Help needed with difficult to load horse!

[dexnem]

Hi all - first time I've used this site as far as I can remember so please be kind!! I loan a pony with is brilliant and we get along perfectly, however loading is something that fills me with dread. I have a single trailer and he is a pain to load. Thought we had cracked it last year (dad held up a piece of wood being him and he walked straight on), but as he was behaving with this then my dad refused to use it, horse then realised he didn't have to load and then worked out we didn't use the piece of wood against him. Hmm. Thanks dad!!! So, here we are. The loading process is as follows:

Horse walked to trailer. Trailer ramp is down, jockey door is open, haynet is in and carrot is in my pocket.

Horse twists head, but walks towards ramp.

Horse puts feet on ramp

Horse then ******* off the the left hand side of the ramp (Very flexible. Good at dressage, bad at loading)

Horse pulls me off ramp

Cycle repeats.

This can sometimes be mixed up with cantering off the side of the ramp, not going anywhere near the trailer but with no sweating, no fear, but stubbornness. Did I mention he's Welsh D?!

Now, we have tried everything. We've fed him in the trailer, had no pressure on the rope but stood with a bucket of food. We've slapped him on the backside when he's gone out the trailer and pats and food inside. We've lunged at the foot of the trailer then led him in and lunged when he's run off. Resulted in kicks to stomach and leg - couldn't walk for a couple of days and still have the signs a year later. We've put a pallet the the side he runs off. We've had lunge lines over his bum (worked after 2 hours of trying and 6 people). We've had his legs lifted onto the trailer and crisp packets rustled. We've had backing up, moving forward, backing up, moving forward. I'm stuck and don't know what to do next! When we go anywhere it's me and my dad, who doesn't know anything about horses, he's just the driver. We avoid bumps, go steady, make wide turns, the trailer is serviced regularly, the vehicle can pull double the weight it is and technically everything is sound.

I've read one method which I initially considered trying, where when they resist, you back them up. And when they put one foot on the trailer, you back them up, then two feet, back them up etc. But I think he'd just back up more and more and we'd never get him on. I just want to do the occassional show and go to the camp we have booked in August, but it's looking more and more unlikely Advice please!!

 

[Caramac71]

I would suggest getting a Kelly Marks RA out to help you. Like your Dad, I'm not the greatest of help to my daughter with her horse, and it made a huge difference to us to get an expert out who could read the horse's body language, know exactly how to deal with her accordingly, and then pass on the skills to my daughter of what to do.

Lots of people gave us different suggestions of what worked for them, but we found everything only worked the first time and by the second attempt the horse had worked out an evasion! So it needed to have someone there who could see what we did, what the horse did, show us what worked and then give us the tools to continue to make it work.

She was also able to check our vehicle and advise on if anything needed changing to make it more inviting to load.

Best of luck, it is so frustrating, especially when there doesn't appear to be a fear or reason for the reluctance.

 

[fredflop]

First thing you really need to do is to get a rope halter/dually and do ground work, and lots of it. There are plenty of videos on YouTube to help if you are experienced with horses. If not so experienced, get someone out to help you with the groundwork first.

The horse has to learn to yield to pressure. This is the first task. Assuming that the horse isn't actually scared of the trailer, I'd then be looking at getting help back in to get horse into trailer

 

[Morgan123]

God poor you. I can sympathise with the Welsh D problems ;-) and interestingly we have several welsh D bad loaders on our yard!!

I know you've said you've tried with food, but have you tried doing it every day in small steps? This is what worked for mine. So, having trailer on yard, and first day just eating dinner near the trailer with ramp down, no further interaction with trailer. Next day, eat dinner next to ramp. Next day, eat dinner on bottom of ramp. Next day, mid way up ramp, Next day top of ramp, etc. Really slow steps - as slow as you can manage. At the end of the day, if a horse won't load it's generally to do with anxiety about the box (even if this comes out as stubbornness) and that's why it escalates to dangerousness if you push it too much.

 

[smja]

Sorry to hear of your problems OP, but you've actually cheered me up after a weekend of fighting with my sister's horse (finally goes on after mini-lunging and forceful backing up) - you've made him seem positively angelic

On a more helpful front, I've heard good things about Richard Maxwell for problem loaders, he sorted out a friend's pony v. quickly and without too much drama.

 

[Moon Dancer]

I have a welsh d who is also not great at loading! I tried at the weekend a different method, one of the girls from the yard picked up a lunge whip, held it behind him and he went straight in, didnt touch him, didnt flick it just held it there. On the way home i didnt take it with me so used a schooling whip which he tried a couple of times to avoid going in and then went in. I find he also goes in if i make a lot of noise, whether this is*general noises such as walk on or shushing noises. The louder the better!
They are stubborn little monkeys though.
And to the poster above about anxiety, my horse is not anxious, he travels like a dream, does not sweat up etc, i know when he is scared and hes not scared.
The previous owner told me when they bought him as a yearling it took them seven hours to load him. Glad its not quite that bad now.

 

[meesha]

Dually may work or unclip lead rope from normal headcollar, clip onto side ring of headcollar (higher ring so clip not in mouth) put rope through mouth and out other side head collar(just through gap of headcollar). Ask for forward with pressure as soon as horse moves forward release pressure, repeat until loaded. V important you are quick on releasing pressure as soon as you get forward so horse learns forward is rewarded. Not everyone's cup of tea but used it and seen it work a treat.

 

[Peregrine Falcon]

I've spent a hour or two or three loading reluctant nags!

Something that I think people forget sometimes is that we are asking a lot of a horse/pony to put itself into a small box on wheels. One negative experience can lead to hours of pain/frustration and upset.

Make sure that everyone is dressed appropriately, i.e. hat, gloves and footwear. Get basic handling sorted and get the pony responding to voice aids really well. The method you have mentionned backing off before they do is one that I use. I've found it very effective. Being one step ahead of what they are thinking of doing does help. One pony I had kept going backwards so in the end I made her go backwards all the way around a 2.5 acre field. She was so cheesed off at going backwards that when I presented her at the bottom of the ramp she literally threw herself forwards and loaded herself.

I start off with asking them to go forward, don't start off miles away from the ramp, before the pony thinks about resisting, just circle away and repeat. When they are happy doing this try to get a hoof on the ramp. When you have ask the pony to go back and repeat, until you have more feet on. You may just have to set aside a few hours the first time for this. Bad manners should not be tolerated, he needs to respect your space. What's he like to handle normally?

I do a treat as a reward, a high fibre nugget fits nicely in a pocket! It may be worth getting a NH person out to help you if this problem persists and they can show you and your dad the best way to load your chap.

I left my trailer in the field (after making sure it was safe enough) for one tricky loader with hay in it. She happily loads herself now.

Good luck.

 

[conniegirl]

I've been through this with mine, he was awful at one show it took an hour on the way out to load and then 3 hours, 8 people, 2 lunge lines, a chifney and a lunge whip at the show. It was far from ideal as we were 2 hours drive from home. He threw an epic tantrum about loading at the show including throwing himself on the floor, rearing up and boxing out.

This week I've dedicated a lot of time to fixing the problem and I seem to have cracked it.

I led my horse to the ramp, lunge line round his bottom but only to stop him going backwards not to try and pull him in, then every step forwards was rewarded with lots of praise and a treat (chunk of carrot) eventually he got into the lorry where he was given a ton of praise, lots of sweets and then walked straight back down the ramp. Do not keep them in the trailer for longer than about 5 seconds at this point.
On reaching the bottom of the ramp we turned round and went to walk back up, again treat every time they go forward rope to stop them going backwards. Lots and lots of treats when they are in, then straight back down the ramp to the bottom turn round and then back up the ramp, this time they only get treats half way up the ramp and at the top, back out, then immediately back in with lots of treats at the top by this stage my lad was practically loading himself, at the trot!

I'm going to repeat every night this week and maybe on Wednesday we will close the partition for a minute.

Most important thing is to have loads of time, do not get stressed or angry (very hard I know!) do not try to chase the horse in with whips nor should you try to pull it in using a lunge line.
What you need is to take the stress out of the situation and allow the horse to decide that it wants to be in the lorry.

Whereabouts in the country are you OP? Maybe someone here can help

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

Subscribe to horsehero dot com and watch Richard Maxwell loading video.
The first thing he does is to school the horse in lungeing and in ground handling.
The last thing he does is present the horse at the trailer.
Owners are then told to repeat the loading 200 times.
If you walk through every day, this will help
It may be you, I have instantly loaded several horses which "refuse", because the owner thinks there is going to be a problem, and then there there is.
Use a webbing lunge line, wear boots and gloves and a hat, once he has pulled you off your feet you are going to need a control halter, and you both have to learn pressure release.

 

[dexnem]

Thanks all - we tried with him last night and I did the circling over the ramp with a feed bucket in, so he was looking up the ramp every time we went past. I then asked him to go in (I'd ridden him previously so he'd not eaten in a while and was hungry as ever!). He then ate some, and I took the bucket away. He went backwards as soon as it was removed and I repeated the walking over process again, and asked him to go in without the feed bucket. For those who are attempting the backwards walking whenever they stop - it doesn;t seem to work! I spent ages doing it and he ended up not wanting to go in -.- So, went back to circling and he'd put front feet in the trailer and once came in for a carrot. Asked my dad to use the 'nig stick', a 10 foot plank of wood so the ****** can actually see it over a lunge whip. We'd trained him with this ages ago (yard owner holding him inside, my dad tapping him above the hicks with the piece of wood until he went in) and he ran up the ramp beside me! Then worked away from the food and just with the big stick and carrots in my pocket, and on the last go he stood in and waited for a few minutes. We didn't close anything up, so that'll be next time. Read comments before I went and did plenty of ground work when I got there, I have lots of control over him back end but not the front end, which is very clear when I'm loading him it seems, but I'll continue to do more work on that before I load him again. When in a 'formal' situation (basically anything beyond the field and stable), he is very resistant to any pressure, hence why I can't pull back on him, but I did use a rope halter so that when he did go off the ramp I was able to use the side of the trailer like a pulley system so he didn't pull me off. Thanks again - pleasantly surprised by his compliance! Think with it not being a show then I was much more calm and I didn't let anxiety take hold. Felt quite sorry for the poor pony as he came running over to me in the field (very rare for him), and then I stuck him in a box!!

 

[southerncomfort]

I would say, don't be too quick to remove the food reward.

I have a pony who was the worst at loading I have ever encountered. I decided to tackle it over the easter hols. Worked her twice a day every day. Groundwork in the field in the morning and then trailer practice in the afternoon.

Groundwork was in a dually and 12 ft rope. I hate dually's but have to say that horses do seem to respect them more than a rope halter. Groundwork focused on coming forward off a small ask. Backing up. Turning on the forehand etc. Also spent time leading in and out of tight spaces i.e. jump wings forming a tunnel.

Did groundwork again before approaching trailer. Then led up to trailer and backed her away. Did this several times then asked for step on to trailer (I have a Fautras so no ramp) then back off and walk away. Then two feet inside trailer, back off and walk away. This does 2 things: shows the pony that the trailer does not have to be scary and prevents adrenalin getting too high and also shows pony that I can control her feet.

We got her in on that first day after about 5 mins and we just asked her to stand in there and eat a massive bucket of forbidden food (sloppy fast fibre in my pony's case). Asked her off the trailer before she had quite finished the feed so that again, it was my decision when she left, not hers.

Did this for 2 days before we even thought about reducing/removing feed. And we made sure she was happy standing in there before even thinking about putting a breech bar up etc.

You can get over loading issues but you really do need the patience of saint and preferably leave the whips etc in the tack room.

 

[conniegirl]

Dexnem he sound so like mine, mine runs backward or rears up if you apply any pressure behind him and at 650kg of pure muscle you just can't hold him.
That's the reason I don't put pressure on the lunge line or wave a whip behind him

 

[dexnem]

Oh the food will always be there!!! It's obviously a worse situation if we can;t load him at a show so he will go in from the yard with a few carrots and mints, then to come home he'll have a small feed and the usual carrots etc! Lol you're right with he patience part

Conniegirl, I sympathise with you. It's so hard to make it their own decision and essentially change their mindset about something. I'm not small as such (5'3 medium build) but even at 13.3hh he can still pull me literally off my feet. Once he's decided he's not doing something then that's it, I have no chance which really doesn't help when handled by smaller people! He doesn't rear thankfully but I needed that strength from my yard owner to initially apply that pressure and then change his mindset.

 

[conniegirl]

Lol I'm a similar size to you but my lad is 15.2 hh ID cross. So you can imagine how much he can throw me around!
Hence the reason I didn't resort to force to get mine in. He needs to want to go in!
Next challenge is getting him to stand quietly on the lorry!

 

[Bernster]

I'm another who would strongly suggest you get some prof help. I applaud you for trying lots of things and it sounds like you might be making some progress there, but it really is worth investing in some proper help to make sure you're doing the right thing and teaching him the right lessons. Otherwise, you could just be reinforcing the problems and storing up more for the future. I used a Kelly Marks RA and it only took a few sessions, well worth it and has been great knowledge for me ever since.

 

[QueenDee_]

I'm another that has had a couple of difficult loaders however I don't necessarily think you need to invest in pressure halters/pay out for professional help at this stage.
One of mine also adopted the evasion of backing off so I took the following approach. Take all the partitions/bars etc out of the trailer to make it as open and inviting as possible and lower the front ramp so that the horse can walk straight through, then make this your aim, at this stage don't worry about getting them to stand on the trailer, you just want them to stop thinking about reversing! Treat them after they have walked through, and be aware this may take a while and when they eventually go through they are likely to rush through. Repeat this until they are calmly walking through rather than rushing off and then progress to asking them to stand when in the trailer before walking forwards off the ramp and gradually increase the time standing. Once they are happy to stand in the trailer you can progress to closing the back ramp (I do this before the front one otherwise they're likely to start reversing again), then closing the front, then introducing the partitions/bars back in. I repeat each stage until they're happy and calm before progressing onto the next.

All of mine have ended up being happy loaders and travellers, the process doesn't take as long as it sounds (1-2 weeks if you do a little every day, don't over face them and try to do it all in one block, end on a good note at the end of each session).

If you still get stuck on getting them to walk up the ramp, rather than using whips/planks etc I find a much better method is to clip lunge lines to each side of the back of the trailer, and to cross them around the horses bottom as it faces the ramp and to gradually increase the pressure on them, this often is more effective as it doesn't work to 'scare' them into the trailer but rather they eventually just move away from the pressure