Loading a horse that just doesnt want to go in?

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Victoria25

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Hi everyone

OK, my mare is an angel to load ... my ex racer just doesnt want to get in that soddin trailer!!!!!! :rolleyes:

What are you tips for loading difficult loaders?

We have a double trailer - we moved the partition over then put it back when travelling - but would it be OK to remove it entirely and crosse tie plus giving him more 'freedom' when getting in?

Going he eventually gave in after the temptation of an apple (after 50 mins) and coming home we (and a few others lol) used two lunge lines around his bum ... :o

We've just qualified for the Blue Chip Champs in a few weeks and want to get there on time ;)
 
He probably never travelled in a trailer before you got him, lorries are generally much more open and inviting so if he needs more space taking the partition out is the best way to travel him, cross tie and he should be fine, you may find that once he is more used to the trailer he gets better and you can go back to using the partition.
 
You need patience and to pretend that you've got all the time in the world!!

Practice at home. To begin with, remove all partitions, open all doors and ramps and turn it into a game.

I wouldn't go down the route of pushing and shoving personally. Try and get him on because he wants to go on. I use the pressure an release technique along with a bit of bribery in the form of a bucket with some nuts and carrots in. When he gets in he gets lots of fuss and a good couple of mouthfulls of feed before I lead him out the front end and repeat. He usually runs on the second and third times!! Do this a few times then call it a day... the next time you can progress to shutting him in before unloading him, and then to just a little drive round the block - repeating all the steps previously taken before hand to get his confidence up.
 
remove the partition and put him on every morning to eat his breakfast, i used to keep my first horse on a yard that used trailer and lorry bodies as field shelters we never had a problem loading
 
I would use a blindfold, and be hard but gentle.and have the horse in a bridle for more control.I have found it seems to always work . and yes travel with no partition is OK but drive with care on roundabouts.O have double size breast bars for my trailer so we can use either. my big old 17.3 used to find it a stuggle with a partion.
 
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Well, having learnt a method from an instructor/part NH type woman to use on my youngster, I would suggest using that but it takes a while to write it down and i am at work so can't do it now. It does work though.

Personally I would not use a blindfold. Someone tried that on my horse once after there was no way he was going back in a trailer after being out at a show - in his defence the trailer was a tad on the small side and was borrowed as our wagon was broken! There was no way he was going in even with a blindfold and a few burly men (who funnily then found 'excuses' how they were needed elsewhere when they realised they're offer of "we'll get him in for you" wasn't working!

In the end we actually were offered a ride home in someone else's wagon and they dropped me off. Horse walked straight in the wagon so there we had it, my horse is a snob and likes lorries! :)
 
My friend lent me her Dually Halter. Amazing my horse went in after 3 mins loading 2nd time out after being a total nobber the first time loading without one and resorting to lunge lines and other methods. What a relief. I would defo use again.
 
With difficult horses we generally leave a trailer in the field paddock for a few days with the ramp/front loading doors open, and with partitions removed. Sometimes we leave a few titbits inside. The idea is that they get used to exploring and going in and out on their own.
 
ReggieP said:
With difficult horses we generally leave a trailer in the field paddock for a few days with the ramp/front loading doors open, and with partitions removed. Sometimes we leave a few titbits inside. The idea is that they get used to exploring and going in and out on their own.
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You need to be very careful with this method. an unhitched trailer can be very dangerous as the weight of the horse on the back ramp can cause the front end to tip up... and thus you will have a horse that will never want to go on a trailer again.

OP do make sure your trailer is big enough for the horse. I know it sounds silly but I saw someone struggling to load a 17.2hh on an Ifor 505 and the poor horse could just tell it wasn't big enough for him but the owner wouldn't believe him... or me...

Another method which is only suitable for smaller horses is to get two decent sized men to link arms behind the horse and scoop him up from just under his buttocks... if the person on the front end gives a pull too, generally the horse has no option to go forward and on... it usually has quite a shocked look on it's face too!!
 
Lol, thanks for all the advice guys …
I think what Im going to do is bring the trailer up to the farm at weekend then every night feed him on the ramp and work our way up – see if that helps? I’ll swap cars for the week and get the truck so its hitched and safe. He isn’t scared – he stands there with a pure look of cockiness … taking in the views and refusing to move
The trailer takes x2 17hh horses and he’s a 16.2 TB so should be big enough! Like someone said he probably only travelled in a box before so maybe my petty trailer isn’t good enough for his highness? Lol
Thanks again for all the advice – fingers crossed xxx
 
Victoria25 said:
Lol, thanks for all the advice guys …
I think what Im going to do is bring the trailer up to the farm at weekend then every night feed him on the ramp and work our way up – see if that helps? I’ll swap cars for the week and get the truck so its hitched and safe. He isn’t scared – he stands there with a pure look of cockiness … taking in the views and refusing to move
The trailer takes x2 17hh horses and he’s a 16.2 TB so should be big enough! Like someone said he probably only travelled in a box before so maybe my petty trailer isn’t good enough for his highness? Lol
Thanks again for all the advice – fingers crossed xxx
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This is exactly what my boy does. I really wouldn't feed him on the ramp. this isn't acheiving anything - just letting him get his own way. You really need to get him all the way in before you give him any more than a sniff of the bucket. DO NOT Give up!!! Maybe start your first practice on a day when you literally do have all day... if you need to stop for toilet breaks or food, you need to have someone to hand to take over from you! ;)

I would use a dually or even a bridle with a lunge rope instead of a leadrope. wear gloves youself and when he stops, you need to pull on the rope... don't release the pressure unless he walks or leans (thinks)forward... reward with lots of praise and a head rub when he does... he will soon get bored of just standing there... it is sometimes helpful to have someone on the ground to re-position their bottoms so that they are square to the ramp - my boy sometimes try's twisting as a means of escape...
 
Some horses need a few minutes to just stand and take in the information before you try to load them. I read somewhere that they need seven minutes. That is certainly true about my ex racer. If you try to walk him straight up the ramp he will just plant, and then nothing will get him on that trailer. However, if you take him up to it and then just stand around, occasionally walking away and then back again, he will go on no problem, so long as you have a bucket of food. He won't go on with a bucket of food unless you do the waiting around first.

Then we have a stubborn cob. It has taken his owners and several by standers 3 hours to load him on the way back from a show or the horsepital before. But with him I cured it with two lunge lines tied to the lorry and crossed behind his bum. Now he won't just go on, but if he sees you coming with the lunge lines he is on like a shot. :D

They are funny things, horses. All different.
 
I always found the pressure release and bribery by far the best thing for loaders whether cocky or afraid. But you do have to teach them how to use the halter for release first. Takes only a few mins tho
 
soulfull said:
I always found the pressure release and bribery by far the best thing for loaders whether cocky or afraid. But you do have to teach them how to use the halter for release first. Takes only a few mins tho
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snap! I have a horse who will spend a long time before he releases to the pressure but he does come up the ramp. We practice at least once a week. Mine is also an ex-racer, we started travelling him without the partition and now we are use the partition. He is a horror to load at shows though, just too distracted.
 
hehe! sounds like we've all got very similar horses ' I will go in when I want to go in!'

The best loading tool I have found so far is.... my dad - bloomin horse ran up the ramp after him the other day having stood at the bottom of the ramp refusing to budge for me!! ....I could start renting him out perhaps?!
 
sorry to hijack :D what if lunge ropes around the back and bucket/food etc doesnt work??? My little boy was a sod to load at 6 months when he came home and (due to the YOs being proper idiots) we could not bring a trailer onto the yard to practice loading (yes I did think about moving him before but due to the situation of them helping me to buy the boy I felt it bad to leave too soon after arriving). It took 2 hours to load to move to his new yard and the little bugger literally planted his feet and would not budge. we eventually got all four feet on the trailer ramp after picking them all up individually and then he sat back on the lunge line with all four feet neatly touching together! I can take a trailer onto the new yard to practice but I would like some tips so he doesnt have yet another bad experience. His fieldmate is aze at loading so hoping we can tempt him in with her.

The first time was a lorry and the second a trailer.
 
tap, tap, tap - not hard, just enough to irritate, on the croup/bottom with a schooling whip whenever he plants, moves backwards (or acts muleish) and stop tapping the instant he moves/thinks forwards. Is a version of pressure/release that worked a treat on my bad loader - took 10 minutes to load the first time, 5 minutes the next and walks straight on now - if he stops, calling for the schooling whip makes him change his mind.....
 
Triskar said:
tap, tap, tap - not hard, just enough to irritate, on the croup/bottom with a schooling whip whenever he plants, moves backwards (or acts muleish) and stop tapping the instant he moves/thinks forwards. Is a version of pressure/release that worked a treat on my bad loader - took 10 minutes to load the first time, 5 minutes the next and walks straight on now - if he stops, calling for the schooling whip makes him change his mind.....
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Didnt work :( Though he was stressed out at his old yard so maybe now he's happier i would find it easier :)
 
We tried everything with my horse yesterday for 2 hours, bridle and lunge line, lunge lines behind crossed, food bucket sniff of etc. In the end the eventer came and took 20 mins including moving the lorry once he used a comanche calmer and just headcollar and no fear :eek: and got him in after about 10 rears including a near miss leap at my veg garden. It's awful when they won't load.
 
Shivvy said:
We tried everything with my horse yesterday for 2 hours, bridle and lunge line, lunge lines behind crossed, food bucket sniff of etc. In the end the eventer came and took 20 mins including moving the lorry once he used a comanche calmer and just headcollar and no fear :eek: and got him in after about 10 rears including a near miss leap at my veg garden. It's awful when they won't load.
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Thats just it... sometimes its best to just do virtually nothing... you can bet that in those first 2 hours you got yourself wound up which can be half (if not more than) the problem... I ALWAYS take a deep breath and count to 10 with loaders that try my patience.
 
Sam_1985 said:
sorry to hijack :D what if lunge ropes around the back and bucket/food etc doesnt work??? My little boy was a sod to load at 6 months when he came home and (due to the YOs being proper idiots) we could not bring a trailer onto the yard to practice loading (yes I did think about moving him before but due to the situation of them helping me to buy the boy I felt it bad to leave too soon after arriving). It took 2 hours to load to move to his new yard and the little bugger literally planted his feet and would not budge. we eventually got all four feet on the trailer ramp after picking them all up individually and then he sat back on the lunge line with all four feet neatly touching together! I can take a trailer onto the new yard to practice but I would like some tips so he doesnt have yet another bad experience. His fieldmate is aze at loading so hoping we can tempt him in with her.

The first time was a lorry and the second a trailer.
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Firstly you need to understand that at 6 months of age he was not being a sod... he was being scared and unsure of what you were asking him to do... the same goes for the 2nd and third time you have loaded him. He just needs patience and reasurance and to decide for himself that going on is the best thing he can do. Using force isn't pleasurable for him and will only leave him with bad memories of the experience. Why Tar a young mind with this??! He might go backwards as much if not more than going forwards but if you make going forwards the most comfortable option he will soon learn..
 
CBFan said:
Firstly you need to understand that at 6 months of age he was not being a sod... he was being scared and unsure of what you were asking him to do... the same goes for the 2nd and third time you have loaded him. He just needs patience and reasurance and to decide for himself that going on is the best thing he can do. Using force isn't pleasurable for him and will only leave him with bad memories of the experience. Why Tar a young mind with this??! He might go backwards as much if not more than going forwards but if you make going forwards the most comfortable option he will soon learn..
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Yep okay get your point about my wording. I do understand that it was just because he was young. wrong wording on my part. unfortunately the second time of loading i absolutely had to get him off the yard then and so probably my stress levels werent helping either. The picking up feet was literally a last option after about two and a half hours as otherwise I would never have got him off there. I was just asking for tips to help if anyone had the same thing. Its not him being scared. Hes plain stubborn sometimes. Trust me. I know my horse and its not naughty or scared :)
 
We too had loading issues with one of our ponies. A lot of the suggestions, though very valid, just didn't work on him. If we got stressed or frustrated he got much worse, so do try and stay calm.

What worked for us was parking the trailer very close to a high wall. We then put a lunge line out along the other side and corralled him in. No whips, no bribes, just massive praise when he went in. He's now completely cured and loads first time every time.
 
Flashpaddler said:
We too had loading issues with one of our ponies. A lot of the suggestions, though very valid, just didn't work on him. If we got stressed or frustrated he got much worse, so do try and stay calm.

What worked for us was parking the trailer very close to a high wall. We then put a lunge line out along the other side and corralled him in. No whips, no bribes, just massive praise when he went in. He's now completely cured and loads first time every time.
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Tehe unfortunately he seems to think he has a way out of everything. we were parked up next to high infilled fencing (no high walls around) and so the only thing he really did was try to leap over the corner of the ramp, falling over it and in the process cracking a hoof :(. My plan is hopefully to have the trailer parked up and let him be around the trailer and watch his fieldmate going in and out and hopefully after some time he will go in. I tried so hard to stay calm with him as well but we were leaving a livery yard where I knew there would be trouble and trying to get out preferably before the YO got back. unfortunately they got back just as we loaded and then tried to tell me i had to unload him and i couldnt take MY OWN HORSE off their land until the weekend :(
 
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