Caramac71
Well-Known Member
I've posted on here recently about our loading problems. When we first got our horse she loaded fine, but over a period of a couple of months this has got worse and worse. I'm not entirely sure of the cause but suspect we are to blame! She did try to get over the breastbar of our 3.5T on her 4th or 5th outing and after that we always travelled her with another pony until we could get the groom area filled in and make the box safe. We then went through loading and feeding on the box as it looked different, but during this she went from loading within a minute or two, to taking an hour or more. Coming home from a venue was even worse, she got really stubborn about loading and it didn't make any difference whether she was travelling with another or alone.
We'd spend a bit of time at home over the course of a few days just loading and feeding. We'd get her back to loading fine but as soon as we actually went anywhere then she'd go back to being tricky to load.
I managed to find someone to come out to us and give us some help. She was brilliant, explained everything she did and got my daughter doing it for herself. Within no time at all the horse was walking on and off the box. We even got to the point where she could be unclipped at the ramp and load herself!
Today we had a practice by ourselves and didn't expect it to be quite so easy. But after doing a bit of groundwork to get her listening, she walked straight onto the box with no hesitation at all. Took her on and off a couple of times, and even got brave enough to try unclipping - and every time she just walked on and parked herself up.
So we took her out to a local venue for CR jumping - she had a bit of fun there and then we untacked and got ready to load. This is usually where the problem really kicks in. But as instructed, my daughter just moved her around a bit in the lorry park, then took her to the ramp. She hesitated for a split second as she stepped onto the ramp, then carried on.
I cant tell you how relieved I am, it feels like massive progress. We're not expecting it to always be so plain sailing but at least now someone has given us the skills and the confidence to carry on. Never in a million years did I expect one short loading session with an expert to be so effective.
We'd spend a bit of time at home over the course of a few days just loading and feeding. We'd get her back to loading fine but as soon as we actually went anywhere then she'd go back to being tricky to load.
I managed to find someone to come out to us and give us some help. She was brilliant, explained everything she did and got my daughter doing it for herself. Within no time at all the horse was walking on and off the box. We even got to the point where she could be unclipped at the ramp and load herself!
Today we had a practice by ourselves and didn't expect it to be quite so easy. But after doing a bit of groundwork to get her listening, she walked straight onto the box with no hesitation at all. Took her on and off a couple of times, and even got brave enough to try unclipping - and every time she just walked on and parked herself up.
So we took her out to a local venue for CR jumping - she had a bit of fun there and then we untacked and got ready to load. This is usually where the problem really kicks in. But as instructed, my daughter just moved her around a bit in the lorry park, then took her to the ramp. She hesitated for a split second as she stepped onto the ramp, then carried on.
I cant tell you how relieved I am, it feels like massive progress. We're not expecting it to always be so plain sailing but at least now someone has given us the skills and the confidence to carry on. Never in a million years did I expect one short loading session with an expert to be so effective.
