Loading youngster help!?

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welshied

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I have had trouble loading my 2 year old and missed shows due to the issue.
I was working on him today and had been there about 1 hour 30 mins with him and was just getting him to the point where he was putting all four feet on the ramp etc and then YO comes from no where and throws a rope at him as you can imagine my horse goes mad and drags me up the field after him
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he was then after putting a rope round his bum and hauling him on which he did before even though i asked him not to and i basically told him to get lost he then looked really angry but not as angry as me!! So he eventually goes away after scaring my horse half to death and then he would only put his 2 front feet on the ramp so most of my work was thrown out of the window.
I am going to try again tomorrow, but do you think it is time to call the experts in and get this sorted now before it gets to be too late?
I am so desperate to move yards but relly can't find one!
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Take lots of time. Do you have another horse you could put on first to encourage him? I loaded my 2 yr old for the first time the other day. I put the lorry in a place where there were no escape routes, put an older horse on board and then, when he was dithering, rustled a plastic sack behind him Took ten minutes in total but he then went on and off 5 times quite happily.
patience is the key.
 
yeah i did have him to the point where he was walking on and off but YO has really frightened him and now i think he just think that the trailer is a bad place to be he has travelled a 4 hour journey on one when he was a yearling
 
I'd be fuming if that was my YO
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Interfering ******.

Is there anyway you can make the trailer into a bit of a pathway. I saw it on this programme the other day - albeit just a drama series. But to get the horse to load they made the trailer into a bit of a "bridge," aka to get the horse to the field - they had to walk through the trailer. This would obviously get done every day - could work?

My horse is a bit of a toad to load (rhymes!). He also puts just his front feet on, or he'll put all 4 , then pause..and then rear/ back up with the occasional bolt. When he's got his two front feet on the ramp, I back him right up and then re-approach. Then back him right up, and re-approach etc. In the end he'll soon put all 4 feet right on and then he usually just needs 2 minutes to think about it, and he'll follow me right on. Try not to look back at him etc if he's a bit like this. And have a carrot at the ready for when hes in
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I know i am so angry its unreal, its so hard just to get his front feet on the ramp and if i back him up he won't walk forwards again.
 
Not really ideal in the long run, but would a small bit of instant calm maybe help? I give Darce half a syringe of Magic's Instant calm just to take the edge off of him and to keep all emotions calm so that he at least considers it. Then when he's actually had a reasonably peaceful load , hopefully he'll remember that and the need for the calmer will become less and less
 
invest in a pressure halter if you are not already using one, they are fab. If you do some ground work walking forward to release the pressure and being rewarded with pats and maybe treats it will help massively when he pulls back creating pressure on his poll, he will know by walking forward he will be able to release the pressure. Good Luck.
 
i would second the pressure halter idea- pressure on until they move forwards and then immediately release when they go forwards...then let them stand and think for a while longer before asking to go forward again. its crap and you always get someone interfering and trying to shove a broom up their arse which is totally unhelpful. i'd do lots of practice at home without the pressure of having to get anywhere til he's walking on and off happily. when he's in there tie him up etc with a feed so he associates it with being a nice place... good luck!
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