]

it this is your 1st time asa trialer owner - then get your matey to come along wwith you for the 1st few times - and also before you start to go off and do things have a few practices with the trialer empty - go home and back or to a business park whereby you can practice turning and reversing and also in the field then remember to think the hrose is in the back so dont just stop at stop light like you driving a car - as an instant stop the horse would be crashing into the breast bars in the back so think - be more aware of other roads users and the traffic in general and go wider round corners just slow down before turning and roundabouts and dont take it for granted that you in a horse trialer as other roads users dont care
and when you finally out on own do short journeys 1st then move on

[dm]

I’m not in the “just get on and go” group either. I don’t believe in getting on a horse until they are relaxed. Why get on a ticking time bomb when you can work out the kinks safely on the ground first? I’ve heard many of the popular trainers say the same thing–Kenny Harlow, Clinton Anderson, Craig Cameron, etc. Ground work is a great way to get the horse’s focus off their nervousness and back onto you, while also burning off some excess energy. I would suggest trying that with your mare.

I’ve also taken a nervous horse for a trail walk to help them calm down before I mount. Have the horse saddled and bridled (or at least saddled with your bridle with you), so you can mount up when you feel the horse calming. You won’t have to do this all the time–maybe the first time or two and then she will probably be better from then on.

I also use the beta/biothane add-on bridles so all I have to do is put the bit in the mouth, attach the headstall to the halter already on the horse from the trailer ride, and I’m good to go. I use a flat nylon or a rope halter–the ones that come with the halter/bridle sets are usually flimsy and the hardware will break if the horse pulls back at all while tied.

I also use the blocker tie ring a lot. My mare is usually great about standing tied, but she has set back a couple of times when tied to the trailer shortly after I arrive at a new trailhead parking lot. She seems to get nervous and just does it–I have no clue what sets her off because it happens so infrequently. The blocker gives her no resistance to pull against, so she may jump back quickly, but then she stops when she doesn’t hit resistance of being firmly tied. I think the feeling of being trapped when she first pulls back is what makes her keep pulling until I can either get to her to calm her or she breaks something. You do need to stay near them so you can re-tighten the rope quickly if they should pull back and it threads through a ways. Don’t want them getting their foot over the rope.

About trailering with a rope halter or non-breakaway halter. I do it all the time, BUT I tie in the trailer with a flimsy tie rope with a snap that can be easily broken by a horse if something happens. You know–the cheap 6 ft cotton half-inch rope leads with the little snaps that you can get for a couple of bucks. I figure if something were to happen, I would rather have a horse with a halter still on, free with no lead attached because that was the weak link that broke, than to have one with no halter on at all, in the case of using a breakaway halter.