Comments on: Horse Trailer Loading Tips

By: Top-10 Free Reports – America’s Horse Daily

Top-10 Free Reports – America’s Horse Daily — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 12:02:00 +0000

[...] Horse Trailer Loading Tips: Training your horse for the trailer requires time and patience. [...]

By: ingrid

ingrid — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 11:56:10 +0000

I had a horse that would not back out of our tiny straight load trailer. We would struggle with her for hours. I finally realized that she was afraid to step down.

So I had my husband, build a 36×48 wooden pedestal (about $60 in 2×10 pressure treated wood from Home Depot) and practiced having her getting on and backing off the pedestal with confidence. The next time I tried her with the trailer, she went in and out several times with no problem. I think the pole idea is good too. She refuses to back over poles. I still need to work with her on that. This normally sweet gentle mare becomes the angry witch pinning her hears back when I try to back her over poles.

My other mare backs over poles with no problem. This mare also hops on the pedestal for fun and attention and practically loads herself into the trailer. Go figure.

By: barry

barry — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:10:36 +0000

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By: Angel Baez

Angel Baez — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:47:59 +0000

In spanish, translate at spanish please, my English is not efficent, thank you. up’s !!!

By: Marissa

Marissa — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:57:54 +0000

we can not find it can eneyboidy help me

By: Jana

Jana — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:38:36 +0000

Unfortunately ‘John’ it is methods like you mentioned that result with problem loaders like the ones afore-mentioned. Yes, it is a horse’s natural defense to flee – but they wouldn’t flee into a cave if a tiger was chasing, they would do anything to go over, under or around (to stay in an open space). I am sure you will continue with your forceful methods – I instead choose to make it easier on MYSELF by fixing a horse problem by thinking like the horse.

By: Riding Back to Front, Part III – America’s Horse Daily

Riding Back to Front, Part III – America’s Horse Daily — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:28:32 +0000

[...] you have trouble getting your horse to load, you should check out our FREE Horse Trailer Loading Tips report. Download your copy [...]

By: john

john — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:01:32 +0000

withouth being cruel, its very simple. a horses defense is to flee. I’ve had horses that flatly refused and when youve rented a trailer for the day, he HAS to go. you make enough noise behind him like Hell is coming at him that he takes the less intimidating direction. forward. we have to be careful not to become the animals Dr Spock, you can’t always reason with a thinking horse. Just get the job done, they have to make it easier on themselves.

By: Kathy

Kathy — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 19:19:04 +0000

What a lot of trainers do not address is how to teach the horse to back out of the trailer. (MUCH safer than turning and walking out).
The light went on when I watched Paul Dufresne teaching his horse to step up on a large mounting block – one foot on, then back off – then over and over gradually working up the 2,3 then all 4 feet. The horse was able to “remember” how to back off the block. You can do this with you trailer – just one foot at a time until he remembers how to back out.
I give my horse all the time he likes when backing out and I use the same cue to warn him when he is just one step away from stepping down. I have never had a problem since using this method. Depending where I am parked, the step down can be a lot higher in some places, but he has enough confidence and faith in me that he trusts me when I tell him he is “there”.

By: Healthy Transition - America’s Horse Daily

Healthy Transition - America’s Horse Daily — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:00:53 +0000

[...] You found the perfect horse, but he won’t get in the trailer. Don’t let loading trouble stand in the way of your new horse’s arrival: Download AQHA’s Free Horse Trailer Loading Tips report. [...]

By: Wen-dee

Wen-dee — Thu, 28 May 2009 15:41:42 +0000

I had the same problem with getting my yearling to back out. I read an article about it and this is what they suggested…I tried it and it worked PERFECTLY.
Set poles on the ground and teach the horse to back over the poles. Believe it or not they will not want to do this and will get frightened. Once they back over the pole on the ground…begin to raise the poles. Then back over the raised poles. Once they get this try the trailer…and don’t let them turn around. The poles teach them how to back into the “grand Canyon”. I did this with my 2-year old filly and it worked perfect. The next time I put her in the trailer she backed out just fine. I was amazed.

By: Ant

Ant — Thu, 28 May 2009 13:30:19 +0000

Having experienced both the not wanting to get in and not wanting to back out situations with my 16.2 alpha mare, I know how trying trailer loading can be. My problem started when going from a slant load, step up trailer to a straight load, ramp. The first time I asked her to go up the ramp, she loaded flawlessly. Then it took three hours and side reins to get her back out. She had no idea how to back down the ramp!

I tried several different clinicians approaches. The one that worked the least was running around the ramp and encouraging the horse to “rest” near/in the trailer. This may work for a lot of horses, but my gal could run around for hours and never put a foot on the ramp. It also does not address the backing out issue that many have problems with.

Eventually, I tried the calm, sane, way safer approach of John Lyons and Pat Parelli–a combination of the go forward cue and approach and retreat. This method goes back to Tom Dorrance who had no problem encouraging a horse into the trailer with bits of hay or food (an apparent taboo these days). Essentially, the horse learns to go in and back out of the trailer one step at a time. One step up, one step back. Literally. It’s about teaching the horse to think about what he/she is doing with all four feet, not about getting into the trailer like a mindless drone. Trailer loading from a hesitant horse’s perspective is about overcoming fear (of going in or getting back out or being trapped inside) and trust in the human.

This approach and retreat method could take hours, days or weeks. It mostly depends on the horse’s trust in the human and its ability to contain its emotions. The success of the method lies in the human’s ability/willingness to take the time the horse requires without getting frustrated. That was the hardest part for me. It took forever to get that last foot over the threshold. But at least by the time she was in, she knew how to get out.

She is still not a happy traveler, and she may never be. But at least now I know that if I give her the time she needs to process what I’m asking her to do, she can do it without fear and without injuring herself or me.

For those whose horse have to turn around to get off a slant-load or have trouble stepping off calmly, I suggest using a platform, small bridge or any other obstacle that encourages the horse to place its feet calmly where you suggest they go. Backing over a ground pole, stopping with just the front or back feet over cavaletti, or any other exercise you can think of to encourage independent use of feet will help with trailer loading/unloading.