LOADING!!!!!

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emilylovesotis

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Hi, i'm new to this but i just wanted to ask about this seroius problem i have with my horse!!!! He is 10 and loaded in a lorry and trailer with his previous owners. Now i have him he is very resitant to load! Some time he walks in (when he feels like it) other time he will not move and stand still...i dont agree in beating him into it as a few of my friends have tried! and he seem deads to the stick! and starts rearing and kicking out! I bough a control halter!!! and this sometimes work! but he has started to rear even more when he doesnt want to go in!!!! and i get stressed and get mad at him which make it worse!! i have also tried spiining him round before!! but this doesnt work either!! also.. he kicks out with lunge line behind him and lifting a single leg at a time doesnt work!!! He some times walks in when the trailers down a slope!! i used to practise every day! and he got better but once he was in at we were at a show on the way back he wouldnt load!! sorry to rave on.. but he is such a great horse to ride... and i'm getting sick of missing out as he won t load!!
ps hes not scared just reallly really stubborn!!!!
ANy ideas????????? please
 
Hello - I've had that problem myself - pure obstanence on my horses behalf!

The lunge line worked with him but to start with we had to use two lunge lines and once he knows that the line isn't going to slack he moves in (ie 3 people - one leading two with lines)

He always gets one or two goes to get up the ramp on his own but then we just get the lunge lines out.

Perhaps persevere with the lines?

Ty used to rear and kick out but knows that if you have the lines you're at an advantage and he just ambles up the ramp!
 
I would suggest you possibly get an experienced, trusted individual to help you out. Have you considered feeding him on the trailer?
 
i have gotten a horse whisperer out who was suggested through my pony club.. he told me about mini join up and spinning him round before asking him to go in.. but this doesnt seem to work anymore! yes i used to feed him in it everynight.. and he will go in.. but then when we are at a show he wont go back in!
 
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yep wont work he just stands on the ramp and tries to reach with his neck for the feed....

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mmmm, my boy does that too - I shouldn't laugh when he does it but it is funny to watch
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You really need to get your handling sorted out on the ground, use your control halter, but not as a means to drag him on, but to teach him that he generates his own discomfort and resistance. Lots of walking and halting on the ground, carry a stick in your free hand or use a long rope, and flick it behind you around your body when you want to move off. make him learn to step forward the instant you ask him to walk on.
Then progress to the trailer or lorry. try not to resort to bribes if you can, this just undoes the work you have done on the ground.
With a trailer, drop both the ramps, and take out the partitions and just keep walking him through - then put him in the stable for 10 minutes to digest the lesson, and do it again repeatedly. You can then progress to stopping him on the trailer before you walk off, then build the partition back in. Finally stop him at the breast bar, and then walk him off. he will load himself without a rope if you are persistant and teach him well.

Allow a long rope, most people get too close to the horse and unconsciously block them going in.

Some horses get a bit twitchy about unloading off the front of the trailer and start to rush, if this becomes the case you might need to unload backwards.

Above all never get stressed or tense. The more wound up the horse gets, the quieter you should be - even if it means eventually you are whispering to the horse, they are sufficiently curious to stop jumping around so that they can hear you - try it, I promise it works
 
yeh i have been told not to bribe him in with food...i do work with him on the ground.. stopping and walking on etc and practising walking him through the tralier and he will normally walk in firstly but then when were at a show he wont come back in!!! its so hard!!!
 
Not wanting to go back in after a party is understandable, you are asking him to leave all the other horses. Don't let him graze when you are there, don't give him any treats or food - don't turn or spin him away, if he dodges the ramp just straighten him up and use the stick or rope in your free hand to move him forward. he needs to understand that there is no choice other than forward, be generous with your praise for every step forward or even movement forward that he takes. Do your ground work at the show away from the trailer so that he is listening to you and ready to be loaded.
 
thanks thats good advise! yeh i only let him have a little hay net at shows and never let him eat the grass. I guess practice makes perfect!!! so loading here i come! thanks for all your advise!
 
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Not wanting to go back in after a party is understandable, you are asking him to leave all the other horses. Don't let him graze when you are there, don't give him any treats or food - don't turn or spin him away, if he dodges the ramp just straighten him up and use the stick or rope in your free hand to move him forward. he needs to understand that there is no choice other than forward, be generous with your praise for every step forward or even movement forward that he takes. Do your ground work at the show away from the trailer so that he is listening to you and ready to be loaded.

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Watcher, I can't believe you are advocating beating the horse violently when it won't go forward.
I think you should try discussing it with the horse - I am sure he will respond to rational, logical explanation of the reasons you want him to load.
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You know me Shilasdair, a horse beater if ever you saw one!
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It helps to relieve stress, doesn't it? When I have a bad day, I just head to the field with my whip then things look sunny again.
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I sometimes have problems with Murphy, and 17hands of horse that wont budge is so frustrating.

I also bought a pressure headcollar, as he gets stubborn often and I need him to know that walk on means walk on or he gets the pressure. After 10 minutes of working in the sandschool with it we then moved on to getting him to load.

I openend all the doors on my box to make it light and airy, took the partition out and my boyfriend stood behind Murphy with a lunge whip ready to encourage him on if he stopped.

And before anyone cries, I truly believe a whip is an excellent training tool and so long as you dont use it in a awful way then it has its uses.

Anyway the gist of it is Murphy walked on and off three times in ten minutes, which has been unheard of in past weeks.

I think this is a mixture of three things, the box looking open and inviting. The training with the headcollar to teach him to listen when he's asked to move and calmness on my part.

I will now no longer try to bribe him in with food, I want him to do what he's asked because its an easy and simple ask - like going in his stable.
 
Not sure if this will work for you but when I had my mare we could spend upto a couple of hours!! loading. She would get to the bottom of ramp and stop. Nothing worked, have to admit to my shame we tried whips, yard brush (thought the bristles might prickly her) lunge lines, feed, you name it we tried. Anyway a retired jockey who worked for my vet at the time suggested splashing her with water, and believe it or not it worked.
I used to get a water bottle, with the squirty top, and when she stopped at the bottom, one squirt of the water, if she resisted a second one and she walked straight in. Got to the point where we could load her in five minutes with no stress or panic or loss of temper.
As I said might not work for you but might be worth a try.
 
we had a horse like this used to take them up to 5 hours to load it - you couldnt use lunge lines or whips as he reared spun and what ever else - but sometimes he would walk straight on so he wasnt scared of it !!!

the only thing that worked was one of these

>http://www.equimix.co.uk/product.php?xProd=901&xSec=17&jssCart=3846170b

he now loads in 2 mins there and back - the horse i knew had a problem for years and no one has cured him until now and they have spent thousands on getting people up to see him !!
 
The only way I could get Chex to load was to put 2 long poles on either side of the ramp so he couldn't swing round it. I used a be-nice halter as well. Nothing else worked - and I think I tried everything! Keeping calm is key as well, I don't shout or hit him- we both just get in a state and then we don't get anywhere. He loads fine now (mostly
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), but I never travel without the poles and the be-nice just in case.
 
If he was OK in previous ownership are you sure you are giving him a comfortable ride--gently round corners and no harsh accelerating or braking. I have seen horses spoilt by drivers in a hurry and slow loading makes for impatience and rushing.
 
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