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[claret09]

please don't put pressure on with lunge line - you will only make things worse. talk to grant bazin. the other thing i did when my boy blocked was open the front up completely and encourage him to walk through. they often block and need to release the pressure. if you want some advice please feel free to message me.

 

[dottylottie]

The trail trek seems hard to come by second hand but yeah husband is quite horrified at the size of the show/day ones so will keep an eye out but I am keen to get this plan into action ASAP so we might just be dragging a spaceship behind our Land Rover and getting funny looks

yes i got lucky finding mine! drove 8 hours each way down to kent to bring it home

 

[Boughtabay]

please don't put pressure on with lunge line - you will only make things worse. talk to grant bazin. the other thing i did when my boy blocked was open the front up completely and encourage him to walk through. they often block and need to release the pressure. if you want some advice please feel free to message me.

Hi yes pressure on a lunge is a very bad idea. I do truly believe I’ve tried everything that is sensible/safe to do - front is always open and a walk through is part of our loading routine as standard. He has no problem walking through, he’s a contrary little character

 

[Boughtabay]

yes i got lucky finding mine! drove 8 hours each way down to kent to bring it home

Yes the closed ones I can find seem to be 5hrs each way crikey these horses

 

[Boughtabay]

Little update: I borrowed a side load this afternoon and he stood in it quite happily for a bowl of feed … so that’s that decision made I guess! Given how long it even took me to start loading into the 505 the fact that he walked on the side load after 2 mins and was calm enough to have some food without having a panic gives me hope just need to find a sound Equitrek that won’t bankrupt me now thanks for the tips I’m glad I tried it hopefully we’ll soon be at the end of our loading woes (touches wood)

 

[Boughtabay]

A further update: I sold my ifor and replaced it with an equitrek and we’ve been practicing 1-2x a day since. He has loaded beautifully into it from I’d say go 2/3 and even on the first go he went in easier than he ever did in the rear load. He now self loads with me at the bottom of the ramp and I can pull the partition across to close up with ease. I now however need to build him up with the travelling as he got SO worked up and sweaty on our first spin yesterday to an arena 5 mins down the road that I didn’t even ride I’m hoping with lots of loading practice and lots of short journeys building up he’ll get used to it … he did sweat up when I first took him out in my old trailer and he did stop with a bit of practice (just never got better at loading). I didn’t expect him to get so worried all over again though if I’m honest… but I suppose he’s now having to get used to travelling the other way round & never has before. There we go one leap forwards 2 steps back it seems

 

[Lucky Snowball]

Good luck and well done.

 

[Boughtabay]

Good luck and well done.

Thankyou - it’s hard when you keep your horses at home and there’s no one else to ask because you’re the one that’s meant to know what to do so this thread was really helpful

 

[onemoretime]

That was what I was going to say.

Dad made a lightweight frame he attached to the tow bar hitch thing and bolted a padlocked box on it.

He put a car battery inside and ran it to a spot light which shone over my tow hitch when it was dark as well as the interior light.

Dad also made me a lightweight frame that had a mirror on it that I could pull down so if I reversed the car to hitch up I had a birds eye view over the tow hitch!

He was a very clever Dad and could engineer most things including brackets for the breast bar of the trailer and even made me studs with a tungsten interior.

You have a very clever dad - you are very lucky.

 

[Jambarissa]

I worked very hard until mine was a perfect loader - but only at home, she'd often plant halfway up the ramp on the way back. It was exasperating!

I found that walking her through the trailer the wrong way (in front ramp) would break the spell then I'd turn round and she'd go in. Going in through the front ramp jeans they're heading towards a huge open space not a closed or narrow one.

Anyway not the same as yours but have you tried walking right through a few times before putting breast bar up? I lead in and tie to a very thin bit of bailing twine then nip round the back to hook up.

And for your actual question. I tried switching to a 3.5t and it was much worse. I think my mares issue is walking towards a 'wall' and the walk into a 3.5t is even shorter than a trailer. I switched to a 7.5t and rarely an issue since.

 

[Boughtabay]

I worked very hard until mine was a perfect loader - but only at home, she'd often plant halfway up the ramp on the way back. It was exasperating!

I found that walking her through the trailer the wrong way (in front ramp) would break the spell then I'd turn round and she'd go in. Going in through the front ramp jeans they're heading towards a huge open space not a closed or narrow one.

Anyway not the same as yours but have you tried walking right through a few times before putting breast bar up? I lead in and tie to a very thin bit of bailing twine then nip round the back to hook up.

And for your actual question. I tried switching to a 3.5t and it was much worse. I think my mares issue is walking towards a 'wall' and the walk into a 3.5t is even shorter than a trailer. I switched to a 7.5t and rarely an issue since.

We would often do “laps” of the trailer before putting the breast bar back and trying again - it was hit & miss funnily enough I managed to sell my ifor and find an equitrek within a week of the fateful “bad loading” night and he’s now self loading happily in the new trailer you can’t make it up … all that time I struggled persuading him to go in my other box and he just plods strait into this one!! He needs some time to get used to travelling in it though, maybe it’s the facing the other way that spooked him but he was v wound up after our first spin so slowly building it back up again now!

If anyone comes across this thread - you’ve tried everything except replacing the trailer … try replacing the trailer

 

[canteron]

Short journeys are the way to go.
But you really can mix it up so they can cope with whatever happens, for example do a short round trip, take her off and then reload (horses can get destination anxiety, coming back to the same spot eliminates this).
Also drive one minute then expect the horse to stand quietly on the box - only take off when quiet, etc etc.
I am on the same path and finally have a horse who while she doesn’t like travelling, is finally quite confident on the box and no longer scared, but it does take endless practice and patience x

 

[Boughtabay]

Short journeys are the way to go.
But you really can mix it up so they can cope with whatever happens, for example do a short round trip, take her off and then reload (horses can get destination anxiety, coming back to the same spot eliminates this).
Also drive one minute then expect the horse to stand quietly on the box - only take off when quiet, etc etc.
I am on the same path and finally have a horse who while she doesn’t like travelling, is finally quite confident on the box and no longer scared, but it does take endless practice and patience x

After literally years now of him being a dodgy loader the relief I felt when he just hopped straight on the side load … I’m more than willing to give him the time to get used to it if there’s one thing I’ve got it seems to be patience … or maybe stubbornness thankyou I’m glad it’s worked out for you, there’s hope for us too!!

 

[kerrieberry2]

I've not read all of the replies but I have taken the partition out of my trailer, and my horses load a lot better like that! if they're slightly too far back, you can move them sideways and usually then able to get the back bar up and the rear ramp closed, without needing to go round to the front to pull them forward.

 

[canteron]

After literally years now of him being a dodgy loader the relief I felt when he just hopped straight on the side load … I’m more than willing to give him the time to get used to it if there’s one thing I’ve got it seems to be patience … or maybe stubbornness thankyou I’m glad it’s worked out for you, there’s hope for us too!!

Oh well done! My horse went through genuine fear, being cross and rather rude to acceptance, but when I thought about it, it is a huge ask for a flight animal, to put them in a tin box then shake them about, so I do get it from their point of view !

 

[Boughtabay]

Oh well done! My horse went through genuine fear, being cross and rather rude to acceptance, but when I thought about it, it is a huge ask for a flight animal, to put them in a tin box then shake them about, so I do get it from their point of view !

Definitely - having never had a bad loader before I’m shocked more don’t take offence

 

[Indefatigable]

Just get Michael Peace in and be done with it. He’s a one off. And I say that as someone who fell out with him!

 

[maya2008]

Short trips with something good at the other end. Even if that something good is the nicest sugariest bowl of feed!

 

[Identityincrisis]

My horse has put me through a lot when it comes to travelling, but to be fair I had PTSD following an accident with a previous horse so was definitely giving him vibes that this was a mega scary situation! I ended up getting Richard Maxwell out to solve our exploding off the box situation (I could get him on but he was soooo dangerous to unload) i got my own issues sorted, which helped, then I worked through our remaining issues- profuse sweating when travelling, very short journeys with zero expectations when we got to the other end, unload and reload a few times. Slowly building up to close by arena hires, he eventually stopped sweating at all (make sure there is plenty ventilation!!!) then he used to be very stompy when we got to a venue and home, i started to work on that, again slowly building up the expected time for him to be quiet on the box before being unloaded. Now he stands quietly for a reasonable time

 

[Boughtabay]

Just get Michael Peace in and be done with it. He’s a one off. And I say that as someone who fell out with him!

It is already done with - he self loads now, he just needs some time to get used to the box. I don’t mind giving him a little time to build his confidence on the move.

 

[bubsqueaks]

I worked very hard until mine was a perfect loader - but only at home, she'd often plant halfway up the ramp on the way back. It was exasperating!

I found that walking her through the trailer the wrong way (in front ramp) would break the spell then I'd turn round and she'd go in. Going in through the front ramp jeans they're heading towards a huge open space not a closed or narrow one.

Anyway not the same as yours but have you tried walking right through a few times before putting breast bar up? I lead in and tie to a very thin bit of bailing twine then nip round the back to hook up.

And for your actual question. I tried switching to a 3.5t and it was much worse. I think my mares issue is walking towards a 'wall' and the walk into a 3.5t is even shorter than a trailer. I switched to a 7.5t and rarely an issue since.

Now that's something Ive never considered or seen suggested how interesting I might give that a try as my "Kevin" has gone from easy loader to no wont load if the front ramps not down!!
Glad OP has resolved her problems well done.