Positive loading stories? Need cheering up :(

I used to have a nightmare with my mare. It got worse to the point where even the thought of loading her gave me palpitations so i started to avoid going out.

When I got a new pony who had only been on trailers and he wouldn't go in my lorry I decided it was time to get help.

I got out a professional. I'm not always convinced by Parelli stuff, but this trainer explained what she was doing and why and also said I needed to put the work in now to embed what she had taught me, and basically I'd always have two horses that would load.

I've been out all summer with both horses. Occasionally we have a small blip, but I just go back to what I was taught and I have them loaded within 10 minutes.

I would suggest getting a different professional with a different approach.

Good luck !
 
My current horse has always been suspicious of travelling. We discovered he had a really bad experience as a foal which explains it.
He became upset when we changed lorries last year and simply refused to load. It took 5 hours one day. I paid a lot of money to have a specialist NH person and she couldnt load him. He now loads brilliantly, runs up the ramp, so there is hope.
As people have said above, its critical that there is nothing about the lorry or trailer which horse is unhappy with, mine likes lots of room. I also got him used to loading in the same place in the barn & keeping the routine the same.
Critically though I never thought he was taking the mickey or really got cross, they dont do these things to annoy us & stress & annoyance may work in the short term but doesnt make them happy about lorries/loading. Lots and lots of good experiences is the answer, I read that you have to load them 30 times to have them forget saying no so lots of repetition is critical.
 
siennamum said:
Critically though I never thought he was taking the mickey or really got cross, they dont do these things to annoy us & stress & annoyance may work in the short term but doesnt make them happy about lorries/loading.
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this is really important with all aspects of horse training, I think things loading can really cause one's buttons to get pressed if the horse is difficult because it often happens when you're on a schedule and need to leave by a certain time. That's why it's really important to literally have all day if you need it when you practice, and never to think you'll just quickly spend 10 mins doing it - somehow that sense of urgency transmits down the leadrope and then when the horse doesn't cooperate it's hard not to let your emotions take over.
 
My huge ISH loan horse was awful to load for years. The Michael Peace method totally turned him around in five minutes and we never looked back. It goes against all the advice you get about not rewarding bad behaviour. In a nutshell you ask him to take a step towards the transport and if he does and then stops you let him, let the rope go slack and give him a pat and verbal praise and repeat. I don't know why it was so effective, it just was. I would also say that if you are at a competition and having issues and somebody asks if they can help, and they appear reasonable and genuinely just want to help, let them. it will give you time to get your heart rate down and get your frustration under control both of which are not conducive to persuading your flight animal to get shut into an enclosed space that they can't escape from and they often succeed where you can't.
 
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Having skip-read the thread it might have already been suggested but I would start by feeding in the trailer and only in the trailer. That usually works after a day or two.

Of course that doesn't neccesarily fix loading away from meal-times but it's a positive start.

Must say I would also borrow a lorry to see if she's better on that.

And/or pop a companion on first.
 
One of mine wrecked the trailer when we went to collect him. He panicked, jumped the breast bar and his attempt to exit the jockey door removed it from its hinges and planted it in the hedge opposite!!

I waited until he was good and hungry in the winter, and parked the trailer where he could see me going in and out of it with hay. It didn't take long before he was following the hay, and once he was OK with being in there, we started going out for little drives. He'll load happily into anything now, although for a long time I tied a second rope between his headcollar and the bar, so that he couldn't get his head high enough to jump it :D

My experience has been that once it becomes 'a bit deal' your chances of them loading well go down fast, so practice in a low-pressure environment lots before you put yourself in a position where you're 20 miles away from home with no other options.
 
Not so much an issue with loading but my mare HATED being on a trailer. She used to travel fine but one day she had a massive panic. Since then she would thrash around, attempt to climb the walls, kick out etc and was absolutely terrified!
We sought help from Patrick Gracey who suggested we try taking partitions out of trailer and get the full length breast bars.
We started off very slowly practising loading her on and off, letting her get used to it. After several weeks and several hundred packs of polos she would stand on the trailer calmly with the ramps up.
We then started moving the trailer. Just a few meters around the yard.
The real test came a few weeks ago when we moved yards. This was the first proper journey she was going on.
I was a bag of nerves. I asked hubby who is very experienced with horses and a friend who is very experienced transporting horses to move her as I thought my nerves would make things worse.
I expected a phone call saying something had happened. But no phone call came. She travelled like a pro! Happily munching her hay net. Safe to say my jaw was on the floor when they pulled up 😂
So loading issues can be resolved with lots of time and patience and finding what works for your horse. For mine it was partitions.
 
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When I got my girl she was used to going on a 7.5t or trailer so assumed (wrongly) that she would be fine on my 3.9t

The day we went to our first camp she took 3 hours to load and I just cried and cried. All my other horses had loaded and traveled perfectly so it was soul destroying that my horse that was so wonderful to ride could not go anywhere.

I practiced and practiced, every night even though I sometimes just couldn't be bothered and this weekend I loaded her on my own for the first time. It's taken 5 months but we're there. Keep going!
 
My mare was fab to load on a lorry, she hated a trailer though. I used to practice on my YO's trailer and after a short while she was happily loading. Until the YO's son crashed a remote plane into the side of it. After that I couldn't get her anywhere near a trailer. I kept trying and managed to get her to go on again. We went XC once and I couldn't load her for the journey home. Took 5 of us and about 2.5 hours. I can now get to load, over a few years I have an understanding with her, I know exactly what makes her panic and I have to follow a certain routine, if the routine gets messed up she won't go on. I can usually load her in about 10 minutes now but I need another person to help.
 
This same thing happened to my friend, after about 7 hours of trying the horse was left at the venue for 4 days. V stubborn!
My horse can be a bit stubborn and plant, i had someone come out to help and the trick was to make it his choice to load. Before i use to get a good run up to get him marching, then he would plant and get panicy and sometimes bolt off. Now i don't bother with the run up, i walk him around the trailer and the ramp, let him put his head in and sniff for a few mins. He lets me know when he has sussed its ok by just standing calmly. I have a hay net and a token feed waiting for him and then he just clambers up the ramp from any old direction and walks strait on.

The trick for him is to never rush him, let him be nosey and remain calm, when he is ready he wont fight, usually takes about 4 mins, can take 10-15 if havnt gone out for a while
 
I just wanted to put a more postive update on this, very glad to say I managed to successfully take her to and from a hunt ride with no loading issues :D However I have practicing loading every day since the 'epic fail' event and as extremely repetitive as it is, this clearly makes a huge difference. Looks like we will be yo-yoing-ing in and out the trailer from now on!
 
Mine has never been too bad, but at a venue suddenly decided to plant. After about an hour two men linked arms behind her and shoved. She had to move her feet or she would have somersaulted up the ramp! After that I decided that I had to be able to load her on my own, so we spent a happy hour one afternoon doing the tap-tap method, then fed her on the lorry a few times over the next couple of weeks. We've never had another problem since. If she even hesitates at the bottom of the ramp I pick up my schooling whip and on she goes. The other thing I have changed is that I know she doesn't like wobbly floors (she hated the weighbridge at the vet's) and our yard is on a hill so there is nowhere to park where both edges of the ramp meet the floor. I now take a patio brick everywhere we go, and shove it under whichever side of the ramp is up in the air. Even if there is still a gap, it's only an inch or so and she seems much happier with a more stable floor to walk up. We've been out on our own to our last 2 competitions and (touch wood!) she's been fine, even getting back on the lorry if it starts raining or I need to go off and leave her for a couple of minutes.
 
Another for the Richard Maxwell rope halter and a lunge line. Watch the Dvd and do the exercises beforehand. I had an epic battle with my mare for 3 hours using this and a long stick to tap her sides and keep her straight on the ramp. Once she'd given in and straight after, we loaded again and again, at least 30 times. Now she loads perfectly every time, and I even get compliments on how easy she is. Pick a free day and once you've started, don't give up. wear gloves and get people organise to bring refreshments! Cold beer in fridge ready for celebrating victory!
 
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