Advice please! Pony will NOT box!!

[Amyree]

We took a new pony on loan for my daughter 6 weeks ago. He is a fab pony in every way except loading! His owner has always used a lorry which he would go on with no problem, and of course his buddies were always with him. We have a trailer though and since we have had him we have attempted to go to 3 pony club events, the first two he was really bad but we managed in the end with bucket, lunge rein and patience! Unfortunately tonight we had to abandon the attempt as he just refused to box and I didn't want him to get stressed and make the situation worse. SO, I will be doing a lot of work with him now to get past this issue, any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks x

 

[DJ]

Find yourself a Monty Roberts Recommended Associate (RA) in your area and get them to come and help you. They`re worth their weight in gold with anything like this

 

[monkeymad]

Completely agree, I have used an Intelligent Horsemanship person today, as my mare decided she couldn't fit into my new lorry and after running out of lorry backwards and falling off side of ramp, she just wouldn't load. The lovely lady I used had her on in about half an hour, using

 

[monkeymad]

Oops! Using a dually headcollar, firm but very fair and kind. Have you removed the partition in trailer?

 

[laura_nash]

As above, an RA would be hugely helpful. In the meantime, any groundwork will help. Particularly backing up (you want to get to the point you don't need to use the rope to back them) and walking over scary things (e.g. tarpaulins, bridges etc, anything safe).

Something that worked for me many years ago (before RA's existed!) was to park the trailer in the yard in front of the stable and walk my horse through it twice a day when turning out and bringing in (with lots of hay and feed visible in the stable the first time of course).

Well done for staying patient and not getting into a stressed out fight with him!

 

[Tobiano]

Find yourself a Monty Roberts Recommended Associate (RA) in your area and get them to come and help you. They`re worth their weight in gold with anything like this

Agree 100% with this.

 

[wills_91]

As above an RA would be money well spent and will have pony loading and travelling stress free will be worth paying the pennies if your going to be going out alot. Nowt more stressful than a pony that won't load.

 

[Dry Rot]

Do a search for "loading" on here. By the time you have read all the posts, your pony will have died of old age and it will no longer be a problem!

Sorry, the best I can do. It's been one of those days.

 

[JCWHITE]

I have been using a gel product called Confidence EQ by Ceva, with promising results . If your partition moves over make the trailer as wide as possible, If your partitions can be removed, get the horse in and then rebuild the partitions, assuming the safety angle. Feed works well, once they are inside. Provide a decent haynet, all of which i am sure you are already doing! All the best.

 

[Sussexbythesea]

Find yourself a Monty Roberts Recommended Associate (RA) in your area and get them to come and help you. They`re worth their weight in gold with anything like this

Also agree. No point in having a Dually either if you don't get the technique and timing right. Got my friends mare loading well in practically one session. Before that she threw herself over backwards damaging her neck when using more forceful methods from other "professionals"!

 

[JillA]

I agree about the RA http://www.intelligenthorsemanship.co.uk/specialist-horse-training.html but I have had a lot of success with reinforcement training (think clicker training without the clicker).
Start a few paces away from the ramp and reward (small food treat, carrot piece or polo or small amount of pony nuts) for a step forward. Do that again for two steps etc so he gets the idea that effort brings reward.
Keep on until you reach the bottom of the ramp then treat for just touching the ramp with a foot or some other offer to get closer to it. Then ask for a tiny bit more, such as one foot on the ramp and reward that and rest for a few seconds. Then both front feet on it, reward and relax. Then a little more etc - ponies I have had have walked straight in once they reach that stage but you might need to carry on doing step by step. Open the partition and any front top ramp to make it more inviting, and remember, only apply a tiny bit of pressure to ask for the next step, and relax once it has been offered and rewarded. Once he is in have a small feed waiting where he can easily reach it as a jackpot reward for doing the whole job. You will probably need to practise several more times, and reward for a bigger and better effort, such as several steps at once to begin with. Soon he won't need the rewards but it is a good idea to have a feed or tasty haynet inside waiting for him (sorry if this is grandmother and eggs but I don't know your level of experience).
One horse here will load fine, but flatly refuses if there are people around behind him when he is asked to - too much stress and pressure in the past. That says it all really.

 

[WelshD]

If pony loads ok in a lorry it could be as easy as experimenting with partition widths or even the side he stands on, there is obviously something upsetting him and before its assumed its lack of company etc its worth trying some of the free of charge stuff first and if the pony goes in with time and patience i would put a day aside to try the options. Obvious question have you left the front ramp down and tried feeding the pony off the ramp?

Totally agree that sometimes money is well spent on professional help otherwise though but without looking in to things further you could find yourself with a pony that loads but does not travel well

 

[Goldenstar]

I also agree out side help would be a good idea.
Some horses however are lorry travellers and just won't do trailers .

 

[Hoof_Prints]

Do you only load him on the day of events? You will probably need to practice at least once a day for a while with a pony like this. I had a nightmare loader and she wouldn't even get close to the ramp before she reared and legged it bucking around the field. I tried everything from lunge lines, bucket of foot to pressure headcollars and nothing really worked apart from sheer patience. I would just stand and point her at the trailer with pressure on the headcollar/bridle until she took steps forward (reward with carrot!), eventually we got closer until she was walking up the ramp before she spun round. Just kept taking her straight back from and adding pressure on the headcollar. I actually stood on the ramp, leaning on her head for 1 1/2 hours once but that time she walked on and off, that day i ended up with her just following me with no headcollar on and off the ramp . She won't load though unless the front ramp is open and the partition across. Also take travel boots off if the pony has any and if you can, take the partition out.

 

[MagicMelon]

Do you practice at home OP? If not, spend every evening doing it! Definately do not just leave it for when you actually need to go somewhere. Make sure you have enough time that you don't have to give up, you ONLY stop when he's gone in. I remember with one particularily bad loader, I spent about 3 hours every evening on my own getting horse to load for about 2 weeks solid (starting with no partition and all doors open then slowly adding a partition section etc.). After that he got so bored of the whole thing, he would just walk straight in. Thereafter, I kept practicing once a week just to make sure he stayed sweet about it. Have also parked trailer in the field with a youngster who seemed quite terrified of a trailer, taken all partitions out and opened it up fully then put his feed in it every day so he had to go in it of his own accord to get his food. Never use any force IMO as that just reinforces the hatred of the trailer, I do like pressure halters though for those that plant themselves at the bottom of the ramp - but you need to make sure you know how to use it (its really very simple). I dont think you need a Monty Roberts person (although I do like the methods, I think just simple practicing at home and building up the horses confidence slowly is the easiest way to go).

I also agree with what someone else has said, some horses find it less stressful to just have one person doing it. So try not having your family standing about watching / trying to help, its also less stressful for you as you dont have to worry about them clock-watching!

 

[LauraBartlett]

My horse was awful about loading as well. Lately we have been parking the lorry in the school in the evening, preparing him as if he were travelling (rug, boots, tail bandage etc) and practised loading. Make sure you have lots of carrots etc and that you are loading in a bridle. We used a lunge line at first, just because he would jump off the ramp and run back a bit, but he loads perfectly now, and really praise him once he gets on. Another horse at the yard was worse, so they joined in last time, and after watching Hugo load, she was a bit better, so see if you can get another horse that you know will load easily to show them how it's done!
I also ride him for an hour before so that he's a bit tired and less likely to kick up a fuss

 

[WindyStacks]

Are you novice owners? If yes, get help. If not, get help. At this moment in time you've only the capacity to compound the already difficult situation.

 

[Dannylandrover]

When i first had my horse he would not load, we even resorted to taking him into a barn, backing the trailer up to the door and he walked straight in !... But like others have said practice practice practice, and don't just load him on show days, i would be maybe feeding him in trailer every night, getting him to walk through every day. and even once he is in, taking him for a drive and then taking him home, make the trip an enjoyable time. Good luck op xx

 

[BigRed]

Look on YouTube, you want Richard Maxwell videos. Do what he does. My pony was the same as yours. Forget force and buckets of treats. Take the partition out and open the front and spend some time practicing.

 

[pennyturner]

As other have said, the time to practice is not when you're in a rush to get somewhere.
I had a bad loader last year. This worked for me:

Parked trailer up just outside his field where he could see it.
Made a show of taking hay into trailer where he could see me, and was a bit miffed not to be getting the hay.
Next day, caught him; tied him up to trailer; took hay into trailer - he could see what I was doing. Took my time and after a few minutes gave him the opportunity to load. He thought about it for a moment, hesitated (I didn't put any pressure on him), then went in to get the hay. Left him in there quietly for at least half an hour, with hay topped up as required.
Day 3: As before, but I had to forcibly stop him taking a short cut up the side of the ramp to get in quicker. He couldn't wait. Left him in there for over an hour.
Day 4: Loaded directly without tying to trailer or any preliminaries. Again, left him with a good hay net.

NB: I waited until late winter/spring when he was quite hungry. Also, his friends were just the other side of the fence, so there was a bit of 'I'm getting hay that they can't get'.

Good luck.

 

[Shazzababs]

The answer is practise, practise practise.

Take the partition & breast bar out. Most ponies load and travel better without a partition (and you have room to groom & tack up inside if its raining), so if you only have one, taking it out all the time is a good way to go. You will need to get a full width breast bar if you do this though.

Open all of the doors (I'm assuming its a front unload) and spend some time every day walking the pony through the box. Make sure you are all wearing hats boots and gloves! The trailer should be hitched up at all times for safety.

Be prepared for it to take time the first few times, and if you have another pony who does load, using them as a lead will really help.

Once the pony will walk through calmly by itself. Put the breast bar back in if you have a full width one, if not shut the front ramp (but leave the top door open) and then feed the pony in the box for a few days. Work up to feeding him with the front and back ramps shut. If you want to put the partition back in, gradually add it (i.e. Front section only for a few days and then the back section) while still feeding the pony in the box.

Once he is happy to load and unload, take him for a short (slow) ride in the trailer, preferably to somewhere the pony finds exciting.

 

[Astra]

There was a video feature about loading a horse on the H&H website recently that might be helpful to you. I'll see if I can find it...

Here it is - http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/features/gary-witheford-load-young-difficult-horse-video-471935

It's with that Garry Witherford guy who does at lot of work with racehorses teaching them to load into starting stalls

 

[9tails]

Agree with all those that say to get an RA. Sure, there are loads of ways to get a pony on a trailer once or maybe twice, but you need consistency and that only comes from training the pony to go on the box in a way that they understand and accept.