Help Loading Please

Elsbells

Elsbells

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My mare just won't load onto my friends trailer!!

I have tried everything and I think just about everyone at the yard has tried everything too(thanks guys;)) but still she won't have any of it. She's not frightened, but she is a bit worried I think.

The last 12 trips she has had either in lorries or trailers, has been to move to another livery which I don't think has helped as she is very sensitive and a great worrier. She's been through a lot of dealers hands and then I had to move her twice myself.

She'dhad a lot of issues going on from day one and I was thrilled to just be able to pick her feet up in the begining, so of course I never believed in a million years we would be able to do anything much with her other than hack and then that would of been in my perfect world:rolleyes:. She has though with time and patience turned out fab and I'm now desperate to get her out and about and have some fun with her as she is a fun horse and I'm sure she would love it too.

Having tried just about everything that I have seen suggested on here in other posts without success I have to admit defeat and am now resigned to getting in some outside help.

Can any of you wonderfully knowledgable people on here suggest a brilliant NH trainer who has masses of patience and wouldn't charge the earth to come out and help me please. I am on the Staffordshire, Derbyshire border.
 
Glad to hear you looking into asking a professional for help. Maybe check out kelly marks site, inteligent horsemanship. Im sure she could let you know of any one in your area. Or check out silversand natural horsemanship trainers.
Im sure if you google some of these names they could give details of local trainers.
Also richard maxwell, or micheal peace. All good trainers so good luck with finding someone.
 
http://www.thinkequus.com/ Michael Peace. The main thing is time and patience. Don't get everyone on the yard involved. It is not necessary, you will just frighten her more. Take the partition out, open the doors and ramps and just let her look at it. Don't even contemplate driving her anywhere until she walks in and out of it happily. You are right to think that happy short journeys will ultimately improve her opinion of a trailer. Michel Peace has some very goodtips. In fact his book is cheap and you can buy it on amazon. I bought it because I am thinking of buying a baby horse. if you search online you can find some his video clips.
 
not sure about NH for loading, i once saw a supposed NH trained instructor spend 5 hours - yes 5 hours - trying to load a horse on a hot day.
i suggested offering food, but was poo pooed. it was horrendous seeing this poor horse, dripping with sweat, so confused and in the end after the 5 hours, it went on because they offered it WATER!
next morning it was supposed to go to a clinic in NH, but guess what? it wouldn't load. that was 3 years ago and i don't think they ever tried again.
Oh and the ramp on the borrowed wagon was bust and cost brewsters to fix.
 
Try this. Take out any partitions and bars and then quietly coax the horse up the side ramp, stand her on the box for a minute and then exit via the rear ramp. Once you are past that, keep doing it keeping her on the box for a few moments each time.

Put her in her stable and go and have a cup of tea.

Repeat

Put her away again

Then try loading up the back ramp, no pressure, no forcing, no bribes, just be quiet and wait with lots of praise when she moves forward

Once you have cracked that repeat as above
 
The most obvious reason a horse won't load is usually because it feels unsafe, either from previous experiences or what it deems to be a valid reason for not entering a dark hole.

Try lining the trailer up against a fence or side of a building, with a bit of manouevering you should manage this okay, open the top doors and lower the ramp. Then at least you have one side of the trailers escape route blocked off. This means that the horse is more predictable about where it will try to move sidewards to. Next ensure that you are all calm and not in a rush (if necessary dedicate a couple of hours with the sole intention of getting the horse on the trailer but not going anywhere). Make sure all helpers have hats and gloves on. Have a lunge line ready. Make sure the trailer floor is non slip and move the partition over so the horse has more room in which to move inside. Allow the horse to paw or sniff the ramp/floor. This is VERY important and cannot be rushed. This allows the horse to work out for itself whether it is safe to proceed so do not pull on the horses head or harrass it during this stage. A very useful tip which worked with my friends baby everytime was if someone stands behind the horse with a sponge dipped in a water bucket and flicks the water from the sponge onto the horses hindquarters. One the horse is in, don't throw up the doors and drive off. Lead the horse through and out the otherside and try again immediately. This is a lesson which needs repeating several times.

After 5 1/2 years of having my horse practically throw itself into the trailer in anticipation of going jumping or for a gallop each time I loaded him, he suddenly became reluctant to load. Its transpired that his routine had changed and everytime I was asking him to load it was to go away from the yard in the morning following him stopping out overnight grazing. He was tired and so therefore became reluctant to load as he needed his sleep.
 
A friend of mine took her horse to a Kelly Marks demo and he now loads fine!! She bought a dually halter (40 quid!) What she had to do was walk with the horse positively, then stop and back horse up. Walk on again stop backup. Keep repeating this until the horse is doing it easily. Do this away from the trailer, next to the trailer, as if your going to attempt to go in then stop back up, keep repeating.Then walk horse over ramp, stop back up etc. All this must be done positively, then try to load Walk positively up the ramp. If won;t load keep repeating ground work. I hope this works for you as my friend is thrilled with the results!! Good luck x

ETS: Take out partition and breast bar so there are no restrictions
 
Hi

Do you still need help with loading? I may be able to offer some suggestions which I have learnt and tried myself. Let me know

Caroline
 
If you are still interested in maybe using a NH person then try Sue she is very good.

I had a NH person help me to teach one of my Arabs to load (With Success) Find Sues details below

Sue Palmer
based in Stafford, Staffordshire

covering Staffordshire, Birmingham, Shropshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Cheshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire and more

Contact:
07976 413488
sue@holistichorsehelp.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
www.holistichorsehelp.com
 
I can certainly sympathise! I posted on a similar scenario recently. We had the same problem with my daughter's mare who we'd bought for showjumping.

We (and lots of other people on the yard), had tried everything available to us to no avail. We had actually stopped going out as it would take us hours to get her in and out (although bizarrely she travels well and arrives happy and settled at the other end!).

Thanks to the advice on here I contacted an NH practicioner in my area (Sarah Dent) and can honestly say it was the best money we've ever spent. She came out and worked with Poppy for us, but would have also taken her for a week at her yard for a similar price to work with her intensively. NH is not something I'm particularly "into" although I found it really interesting and mostly common sense.

I honestly thought it was a lost cause, but we've gone from a minimum of 1 hour loading time, to a horse that walks up the ramp first time every time. I dare say that's not the end of it and she may decide to test us again in the future, but I feel equipped with the knowledge to deal with it now.

Best of luck!
 
Thanks for all the tips and shareing your experiences with me, it has all helped and has given me more hope.

This afternoon, my friend gave Ellie a lot of ground work moving her off the pressure and although Els as never been to open to it, my friend worked miracles and got her backing up. Ellie looked to me for rescue and sympathy:rolleyes:.

We then covered the ramp with her own straw from her stable and teased her onto it with treats and praise. It was painful to watch as she moved under her own steam and without pressure on the rope, hoof by hoof, inch by inch. Eventally, we had all four hooves on the ramp! Whooh!!

Tonight she has been left in the field with the trailer. She knows there is a bucket of feed laced with apple juice and a pile of hay in there and if it's gone tomorrow, we'll know she has been on.

Tomorrow if the weather is good, I'll hack her out as she loves it and then I'll return her to the field with the trailer.

We are trying to make it fun

Let's hope!

Keep them tips and encouragement coming, we're on a roll guys.
 
paulineh said:
If you are still interested in maybe using a NH person then try Sue she is very good.

I had a NH person help me to teach one of my Arabs to load (With Success) Find Sues details below

Sue Palmer
based in Stafford, Staffordshire

covering Staffordshire, Birmingham, Shropshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Cheshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire and more

Contact:
07976 413488
sue@holistichorsehelp.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
www.holistichorsehelp.com
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If you find you continue to have problems, then I agree with paulineh regarding Sue Palmer. She will help you to help your horse load willingly
 
winterwood said:
If you find you continue to have problems, then I agree with paulineh regarding Sue Palmer. She will help you to help your horse load willingly
Click to expand...

I'm going to speak to her and maybe arrange something.

I tried yesterday afte our hack out. She was all tacked up and still, it was no go. Oh,... and she hasn't been in during the night either. I was almost in tears, so I think it's time I got in some pro help.
 
elsbells said:
I'm going to speak to her and maybe arrange something.

I tried yesterday afte our hack out. She was all tacked up and still, it was no go. Oh,... and she hasn't been in during the night either. I was almost in tears, so I think it's time I got in some pro help.
Click to expand...

I agree. There's nothing wrong with getting professional help in something like this, I only wish I'd done it much sooner. You have a farrier/vet/riding instructor don't you? Why assume that everyone should know exactly how to help an unwilling horse to load?

Best of luck, hope you find a trainer (NH or otherwise) to help you. x
 
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