Hey there,
I've been having a lot of trouble loading my horse into our straight load trailer, and need some advice/training tips for how to help me and him make this a better situation and train him to load properly.
We have had our straight load for about three months now, and he's loaded in it fine the first two times. Two weeks ago, I took him down to the arena, not too far away from were we board. It took about a half hour and lots of coaxing and grain to get him in the trailer (I know that's a no-no, but I didn't know that at that time). It seemed like he had trouble putting his feet up into the trailer, but I'm not sure if he's really having trouble or if he's just messing with me. After going through all that trouble, I looked up some tips about trailering horses. Last night I had to take him to a 4-H meeting, so I tried lounging him a bit around the back of the trailer (I've read that calms them down?) and he still wouldn't load. After about 45 mins, I finally gave up and had my friend trailer him to the meeting in their slant load. He did fine in the slant load, but he still wont load in my straight load.
I really need some advice, if you have anything to say. I have to teach him to load by himself, because when we move I have to be able to transport him. Is he just buffaloing me, or does he really have a problem?
Have tried removing the center divider in your straight load? Maybe try taking that out and work on getting him in and out of the trailer that way. Get him comfortable in your trailer before adding the divider back in.
The idea of lunging him outside the trailer is not to calm him. It is to teach him that inside the trailer is a resting place. Outside is the working place.
Work him a little away from the trailer and let him rest next to the trailer. Slowly get closer to the trailer when working him and try to get him to go in to rest. If he backs out or away, put him to work right away. Then back in the trailer to rest. Soon he will load easily. Posted via Mobile Device
I'm not sure if you have constant access to the trailer, but if you feed him, then I'd start feeding him inside the trailer. If he's uncomfortable with this at first, then do it near the trailer and gradually get closer to it, feeding him off the ramp, and the moving inside after he's comfortable with that. I had a lot of problems with my first horse and loading so this is what I did and she came around and accepted it quite happily after realizing that it wasn't going to eat her.
That's just how I'd do it, every horse is different though, so what worked for mine mightn't work for yours
I know I shared this vid on another post, but it's the result of doing what I said in my other post: Loading a horse - YouTube Posted via Mobile Device
I know I shared this vid on another post, but it's the result of doing what I said in my other post: Loading a horse - YouTube Posted via Mobile Device
My friend had a similar problem with her TB. Make sure the divider in the middle is open, so your horse feels they have enough space.
The best advice I can give you is be patient and give it TIME.
It took 2 hours of practice to get my friend's horse in the trailer.
1) First get her used to the trailer, take her around it, let her smell it.
2) Bring treats!
3) Progress may be slow, and it may take a few days of work, but remember to be patient.
4) Try putting the trailer right by the opening of the barn, so the horse thinks it is a continuation of the barn.
5) Slowly lead her upward, try bringing a crop.
not sure if this might help... but my new arabian is tricky to load but when he has his diva ways met he loads like a dream.
he has to load first into my two horse straight load trailer. i tie the divider end by the loading door to the left side leaving the whole right side with a big opening.
i have the door itself open so its like a chute the horse has to walk thru. then i walk in infront of him and open the chest bar so i am not in his space of the trailer. put a little pressure on the lead for him to come forward and he will take a few steps in a prance as to fight me and then jumps right in... he will stop right in front of me so i can hook the chestbar back up then give him a treat. then walk down the side where the other horse would be and untie the divider . close it slowly so it is back to the center and then put the buttbar up.
once he is in he settles but he likes to be a butt..lol
i leave all front doors open for lighting, take out all haynets etc to make it look bigger, open top air vents, and side windows. once he is in i put the haynets up and he starts munching right away.
the big thing is to make that trailer not look so small lol :p good luck
Make sure your timing/finesse is right with the trailer loading. I see so many people that have the timing of forward aids down incorrectly. They will tap the horse with the whip when it's moving forward and not when it's backing up, etc. You should only use the aid to get your horse to move forward, and back off when they do. Not loading in the trailer is really just ignoring the aid to move forward.
That said, I usually have to load my mare alone or with other people standing well away. There has been too many times a "helper" has wanted to whack her or what not, so if she sees someone walking up to her while I'm loading, she gets nervous and it turns it into a big deal. When I first got my ramp she was unsure about it, but now she practically trots up the ramp
Also, how's your driving? If a horse gets jostled a lot in the trailer, they won't want to get in again. Make sure you are accelerating and braking slowly, and being caution/slow on your turns. Also make sure it is cool enough back there, trailers heat up significantly when you put a horse in them, open all your windows to the max, etc and put a flymask on if you have to (for blowing shavings, hay and what not).
Over the years here are the things that have worked most consistently for me across a number of horses.
- For a straight load, park next to a building or a fence/panel so that when the back door is open, you have a 'chute'. This prevents horses from trying to 'escape' around the sides of the trailer.
- Put some bedding material on the floor. I've found that even for horses that are never stalled, many find a floor with bedding (pine shavings/straw/etc) more 'inviting' than just black trailer mats.
- No rewards for anything less than completely loading. These critters are very smart when it comes to food. Years ago, I tried the reward for loading half way and it took our mare, Lady, 2 minutes to figure out her strategy... half load, get treat, back out, half load, get treat,.... I think you get the picture.
- The longer you let them think about it, the longer and harder it will be. You want to walk them right in just like you are leading anywhere else. A horse that stops for more than a couple seconds gets wacked with a straw broom on the butt. Posted via Mobile Device
I used the feed in the trailer technique for my paint mare and it helped a lot. Just make sure all wires and anything 'chewable' are covered. My mare was afraid of the hollow sound of her hooves on the ramp but her stomach won out pretty quickly! Lol Posted via Mobile Device
The whole "lunge them outside the trailer and let them rest inside the trailer" is a HUGE no-go for my girl. It makes things 10 times worse, instead. Any sort of "force" would cause her to shut down.
Sunny eats on the trailer(when I have time) and we also practice a lot of loading with treats. Some may not like this, but I could care less. It works for my girl who had a bad trailer experience.
Food = positive reinforcement. By feeding her in the trailer she associates the trailer with food. WHENEVER I have to load her I give her food. However, I don't let her "know" I have it until she's in, she just assumes I do. She gets the snack once she's in. This way, if there is ever an emergency where she has to load and I don't have food, I know she'll load because she THINKS I do.
My girl went from flipping over backwards when you walked her towards a trailer to quietly loading with minimal hesitation. We actually went on an off-property trail ride yesterday and she loaded like a champ.
This is what worked for me and my particular horse. Posted via Mobile Device
Question, when you unload from the slant do they come out backward or forward? If you are leading them out of the slant, I think the issue may be unloading not loading. If so just work on backing, put them in the slant but make them back out.
He unloads backwards, but I've really had no problem with unloading him. When he starts to back up, I just say "down" when he gets to the step, and he knows to step down. He's done this many times, and is perfectly comfortable with it.
Haven't been on in a while, be here's my update. I went to a 4-H meeting a week ago and had some experience horse friends help me. We (4 adults, 3 teens, including me) did the lunging idea with him. After 2 1/2 hours of lunging and refusals, it started getting dangerous. He almost hit my mom in the face when he reared at the opening of the trailer. One of my friends that was working with us (she's grown up with horses, I trust her) told me that she could tell by his body language that he wasn't scared, he was just being a little sh!t (excuse my language). We finally gave up and just loaded him in my friends slant load. Now we've put him in his own little pen and have started feeding him in the trailer in hopes that he'll think of it as a "good place."
I have to get him used to this trailer, because we're moving soon and have to be able to transport him ourselves. He has loaded 2 or 3 times in this trailer with no problem. At the moment, we can't afford a new trailer.... He's going to have to learn to load in it :/
The straight haul configuration distresses this horse, the more he rides in it, the more it sores him, eventually if he is anything like my mare I had, he will go down in it. Switch to a slant or stock, which he loads in (clue!) and everyone is happy. Funny how peops never ride in a saddle which sores a horse but they will force them in a trailer which the horse is clearly telling you, hurts him. After you make the switch & you haul him to an event, he will go better as he will not be distressed & bodysore. I say this from 30 years of loading & hauling horses, I had to bite the bullet & sell the handy dandy 2 horse I loved pulling & got a stock. Sold the straight haul to my friend, her horses loaded & hauled fine in it, different horses, different body shapes.
Not to hijack this post but my horse loads perfectly fine but when I close the door he is trying will all his might trying to get back out, like a bat out of hell. Should I just let him do it till he clams down and then let him out? btw I have a 2 horse straight.
JSMidnight-why don't you just post a new post? I don't appreciate that at all, and you can just do a new post, which will get more attention I think. Please don't hijack my posts.
Waresbear-if you read my recent post, you'd see that I can't afford a slant load. I would appreciate advice any advice you have to loading in a straight load, and thank you for telling me that, but I have to work with what I have at the moment.
The first thing that jumps out at me is that at first he loaded. Then, he stopped wanting to go in.
I have seen this the most when people drive too roughly with a horse in a straight load. When a horse is in a slant load, they can hold their balance much better because their right front foot is out there to balance on. If you haul horses in an open stock trailer, they will stand that way any time they are tied with their heads at the front. If they are untied, they will usually haul standing backwards.
When a horse is hauled in a straight load, you MUST drive around corners and curves MUCH slower and more carefully that when pulling a stock or slant trailer. If the divider goes all of the way to the floor, it should be cut off, replaced with a padded pipe or swung to one side so the horse can stand with a wider stance and keep his balance better. Horses liking the divider swung over usually has more to do with standing wider than loading. This alone makes most horses happier in a straight load.
Also, when hauling, you can slow down, or speed up or carefully go around a curve, but you can combine braking and taking a curve at the same time. Slow down and /or use your brakes BEFORE the curve and then keep a steady speed going around it. You must slow down to a much slower speed if you approach an S curve. The horse will be balanced for the first part of the curve and will not be able to switch to the other direction very well so you have to go slower. If you haul horses too roughly very much, you will end up with a 'climber', 'leaner' or 'scrambler' that tries to climb or lean on one of the walls of the trailer. This is a real hard vice to ever cure. I have seen several horses back in the 60s (when only straight loads were around) that had open sores exposing their hip bones from leaning so severely.
Secondly -- If a horse leads properly -- not just follows when it wants to -- IT WILL LOAD! I have trained horses to load for 45 or 50 years now (and they continue to load if they are not hauled too roughly) by 'fixing' the leading problem.
I use a 'draw halter' or a lip string and apply 'light ' pressure until the horse takes a step forward and then instantly release the pressure after each step. I have never had it fail and that is with flippers, horses that have 'struck out at' and hurt people and horses that have tried to 'self-destruct'.
When I get time (I have to get a set of trail horses ready to ride this morning (and also on Saturday and Sunday) I will put together a post on exactly how I do it. The key is to apply 'light' pressure and not let the horse get reactive and 'on the fight'. It works every time for me and for others that learn to keep their temper under control and never yank or jerk the lead but simply use 'pressure and release' in a very calm and light manner.
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