Straight load trailer - door first or butt bar first?

[Txhorsedreamer]

Thank you all so much!

I am going to practice with him a bunch to get him bored with it before I do the doors and stuff then. I have plenty of time and don’t have any trips coming up in the next couple weeks at least. But when he is ready I will do butt bar and then latch the door right behind.

I forgot to mention that once the door is shut, he will back into it trying to get out (sometimes several times) so I know that just because something is behind him doesn’t mean he gives up. The door is nice and sturdy but I’ve got some work to do to get him where he needs to be so I don’t have to worry anymore.

Thank you all again!

[Valentina_32926]

Having had a horse go under the butt bar - door first!

[Foxtrot_s]

If he will accept a stick, reach in and tap his bum when he backs up - tech him to wait until asked to come out. Keep tapping in every increasing pressure until he gets it. Nothing worse than a horse that may develop the exploding out of a trailer habit.

I think you have the right idea of spending time, quietly and calmly, and getting him used to every phase of the load and unload and not relying on the door or butt bar.

Treats/reward.

If he does back out unasked, back him up ten or so steps, reload and offer treat.

[Classicgal]

I agree with not trying to put the tail gate up first because of the danger, but it you absolutely have to do it from the side! Of course you need good springs to do that. We tried that with my horse who would load fine, but then bolt backwards and thank goodness I told my husband that.

[roseymare]

With doors you have the leverage advantage over a backing horse, with a ramp the horse gains the leverage. The advice is different for different trailers and situations.

[amastrike]

If you do the butt bar first, shut the door IMMEDIATELY.

I watched a horse panic and back under the butt bar. She got stuck and ended up breaking her back when she kept trying to stand.

It was about as horrifying as you can imagine.

[netg]

[QUOTE=roseymare;8133759]
I am going to be a bit of a desenter in this thread. The horse needs to get over the running out phase before you worry about the butt bar. And it also depends on where your butt bar is in relation to the back of the trailer. If there is a chance that the horse can get its hind legs out of the trailer and on the ground with the butt bar up then you absolutely cannot put up the butt bar until the horse will stand mannerly in the trailer otherwise you will be in a pickle. You will not be able to undo a butt bar if there is pressure on it and a horse is panicking.
I agree you need to train you horse to accept the butt bar up before you shut the door BUT you cannot rush the issue on a bad loader that needs retrained. I am sure that is what most are suggesting.[/QUOTE]

@Valentina_32926;8134015

Having had a horse go under the butt bar - door first!

@roseymare;8134735

With doors you have the leverage advantage over a backing horse, with a ramp the horse gains the leverage. The advice is different for different trailers and situations.

Agreed with the above. I ALWAYS did the door first, and detest ramps-as-doors for that reason. I tihnk it’s too easy for a horse to get a leg down if not its butt, and a ramp forces you to do butt bar first. I’m only 5’1, and had a tall horse with tall back doors but could manage to do the butt bars anyway. It’s really not about height there, and that’s just an excuse…

Yes, if your horse is impatient and wants to rush out with a door you can’t necessarily stop it, but it won’t cause the damage a ramp would and if a hoof gets out the door the horse can get out without destroying itself.

[LittleLegsBigStride]

I used to have a horse that was an EXCELLENT loader 99% of the time but that 1% would be him trying to back out before I told him. He was 14.2 and went under the butt bar once – luckily he was untied, but after that, anything under ~15 got the door and then the butt door. Now my horses are 16h+ so not worried about that, but something to consider. Even the most steady horses have their moments, and to me having a horse short enough to go under the butt door was like loading a horse and tying it first.

[spacytracy]

I had a loader like yours. He normally will go on fine, but by the time I get to the back, he’s backed out.

I decided this had to stop and so I’ve been making it mundane and boring.

I put him on, and let him hang out, unrestrained. Then he gets some grain as a reward and hay to munch on.

If he wants to back off, he can. I want him to know that there’s no pressure - the most important thing is that he is in on his own accord, and is fine just chilling on there.

After doing this for a really long time, I put up the butt bar. And we hang out some more.

I mix this up. Sometimes I put up the butt bar, sometimes I dont. Either way, I dont’ make a huge fuss. As long as he willingly goes on, I’m happy.

He is getting to the point that he is self-loading, so I can send him in from the back, and he walks on willingly, and I can put the butt bar up with plenty of time.

I’m sure some people are against the whole grain thing, the bribery thing, but my boy is extremely food-motivated. And is a stubborn haflinger - so physical force is like, eh, to him.

Anyway, this is what has worked for me. Its a work in progress but I’m taking the slow and steady route so that when I really do have to trailer them, I am confident about it, and he goes on calmly.

[Reagan]

As others have said, I would work on self loading. What I did with mine was start leading on, let them have a few bites of feed, back off. Then work just standing to their side with a dressage whip and “tap tap tap tap tap tap” etc for as long as it takes to get 1 step. Just 1 to start. Praise, give a treat, and start again. Don’t beat or force, basically pester until they make the correct decision, stop pestering and praise. Eventually, you don’t praise until you get two steps, then three, continuing until there is no praise until fully loaded.

Another thing I’ve done is hang a small bucket of feed in the front of the trailer as a reward for the self loading strategy above. But, it also works with those who aren’t quite there yet, so you load them by walking through the trailer and need time to put up butt bar before they back off. Just a handful of feed could keep him occupied long enough to get the butt bar up and door closed before he backs out if he is food motivated.

Good luck!

[netg]

Because my gelding gets the back spot in my slant load trailer (it’s bigger, he’s bigger, and the mare likes to balance by putting her butt against a wall but couldn’t reach in the rear spot) he has to self-load. We started with a longe line. I would run it through his window and have it ready near the back of the trailer before we started. Lead him up, hook it on, use the longe line looped around the trailer to me to give forward pressure as if I were leading, while encouraging his hind end as necessary. Of course he already had to load well, but he didn’t auto-load until then, and quickly learned it was no big deal. In the case of my current trailer, the door is full height so butt bar first is the only option. It’s about 2’ behind his butt once he’s quietly in, so very easy to latch.

[Beverley]

Yes, butt bar. Yes, like Hunterkid, mine stand when loaded while I take my time with the butt bar, and they stand at the other end until I just tap them at the top of the tail.

I had a warmblood who came back to me as a bad loader, after a year away. Great loader when he left but it turns out he spent that year being hauled in a too-small-for-him trailer. So, when I’d load him, he’d walk right on, and then back right off. I would just repeat that process until he realized he ‘had the power’ to back off, he wasn’t going to get the door slammed on him, and he could relax and enjoy a little. Once he settled in and I put up the butt bar and closed the door and hauled him, and he realized the trailer was roomy, he got over the concern on that first trip.

[Txhorsedreamer]

Thank you everyone! I think if I HAD to load him by myself right now all it would take is a couple treats or a bit of grain to keep him in long enough while I shut the door. I have only had a trailer for a little while and so I haven’t been able to practice with him until recently. He is used to being shut in for the purpose of going somewhere every time. If there was hay, he’d go in and take a bite and then back out immediately FAST like he knew. That is getting better now with being able to practice, leaving everything open, and no pressure or actual trip.