horse jumping off the ramp when leading out of trailer

exracehorse

exracehorse

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We haven't boxed our lad since we brought him home from Newmarket 2 years ago. Bought a new trailer and have begun to practise boxing in the field, typical TB so lots of snorting etc when we approach it and thinking its going to eat him alive. To be fair, he is going in first time, we are opening all the ramps and removing the bars so we can practise going straight in and out and then can progress to putting them all up and the ramp when he is more chilled about it all, as he is a bit of a woss puss. But, when we get to the ramp to go out, he goes down two or three paces and then jumps off the side, which is rather dangerous as, I don't want to be knocked over by a half ton horse. I am asking him to wait and then go down steady but he bails out and jumps, which is going to mess his legs up or kill me, any advice would be great. x
 
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Can you keep him inside the box at the top of the ramp with your hand on his chest? If not, make sure you do groundwork to drill that into him, get him to stand and back up consistently from your hand on his chest. If you can hold him there, hand on chest, you get onto the ramp and step off the side so he has all the ramp to himself and then do plenty of practice. Don't walk down the ramp with him.
 
He is pretty good with ground work and respect etc, knows and understands the wait, backup etc commands. He will wait at the top, I say to him, 'wait' and then 'steady' etc, but he takes two steps at the top and then jumps! I am jumping to the side, of the ramp as we go down, as I don't want to be shoved sideways and jumped on. Its trying to make him understand that he can actually walk down the ramp and not bail out at the top. Its a single Ifor Williams 401, which I love, but the ramp is slightly narrower than a double trailer and I think he is panicking.
 
Hi. My horse used to do this, but off a lorry ramp. He knocked me over once and I went down the ramp under his feet...fortunately no damage done. My yard owner at the time really helped me with this problem, she suggested a pressure halter and a long line (one of the best bits of kit for loading/onloading in my view, much better then a lungeline as it's heavier). It's a bit difficult to describe what we did but I looped the long line through the tie ring in the lorry before he loaded and just kept it taught as he loaded, walking up beside him but well out of the way . His trick was turn round and jump down as soon as he was asked to turn to tie up at the top. Which he did - and as soon as he did I pulled strongly back on the long line which kind of winched him to a halt half way down the ramp as it was looped through the tie ring. I was then able to back him up the ramp back to the top. It literally stopped him in his tracks and he never did it again. He does still come down quite fast if he's not been out for while, I always use the long line to unload and stand at the top out of the way. I don't drop him and he stops at the bottom. Much safer than trying to walk down next to him if he does decide to be a bit speedy. What I would say though is practice, practice, practice....
 
To be honest I'd rear unload and not use the front unload until the horse loads calmly.
When I first teach to load I don't open the front ramp as this can teach horses to rush straight out.
The difficulty with some front unloads is that the ramp is at an angle that a horse cannot see and also the angle to turn for some horses is tight.
 
Practice practice and more practice. I would use positive reinforcement or clicker for this one. Cut up a pocket full of tiny bits of apple and every time he stops give him a piece. Its not about the treat its about the fact his attention will be on you and he will be focussed.

I HATE jumping off ramps.. I am not keen on loading/unloading at the best of times so mine have had to learn to behave impeccably. Sadly a lot of people are quite happy with their horse jumping the last few feet so you will h ave to work hard to get him out of it. Please wear a hat and gloves, just in case.
 
If he won't push through a lunge line, try clipping one to the side of the trailer and ask someone else (wearing gloves and hard hat) to hold it taught to keep him straight
and away from the edge of the ramp.
 
Try feeding him on the way out. One of mine used to barge out so I would ask him to stop and wait literally every stride going down the ramp and give him a polo. Took a few goes, but he soon realised it was a good idea to come out slowly. Might work for your problem too.
 
Unloading by the front ramp is much less safe because there is more potential for injury to horse and/or handler.

The biggest problem with front unloading is that the horse's head exits the trailer before his body, resulting in him looking everywhere but where his feet are going. This may be why some horses leap off the ramp.

Also, the front ramp, when lowered, is at the wrong angle in relation to the trailer, and the horse cannot turn sufficiently tightly without risk of his quarters touching the centre partition. If this happens it invariably causes the horse to jump forward and rush out. The handler is forced to the edge of the ramp and often has to step off, resulting in total loss of control of how the horse exits.

Rear unloading means that the horse's body is entirely clear of the sides of the trailer before his head (and eyes) are, and this means that there is greater potential for him to pay attention to the handler. His head can be manoevered to steer his quarters as he descends the ramp and, if he is well trained, he can be slowed or stopped if necessary.
 
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My seven year old jumps up the ramp and is rather enthusiatic unloading. After several nasty incidents when he was four/five we used a pressure halter, progressing to loading in his bridle until it became manageable and he can now be loaded in a head collar. He used to rush so everything had to be slowed down, even now when I load him he was to be walking almost at a crawl to ensure that his leap from the bottom of the ramp is controlled. To start with he could only be loaded with his mate up but now he will load first and will travel alone.

He is out in the lorry at least once a week, if not more often, so this is a very familar enviroment to him. Everything was repeated time and time again, there was never a rush on time as this made the situation worse.

I am still cautious, when loading he will jump to the top of the ramp and I clear the floor when unloading (why does everyone stand at the bottom of the ramp when you are unloading?) just in case he is rather enthusiatic. I never let anyone handle him in this situation unless they know him and what to expect.
 
exracehorse said:
We haven't boxed our lad since we brought him home from Newmarket 2 years ago. Bought a new trailer and have begun to practise boxing in the field, typical TB so lots of snorting etc when we approach it and thinking its going to eat him alive. To be fair, he is going in first time, we are opening all the ramps and removing the bars so we can practise going straight in and out and then can progress to putting them all up and the ramp when he is more chilled about it all, as he is a bit of a woss puss. But, when we get to the ramp to go out, he goes down two or three paces and then jumps off the side, which is rather dangerous as, I don't want to be knocked over by a half ton horse. I am asking him to wait and then go down steady but he bails out and jumps, which is going to mess his legs up or kill me, any advice would be great. x
Click to expand...

Right I have helped with this for all 3 of mine and 5 liveries.

the way that works is get someone else to stand on the ramp with some treats in a bucket while the leader holds the horse. Encourage the horse to step down one step
as he does put the treat bowl under his nose so he can eat a couple. ( During this he is learning to stand still on the ramp) repeat the exercise again . The treat holder step back one step as the horse makes a move with one foot or both front
put the treat bucket under his nose. If he starts to rush his step, the treat holder step forward and put treats under his nose.


repeats this all down the ramp. Worked with every horse I have done this with.

Its important that the bucket holder pulls bucket away before hew steps back one step.

Most horses love nuts or treats and faced with stopping to munch or going down most will stop. My boy used to jump off from the top of the ramp down and my ramp is high. Now he walks down quietly. We tried this first time with a 4 year old who
had never gone on a ramp and we succeed first time, albeit me stepping forward and putting treats under nose to make her stop and she got used to standing on a slant.
 
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Just an update really, we have been practising loading and he much much better. He is very food orientated anyway and so have been making him wait by the top of the ramp while he is given his feed and then slowly the food is taken down the ramp and he has to wait once again. Now he is going in first time, he cant wait lol - because he knows that he has a treat. He is now walking down the ramp all the way to the bottom without bailing out of the side. Unfortunately, I have got to take the trailer out of the field and into the yard and remove the back wheels as my YO has been informed that some horrible scum bags have been watching my trailer and the other one in the yard and intend to try to steal them.
 
We have practised him going backwards down the trailer as well and that's all fine, I just wanted the option of both and for him to learn to wait for me etc. xx
 
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