Bob wouldnt load

[Bob notacob]

As above. Tried and failed . I am getting rather too old and less agile and couldn't manage. Got a young kid from the yard to help and in fairness she did a very good ,kind ,attempt but Bob was having "issues" about his car.I had given up but a very kind lady on the yard offered to help. She had done "intelligent horsemanship classes " and me being rather old school ,had my doubts. However having watched her wrap Cracker the pony from hell, around her little finger! And get him ,a total soap dodger, into the wash down area ,I was ready to give it a go. 10 minutes , 10 bloody minutes of kind but firm reasoning with Bob and she had him charging into the box . She then kept on repeating the loading and Bob just got better and better. He is a big lad and it has always been a squeeze ,him lining up in the partition . Eventually he figured out how to do a sort of Irish (draught) jig and fit in easily. I am over the moon , we will continue reinforcing the positive ,but Bob is back. There is a moral to all this that I would like to share. You can be around horses for over half a centaury and :
a) You still do not know everything ,and possibly not even that much.
b) Sometimes you have to step back . Either from being too close to the problem ,or simply being physically incapable of resolving it.
c) Sometimes the answer comes in the most unlikely places so be open minded.
And finally, Sam ,you know who you are ,You are a blooming Star ,thank you

 

[pistolpete]

Brilliant story and totally agree. Every days a school day around horses.

 

[planete]

Intelligent Horsemanship rocks when it comes to things like loading. It teaches timing and reading the horse's subtlest body language which can easily be missed even by experienced people. I am another convert after watching my transport phobic pony loading like an old pro.

 

[Surbie]

Another convert here - stubborn cobbus was previously a sticky loader, but one session with my friend Nick had him skipping up and down the ramp very happily.

Very pleased for you and Bob - and the soap dodger! -that's a great outcome.

 

[SDMabel]

I think that's one of the best things about horses , they teach us to think outside of our own boxes and adapt new methods.

Lovely little snippet to read , well done Bob

 

[Red-1]

Fabulous! What plans are afoot for Bob now?

 

[meesha]

Glad it all worked out. We have all been there, I spent 3 hrs trying to load after a fun ride, lovely hunting lady stopped, had him in and out, loading like a dream in ten mins. Never had a problem again !!

I travel cross tied with full length partitions as too much of a squeeze with partition in, he doesn't even move travelling, is like a rock as can spread legs. For chunky horses those partitions make it just too narrow and once they struggle with balance they understandably might be reluctant to load

 

[Bernster]

Great to read. I did IH loading work a few years back and have found it really helpful ever since.

 

[tatty_v]

Another convert here. Patience but persistence from an absolutely lovely lady got my nightmare loader loading reliably. We always got weird looks as one of the tricks was to load him and then take him straight off and reload, but it always worked!