Advice on loading?? Odd loader that does a high speed reverse!

L

LegOn

Well-Known Member
Joined
14 September 2010
Messages
771
Visit site
My friend has a horse on trial with a view to buying, she has been through a good few potential horses at this stage but is a novice, first time owner so is looking for that ideal first horse. She has plenty of experienced people around her to help, on a full livery yard & good advice from an instructor that knows her well.

The current trial horse is perfect - 12 year old mare, done lots of riding club, hunter trials, hacks out alone or in company, snaffle mouth, easy to handle on the ground which is important for her, and a saint under saddle. She is getting on great with her - jumped her, taken her out XC. Also is very pretty!!

The only issue is the horse is an odd loader. She doesnt own a horsebox or jeep but I do & I know that whenever she is travelling, it will be with me & I hate bad loaders!! The current owner has been honest about her loading but said that it hasnt stopped her from doing lots with the mare & has had her since she was 4. But its obvious the owner is happy to live with the behaviour, where as I think it will be a bit much for my friend.

The mare walks straight onto the box, completely normal & calm & then reverses out at high speed!! :eek: It's very odd, I've never come across it before. She does this about 3 times - each time going straight on the box, & then out again at high speed and then just walks on & stays there??? :confused:

She travels great & is quiet once you reach the destination if you have to leave her in the box. And walks off the ramp as quiet as a lamb when you lead her off the box. From her eye, she seems to be lacking in confidence a bit & is trying really hard but its quite dramatic when she reverses out.

She has the mare for another week & I'm happy to offer my horsebox up during the week for some practice & also see if she is happier to stay in the box once my horse is in there. We are planning on doing some practicing with feed etc cause she is very feed orientated so that might help. Is there anything else you can suggest or has anyone had a loader similar to this that has successfully broken the habit? Would it worry you if the horse was perfect in every other way??
 
One method I have seen work really well was to have two people at least preferably three and attach a heavy blanket to the top of the ramp held in place but not over the opening when the mare goes in the blanket is dropped over the gap from the side so she meet it on the way out it means no one is behind her when she runs backwards but does meet a resistance so it is safe and still educational. Dont use this method when your horse is in the trailer as the blanket dropping may upset it
 
Sounds like a quirk to be honest. And it wouldn't worry me - if the horse is going straight back on each time, then simply allow an additional 10 minutes on any journey time.

What happens if the breaching bar is put straight up behind her. Does she panic? And does she reverse out if the front ramp is down so that she can see straight through?
 
I had a pony that did this! The amount of breech bars he broke when we tried to get it up too quickly! In the end what worked was...
We had an Ivor Williams trailer with front and back ramps. One afternoon when we had no where to be we opened the trailer up completely and just walked him through it a few times. It took a few goes but the idea was he wasn't going backwards, just straight in, straight out. Then when he was good at this it was in, stand still for ten seconds and forwards out, trying to get him to forget going backwards at all. We increased the time he stood in the trailer slowly then gave him food etc. after a while we put him in closed the ramps, opened them and brought him out. Then we went for a short drive, each time opening the ramps fully so it wasn't a closed in space for him.

After this afternoon he was much better. We always opened both ramps for loading him and never reversed him out, always out via the front ramp.

Might be worth a try?

Sally
 
amymay said:
Sounds like a quirk to be honest. And it wouldn't worry me - if the horse is going straight back on each time, then simply allow an additional 10 minutes on any journey time.

What happens if the breaching bar is put straight up behind her. Does she panic? And does she reverse out if the front ramp is down so that she can see straight through?
Click to expand...

We had the partition in when we went to collect her so we walked her in the ramp, she gets in the box & you dont have any time to do anything else (we had another person on the ground who was ready to put up the bar) and she just reverses straight out! By the third time, she stayed in so we didnt actually get a chance to see if anything changed the situation ie - the front ramp being down etc so thats what I want to test out with her. If the ramp is down, if there is feed present, if there is another horse in the box etc. She is very sweet in every other way so I'm just hoping someone else had has this issue & overcome it :) But I'm thinking from her eye that is a lack of confidence rather than just messing around. She seems very willing to try, if that makes sense??
 
sally87 said:
I had a pony that did this! The amount of breech bars he broke when we tried to get it up too quickly! In the end what worked was...
We had an Ivor Williams trailer with front and back ramps. One afternoon when we had no where to be we opened the trailer up completely and just walked him through it a few times. It took a few goes but the idea was he wasn't going backwards, just straight in, straight out. Then when he was good at this it was in, stand still for ten seconds and forwards out, trying to get him to forget going backwards at all. We increased the time he stood in the trailer slowly then gave him food etc. after a while we put him in closed the ramps, opened them and brought him out. Then we went for a short drive, each time opening the ramps fully so it wasn't a closed in space for him.

After this afternoon he was much better. We always opened both ramps for loading him and never reversed him out, always out via the front ramp.

Might be worth a try?

Sally
Click to expand...

Oh that sounds like exactly what we need to try - so walk her in & out at the same time so she doesnt think backwards! Great idea - thanks Sally. That makes alot of sense, instead of getting her to stand from the offset, get her forward rather than backwards! :) Good thinking!
 
sally87 said:
I had a pony that did this! The amount of breech bars he broke when we tried to get it up too quickly! In the end what worked was...
We had an Ivor Williams trailer with front and back ramps. One afternoon when we had no where to be we opened the trailer up completely and just walked him through it a few times. It took a few goes but the idea was he wasn't going backwards, just straight in, straight out. Then when he was good at this it was in, stand still for ten seconds and forwards out, trying to get him to forget going backwards at all. We increased the time he stood in the trailer slowly then gave him food etc. after a while we put him in closed the ramps, opened them and brought him out. Then we went for a short drive, each time opening the ramps fully so it wasn't a closed in space for him.

After this afternoon he was much better. We always opened both ramps for loading him and never reversed him out, always out via the front ramp.

Might be worth a try?

Sally
Click to expand...

Excellent advice and, if possible, how horses should be taught to load in the first place if you have a front ramp. Some horses are ALWAYS better to load with the front ramp down. It's a bit of a pain and if I can I try to get them down to just needing the door open, but not the end of the world.

Just be careful if you travel with another horse that you get her on first if she's okay to stand and you don't mess around too much. Unless the other horse is dead quiet, a horse trying to reverse at speed can really freak the standing horse out.
 
I always load this way into a trailer, front ramp and bars down if it's a horse that's not used to travelling. Then stand for a few seconds and off the front. The key is to not let them rush off the front so food is a great idea to get them to stand and wait for the treat. Even with my horse who never has a problem I have the front ramp down, I just think it's nicer to have a light airy space to go into. He does have the front bar up though as he's used to loading that way.

And if the horse is perfect in every other way and stands still after a few goes, I wouldn't be put off. Sounds like your friend will have knowledgeable people around to assist.
 
Last edited:
Horses aren't robots, none of them are perfect in everyway. So as long as you are prepared and the horse loads eventually then this doesn't bother me. However completely agree with the advice above to open front ramp annd walk through etc, i expect that after a few trips the horse will load beautifully.

My own mare is claustraphobic so we have a five minute shuffle before she will load, but thats all it takes. We always use lunge lines and a slip head with a rubber dee snaffle on so she knows I really mean it. By staying calm and patient it all falls into place. Getting steamed up never works, in fact I have long meditated with the mantra, "You are going in the trailer. There is no choice" and strangly she loads quicker this way!! I never ever turn her away from the ramp completely if she refuses I just move her back over. I think the turning and re-approach thing just confuses things, make it clear what you want the horse to do, turning and letting them graze while you argue/discuss with your helpers what to do, muddies the waters. Sorry thats my old gripe!

Hope it works out for your friend and this horse, sounds ideal really!!
 
My horse does this too, well in a trailer. He had always travelled in a wagon perfectly but in a trailer would always load but was very anxious to get out the conventional front ramp way, so it was suggested I reversed him out which although works for most started this running out backwards, whacking his head on the way out and was that fast we didnt have chance and it wasnt safe to try to stop him. We tried for weeks, feeding him in it etc but he was a wreck and the time we got the breech bar up, he tried to get through the half open jockey door, which was left that way for me to get out just in case! Have to admit we eventually gave up as hubby said he would end up killing someone and after a initial struggle will now load and travel in a wagon. Hes never been the same since the trailer :(
I wouldnt be overly concerned, just aware as she does load and travel well.
 
Our old pony used to do this, he would also run out if the back ramp was lowered for him to come out.
Never ever stand behind a ramp when it being raised or lowered.
We used to load him with lunge lines, a least one line was taught across before the ramp went, he would walk on perfectly calmly and if the line wasn't there back out at speed.
 
What happens if he's tied when he's in? If he is very quick at going into reverse, a long line (something strong but slippery like yachting rope) tied to the head collar and run through a ring at the front and gently drawn in as he walks in might help. If he pulls back and breaks a tie, it sounds as if some training to remain tied is called for.

Mine are all taught to remain tied, like they do in the USA, as a matter of course and a filly who tried this quick reverse was stopped by my simply applying gentle restraint (one finger!) on the rope head collar! I'm not going to tell you how to teach a horse to tie as there is plenty on the Internet already.
 
This problem usually starts from a horse being tied in the trailer before the ramp is up. They run back and have a big struggle and break something (hopefully not themselves) and then it becomes an ingrained habit. Dry Rot's advice could help, also if you are holding a run back horse in the trailer don't struggle to hold them - that will make them struggle more - better to let them out - then ask them straight back in again. They will and do get better in skilled hands but I understand it's disconcerting when it's the first horse you've worked with that has this problem. Good Luck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top