Horse stubborn about loading into a trailer- help?

[QueenDee_]

Hi Guys

Basically I was just looking for some tips/ideas...My mare is currently extremely stubborn about loading into a trailer (took us about 40mins to load her when we bought her, the trailer currently has no partition in and is an ifor williams) and I think previously she has been used to travelling in a lorry, as apparently she loads and travels happy as larry in one. Up till now I haven't really gotten around to working on the trailer with her (haven't needed to take her anywhere) but i've decided its time to tackle it!

She pretty much just plants her feet and refuses to load in...she isn't scared in any way, once we loaded her when we picked her up as soon as she was in she was perfectly fine! But its getting her in! The one time I tried before I eventually managed to get her to walk straight through (no partition, in through back out through front) but she did barge through.

thanks in advance for any tips/helpful comments

 

[Fabby123]

hi
my mare is exactly the same it took us nearly 2 hours to load her when we picked her up and then when we moved yard it took us 30 mins. you have to make sure you are really strong and confident and just look straight into the trailer/lorry and just keep trying sometime food helps but as long as you strong and stay confident they will give. its really frustrating but just keep going and keep praticing!

 

[FfionWinnie]

Use Richard Maxwells techniques. Has never failed for me but you have to do the whole process.

 

[QueenDee_]

Use Richard Maxwells techniques. Has never failed for me but you have to do the whole process.

not heard of him... ill have a google

 

[FfionWinnie]

If you get his book train your young horse it is covered in there.

My new mare took an hour to load in to an inviting horse lorry with three folk bullying her in with whips and force (I was not there). I had her two weeks and did the ground work before I tried to load her in my non inviting rattley clattery cattle trailer (aluminium no rubber, lower roof as well) and it took me five minutes on my own and no stress for either me or the horse

 

[dotty1]

Get a dually halter from Intelligent Horsemanship. My mare was the same, she soon realised she had to go forwards. Took about 5 mins to get her in and now she doesn't even hesitate to go in (staying in for me to put the ramp up is another matter).
Best £40 I spent last year

 

[QueenDee_]

is it covered well in the book? (couldn't find much on google in terms of the actual process) sounds good though!

 

[weebarney]

Have you tried letting her follow another horse through it?

 

[putasocinit]

Can u reverse her in the turn her around, blind fold her like t the races going into the stalls, move the trailer away from the stables that tends to make then not want to go in because they know they are going away from familiar territory, face the trailer in the direction of the stables will feel she is coming home.

 

[FfionWinnie]

is it covered well in the book? (couldn't find much on google in terms of the actual process) sounds good though!

Yes, the whole book is geared toward making your life easy with horses I'd say but the are 9 pages specifically on loading as well.

 

[QueenDee_]

I've got a simple rope pressure halter I was going to try her in to see if it helps also yes I have tried getting her to follow another horse through but she just wasn't interested

as far as reversing her into the trailer I don't think I'd get anywhere with her as i've been on crutches the last few weeks Mom has been in charge of handling her etc so she's become a bit bargy and in your face so perhaps the pressure halter would help re-establish a few boundaries as well

may look into getting the book, I have a youngster as well so could also be useful for him

 

[FfionWinnie]

This is the first time I loaded my hardly travelled and extremely stubborn and highly strung 4yr old into my trailer...

[YOUTUBE]D3wkWVY_jts[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Willowview]

Hi, I think you have to be very careful posting that your mare is 'stubborn' the vast majority of non loaders behaviour is due to fear or at the very least a negative experience that makes them reluctant to go in (if your mare leads well then won't go into a trailer she obviously has an issue with the trailer). It's also not uncommon for horses to be good travellers i.e. stand well on the box but poor loaders.
If your mare 'bolted through' with you then to me that clearly shows she is scared or at the very least doesn't want to be in the trailer. If you really are convinced she is just simply stubborn, all that needs to be done is for you to make the trailer a nice place i.e. big net, maybe a few treats every now and then when she's in, but outside the trailer hard work so lots of lungeing/ backing etc so she craves the trailer as somewhere she can put her feet up!
Also ALWAYS USE A LONG LINE to load for both your safety and once you walk into the trailer if she plants her feet let the line slip through your fingers and continue to walk in so she knows she can't dictate your movements. When she plants her feet simply focus on getting them moving whether it's backing her up by moving the line up and down or getting her to step sidewise. My mare was a terrible loader, due to some horrendous experiences but one thing that didn't help was her feeling she could take me where she wanted. After alot of trials and tribulations I ended up with a horse that would load calmly and confidently, it takes time but please don't be tempted to just beat her in/ use a lunge line behind her because it is too easy to make the problem a 100x worse this way and at the end of the day you need to be able to load your horse on your own anyway.
Hope this makes sense!

 

[pansy]

We has a bad loader - couldnt get him near the trailer at one point.
Took it gradually feeding round trailer , getting used to being near it etc. But still had trouble loading - get so far toss his head about & then he would be off - please dont have a go at me for doing this - put a chifney on him (tried a dually 1st with no joy) - didnt use force - tried another couple of times & he walked on trailer & rushed off - kept practicing t, moving on to short journeys & now he;s great loads , head collar is used - this was all done my 14 year old daughter -on a daily basis over several weeks

 

[Fruitcake]

I know it's probably a bit of a cop out but could you try a couple of tit-bits in a feed bucket?

After lots of trips to the vets with gastric ulcers, my horse decided that he suddenly didn't like the trailer anymore. (Understandable!) I started putting a handful of chaff in a bucket on the ramp and walking him up it and fed him in the trailer for a few nights like this. I know some horses are genuinely really scared of trailers though and it might not be as simple for you.

I've also started to make sure that he always has a hay net in the trailer- even for really short 10 min journeys as it just makes it a nicer place for him to be.

 

[ElleD]

Another vote for the Dually here

 

[petsywetsy]

Had a really, really terrified pony sent to me. In the end, the Barbara Woodhouse method worked - we were all amazed. We put on a lunge cavesson, fixed lungeline to centre ring on noseband, left horse at bottom of ramp, walked into trailer and threaded rope through hay ring at the front. Then stood at the side of the horse and started putting pressure on line - slowly, and she started walking in!! Worth a try!! Fixed a feed bowl to the breast bar and made sure there was always a feed in there and some hay.

Always travelled her quite slowly and with great care round corners and on rough ground. Took about two weeks. Never had a problem with her afterwards - walked straight in.

 

[travelmad]

Can you park the trailer in her field and put her feed in there? With front and back open, no partitions or bars, get Bernard to going in on her own?

 

[travelmad]

Stupid iPad... Don't know who bernard is!! I meant get her used to it!

 

[Elsbells]

Stupid iPad... Don't know who bernard is!! I meant get her used to it!

Tickled me

 

[FfionWinnie]

Bernard might be a horse whisperer...

 

[Dry Rot]

If you have access to a round pen, back the trailer up to it and let the ramp down. If you haven't got a round pen, you can arrange to lunge your horse near the trailer with the ramp down.

Every time the horse goes near the trailer, remove all pressure -- turn your back and walk away for one minute. If the horse comes away, lunge again. Continue doing this asking a little more each time. If he comes out, that's fine -- more work! Basically, it's his choice, but away from the trailer he works. Eventually, the penny drops that the trailer means safety, rest, peace and quiet, hard feed, and a hay net. If they stop on the ramp, rest as before, then chase them off and start working again.

When he's in and happily pulling at the hay net, leave him to it. If your are working in a round pen, now is a good time to go and have a cup of tea. If lunging, sit down out of sight (holding the end of the lunge, of course) with a good book!

I distrust force collars, yard brooms, hose pipes, lunge whips, etc. as if they don't work the horse is left with a negative impression that the trailer is a bad place to be. OK, in an emergency you have to do what works but for the long term, I don't believe it is a good idea. Lunging means that outside is bad,inside is good.

We've two weaned foals in the field shelter who are let into the round pen when we muck out. They've never seen the inside of a trailer before. I suggested we drop the trailer ramp to see what would happen. Within five minutes both were inside the trailer having a good snoop around even with the partition up. Who says horses have a natural fear of dark forbidding caverns? I think they often associate loading with all the nasty things that people do to them to get them loaded and it is no wonder that they won't go in!

The picture is of some of my youngsters getting hard feed in the trailer -- it's a nice place and they want to be in there!

 

[Sugarplum Furry]

I had to take my highly strung total nit wit of an arab to horse hospital today. He's never been good to load and tends to throw himself around quite dangerously, so to take a bit of stress off the situaton I got a professional transport company over to to take him.

Just blown away by how fabulous these guys are. I think if I mention them by name I'll be in trouble for advertising so I'll just say they are father and son, racehorse transporters, in the Bath area.

They tied a lunge line to one side of the ramp, wrapped it round arab's bottom and the son held tightly to the other end on the other side of the ramp. Father then bent down and gently but firmly placed one, then both, horse's front legs on the ramp. I was in the lorry with a lead rope onto the horse's headcollar but the main thing the guys said was 'DON'T PULL', as the horse's natural reaction is to pull back. Which now makes a lot of sense to me. I left the lead rope slack, also I didn't look the horse in the eye, which gives the 'back off' signal, I just looked mostly in the direction I wanted him to go.

So son put a bit more pressure on his end of the lunge line, father got behind horse and leant on his bottom and hey presto, horse loads beautifully into the lorry. No violence, stress, pressure or rude words. This is a horse that's taken over an hour to load before now, even with his best buddy already loaded and waiting for him.

I learnt a lot today. Horse was wearing a dually and on a long line, I've done that particular Monty course and know what to do but these guys were so wonderfully calm and efficient, I might as well have a bit of cotton round my horse's head!!

 

[winterwood]

Have posted this before, but may be worth doing so again

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU6L9uz3ktg

 

[Theocat]

*Dons tin hat*

Mine was a stubborn loader. I decided to be softly-softly, and set out with hours to spare on the first training session. The rules were that going backwards meant hard work (circles, backing up), standing still was fine (he gets bored easily and I was betting there wouldn't be much of this) and going forward (toward or into the trailer) meant reward. After almost three hours he was alternating falling asleep standing on the ramp with walking backwards, and I lost my temper and gave him a few sharp wallops with the end of the leadrope. He was straight in the box (a bit disgusted but not otherwise scared or hurt or anything else!) and immediately rewarded with food. Straight off and straight back on, a dozen times, with a treat every time he loaded - the second time he paused, and from then on walked straight back on every time without any other encouragement.

Once or twice a month I walk him through half a dozen times, with a treat each time as soon as he loads. Apart from one occasion when he just didn't fancy it, thank you very much, he's walked straight on every time. He wasn't scared, just stubborn - he got one telling, and with practise and lots of safe driving he's now happy to load and travel without any drama or stress.

The same horse was terrified of the clippers. Softly-softly and lots of reassurance got us to the stage where I could clip him without even holding him within a few sessions - a "telling" would have been worse than useless in that situation.

You need to choose the right approach for the horse, and if it really is a matter of stubborn rather than scared, I wouldn't be afraid to be quite firm to get them in the first time, so you can start to show the difference between not going on (bad) and going on (very positive, happy, enjoyable, edible experience). Once they are on once, keep going - a couple of dozen loads a day, always with a reward for loading, until they're consistently going in without blinking. Then load several times, travel a short distance, and unload and reload several times to finish, and so on.

 

[LittleBurd83]

I'm all for positive reinforcement and rewarding good behaviour (it's working brilliantly with my horses ground problems). If you have some time to spare, try it, it'll pay dividends in the future. Just do a little bit each time and for every step your horse takes towards the trailer, give them a treat. It's much better in my experience that they associate the trailer with positive (and yummy!) things rather than being shouted at and forced in. To start with try doing some target training (have a google) and that will help loads. And if you're worried about pony getting fat just use really small pieces of treats or grain

 

[4x4]

OK so you get them in, shut the doors, then trash the lorry/trailer or go over the door or out of the grooms compartment. Then what?

 

[Dry Rot]

OK so you get them in, shut the doors, then trash the lorry/trailer or go over the door or out of the grooms compartment. Then what?

If you push any animal too far it will either close down (e.g. go to sleep, etc) or try a variety of escape behaviors (e.g. rearing, etc.) which is why I am against "being firm" or "tapping with the lead rope". If it doesn't work, you have merely confirmed in the horse's mind that your intentions are evil and the last thing it should do is load! Take it one step at a time, even if that step forwards is only an inch or two.

Mine are allowed to stop on the ramp for about a minute, then they are gently chased off and work starts again. The further they go in, the longer the rest they get. It is really a matter of reading the body language. Sometimes the more pressure you apply, the worse they become.

 

[Littlelegs]

I agree with dry rot, although I haven't heard the lunging idea before. I was going to say the usual feed on the ramp, halfway up, in the trailer etc every day. I think that's a fab idea dry rot, I want to go & try it out, I'm off to find something that won't load to practice on.

 

[daviedevs]

I find its all about confidence with you and enjoyment for them.

Jess(RIP) refused to begin with....but after a couple of treats and encouragement she soon went in.

I used to just take her a couple of miles away to a local field and let her out on lead rein to scoff grass...so she got used to the idea that trailer meant lush food...and as it was local ish there was always the option to walk her back if things got out of hand..but they never did.

If they associate the trailer with hard work everytime you can sort of understand why they wont load.

Dan is a different kettle of fish altogether. I have to use lunge lines tied to either side of the ramp and laid on the floor..kind of like a runway. He always loads with them to leave the yard..to load him coming home i just walk him back up the ramp in his bridle. He does have to have a quick 15 second look around on the ramp but always goes up in the end.

I think they all have their quirks.

My YO thinks im a bit soft with them but imo theres nothing wrong with a bit of patience and a calm horse is a happy horse.