Loading issues - frustration

[Sugar Plum]

Give bucket feed in trailer at least once a day every day for several weeks before actually travelling the horse, then when you do go for ten mins and give bucket feed before and after travelling then work on from there.

I used to do this with trailer and horsebox. He loaded fine at home when offered feed but feed makes no difference if he senses we are going out or we are away

 

[Sugar Plum]

Also make sure horse is good to lead through narrow gaps and on a rocker/ wobble board+in other words get it used to the feel of a trailer outside the trailer environment, Vanessa Bee has a good book about this in her horse agility books

That sounds terrifying, almost as bad as waving an umbrella in his face

 

[Sugar Plum]

And, to use a corner or make a corral (I ended up taking beach wind breaks with me to make an enclosure in the event of no suitable corners.) Then, the only way way up the ramp.
This worked for us and the horse.

I have tried using electric cables on the ground either side of the ramp as my horse doesn't like anything moving on the ground which worked once but this got complicated and a bit of a safety issue (no hate please, it was a momentary issue and immediately removed). Corners for a box with a side ramp isn't an option. I do have a screen used as a windbreak when camping as an option but I would prefer to not complicate anything at this stage and would like him to get on without gimmicks (if that will ever be possible)

 

[Sugar Plum]

One of mine doesn't like anything she's standing on wobbling. I have a small brick in the lorry, so if one corner of the ramp isn't supported I slip the brick underneath to make it more stable. I do confess to having left the occasional brick in lorry parks at events.......

But do check your ramp. The boards can rot under the carpet/rubber covering.

I also have a piece of wood for the one corner of my ramp and have left a few behind in my hurry to get going after loading. No issue with my ramp, I just use the wood if the ground is not level.

 

[Sugar Plum]

Could you borrow a lorry to see if he still refuses?

Unfortunately not an option, I am afraid. I went down this road buying a box to replace the trailer which I thought was a lot more 'rattley'

 

[Hormonal Filly]

What vet investigations has he had? Has he had a lameness work up? Bute trial?

If you've tried everything I'd look into a bute trial and/or a lameness work up. He might look sound to you, but a niggling pain somewhere could explain why he is unhappy to load.

 

[Carlosmum]

My first 'bad' loader, would go on after a bit of a look, but his problem was claustrophobia. He wouldn't walk out down the front ramp so we agreed he would back out... he was happy with the arrangement. My second WOULD NOT load, we had 2 different helpers. Both succeeded which lasted until said helper left. I am fairly sure he must have had a pain issue, the more I think about his reaction to life I realise he wasn't comfortable. My current chap hasn't been out enough yet for me to decide which way he is going to go, Trailer is sound, but I think it might rattle quite a bit.

 

[canteron]

Canteron, perhaps our horses are twins. Very interesting about loading after exercise (at home) - I might just give this a go to see if it is a post exercise issue. This will separate whether it is a physical issue (i.e. sore after work) or being away from home issue, thank you

I hadn’t really thought of the physical issue, more that our routine is ride and turn away.
I think her strop was the change in routine - riding and then being loaded was not what we do!!
So 2 good reasons to practice loading after riding. I might also move the box around to keep things varied!

 

[Highmileagecob]

I have recently tried going out with other horses in case this separation was a part of the problem. The issue is, my horse has to go on first as he is always heavier than others (loading on passenger side). Even though he 'knows' he will have company, it doesn't make him load any better

If you are loading the heavier horse on the passenger side, that could be contributing. The heavier horse should be on the driver's side, to compensate for the camber in the road.

 

[Dave's Mam]

If you are loading the heavier horse on the passenger side, that could be contributing. The heavier horse should be on the driver's side, to compensate for the camber in the road.

I think SP means the ramp is on the passenger side, so the big horse has to go on first to be on the driver's side.

 

[Celtic Fringe]

I have a friend who is very good at lunging horses into trailers / horseboxes at walk. This means the pressure is mostly from behind rather than pressure and release at the front. It does take practice and you need to be accurate and fairly quick with your reactions but it seems to work in nearly all cases.

My pony is super-quick at picking up signals from me and I realised that if we are going somewhere with no time pressure he will load fine. This is because I am more relaxed and also breathing quite normally. If we are going to a competition or somewhere where we need to arrive on time I now try to stay as relaxed as possible, breath deeply and smile/hum. He leads from either side but as I'm weaker on my left I always lead him with my right hand (the conventional side!) if there is any possibility that he will b*gger off to the nearest grass - his normal get out if he detects something unusual. Once loaded he travels really well and eats or sleeps most of the way.

 

[canteron]

Richard Maxwell has discussed the fact some horses are ok to load to go places but reluctant to load to come home. He found a lot were holding tension and discomfort in their neck/shoulders which makes sense, i used to do some muscle release work on my horse when we reached a venue which really helped.

HHO can be so interesting. I have been wondering if the Brest bar in my new lorry is too high … this would I guess mean that the horse has to hold its head up slightly uncomfortably to brace? Reading this cemented my thoughts and mechanic currently in lorry making alterations.
It all has to help?!

 

[Birker2020]

I had to feed Bailey in the trailer every time i loaded both too and from a destination, only a small token feed but it was a small compromise I was willing to do.

The behaviourist who came out to Bails said that when they stand with their ears slightly back, head down and lower lip hanging half asleep they most certainly are neither stressed or in pain but just trying it on! It was worse in Summer as she would be out in the paddock during the night and then come in to go out for the morning or day to a competition or fun ride and she wasn't happy about doing that when she wanted her bed!

She would also stand at a right angle to the trailer ramp but I was told that she was more than capable of getting aboard even though she thought it was a trick that would deter me and she was able to manouvere herself sidewards quite happily after all!

I always perservered. Only once did it take me any length of time and I tied her up in front of me to the back of the trailer and went and had a coffee and fag whilst watching her as I was so annoyed and frustrated. Every time after that it took me seconds to a minute or two (although it always seems like hours! And 9 times out of ten she would just go straight on but I used to get so worked up that we wouldn't be able to go somewhere that it used to stress me out terribly and I don't expect that helped the situation! The dually and reining her backwards and NEVER turning away from the ramp in a circle was very effective.

In the end I'm inclined to think that increasing airflow in the trailer by wedging the top door ajar by half an inch and having a radio playing in the trailer made it better for her.

I am 100% certain it was showing her pet pigs at a show as I'd owned her 7.5 years at that stage and she'd always practically flattened me jumping up the ramp to go in the trailer somewhere. Monty and Kelly (when I took her as a demo loading horse to their demo) thought not but I knew her best and that day I showed her the pet pigs she was terrified and that night going home was the start of years of loading issues.

 

[Barlow]

Richard Maxwell helped me enormously with my horse who is now a dream to load at both ends of the trip. I walk up and he follows me up the ramp with a slack rope.
However he is a ball of anxiety (this is his underlying nature) so we are now working on solo travelling not Being A Thing, and we have spent the past week boxing him up on his own, driving him to the nearest roundabout and then when back at the yard learning that standing quietly on the box is what triggers the ramp coming down, the partitions opening etc. Currently he is learning to stand quietly whilst being tacked up on the lorry after it’s been driven. I’m hoping to reinforce to him that the lorry is Just Another Place Where Stuff Happens and that he will learn to relax with repetition.
Repetition was key to getting him loading smoothly in the first place and I’m hoping it will work with the lorry manners too. I hope it will work for your horse too - it sounds as though you are doing everything right, you need to persevere and keep your self belief

 

[Dasher66]

I had one who didn’t like to load on the way home. He would stand with front feet on the ramp looking around at any activity or calling to other horses. We learnt to tickle his shoulder with a dressage whip, this bought his attention back to us and then he would walk on.
One time DD hadn’t picked up the whip and asked a friend’s mum to do the tickling. She ran the tip of the whip firmly from shoulder to tail in one fast movement (not hitting), and he shot up the ramp. Never had an issue after that.

 

[Barklands]

This is basically the Michael Peace method and works well when I am doing my practise loading but as I said in my original post, this relies on cooperation from the horse

IME done correctly it will work, even where they don’t initially co-operate, it may be that you are not quite putting the right pressure on or stepping forward towards them if they are backing away (and inadvertently rewarding the wrong response), it may be worth having a pro come back to cast an eye over what you have been practicing