Help! My Horse wont load in a trailer!!

As usual you have some good points Usandpets. Agree with not using bribery/luring, except maybe sometimes at the very very start(& not in this particular case by the sounds of it). But positively reinforcing the horse *when the Good behaviour happens*, as well as using food to associate the trailer with Good Feelings isn't bad. It's knowing the difference between a bribe & a reinforcement.

I think that if you don't have good timing & understanding of negative reinforcement(release of pressure on Right behaviour for eg) with ANY method, you're making life harder for yourself & your horse. And because horses learn from *instant* feedback, I don't believe DA's method is any more 'lenient', as it entails stopping asking for the horse to enter the trailer(so negative reinforcement for their resistance) before doing something totally different - lunging, before being asked to go back in the trailer, which is often only reinforced if/when the horse is all the way in, which may be way too much for some horses at that point in training, which if they're afraid, is not 'rest & reinforcement' at all, because they're so stressed about being in there.

Not at all saying it can't/doesn't work, but that in many cases, the horse is forced to just choose between 2 evils. I prefer to teach my horses to have no fear of the trailer and to learn that going in when I ask is a Good Thing, not just the lesser evil.

I also have to say 'work' outside for that purpose is most definitely punishment. That is precisely what it is - something you're doing that's unpleasant/undesireable, in order to be able to negatively reinforce(stop the unpleasantness) when the horse does the Right behaviour. *Not at all saying punishment is necessarily Bad either, just that's the definition of it. I personally train my horses to enjoy their 'work' so therefore I don't like to use things like lunging as punishment.

I agree with loosie iv trained all 3 of my horses to load in a trailer with out using lunging the poop out of them. And all three almost run you over to get in the trailer because they like going in. Not because iv worked the poop out of them in front of it. All I do is throw the rope over their necks and tell them load up and in they go. Doesnt matter what kind of trailer 2 horse straight load ,stock trailer,slant load.

Get the horse halter-broke he'll load in anything

Just because you can put a halter on and lead them around does not mean you can get them to load into any trailer. I doubt that anyone that is asking how to load their horse has a horse that isn't halter broke.
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Just because you can put a halter on and lead them around doesn't mean they're halter broke either Some horses are about as halter broke as my cat is leash trained: they'll do what you want as long as you don't want much out of them!

Ya I wishy friend would have let' me try. They did try it at the trailer but her horse is lazy and she just walked around. When I do it with hunter it's an immediate trot nothing less is acceptable. He knows it too. I haven't had to lunge in quite a while.
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When I lunge hunter at the trailer it is very short and swift and I don't lunge the poop out of him. It's more of me directing where his feet go and it is also totally different than when we lunge in the arena. I don't think it's necessary to lunge for ten mins. It's very brief and let's them know you mean business. Hunter walks on and off now with mo hesitation
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USANDPETS -if you are defining halter broke that way then, then it wouldn't necessarily make a difference.
If you are defining halter broke as a horse that "hooks on to you" and accepts you as a leader then I can see where that might make a difference.
Sorry, I just got done watching BB's video. I'm all inspired now.
Also, I would never have thought of the "sending game" as translating to trailer loading. It makes sense though.

Like everything else, there will be differing opinions on what halter broke means.

Http://www.horseforum.com/horse-training/what-your-definition-halter-broke-103286/

I guess I'm one of those that it means the horse accepts having the halter on and being lead. Nothing more and nothing less. It's the start of their training and learning to be handled. Its the beginning of them learning to trust. Seeing us as a leader and
Having a bond or joining up comes afterward. So does ground manners.

By the descriptions in the other thread as to what halter broke is, there are probably few horses that are truly halter broke. Any horse with a leading problem, pulling back or even standing still, is not halter broke. I've seen some professionally trained performance horses that would fall into the non halter broke category.

To each their own opinion.
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You're right. Probably very few horses are halter broke based on the 2nd definition.
Until recently I would have said a horse was halter broke if you could put a halter on him, and lead him quietly.
As I'm learning more, I've changed my opinion that, and realizing just how important a good foundation really is.