loading problems = please help

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curlytop

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hi
i sold a native broodmare and i promised to deliver her but i just cant get her loaded. we are experienced with ponies and have usually had no problems as they follow a bucket but i need to load her asap.
she hasnt been in a trailer since we bought her 4 yrs ago as a weanling, and with hindsight this was a mistake, but as she is a broodmare and unbroken, its wasnt a priority. however she is now sold and i have to load her asap.
she is very quiet, not bossy, very laid back, doesnt kick, barge or bite. to lead she does need a flick with the rope to walk forward as she would rather dawdle or stand still.
she isnt greedy either, she will nibble pony nuts in a bucket but wont eat apples or carrots so motivating her via food isnt easy.
with loading she just stands at the end of the ramp and doesnt move. she doesnt seem scared, stressed, upset or anything, she just stands there.
we have tried opening both ramps, have removed partitions, have hay and feed inside.
we have used lunge-lines behind her, tried a lunge rein looped through a ring at front of trailer, tried tapping her with a schooling whip, tired flicking a lunge whip behind her, but she still just stands there.
we have put her foal in the trailer tied-up but she still wont follow him in. hes being very good and will stand for ages at the front of the trailer with hay and feed. luckily he is good at being tied. but his mother still waits at the bottom of the ramp. in the end we had to bring him out again as i was worried about him not getting his milk.
after 4 hours today, we have left them overnight in a yard with the trailer full of hay/nuts and hope hunger will get the mare to go in.

any advice please?
 
Now I would only do this if you are REALLY desperate but you could try blindfolding her. If you try this I would try walking her around the yard first (blindfolded) to make sure she won't panic and then lead her onto the trailer. Also make sure you have a helper that can guide the body to stop her bumping into things. Now I realise this will not solve the long term issue but I guess if she really has to go then worth a try?
 
When she stands at the foot of the ramp will she let you lift a hoof and put the hoof on the ramp? Sometimes you can get them moving one foot at a time.

Things I have tried with a difficult or stubborn loader is really make sure that they are leading properly. Get them leading properly as that is key and also keep them moving don't let them stand still - circle away or back up. Make it easy for her to make the right decision.

My friend had a stubborn cob mare who just tried to wait us out! Patience was the key and we also used lunge lines to form a 'chute' which were wiggled (these never touched her sides or wrapped around her backside) to encourage her to go forwards. In the end, she became brilliant to load but initially she would plant unless she saw the lines attached to the side of the trailer.
 
many thanks, i will try everything! she is totally unflappable so doesnt move away from spooky things, she just stands still. she hasnt eaten much since yesterday except little bits of grass in the yard so hopefully today will be better, there is hay and nuts in the trailer. i need to resolve it quickly as she has a foal at foot so advice appreciated by anyone, many thanks
 
It doesn't sound like her groundwork is terribly good so I wonder if you could spend some time on this/controlling where her feet go rather than going straight for the trailer.
 
Any chance you could try a borrowing a lorry? Some horses just walk straight onto those - I guess because they're bigger inside. Otherwise, sounds like you've tried most things! I'd probably open up all ramps with partition out, then put her at base of rear ramp and then fence her in with electric tape or something (doesn't have to be on) with literally no space to go anywhere but up the ramp. Then just leave her to it. Surely she'd get bored in her tiny area pretty quickly and she'd decide to walk through it? Keep doing that a few times and hopefully after a while she'd be much happier. Then put the breastbar back in, when she next goes in herself, very quickly put the rear bar up and off you go. Otherwise, have you tried the hose? I had a horse who would ALWAYS stop at the top of the ramp and just stand there so I'd squirt his hindquarters / top of his hind legs with the hose which a harmless way to surprise him enough to lurch forward. Only had to do it a few times and he stopped the habit.

She sounds like my shetland, I've had numerous horses over the years with the odd loading issue which I've always sorted very early on. But the shetland, the few times we've ever taken her anywhere (normally to babysit others), she's been an evil cow. She's the worst kind, the kind that merrily walked on at home but try to leave a show and she's dreadful. She just plants her feet at the bottom of the ramp and nothing at all will move her. Bloody frustrating especially when she's so small you could almost lift her in!
 
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thanks for the advice.
finally got her in, on my own, in under an hour this morning...phew...my fault for not practising in advance but i was rather anxious as id promised her to be somewhere at a certain time, and the person who was helping was getting very impatient.
i went back to basics with the good old monty roberts dually, did some groundwork and lifted her feet one by one onto the ramp and eventually she went in. and in popped the foal. i think she was hungry enough to want to go in. horses always teach us patience dont they?
i think she was sleepy and would doze off whilst i was waiting for her to go in, and never lifted a foot towards me at all. the dually headcollars are so good, i used that with a lunge line to the front of the trailer just a little bit of pressure and bingo.
many thanks for the advice.
 
Another vote for the Dually - it works on a pressure and release reward, and have loaded 3 'tricky' horses with it, all within 5-10 mins.

You do need to do a bit of groundwork with it before so that they understand how it works.

Good luck!
 
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