Horse WONT Load - Any Ideas?

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skyesthelimit1

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Ive got a 4 year old 14hh cob gelding. When we went to pick him up, he was a little bit confused about the lorry but went in after being tempted by feed. He travelled sweet as a nut once in there and really wasnt bothered that he was in there. Since we've had him, hes loved, ridden and looking great. But, he will not load.

The first time we tried to get him back in, we spent 3 hours trying everything. Started off nicely, with lots of pats, putting feet onto ramp etc and he wasnt having any of it. So then did the usual lunge lines behind bum, controller head collar, leading one of his friends into the lorry and out the other side, taken all the partition out, loads of feed in there, blindfolding and even tried a chifney and he just vertically rears and boxes out. Hes pulled me off the side of the ramp where he runs blind, he even pulled the farrier over.


Tried the next day again and after about 5 mins he walked straight in. Did the loads of pats, feed, haynet etc and took him for a 10min drive around the block and home again (so he realised when he goes in, he comes back home again). Travelled really well and was fine once in.

Tried again next day, and back to square one.

He was then off work for a while as he got kicked in the field!! So tried again yesterday with the quiet calm approach. Tried feed and still point blank refusing. Tried the controller head collar, bridle, lungelines behind his bum etc. Still vertically rearing and boxing out. After about an hour and a half of just being calm and perserverance, he stopped the rearing, but planted his feet at the bottom of the ramp. A few times he jumped onto the ramp but then ran the other direction.

Just tried again this afternoon and exactly the same. I know for a fact that hes not scared as once hes in there he is perfectly well behaved. And he happily jumps onto the ramp, he just refuses to go in. And if you put pressure on him to move forward, he rears.

Does anyone have any idea what else to try? Really at my wits end as nothing seems to be working. If he was genuinely scared, that would be another story, but I know for a fact that in his head hes saying "I dont want to go in there, and you cant make me, and you wont make me" and its so bloomin frustrating!!!

Any ideas? :S
 
Hi there, if you have tried everything which clearly you have there is something that my yard owner does, and i have used the technique a few times and for some reason it has worked on any horse I have ever seen that won't load- i am sure some people may be against it for some reason or another but i will tell you what it is just incase you want to try iT-no idea why it works, maybe has the same reaction as twitching without the dopiness..

attach leadrope to headcollar as if you are wanting to put it in his mouth like a bit-so instead of being clipped at one point it is clipped at one side and put through the other side. When that is sorted then you put the lead rope in his mouth- but over his top gum and tighten slightly so it isnt slack. i couple of sharp pulls on this when they go backwards/stop dead and it seems to work. obviously don't pull so hard as you do not want to cut the gum.

I acknowledge that this may not work on all horses, but maybe worth a try? I have seen a lot of horses over the years that people have done EVERYTHING to get their horse on and this has worked everytime.

Strange that your horse has always travelled fine and is so stubborn about it? I suppose checking out that the lighting/position of box isn't causing shadows or anything?And that the floor is ok under the rubber-sometimes a horse can feel weakness in the ground and not like it?

I know how extremely irritating it can be when a horse wont load for no apparant reason- i had a pony that did this with lorries and it took weeks of persistant loading everyday and just letting him eat his dinner on the lorry and stand for a while before he would go on it with no problem.

Also-by the sounds of it you don't but when he does rear/mess around make sure you don't turn him around as he will figure out it will get him away from the box!

Hope you get sorted!
 
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Brilliant. Thank you, will give that a try tomorrow! Really am open to anything that may work. Hes such a quick learner that even something that might be not that nice for 2 or 3 times hes the sort that will learn that it is easier to just go in.

Was also thinking about leaving lorry on yard tomorrow with ramp down and putting electric fencing up around so he only has a little bit of yard space and then put his haynet and water in the lorry.
 
yes that's a good idea- once you get him on i think just making sure that he realises good things happen-like getting food happen everytime he gets on he should get the idea!
 
In short, practice. Dont expect to get the horse all the way in at first. Even a foot on the ramp should be viewed as progress.
You need time and patience. And lots of it!

He obviously associates loading with moving i.e. having his world turned upside down. You just have to teach him that its not always going to lead to something scary.
 
Would agree with checking the floor to your lorry. My tb became unhappy at loading and I tried all sorts of things. He eventually loaded but clearly wasn't happy. Then one day he had a pee on the way home from a show and I decided to flush the floor with water as he does pee in torrents! However, just as well because I put too much water down and panicked and had to lift the rubber mats to get rid of it all. Anyway, I found that under the mats the wood floor was quite rotten in several places. The long and short of it is that I had to replace the floor with aluminium and horse has not objected once to loading since! I think he was trying to tell me something!
 
I would work at getting him more obedient to be lead. So he understands to move away from pressure rather than to run through it and relieve the pressure by escaping.

The gum line that kgj66 mentions does have a similar effect to a twitch in that it releases endorphins.

I would be careful about how you feed him as i tried teaching one horse to load with food and she quickly learnt to walk into the lorry, grab a mouth full & back out. Then would eat her dinner and back out if you went to move the partition.

Always load when you have lots of time, when you get him in don't force him to stay in but ask him out before he chooses to. Once hes gone in get him going in & out at least 10 times before the next session. Once hes go that then work on having him stay in a little longer, doing the partion, ramp up etc. Break everything down into little steps, don't just get him in and go somewhere.

Best of luck I’m sure he will soon be fine x
 
Hi,

I've had problems with my 17hh 4 year old before now. I literally can't get wound up by it or try to resort to lunge lines or any such thing as it just winds him up and we don't achieve anything.

What does work is patience and him realising that I am just not going to give up. I stand on or as close to the ramp as I can and ask him quietly to walk on. when he does, he gets praise, if he pulls back, he gets pressure on the nose of the dually until he walks on. if he moves his bum so that hes not square to the ramp, my helper moves it over fr me but basicly we do not move from the bottom of the ramp until he is prepared to walk up it!! we go backwards and forwards as much as he likes but until he goes up the ramp we don't go anywhere else.

Once on he gets a good scoff of a nice feed lots of fuss, and is lead off again. then we repeat. And again, and again, and again, and again, and again. and eventually it becomes a game. once you have had say three or four sessions doing this (say a day or two apart if not a week), then take him for a short trip, when you get him home, unload him and load him again, and again and again. Repetition is key. you cantexpect him to remember one good experience he had weeks ago over an long standing uncertaity of 'new' things.

When my boy was only 15hh... we did use another technique with success. My dad (whose a big man) linked arms with another man and scooped him up from behind (arms in the indent just below buttocks, while I 'steadied' the front end. This basically means that their back feet are pushed under them and they ave no choice but to go forward. but I would seriously try the above option first!!
 
Practice little and often. Contact Richard Maxwell first to start you off though.

I'd be wary of using methods such as twitching as it will only solve the problem in the short term not long term. Some idiot loaded my gelding using electric tape (before I owned him). As a result he'll panic at the sight of a box, you don't want this for yours, trust me.
 
The last thing my lad would do is go in by force... He needs to want to go in there. I get a control halter, put all ramps down and start of lunging him (away from the box) at the bottom of the ramp in small circles but big enough for a bit if freedom. Gradually get closer to the ramp and then lunge him walking across the ramp. Everytime he goes around give loads of praise and I tend to cut up a carrot in my pocket and give when needed. Once he's comfortable with this do the same but make him stand on the ramp for 3 seconds, then back off, and repeat. Then when he stands on the ramp (partitions removed) walk past him with carrot in hand and straight into the box, ignoring him completely. Turn your back to him with carrot/bucket facing him an eventually he should go in. Do not enclose him and drive off! Take him back out and start again, gradluallt enclosing him (putting partition back in, breast bar ect) but take him back out every time. Loads and loads if praise but no force should be given, it must be his choice to go in.
Good luck with your pony :)
 
I sympathise, I had a bad loader and even ended up riding 10 miles home when he wouldnt load, got a more experienced friend to help me - I then found that I could load him in a chiffney (so he knew he couldnt pull me around) and with a lunge line - the key was to stay very very calm - he was better if it was just me - I had to be very very quite (even though he was a bolshy horse) and just walk calmly with him in a circle to get the lunge line round his back end then walk v calmly in - it worked as he had nothing to fight against - it was a game to him but being mega calm took the fun out of it so he loaded as nothing to fight against.

I still 3 years on have to use a chiffney v occasionally but dont need the lunge line anymore, he loads in about 60 seconds !! I had an ifor 505 and really belived I would never be able to take him anywhere - now i have an equitrek he is loading quicker and quicker and we even box up on our own (if you had told me we would ever be doing this couple of years ago I would have laughed at you)

you will get there and it is good to ask for help from an experienced person but dont give up - It will get better x
 
put straw on the ramp, and a small amount on the ground before it. we spent ages trying to get a yearling on the trailer last week, tried walking a pony through, pushing him, bridle, lunge line, putting the trailer against a wall etc, and he did the same, feet on the ramp then reared, someone suggested straw, and he went straight on, it can be the noise of the ramp as their feet move on it, we are going to take him for a trip round he block, then progress to the lorry, other thing id do is once he s on, take him off again!
 
The welsh that lives with me was a bad loader, 4 hours of trying EVERYTHING, took an RA less to get him to the point he was loading himself. Definitely would recommend her to anyone. I'm not actually an NH person, I tend to look at all methods and by god a correctly used dually is amazing.
Whatever method you do use, once you get him on and reward him, take him off and then reload him and repeat twice a day for a couple of weeks before you even think of taking him out any where. Then once he's happily doing this spend a week loading and unloading before going for a drive and coming home and unloading reloading. Then graduate taking him somewhere close where you can hack/lead home safely from and then do some unloading/loading.
 
Just a thought, my boy would always take 2 steps up the ramp then rear and jump off the right hand side taking me with him. We started parking the box along side a wall, a gate, another box anything and he walks in like a little lamb. Hope it helps
 
The way we sorted my cob was to make walking forward the "easy option". So if he went to go backwards I would take control of that situation and make him go back a lot faster than he wanted to. Then make him stand and then walk forward. He sooner learned it was worse going backwards fast than walking forwards normally with me. He now loads like a dream!
 
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