Can You load and Travel your horse by yourself?

3Beasties

3Beasties

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For all you trailer owners.

Can you load your horse single handed? And if so how did you go about teaching your horse to stand whilst you put the back ramp up?
 
Yep, have done and will do again in the future.....

Spent years taking one or two horses to shows, ODEs, clinics etc by myself............ didnt have anyone else to take with me
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Teaching the horse to walk up the ramp on their own is fairly easy, and then once you have the chain or the bar across behind them just lift the tailgate
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Make sure you have a good spring on your tailgate though or its as heavy as all buggery on your own! lol........
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Then go round and tie your horse up in the front and you are done
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Teaching your horse to go up the ramp isnt too hard - just teach them to go around you and go forward from the shoulder - if you have to lead your horse and basically drag it - you wont get anywhere - but if your horse will move off from you standing at the shoulder - then your battle is half won!
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Oh, meant to say, that about 18 months ago - I drove from here to Adelaide and had a mate with me and two horses on board, (about 800km from here), and then I picked another horse up and brought her home on my own...........
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Anyhow, was about half way home, and it was about an hour after dark - and the float and car started rocking and going all over the road..... I was on the highway at the time....

I pulled over, thinking I had a flat tyre - and thinking 'GREAT - change a tyre at night on the side of the highway with a horse in the float! DOH!'..........

Well, it WASNT a flat tyre after all - the little mare I had just picked up had gone down in the float - wasnt a great loader as it was, and I couldnt open the float and get her out as there was no way in heck I could have put her back on on my own.......... added to the fact that she was UNDER the middle divider at the time thrashing around........ and still tied up...... EEPS.....

Many swear words were said, I had the hazard lights on the car and float as it was, and let me tell you - a crazy lady standing in the middle of the highway waving her arms madly with a car and horse float rocking on the side of the road in the dark does not encourage people to stop and help!!!!

So I had to wait til she stopped thrashing and got herself up...... then over the back of the tailgate had to straighten up the divider..........

I got into the next town which was 40km away, very slowly and then asked two young lads (about 18 or so) at a petrol station if they knew anything about horses - they said "No", so I asked them if they were scared of them, they said "No" so I said "You will do!" And got them to come help me for a few minutes!!!!

The last 300km or so home were a bit scarey!!!

Thankfully she travelled really well though and it was all good.

That is the only thing that worries me about travelling horses on my own - because the stuff that can go wrong freaks me out at times! lol........
 
I don't have a trailer any more, have a lorry now but I used to have a trailer and travelled by myself all the time. I taught my horse to load herself. Just threw rope over her neck, sent her up the ramp then simply closed the breeching bar behind her.

As Shellcoburn said above, it's not hard to teach them. Just as long as they are polite to lead and get used to being sent on ahead of you it will work if they are good to load. Long reining might help if your horse is not used to going ahead of you.
 
Gulliver, now retired, always went out to parties on his own. Time and patience and building trust is what worked for me.
Used the breaching bar and use of the sharp word STAND or WAIT I save these two words for every instance in a horses training where I need a still reaction. Mounting from a block,Gate. In the stable, on the lunge. repetition and reward.

Oh and never let anyone impatient or with the wrong attitude help and in early outings treble loading time so you wont feel under pressure when you are going somewhere.

We went from about 30 minutes to about 30 seconds. Always make sure you give the horse a good journey.

Early training can be to hitch up and load then feed in trailer make it a positive place for your horse to be.
 
Mine came with severe trailer hang ups - she used to go in then charge out backwards at very high speed flattening all behind her - ramp, breeching, people and cars!!

She will now let me "post" her in the box , stands while I fasten the back bar and lets me put up the ramp no problem. I then go in the front door and tie her up.

All acheived with grub - we made her a hanging manger and made sure every time she went in there was some feed in it. Now if anyone tries to lead her in hse drags them up the ramp!
 
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Oh and never let anyone impatient or with the wrong attitude help and in early outings treble loading time so you wont feel under pressure when you are going somewhere.

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It's really interesting that you said this. I'm trying to build Charlies confidence up with traveling so have been doing some loading practice (please see my post in the picture gallery for full details and back ground). Yesterday when I was on my own he was fantastic, seemed really relaxed and happy about the whole process. Today however we hitched the trailer up to try and take him for a little journey around the block and he was a complete Pr@t. He would walk on and then shoot out the front or if the front was closed he would shoot out the back before we got the ramp up. I had my Step dad helping me who isn't horsey at all and was probably slightly impatience. I gave up in the end as Charlie was just not happy.

Maybe I am asking to much but I don't want it to have to be such a rush in the that as soon as he goes in the ramp is slammed shut and we have to drive off, I want him to load and stand quietly rather then it all being a big rush and panic about weather he is going to explode or not.
 
Funnily enough we went on our first solo journey today. After initially being terrible to load, we have progressed to loading no problems with another horse in first.
Then yesterday we practised loading on our own and standing with with a net of haylege (his fave but next option would be huck on bucket) i put the rope through the bailer twine not tied and kept talking to him as i went down the side of the partition and hooked the breach bar across.
Harvey is a millions times better and much less stressed loading when it just me and him or plus very nice calm undertsanding YO. However if lots of people all gather round trying to "help" he gets very tense and panicy as i think he thinks that he's going to get shouted at and ruffed up.
So this morning with much trepidation i loaded him all by myself and took him off to out third ever show and loaded him back up all on my own at the other end. Its an amazing achievement for us!!
Dont let other people hurry you and try stay calm (easy to say i know )
 
Oh yes I have suffered from the impatient assistant demon.
The get it in quick brigade and slam the ramp shut dont work when you are trying to educate a nice horse.
I always pop in the front with a small treat as well.
Good Luck with it I will be doing this soon with New Boy as we havent travelled since he was bought.
 
I do all the time. Mine all load ok, although I have a youngster who I tend to get someone near by to put the bar up behind him in case he suddenly backed up. Otherwise, I load my other 2 horses no problem on my own. One of them has the occasional habit of reversing back out (snapping the string) before I can get the back bar done up, but usually hes fine. With regards to putting the ramp up - I have no probs with this since the back bar is done up so they aint going anywhere!

As artyannie says, I also give mine a polo every single time they load - I just think it keeps them happy even if they're already perfect loaders.
 
Yes, both of them.

They are now both good loaders and travellers, one in particular was a bit hesitant when we first got him 3 years ago. I think it helps they go out frequently. Of course I always try to go as smoothly/carefully as possible.

Always a little treat for them once they're in there.
I just have to remember to have the jockey door already open before I load the second one. (Older IW trailer and I've had to back the second one off a few times before because I forgot.
 
My pony was a bit of a bugger to load when I had him, quite good at reversing at speed
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He was fine travelling, just being bolshy. As I didn't have my own transport I used to dread taking him on other people's. We started going out regularly on YO's lorry and he got better but not perfect.

I always load in bridle but could probably 99% of the time load in headcollar but as I'm always on my own I prefer to be in control - my pony can be a cheeky git but he knows I mean business if he has the bridle on
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You can take it off when you get him safely loaded, I do this on home journey - I usually travel tacked up on the way out.

Another tip is getting him used to voice commands - I'm telling him in a firm but kind voice to 'walk on' when he is going up the ramp.

Next tip is to buy polos in bulk
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I get everything ready so once he is on we can get off. I don't mean rush off, I'm usually texting someone first to say I'm on my way or turning lights off etc, I just think if you are virtually ready to go it gives them less time to start getting bored.

So when I got my own trailer we did lots of practice before going anywhere. I found it was better doing this on my own but with someone nearby if any problems. He is better if front ramp down too. Just start off walking him straight through, lots of praise and polos, then proceeded to front breast bar up for a minute, more polos, through to eventually leading him on, tying him up to bailer twine, polos, talking to him all the time as I walked through trailer to the back, talking to him all the time, putting up breech bar, still telling him how good he is, putting up ramp and then walking around to front, more polos, haynet, lots of pats and then eventually putting front ramp up.

My pony was 14yo when I had him so no spring-chicken and knows all the tricks in the book and while some people might think he gets a lot of polos for 'just' loading it makes both our lives easier and when I get comments like 'I wish my horse loaded that good' it's all worth it
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Sorry to waffle on
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Don't panic, with practice you will be able to load and travel your horse on your own.
 
im lucky, my trailer has a side ramp, my horses load and position themselves so i can just go to partition and unhook it so they are safely contained either ready to collect another or shut the ramp up. I always have a trailer tie fastened so i can clip them on when ive shut the partition.
 
Yes I travel and load Axey by myself in a trailer. I normally load him up, tie him up then go back round behind him and do the breeching bar and then put the ramp up, he just stands there!
Unloading is a different matter entirely...
 
erm, i didn't teach him anything. i just walked him on, tied him up, went round the back and did the back bar up. occasionally he might take half a step back - if he does i just push him forwards again. normally he just stands there.
 
Ditto Star, I didnt have to teach Bob (or Josh before him) anything at all? I always compete/travel/load on my own, so just march them up the ramp, tie them up, give them a carrot then go round and shut the ramp (no bar/strap behind for me as I dont use a partition)
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I only started travelling my mare last year. At 11 yrs old she'd only been in a trailer once, when she was 3.

Sending her in on her own is not an option - I have to go on first to get her in. It's a front unload, so she has never realised that she can go backwards when she's in as I've only ever unloaded at the front.

I give her a mint/carrot, run around to the back and put the bar in.

Would love to have help, but do most things alone (and it's a single trailer) but that's how it works for us
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NOt a trailer owner but have a 5T lorry and always travel alone and load most of the time with a pain in the neck loader!!!

Over time I have developed a technique that involves a broom handle behind him!! He is fine if someone else there, he knows!! On my own he mucks about even with chifney and tries to booger off, rear etc, but we have now sussed it!!

Do you not have a strap behind him whilst you put ramp up? that should stop him going anywhere.
 
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