stubborn loader - any hints/tips?

[showaddy1]

Friends mare will intermittentlytake forever to load. There's no apparent reasoning behind it, but usually on the way home. She will plant her feet at the bottom of the ramp, and any hint of pressure on her headcollar she will fly back.
Last night, after waiting patiently, she was ridden on - not ideal, but the second the rider was on her back she walked up the ramp.
Mare isn't a stressy traveller, and seems to 'enjoy' her outings.
When at a previous yard, after watching for half an hour, the farmer came behind her with a sweeping brush and she flew on. Not what I want to do, but kinda shows how stubborn she can be.

 

[frostyfingers]

My horse is occasionally a slow about loading - sometimes he springs up the ramp, others he'll pause at the bottom and "have a think" - god knows what about, he's not stressed just listening/looking around and standing completely still. Usually a couple of minutes is enough for him and then he'll go, it's annoying but I've learnt to live with it.

 

[Joyous70]

Im also having loading problems at the moment, so i will be watching this thread with interest.

I was watching a Michael Peace video yesterday, what he did when the horse planted or got "stuck" on the ramp, was to move the lead rope from side to side, so no pulling pressure, i tired this with my mare last night, and it works with her kind of makes them wobble so they have to move their feet, also dont stand and face them if they pull back let them but keep your back to them, if you need to re-group, go back to their shoulder and ask them forwards. Another interesting thing he did was to use a long rope for loading, and made a quarter loop, that went around the horses bottom, and back to his hand, he could then use this to exert gentle pressure onto the loading horses bottom at the same time asking it into the trailer, maybe this is something you could try??

 

[Shay]

Sometimes they just want to do it in their own time. Riding on is - as I'm sure you know - far from ideal. There isn't much head space and if she decided to rear or even startle up she would crush the rider on the roof.

We have one who just wants to take a look sometimes. He isn't scared - but will get aggressive if you force him. We found a combination works. Someone at the front with a scoop of feed. Someone at the side with a short driving whip - not a lunge whip it is too long to manouvre easily (and ned is scared of them) and patience. Every time he plants we back off - not turn around, he has to walk backward - and try again. When you pull from the front the hind legs get sort of "left behind" and they get all strung out. Walking backward brings the hocks under and makes them more manouverable. He doesn't get to stop and look - if he plants he goes backward, we zig zig or he walks forward. No stopping. No resting. The easier option, the way to stand still, is to go on. In extremis we will tap - and only tap very lightly like a fly - on his hind thigh. The idea being only to irritate and add pressure, not to strike or punish. Everything is kept just very calm and patient and we bore him into submission. Oh - we do also use a dually headcollar and if he rears he is firmly pulled down to the ground again.

It probably looks a bit odd to someone outside - all these preparations, the scoop, the whip, the headcollar, the long line etc. And then he loads perfectly. But if we don't prepare it all we can have quite a lengthy battle of wills.

 

[srichards]

I think it's worthwhile investigating if there is a reason behind the not wanting to load, that you may just not have noticed. I have a rescue horse, who I know has been badly beaten, he was the same, sometimes he would load immediately and then some days he just didn't want to go on. May sound silly, but I noticed that on the days he wouldn't load, if I took him away and walked him around the yard a bit he would go to the toilet. I am convinced in his previous life he was beaten for pooing in the trailer and therefore if he thought he couldn't hold himself for the journey, he didn't want to go on. We did use some encouragement on one day to get him on and he pooed in the trailer. I gave him lots of praise when I saw what he had done, before unloading, and he has never hesitated to load since. He also regularly poo's in the trailer now too! Lol!

 

[oldie48]

If the horse usually runs back, I'd use a controller halter (either Richard Maxwell or dually) Do some training first so the horse understand that it only feels pressure if he doesn't stay with his handler. It stopped the problem straightaway with 2 horses I've had.

 

[Auslander]

If she's not panicking and being silly, you could try this. Plait the bottom of the tail, turn it up and tape it (like a polo pony) - thread a rope through the plait, then forward between hind legs and front legs. Apply a bit of pressure, which will pull her tail forward through her hindlegs, acting as an encourager to go forward, rather than pulling on her head, which will encourage her to fly backwards.

 

[showaddy1]

All good tips... went up today, as decided that mare will now go out every day. Wouldnt load, planted at the bottom and just looked around, you know that bored expression that they do...
Didnt bother pulling, shouting, or even offering food as I know it doesnt work... reversed the trailer so it was between a wall and another trailer - the bloomin mare went straight on! how would I overcome this? not sure its practical to carry around two fencing panels!

 

[peaceandquiet1]

Am reading this thread with great interest as had a bad experience with a pony at a show who wouldn't load. Everyone and their dog came to interfere, which only distracted me and the pony. I think opening up the trailer as much as possible helps, food and tapping with a whip too. Our pony had walked on pefectly at home but it was her first outing so we didn't know what to expect.

 

[PoppyAnderson]

Well the tail between the legs is a new one on me! Just when u think you've heard it all! Tempted to try it with my awful, stubborn baggage of a mare!

 

[Rivendell]

Grrrr I know this! I had a pony who would be right royal pain to load at times... and at other times he would walk straight on! I found bum ropes to be really good. Pressure from behind so encourages the horse to move forward. And always food. I used to feel bad about bribing horses onto the float but now I think they deserve a reward for going into the little metal time-travelling trap!!

 

[Spottyappy]

All good tips... went up today, as decided that mare will now go out every day. Wouldnt load, planted at the bottom and just looked around, you know that bored expression that they do...
Didnt bother pulling, shouting, or even offering food as I know it doesnt work... reversed the trailer so it was between a wall and another trailer - the bloomin mare went straight on! how would I overcome this? not sure its practical to carry around two fencing panels!

Not fencing panels, but for our mare who also would self load at home but not to return, we carried wind breaks,the ones you use on the beach. Not ideal on concrete but carried cones to wedge them in.
We also tried to park alongside a hedge or fence to block off at least one side.
The loaner who now has her, uses a blindfold. This works well as long as mare is not in sight of the lorry. If she is, she plants and refuses to go on!

 

[Tern]

Few that have worked for me..

- Shuffling her feet - make her work when she refuses but let her stand still when she takes a step. She plants then you shift her for side to side - not backwards if possible. When she takes a step forward reward with pat/food etc and let her stand for a second then carry on.

- Chifney - sometimes it only takes one of two goes with the chifney for them to realise "ah, this isn't fun"

- Waiting game - Sit in the trailer/lorry on a box/mounting block etc with horse on a lunge line and at bottom of ramp.. nice bucket of feed at your feet and just give gentle bits of pressure on the headcollar.. don't shake the bucket of feed though.

- Not recommended but sometimes a brush up the bum tells them to stop p*ssing around and get on with it.

 

[oldie48]

Actually as a short term measure for a horse you know is just being awkward, this can work well. i always used to carry a broom in the lorry, just in case. Longterm you want them to load without an issue.

Few that have worked for me..
- Not recommended but sometimes a brush up the bum tells them to stop p*ssing around and get on with it.

 

[Kezzabell2]

My mare used to be like that if I loaded her on her own. But goes on fine if she has a friend on there. Which surprised me

Loaded alone I had to have the front ramp open. The breast bar down

 

[Mariposa]

One of our ponies is like this. 90% of the time she walks up without a backwards glance, and then just occasionally it's basically ' computer says no' and she will NOT go up the ramp. We took a previous bad loader to Jason Webb a few years ago and he had her popping in and out of the lorry perfectly, I'm rather tempted to take this mare to him too. It makes me worried everytime we have to go anywhere with her as you never know whether she'll just put on the brakes.

 

[Caramac71]

We had a Kelly Marks RA come out to our mare who sounds exactly like yours! We used to do loads of loading practise at home and she was generally ok at loading - eventually - at the yard, but when we wanted to come home from somewhere more often than not she would refuse. Her trick was to stand with 2 feet on the ramp and refuse to budge. If you put any pressure on, she'd back up. If you left her alone to move in her own time, she'd invariably go to sleep. Very very very frustrating! (Also made no difference if we travelled her with another horse).

RA fitted her with a dually and showed us some basic groundwork exercises to do to get her listening. And then she taught us how to take control of her actions - so if she went backwards, we were to back her up further, then ask her to walk on. She got her loading quickly in minutes, in fact by the end of the session she was loading herself.

Now my daughter has a little ritual of groundwork that she does before loading, just to get the horse listening, and (touch wood!) we've not encountered any drama's since. The very worst we get is a pause at the bottom of the ramp, in which case my daughter backs her up immediately, walks her forward and she loads.

I wanted to get an "expert" out to help us as I wanted reassurance it was nothing to do with the lorry, or my driving, or any other reason why the horse might not want to load. The RA checked everything and said by the horse's body language there was no fear, she was just saying no (and probably didn't even know why she was saying no!).

 

[LinzyD]

I have an unreliable loader who will usually go on if we trot at the ramp, but not if we walk; it's all about having his attention and him going forwards.

Mostly I go to shows on my own so I have to be able to load without help. The quarter loop is a really good technique that I've used in the past, and if you can get the horse standing with at least two feet on the ramp it can be reinforced by passing the long line round a secure point inside the lorry (I pass it round a partition post) so that you can apply more pressure on the line - I stand on the long end and then push my full weight down on to the taught line that passes up to the partition post.

I've also learned to take stress out of the situation by putting myself first, which is completely alien to me! I usually like to come out of the competition ring and trot the pony straight in to the lorry and attend to him before I do anything for myself, especially if it's raining or cold, and I don't tie ponies up to the lorry because I like to know they are inside, safe and eating before I take my eyes of them. However, with this particular pony I tie him up next to the lorry, throw a waterproof rug over him, and see to myself first. When I've got my show kit off, a warm coat on, a drink in my hand and my phone in my pocket, I then see to the pony, get him untacked and ready to travel, and then if it takes a while to load him I just sit at the top of the ramp and drink my drink in comfort and make a few phone calls, and he goes on in his own good time, or sometimes immediately depending on how the fancy takes him.

Like those above, there is no fear in this pony, he travels well, enjoys his outings, eats, wees and poos to his heart's content in the lorry, but when push comes to shove would simply rather not be in the lorry if he doesn't absolutely have to be. Interestingly, if we have a long day at a show and he's worked hard he practically loads himself.

 

[kittyb]

I have a slightly schizophrenic loader that can sometimes decide that he would rather stay where he is thank you very much.

Like OP if you put much pressure on he will fly back. In addition if anyone goes behind him he will loose it.

I have had him for a couple of years now and have learnt he just needs to have a good think about it. If I keep him focused on the trailer (he hates lorries and won't go in one for love nor money), walk all the way on myself and have something tasty to offer him at the front he will eventually just load himself! Sometimes it takes 30-45mins and is not much fun in the rain but he does it and its much quicker than trying to pressure him on which just ends up with him getting in a tizzwozz!

What did improve his willingness to load was feeding him one of his meals on board every day for a week. Then once a week for a few weeks. He is much more willing to load now than he used to be. It used to take about 3 hours to get him on!!

 

[wickedwilfred]

I had this problem with my otherwise very amenable 3 year old. The trouble was, he had worked out that he was stronger than me and although he had never had any nasty experiences with being transported, the problem just got worse. In the end, I hired the services of a man with a pressure headcollar. Without using any force, but being stronger than me (mere female) he could exert the right pressure when the horse stepped back. He quickly learnt the meaning of this and was loading quietly in no time at all.

 

[unicornystar]

Got my chap approx a year ago. 16.2hh heavy set irish draft x type......knew about his antics, previous owner had had michael peace come out to him. Got him loading but since that time he had reverted.

He would happily go halfway up trailer or lorry ramp and plant, for hours...!!

You could load him slowly (like hours!) with food, but it was really beginning to bug me as he clearly WANTED to oblige, wasnt scared but seemed more concerned.

One he was on whatever vehicle we were loading onto, if you went near his back end he would rush out before you even dared to put the breach bar or ramp up!! Whether tied up or not, many lead ropes were bust!!

I armed myself with a dually headcollar thinking, "oh he will just rear quicker and higher the is put on him", but using it correctly, ie reward movement for NO PRESSURE, and using a crappy old rice trailer with no partition....on he went.

Since his loading was cured I travelled him recently in a brand new IW Trailer, he hated it, he was stamping and stomping and crashing about everytime we hit a corner (on a 2 mile VERY slow flat journey), the poor thing came out dripping!!!! We went home, got home, dripping again!!

He simply likes the space and flooring on the crappy old rice trailer, (it has soft thick matting which grips) and he can spread his legs on journeys, comes off bone dry and happy!! I now just have to accept we will look rather chavvy when arrive at events!! He likes small lorries and will load onto those too but his crappy rice trailer about 100 years old is now his "safe place". I cant tie him up when out as he pulls back etc, so I tack him up on the chariot and he looks to load BACK ON IT in between classes!!!!

He will also now load on a trailer with a partition but hates it and still pauses momentarily before going on.

The trick I also never new about after 40 years in horses - was NOT TO LOOK back at the horse when you are loading!!! I started looking straight ahead and walking and not looking back at the horse when he stopped and he has gone straight on every time.

Some very long journeys 4 hours + I have made sure he has a companion as that is a long time for to load on beautifully and be alone!

All we did was use the dually correctly and due to his size I now have some control. The trick is not to hang on and pull and get into an argument, you MUST reward any forward movement, even if it's an inch.

I would have NEVER said I could have got mine loading so easily just be switching to one!!!! We also ALWAYS open up all the doors and ramps at front of the trailer.

Good luck!!

 

[showaddy1]

We used a 'be nice' yesterday... opened up the trailer, got her used to the feel of the halter, and then asked her to go on...
She hesitated, as she does, and I just held the rope firm when she was backing off - when she came forward, dropped the pressure. Five minutes and she was on!!
Only thing I didnt do was have a headcollar ready to swap, in order to tie her up!
The trouble being, the only time I will know for sure this works is at nine pm next monday when the lesson is over! We will take her out all weekend, in order to practice...

 

[oldie48]

that's great. I use the halter over a headcollar. Both the horses I used it on came with appalling manners and were quite dangerous to load but with a controller halter, not only did they load straightaway I was also able to use the halter in other situations when they lacked manners. IMO every horse and pony should load sensibly as you just never know when you might need to get them somewhere quickly, hanging around with buckets of food or waiting for them to decide themselves if , in my book, not on. Also, it's so stressful going anywhere if you don't know if they will load or not

We used a 'be nice' yesterday... opened up the trailer, got her used to the feel of the halter, and then asked her to go on...
She hesitated, as she does, and I just held the rope firm when she was backing off - when she came forward, dropped the pressure. Five minutes and she was on!!
Only thing I didnt do was have a headcollar ready to swap, in order to tie her up!
The trouble being, the only time I will know for sure this works is at nine pm next monday when the lesson is over! We will take her out all weekend, in order to practice...