“Heres what you do. My horse WOULD NOT EVEN LOOK at a trailer after we got her home. First. Get a piece of old plywood that doesnt have excesive spikes. Walk your horse on it as you would load it in a trailer. If you have anything close together, put the horse inbetween there. Back the horse out MORE than you put it in there. Thats how essential backing the horse out is. Combine these when your horse has them down pat. After youve done this, your horse should be slightly less claustraphobic. Try loading your horse into the trailer after letting them sniff around the trailer and as far inside as they want to. When you try to load them, have a 4ish foot long whip or stick close but DO NOT HIT YOUR HORSE WITH IT FOR ANY REASON! do not even look at it until youve pointed with your hand thats holding the leadrope into the trailer. DO NOT TUG ON THE ROPE! If your horse takes one foot in the trailer, pat them and back them out. DONT PRESSURE THE HORSE TO LOAD COMPLETELY! More than likely, your horse chose not to take that first step. Thats ok, gentely pick up the stick and hold it a few feet behind your horse. Your horse should now be in a very alert stage. Bring the stick closer, but dont touch the horse! If your horse still hasnt moved, pat it gently on the rump. Remember if the horse takes ONE SINGLE STEP into the trailer, reward him/her then back them up again.
Soon, your horse will be putting one hoof in the trailer like a pro. Use the previous steps to load the rest of your horse. Remember, this takes time. Youre trying to CONVINCE THE HORSE INTO THE TRAILER NOT SCARE IT IN!!!
Tips: never tie your horse to the trailer…i learned that one the hard way…
NEVER HIT THE HORSE WITH THE WHIP/STICK this can cause the horse to kick you plus it will associate YOU AND THE TRAILER with the slap. It will also lose all trust and respect for you.
Remember, you’re convincing the horse to load, not forcing them. If you force/scare them into the trailer, they WILL NOT want to load again.
Using this, we had my mare loading in less than 24 hours. And my girl wouldn’t look at a trailer, much less load. 24 hours is a little short for some horses, so let your horse decide when their ready.
Good luck in loading your horse!!!
Samantha”
We loved this email. Sounded very sensible.
Do let us know your comments and tips. Please do keep ’em coming.
And here’s my horse whispering secrets.
Best
Al & Claire
Yes the work away from the trailer, especially teaching forward and back, is essential. I purchased a horse that had never been on a trailer and after about 15 min of establishing a calm obedient response to the forward and back signals he loaded calmly on the first attempt and has never been a problem since. It is also essential to give them a good smooth ride taking special care with cornering.
I need some advice on how to neck rane my 4 year old quarter horse guilding can you help me ,Mike
Hi Horse friends,
I can’t count how many horses I’ve trained, and there are two things I consider the most dangerous things to do with a horse. 1) mounting because you are off balance on one leg and if a horse spooks you can get hurt easily. I was 39 before a real incident occurred but I was glad that every single time I mount I keep the head turned slightly to my hip, and when that day happened the horse spooked away from me, not on me! Typically they will circle around you. 2) trailering. It is not natural for a horse to be locked into a moving, bouncing tin can, and panic can set it suddenly to even the most seasoned horse. The root of trailering issues is fear or pain or fatigue memories, sometimes horses just don’t want to stand and brace, it is hard work in a trailer. They have no idea where they are going or how long they will be in that hot, draining tin can that suddenly jerks and sways. That is different from afraid. I recommend cautioning on the side of fear, because whip in hand or not, you will lose against a panicking 1000 lb animal. I do not use a whip or ropes. I train all of my horses to do tricks for small handfuls of grain. Grain gets them less nippy than sugar cubes. They bond with you and learn trust. With a lot of patience they will follow you anywhere if they get a little bit of grain. Just don’t park your trailer on lush grass for practice sessions. One step at a time, NEVER leave the front door to the trailer open to reduce likeliness of a panic run-through. Always make sure you are not cornered.. This means in a two horse I walk up the other stall. Second horse I try to train to walk in on his/her own. If not I do not have the front door but a crack open for me to push open when I get there. Breast bars always closed and I duck under. Open the divider to work with conditioning poor loaders. BE PATIENT. If you are not sure if your horse is just being resistant or if it is fear you must get a professional who can read the face cues. This is just a few tidbits to think about, please do not consider it professional advice and get a professional’s help to individually assess your horse. But please not a ya-hoo who feels they need to be forced in with whip and ropes. In the long run it’s much better to let your horse enjoy the experience as much as possible, it’s a living being asked to do something for us it cannot understand. Also, I periodically load my horses just to eat a wedge of their favorite alfalfa hay and then back out. Or give them hay with the butt bar down so they can get out on their own, but I stay with them to guide them down the ramp. If a horse struggles with trailering, I recommend WEEKLY sessions or more– going nowhere! Blessings and happy trails!
We tried the food with my girl before the previous stated method. As my horse is not food oriented, she didnt comply with our asking to go in the trailer, even if she knew shed get grain. The whip isnt used as a whip. Its used as an extentsion of the hand so you can use “back pressure” to ask your horse to go into the trailer while also holding the lead rope. Of course, if your horse has “black stallion” fear of a whip, then you should desensatise them first.
good info. j
I’ve been taught this by several instructors/trainers. It’s the “natural horsemanship” method and it WORKS… but it does take patience.
Excellent article! Trailering is training that I am never in a hurry with. I never do well if I am in a hurry. However, this article is particularly enlightening for when my time is limited! Many thanks!!
Trailering is NOT normal for horses. They have 4 or 5 perfectly functioning gaits to get around on; we are the idiots who put them on wheels. (I have very few friends as it is, so this perspective does not help; I’ve just had to learn from my very bad mistakes, and I have very little to offer people who always say “It’s the pony’s fault…”)
That all being said, my aim is to make this activity as “normal” as possible. I leave the trailer in the paddock with youngsters (I usually have herds of 5 or 6 of them, so they chase each other in and out of their new toy). I change the configuration of the trailer every few days or so (divider in, out, swung to the left or right). They get used to the rattling and noises…
If I get 1 or 2 of them a bit older (one or two year olds, coming 3, maybe), I put their food in the trailer. After they learn that they must go in the trailer to eat, it is easier to move the divider around and get them used to the idea of going into this box that will not eat them…
Hopefully by this time we have their ground manners in place, so USUALLY it is not too much of a stretch to lead them in and out. This “box” becomes a normal part of their lives. We have small “tricks” to use for the “sticky” kids, but by and large, our approach works fairly well.
And THEN, the ROLLING part starts… We treat this as a whole, separate phase of trailering. Cell phones are a beautiful thing… I have a great trainer who stays in the trailer with them as we first work out way up the driveway and back, until we get out and around the block a few times… She monitors their reactions, and we stop and start rolling accordingly.
Trailering is never a “one and done” exercise. Once successful activity is established, it needs to diligently maintained.
Sorry to prattle… Thank you again! Great article!
I Love reading all your articals. I was raised on a working farm/ranch. Horses were always more to me than something you feed & ride. I really connected with horses.
I wished there were daily articals to read. I can’t ride anymore do to a diability, but i stay close and continue to learn all i can about them so i can help others. Thank You
Alistar Lee
Learn everything you can Lisa! You can still help horses by volunteering etc or advocating Rescue horses. Or is there a RDA near you?
I broke my back and lower pelvis, and when starting to ride again tore my shoulder tendon. My two horses – Sol I have had for11yrs, and Splash I have had since she was 18 mths and now 6 years, I am training up for a bash at the local Rodeo in Barrel Racing.
No excuse if you have a trusty horse!
GET BACK ON!
Your driving has a great deal to do with the horses overall experience w/the trailer. Horses can only brace one way at a time. If you have to stop rather suddenly that sometimes happens. The horse can pretty well deal with that. It’s when you are turning and stop hard, or turning and accelerate rapidly that the horse is going to loose their balance and footing. It goes without saying that we should always try to accelerate gradually and allow space to stop gently. When you are stopping or accelerating while turning, you will often hear the horse scrambling in the trailer, trying to maintain their footing. This has a lot to do with a horses willingness to get back in the trailer the next time. Considerate driving will be greatly appreciated by your horse.
I would appreciate some help on rescue horses, really need help!!!! I know most of the problem is Always lack of Knowledge on the part of the rider.. I adopted a 21 yr old mare 2 yrs ago, the owner of the rescue ranch insisted that a horse have a companion, we’re on 7 acres, that was fine, another mare 12 yrs old, both terribly underweight, now fine, bigger old girl “16.5 hands” now at almost 1200 lbs, younger girl “15 hands appr ” 1000lbs” I feel after almost 2 yrs, starting to bond w/ younger mare, even tho the older is definitely alpha mare, cannot seem to bond or get her trust, have not even tried to ride in months. They are so close, the older gets hysterical even when the younger is walked out of the pasture.. Please someone out there give me help on natural horsemanship on how to separate them temporarily. I only have 7 acres for them, lots of great riding space close by, but not sure how to handle the older mare if I take the younger out.Any info or knowledge of trainers in Leesburg,Fl area will be greatly appreciated.Thanks!!
I have the same problem, but if you can put one horse in a safe area while you ride the other, then swap and ride the other the same day, and swap over each horse you ride each day first. Don’t panic, they will get used to it, and the bonus is, the one going off, you don’t have to ride so long to get fit!
ALL ready great advice. Boy, there’s some smart folks out there…thanks for the info.
Shelly L.
I’ve ran into this before, there is only one way to really get past this. It is to just start doing it. I would take one out and put them where they can see each other for a while, walk them in and out of each others vision for a bit, etc.
You have to use some judgment here. If every time they really throw a fit, you put them back together, you may be training them to throw a bigger fit. The key to success is to just keep getting the “out of sight time” longer and longer. When you bring the “out” horse back into vision, don’t put them back together right away.
You can eventually start leaving them apart overnight, etc. Eventually you just start doing what you want when you want. You will have to bite the bullet and be tough about what you are trying to accomplish, or they will win out. Just do it enough that you can start using them the way you want to. It’s irritating to have them throwing a fit, but you can work through it.
I hope this helps. Larry
Re the loading, good on you that have a shed or similar situation, so why need the whip if only for encouragement lightly”?
3 yrs ago I had to halter train an 18 mth small filly in 2 days to take into a 2 horse trailer/float, had never been touched. We did with her mother with little trouble. The people picking her up bred small ponies, but the husband came to get them, it was his wife mainly, although he and his son were good with them. But I had to tell them how to get her on.
When she pulls back, hold on, when she stops, loosen.
So with that we got her on the Float with her .
Take your Time!
No whips or ropes involved!
i have a horse i fed in trailer, made it his home for a winter. He would get in but when he comes out it is like a bull. We are gonna start over again. it is when you go on ride he flips out when he comes off and you cant hold him. have any ideas