people ‘helping’ with loading

AceAmara

AceAmara

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people mean well, I know.. but it’s so frustrating at an event when groups gather and interfere , everyone has their way. One of mine often stops at the bottom of the ramp. I know her well, she isn’t the type to take pressure well and sometimes just needs a minute to sort her brain out. If I stand and give her a minute, with a loose rope, she always steps on in by herself! So often though someone see’s this and wades in. Last time, she was about to step in and a complete stranger appeared behind her clapping and shooing. After much eye rolling and reversing, half an hour later she eventually went in. Somehow people always seem offended when I try to politely ask them to leave us to it as well, sigh.
 
I don't mind when people offer to help, or ask if I need help - however what you described above really bugs me. Dont just interfere and start taking action when you dont know anything about the animal!
 
When I used to PC with the kids we would often leave it till they were almost the last person there before I asked if they needed help. We would load up and sit in the car, but I just couldn't drive off and leave someone struggling. I carried lunge lines, 'just' in case.
We purchased two bad loaders and I have been very grateful when someone as offered to help, you just have to make sure they take direction, a lot do not have a clue and that how they become bad loaders in the first place.
 
People asking if I'd like help is fine, but I agree unreservedly that people just wading in do far more harm than good. You would've thought it'd be simple manners to just quietly offer help to the owner and take their answer at face value, but apparently not everybody got the memo about that.
 
When I was struggling with mine, I had a similar problem, no one actually started without asking first, but everyone else knew exactly how to load him. I had a plan and was trying to work on it but it kept failing as people had to interfere every time. In the end I had to get my instructor to help as then people would leave us alone to get on with it. He loads like a dream now :)
 
I posted a very similar thread a while ago after the most awful experience at a show when pony wouldn't load and the interference was unbelievable; every time I was getting close to getting her in someone would appear and interfere and break the concentration. One woman even ran up behind her shaking a plastic bag! Another grabbed her and wrapped the lead rope around her nose-at which point she ran backwards and reared! If they all just left us alone.......
 
Why does everyone else think they are better at loading than you are-in my case it was the pony's first show, and she found it all a little overwhelming. The last thing she needed was crowd of know it alls who just wouldn't go away.
 
Sometimes people only listen when you're blunt! It's your horse, just say "No, but thank you anyway". The one certain way to create a bad loader is to use force, unless it's an emergency and there is no other way. I am very grateful to the experienced Highland pony man who helped load a balshy mare after a show. If he hadn't helped, I think we'd still be there! But I told several who clearly just wanted to try out their theories, "No, but thanks anyway".
 
It's a natural phenomena. Even if you'd attempt to load your horse alone in the middle of a barren desert, suddenly people with lead lines, plastic bags, loud voices and more opinion than one would ever need, would appear out of the blue and start "helping".
 
Dry Rot said:
The one certain way to create a bad loader is to use force, unless it's an emergency and there is no other way.
Click to expand...

totally agree. Ive tried many methods myself over the years and allowed myself to be bullied once, much to my shame by a “much more experienced” horseman who told me to stick a bridle on it and proceeded to haul the horse in my its back teeth. “see? they just need to know who’s boss, horses never try any of this **** with me” Never , ever again. I achieve far more with patience and understanding, pressure & release and in the case of my mare just giving her some time to think. At the event I mentioned in my first post, when she did load, she walked in completely of her own accord, I just stood in the trailer holding the end of a loose, long rope. With no interruptions and people appearing behind her she’d have been in in half the time.
 
Completely agree, its so frustrating! I have a tricky loader and I know exactly what doesn't work, and that's the helpful crowd with their lunge lines and whips - please leave.. I feel really rude asking people not to help, but it really aggrevates me when people just do it without asking.

It's funny though because I'd never do that if I saw someone else having problems. I'll keep an eye out and maybe after a while ask if they need a hand, but to be honest I'd rather not get jumped on by someone elses horse!

One woman once said to me 'if you're still here when we come back from the ring, go get yourself a cuppa and I'll get it on for you, it won't ever do it again either, mine didn't after I pulled it over backwards!' Oh great advice, thanks.

Another bloke asked if I wanted a hand and when I said thanks but I was fine he proceeded to inform me that he was actually a professional transporter and deals with lots of bad loaders so sure he could help me... Told him I knew it wouldn't work but as you're so connfident please do give it a try. Went straight in for the lunge line looped around the bum and pressure added... 2 mins later I had to go and retrieve a-hole pony from the other side of the lorry park, transporter guy conveniently had to get back to his horse.

Good thing pony is so good at his job, otherwise he'd have been left behind by now! :D
 
I tend to have the opposite problem. In the past I have been quite successful with loading issues and offered it as a professional service.

The trouble is, I am now old and creaky, and no longer offer this as a service. TBH, even when I did, I prefered that the owner had come to a place where they were seeking wider help, as in general handling etc, so we could sort the issue from the ground up.

I hate it when I am out and about, usually having fun with my own horse, and a horse does not want to load, and someone knows I can "do" that and wants me to help. Worse still when you take pity on the owner, and decide you will help, but for me that means no help from them, so just me and the horse can sort stuff between us well away from the box, yet the owner just wants someone to be thrown round on the rope while they batter the back end!

Even more dispiriting, when you do it as you wish, and the horse tries its best and does load, and you tell the owner what you have done and how they should follow up, and they are plainly not interested.

I tend to walk the other way now.
 
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My pony is naughty loading into new trailers, often she behaves if someone she doesn't know takes charge and marches up the ramp because she doesn't know how to say no (or so I tell myself) so I welcome help.
However at the last rally a woman was there checking her horses in the next field and she took my pony off the other women helping gave her some serious wallops with the end of the lead rope making her rear then wrapped the leadrope over her nose and really pulled tight. I stepped in to say please tone it down because when i got her she was slightly head shy so I dont like to use too much pressure, the lady completely ignored me and promptly stated she wish she had a whip to knock some sense into the pony.
At this point I stepped in and sad thank you very much but I dont want her treated like that. We ended up having to leave pony at pony club field but went to get her the next day and she walked straight in with me...typical!
Haven't seen the lady since but shocked me someone would take charge so much when they didn't know the pony and I had requested her to stop.
 
I dont offer any more as I usually get left to be pulled around, not failed yet to get one in but I refuse to even contemplate it if there is anyone standing behind the horse or has ropes etc round it. Did laugh the other day was watching someone trying to load a horse with lunge lines I was in a big hurry so not in a position to help. I was rugging up the pony and walking across the ramp into the trailer with her following me. The other peoples faces were a picture
Did get a naughty one in with electric tape once dont know if it would work twice but didnt need to find out as I was taking it home but it obviously wasnt going to find out if the fence coming up behind was on
 
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I never offer to help. Why would I when there are all these so much more knowlegeable people about.
Equally I never have any problems loading any of mine and I breed horses and travel youngsters and old horses on a very regular basis.
Funny how it is the same people that always have problems but the great thing is it is their problem and not mine.
 
sport horse there is "offering to help" and "interfering" and I have never had a loading problem other than the one that particular day, and she has been fine ever since
 
millikins said:
Has anyone ever actually managed to load a "sticky" one using a lunge line?
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Yes, I know one that will load if you attach a lunge line round the back, even if said line is just on the floor. They asked if I thought we should do a proper loading session, as in so the horse loaded itself. TBH, we could have done, but, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The horse was relaxed and happy if you laid the lunge line out... I guess at some point they had been dragged in by one, and when the line appeared he gave in to the inevitability of it.
 
millikins said:
Has anyone ever actually managed to load a "sticky" one using a lunge line?
Click to expand...

yes, but not with the rope round the bum method, it was battle of wills and it was a fell pony. ended up with the lunge line on the bridle, through a piece of bailer twine in the lorry and we waited it out, kept then tension on the line, every step forward reeled him in, not yanked just kept the pressure up. 1 hour later pony on lorry, next show this was down to 15 min, no shouting etc, just quiet and consistent. next show only got as far as going to put the bridle over the head collar and didn't get a chance, one big sigh and a look which said ok you win it walked up in a head collar and waited to be tied up. occasionally we had a pause at the bottom of the ramp, but all we had to do was show the bridle and off it would go.

not scared just part mule, prior to that it was all brooms and shouting and getting no where.

what i don't understand is why when they stop at the bottom of a ramp, people turn them away and start again, its not like we are asking them to jump 4ft from stand still, its only 6in max?
 
I have a slightly idiosyncratic method of loading young cob - he tends to hesitate slightly but I can basically lunge him in on a loose line. We went though a phase where he knew he could get away from me. I solved this in the same way as hollyandivy123. Anyone pushing from the rear is just a distraction and breaks his concentration.

Old cob really didn't dressage (we gave up taking him in the end). He would self-load - telling us that it was time to go home. It is almost as embarrasing having a horse that you are trying to drag OFF a lorry as having on that refuses to go ON!
 
I don't offer help, and certainly wouldn't interfere. I have been asked a few times in the past though. Mercifully mine all load beautifully.
 
Gosh I'm glad I've never had a bad loader!
My current cob takes a few minutes of looking at the ramp and then decides he's going on, but I still have the odd passer by flapping behind him! (He takes no notice and gets on in his own time!)
 
I don't offer help as I prefer not to be pulled about or kicked at by someone else's horse. I did lend someone my rope halter once when they were struggling in a headcollar and horse loaded 1st time then!

My own I can occasionally be grateful of someone to clap behind him / give him a gentle prod but he generally loads ok away from home now and anyone putting any more pressure on him than that tends to result in panic mode and us getting nowhere.

I was recently in the uncomfortable situation recently where my friend's horse didn't want to load to come home and someone offered their help... they got her on in the end but the way in which they did it isn't something I was all that happy with (Ironically we then had to unload again as the lorry got stuck... once unstuck we decided to load her horse first to give a bit more room... mine was so desperate to just go home at this point that he basically chased her up the ramp bless him and was trying to follow her into the box before we even had the partition across! We think this odd and unintended loading method worked because although the horse in question did not like to be pressured by a human and would kick out in protest but she's well used to my horse bossing her about in the field and clearly he is more scary than she thought the box was!)
 
millikins said:
Has anyone ever actually managed to load a "sticky" one using a lunge line?
Click to expand...

Yes, my pony took a dislike to traveling in the Spookyponymobile. For a good while, the only way to load him quickly was with two people holding longe lines; he just sort of gave up when he saw them. I didn't like that, so I tried clicker-training him in. This worked a bit, but the problem with it was two-fold: 1. I didn't take enough time to cement the behaviour, and started taking him places immediately; 2. I strongly suspect that he really, really just didn't want to go anywhere in that vehicle. I've since sold it and got a trailer; the short term suggests that he's much happier with it, as he's loading (so far) easily. I prepare the longe line just in case, because knowing that I'm prepared with the "trick" lets me chill out when I'm under time pressure, but I hope that he'll keep just walking on. He's very clever, and I feel bad for not listening to him. Especially since I suspected what was up all the time.
 
millikins said:
Has anyone ever actually managed to load a "sticky" one using a lunge line?
Click to expand...

Its our family party trick.
We bought one that was a little s***, at a show some racehorse transporters practically carried him into a trailer, leg at each corner, but even then he wouldn't go in. In the end I had him so well trained with lunge lines I just had to show him the lunge clip and he would walk in, but you had to shut the ramp PDQ.
You have to have a partner who knows what they are doing so there is no escape and reward going forward. All the one I have had from babies walk in and travel well, so I think a lot of bad loading they learn from people who are a bit faffy.
 
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