Help yearling wont load.

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vikkibeth

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Hi, I have a bit of a problem! I am moving fields to better grass but after 2 hours of trying yesterday my yearling just wouldn't load onto the trailer. Didn't want to push her too much so she wouldn't ever get on again. She wasn't acting scared just being plain stubborn and planting. We tried slow coaxing her up with food but she quickly got wise to this and would stretch her neck into the bucket, walk forward then grab a mouthful then pull back. We had her field mate walk up before her, with her and behind her, ready in the lorry and nothing. We tried gently with a lunge line coaxing her but she would choose to throw herself on the floor. She wasn't getting herself at all upset and was very laid back just refusing. She started being wise and realising to the left she could run through a gap so closed it up and still nothing. Not really sure what to do. She's not really that bothered about food or company which is probably why they didn't really work. Can anyone give me a suggestion.
 
Was it a trailer or lorry? You mention both in your thread. If it was a trailer can you open a front door/ramp to make it more light and airy maybe
 
We resorted to blindfolding one a few years back. She stumbled up the ramp which was a bit scary, but once she was up in the lorry it was as if she suddenly realised what we wanted her to do - she just didn't get it before then.

She then unloaded and proceeded to load and unload a few times perfectly happily and we haven't had a problem since. It was almost as if she just didn't know how to make her legs take her up the ramp - she just thought it was impossible so didn't try.
 
Ah we used to take 3 hours to load our pony. How much ground work have you done, can you send her forward? Have you tried making it unpleasant outside the trailer and pleasant inside the trailer? You could try someone behind tapping (not hitting!) with a lunge whip just so it's really annoying every time she doesn't move, and stop every time she does move. Make every step forward over the top praise and everything else unpleasant and annoying.
 
Hi sorry she's currently 14hh but medium build. It was a lorry but going to have a trailer come to try her on this on Monday.

Ridefast, did try something similar but she really didn't seem fussed and completely ignored it :-(. Her groundwork if fairly good and can normally get her to walk over anything and she's quite laid back when it comes to new things under her feet.

Bedlam, didn't try blindfolding so
Could try that but was scared that she might get upset and slip.
 
I'd make a fixed pen round her at the foot of the trailer/lorry ramp and leave her haynet, feed and water in the trailer/lorry and just wait. She'll work out what she has to to do get fed. That's if you have the time of course.
 
Unfortunately she has probably already learned how not to load, so your task is now complicated by this.

The essence of loading is getting them leading properly and reliably, then working patiently until the job is done. Giving up is not an option, once you have started, and you just have to work her through any evasions she decides to try.

If you could learn how to use pressure and release, it would make life easier for you both.
 
when I went to get my boy, he was 20 months, he'd never really left the field or been handled! so we moved the partition so he had the whole lorry, was a 2 horse, side loading lorry, so not very big!

we covered the ramp with and inside with straw, to make it more inviting! we battled for about 2 hours and wasn't getting anywhere, so in the end we stood on the ramp holding a bucket, ignoring that he was there and eventually he wanted up the ramp to get to the food then followed in as if he was a loading pro!

I've found with him, I can't force him to do anything, I need to give him time to think about it and do it in his own time!

I loaded him into a trailer a while ago, on my own and it took me no more than 5 mins, with him following a bucket of food!

good luck
 
I would use a trailer, not a lorry, if you can borrow one, the ramp is easier and as Welshd says you can open the end ramp so they can see really clearly what is in there. Take the partition out so it is just like walking into a stable.
Asking them to go up a steep ramp into a dark lorry can be a big ask.
 
Kerryberry, that was my first port of call but she just wasn't interest enough in the food and me ignoring he for 45 mins just left her at the bottom of the ramp falling asleep!!!!
Have got hold of a trailer and leave it in her field open when I am there, giving her chance to get use to getting in and out on her own by putting feed and hay into it so she realises its not scary. So fingers x
 
Do a little research in to clicker training and teach her to do stuff for a food reward. This is not the same as enticing her with food, it is positively reinforcing every effort she makes. I use Polos because they are easy to carry in your pocket out of sight, and most horses love them, but you could use slices of carrot or horse treats, whatever she loves as a treat.
You can begin without the transport by getting her to walk forward (reward) walk onto a tarpaulin or other odd surface (reward each little effort to get to the point of walking on) then when the transport is available, reward for walking to the bottom of the ramp, then for a foot on the ramp, then for more than one foot on the ramp then for all four etc. She will soon be OFFERING to go in - believe me, I have spent years and years leaving horses with food in a trailer in a paddock, with partitions removed, front ramps open, people around behind, using a confined space etc etc etc when all the time it is so easy if you use positive reinforcement. Reward the INSTANT they have made a bigger effort than the time before, so you are shaping and building on previous responses - don't offer the treat and an enticement, that is totally different. Start with something she can do, like take a step towards you so she realises each effort will get a reward.
I had a confirmed transport hater who learned this and would RUN up the ramp of a lorry when he thought the other pony inside was getting the food reward, a yearling who had planted and just presented dumb insolence but who offered to walk in after being rewarded for both front feet on the ramp. It is so easy and stress free - and repeatable away from home. If you are anywhere near me I will willingly come and help, it is well worth doing it with a yearling to make them good loaders for the rest of their lives.
 
vikkibeth said:
Kerryberry, that was my first port of call but she just wasn't interest enough in the food and me ignoring he for 45 mins just left her at the bottom of the ramp falling asleep!!!!
Have got hold of a trailer and leave it in her field open when I am there, giving her chance to get use to getting in and out on her own by putting feed and hay into it so she realises its not scary. So fingers x
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YOu need to make sure that the trailer has legs at the front and back or prop it up just in case. If she goes in and it tips it will be counter productive.

In order to speed things up with one of my lads I made a pen where one of the sides was the trailer ramp. The area of the pen was around twice that of a stable.
 
Unfortunately she has learned that she doesn't have to load. I know you had the problem that the woman with the lorry couldn't hang around any longer.

I've found with my youngsters that a few of them have had to be 'hassled' to load the first time. We practice loading before we actually want to take them anywhere as it takes the pressure off. Once they have loaded they get a small handful of nuts, are unloaded and loaded again. We repeat until they are happy to load.

One thing that does work well with youngsters that are stubborn and not frightened is to tie a big loop in the end of a lunge line, put this over the horse's bum so that it hangs to about mid way down to their hocks. The knot should be roughly where the saddle would sit. Run the free end of the lunge line through where you would clip the lead rope on but don't clip it. If you pull gently on the line the pressure behind the horse will cause him/her to step forward. Try this a few times so that your horse understands before you try to load her.
 
You could try Parellis technique. When we go our lorry it had been years since our two had traveled, so instead of telling them they needed to get on (which they both objected to!) We asked them to walk round in circles on the long rope at the bottom of the ramp until curiosity and fatigue gets the better of them - when they start looking like they might want to get on, make them go around a few more times and then gently angle towards the trailer/lorry. They soon learn that they get to rest on the lorry and that it is a pleasant experience when they get praise and treats for being there. Repeat as many times as you like for confident happy loading :-) No bribery, no trickery and no jiggery pokery - positive experience for future results! Worked for me anyways!

Good luck and keep calm.
 
I'd be very wary of using any form of force to get a youngster to load unless strictly necessary. We just use hard feed so they get to think of the trailer as a nice place to be.

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