Any tips to load a 1 year old stubbon Dartmoor?

L

Lucinda_x

Well-Known Member
Joined
4 November 2008
Messages
472
Location
Devon
Visit site
Handled but not as much as should have been. Tryed everything we can think of too load her but just wont do it. Any thing that i may not of thought of?

Thanks x
 
Best advice i can give,is do not push the horse 'force' into somethink its frightened or not keen in doing as you will only make the situation worse,make it a pleasurble exeperince,can benift you and the horse on gaining trust and a good relantionship.
 
Loading to move - I'd back trailer into a tight space alongside buildings or in a gateway with a makeshift race , and gently shepherd pony in - and they will go in as there's nowhere else to go!! I have front breastbar and no partitions in my trailer and a deep straw bed, I find most babies lie down!!

Practice loading - get the basic handling done first, stop, start moving over , backwards etc, before even thinking about loading, then open all doors and ramps, lead in, stand on , lead out, keep it short and sweet...then stand on, ramps closed etc, if you do the handling properly and are confident they will follow you anywhere - my 4 year old who has never been asked to load walked straight on when I picked him up - I just expected him to!! good luck!
 
Not my filly but the lady who i do part time work for. She's traveled and loaded fine before.

To list we've walked normal toward trailer, lunge rope, pushing, let loose to look, set run up to go in but wouldnt go fowards loose or on headcollar, food and spooking (which she didnt even care about!)
 
dunno if it helps or not but my girly went through a stubborn patch with loading and i spent a couple of hours just practicing opened up lorry back and side ramps so it was a light as possible and got her attention on the ground with the food and then gradually wandered towards it every time she moved a step the right way gave her food even resorted to sitting on the ramp with food just out of reach and eventually she just walked on
just used plain headcollar and leadrope but put no pressure on rope unless she tried to go backwards or sideways and then just gently guided her as if there was much pressure on the rope she would go straight up on her back legs and just stand there until she finally got bored
this was after many strops and dragging me straight down the lorry ramp on my a*s

hope this helps
sorry its a bit long i just found that time patience and plenty of bribary can work wonders

p.s. my girly is a 15.2 gypsy cob so not the sort of horse you wanna start an argument with as there is no way you will win and is as stubborn as anything
 
Last edited:
When we *had* to load my 14 month old Dartmoor (had to be done in a hurry and no notice so hadn't practised) we 'herded' him in.

I led him (he was good to be led but could be stubborn) and my mum and a friend walked behind, along a makeshift alley we had set up, with boards (almost like herding pigs).

We did it slowly and he wasn't spooking and he walked straight in.

This was after over 2 hours of attempted bribery with food etc.

Not an ideal method but it worked for us when we needed it.
 
SJcrazee said:
Loading to move - I'd back trailer into a tight space alongside buildings or in a gateway with a makeshift race , and gently shepherd pony in - and they will go in as there's nowhere else to go!! I have front breastbar and no partitions in my trailer and a deep straw bed, I find most babies lie down!!

Practice loading - get the basic handling done first, stop, start moving over , backwards etc, before even thinking about loading, then open all doors and ramps, lead in, stand on , lead out, keep it short and sweet...then stand on, ramps closed etc, if you do the handling properly and are confident they will follow you anywhere - my 4 year old who has never been asked to load walked straight on when I picked him up - I just expected him to!! good luck!
Click to expand...

Yes this is the way to do it - with another pony if you can......for wild ponies we use our Ifor Williams Cattle box (high roof) and herd them like cattle - they soon get used to it, if you travel them enough. Eventually wean them on to a normal trailer. This week-end I was able to coax a formally wild pony up the ramp of a traditional trailer with a bucket of food (quietly on my own - because he was not really that frightened, having already travelled)
 
We have 'lorry parties' to get the youngsters used to loading. We put the 2 youngsters (yearling and 2yr old) and their respective companions (12 and 25yrs old) in a bare paddock and park the lorry inside. We put some nuts on the ramp and inside the lorry and leave them to it. The first time they stood and watched the older ponies going up the ramp to get the nuts and the noise made them spook. Once their pal had disappeared inside they were curious and within 4mins all 4 ponies were in the lorry. The 2yr old soon realised it was great fun running up and down the ramp bucking at the bottom :). It's amazingly easy if you can let some old wise equines pass on their knowledge.
 
If you get really stuck you could try putting knee boots on and blindfolding?

Not ideal, but I've resorted to this on a few occasions and it does work. The knee boots are because they tend to trip up the ramp because they obviously can't see it.

Failing that - can't be too big - so how about gettina group of people together to manually lift? Have done that with a 6 month foal before now.

If you have time though and don't NEED to load, then establish really good groundwork first and then use pressure and release to persuade up the ramp.
 
Bedlam said:
Failing that - can't be too big - so how about gettina group of people together to manually lift? Have done that with a 6 month foal before now.
Click to expand...

Ha ham I was going to say that too - get a few of you aaand lift! Lol

No real advice though as such other than practice and patience!
 
Bedlam said:
My first thought too. Won't harm it and it will get it used to travelling so you can practise nicely later on when better handled. Whatever you do, do not be beaten; if you want it in, it must go in when you want it in else you'll have set yourself up for a life of 'I don't want to do that now' but you must set things up properly and safely that it has no other option but go in.
Click to expand...
 
I favour the pick up and chuck method too! Done this many a time with stubborn shetlands! I have also lifted the ramp when they have all 4 feet on and tipped them into the trailer :D

P.S. No ponies nor humans were hurt nor scared by this procedure - they were just being total and utter toads :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top