Loading frustration.

Loubiepoo

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I have been working with my 5year old on loading into our trailer, but I just seem to be taking one big step forward and then 5 back, its so frustrating
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Last night we spent about an hour working on it, it got to the point where he would happily walk on and reverse off, eat some of his tea on it, step backwards and forward as requested whilst on the trailer and generally seemed ok. 10 mins later he's gone back to the 'i daren't put more than my front feet on the ramp stage'!! My OH thinks he's taking the mickey, just being stubborn and I should be a bit more forecful with him but I have being trying to keep things all very nice, patient and relaxed.

Anybody elses horse like this, do you think he may be genuinely worried or just taking the P***?
 
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it got to the point where he would happily walk on and reverse off, eat some of his tea on it, step backwards and forward as requested whilst on the trailer and generally seemed ok. 10 mins later he's gone back to the 'i daren't put more than my front feet on the ramp stage'!!

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Can I ask why if after you achieved what you wanted - you went back 10mins later for another go??
 
Sorry, maybe I've not made that clear, we didn't have a break and go back to it 10mins later we were continuing with the practicing of going on and off and generally getting used to the trailer.
 
I agree with AmyMay I'm afriad - once you have made that much progress, eg, fed him in there, leave it at that and then maybe try again a few DAYS or a week later.

The thing is, you can't lift/drag a horse in a trailer, he will have to make the decision himself to go in. No amount of pushing and shoving will do that. I have found that if you try and push them in (with lunge lines etc) they will only push back against it.

Patience is the key, don't keep forcing him forward. Just stand with him straight in front of the trailer. Stand there with a book/a chatty friend and just wait. He will work it out for himself and eventually *should* put a foot on/sniff the trailer. Just keep persisting and be patient! Good luck!
 
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Sorry, maybe I've not made that clear, we didn't have a break and go back to it 10mins later we were continuing with the practicing of going on and off and generally getting used to the trailer.

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Sounds like you just did it once to many times to me. It's a bit like jumping the jump - just once more. As soon as it's knocked down you knew you shouldn't have........
 
An hour is a long time, especially for a 5 yo. Just do a little bit each time and if he walks in and out then give him a treat and stop. Maybe give him a brush or a haynet in there for 10 mins, but if he has behaved well then once is enough
 
youve ,got to take your time and not rush him just keep doing short sessions at a time and end up on a good note
take a look from a horses point of view for example can you make it more appealing? why not open the front door or lead up with another horse to give your horse more confidence
the key is is to be patiant and dont rush him the more you rush him the more hes going to disaprove of it
 
Your horse is confused. He did what you wanted and then you made him do it again and again, he doesn't know if he has done the right thing, or the wrong thing.

Why do you need to feed him in the trailer, it's an unecessary thing to do. Put him in, reward him and take him out. Lesson learned.

Hitch up the trailer, put him in , drive round the block and come home and unload him and leave it at that. When you have done this a few times, take him for a hack using the trailer. Unload and ride home.

He will quickly realise going in the trailer is no big deal.

I use my trailer for shows and going to a nicer place for a hack. My horse used to be hesitatant about going in until she realised that she was going somewhere nice. Now its a doddle to do on my own.
 
Yes Amymay, that may well have been the problem, it was a case of - just do it again for me, and then i felt I had to end on a good note, so was then stuck in a viscous circle!!!

Tracey01- I gave him some feed on the trailer so he comes to associate it with something pleasant, as a reward for going on it.
 
It's a really good idea to feed him in there, we had the same with one of our horses. In the end we fed him every time in the trailer. If he doesn't go all the way in, though, don't let him have his dinner! Another good tip is something an old Irish guy told me once.... stand behind him with a bucket of water, and whilst one person leads him in, the other flicks a handful of water on his quarters. This gives them a bit of a jump and they rush in. Try it, it worked for us!
 
I had a similar problem with my old mare - she would be fine for a while and then be a stubborn old madam. I did a lot of little and often practice - usually twice a week to start with just going in and out of the lorry - to start I didn't shut partitions or anything just got her walking in and out. Then I gradually built it up to shutting partitions and then shutting the ramp - once she was happy with that I would start the lorry and drive forward and backward up and down the drive (about 10 metres!!
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) Then we woudl go out on trips round the block in the lorry. Once we were all ok with that I took her to the beach (or somewhere fun to ride if you can't get to the beach easily!) every weekend. Sometime I would go both weekend days. She soon found that going to the beach was fun as she could hoon around and enjoy herself.

The one other thing I found really helped my mare was to get where we were going, get her out and then load her straight back in. My main problem with her was that she would load at home and then wouldn't load to come home - very very stressful! I wouldn't do anything with her until she had loaded back in when we arrived. I don't know if this would work with every horse - but it certainly seemed to break her mental block on loading.
 
Agree with most of the comments on here, really take your time and don't organise anything to go to unless you're 100% happy with his loading, it may take weeks but there's nothing worse than getting to a show or event and being the one at the end trying to get their horse loaded as its going dark (I know, I've been there) every know it all Tom ,Dicky or Harry comes and tries to bully, cajole, force your horse in to the trailer and the more they try the more stubborn he gets!! Don't put yourself or your horse under any pressure, don't punish him for not going in, just reward him for going in, and be really consistent with this ( I use a pressure halter which is very good but you do have to be very consistent with it).
 
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