Teaching a horse to travel

[donkeyindisguise]

I've fairly recently bought myself my first lorry, and in the excitement of finally having the freedom to get out and about, naively assumed my mare would walk in no issues....

For some context, in the time I've had her, she was transported a couple of hours to me in a 7.5 - I was told she loaded and traveled fine
Traveled to the vets in a trailer - loaded and traveled fine
Came home in a 3.5t box - was reluctant to load (older style 3.5 and quite high rear load) but did go on when using the loading ramp at the vet
Went away for schooling in a 7.5 - was reluctant but just unsure on loading, a little pressure behind was used (gently used lunge lines to remove the backwards option - not my choice but at least it wasn't nasty) but traveled fine
Went out to a competition whilst away in a 5t type
Came home the above - traveled fine not sure about the loading..... so she's been in just about every option there is

After a couple of months SORNed as I knew I wouldn't get out much over Nov/Dec/Jan I got it charged and taxed all excited to start getting out had a practice and it was a solid no!
ANY pressure resulted in her shooting backwards off the ramp and I was worried about her hitting her head as she was throwing it up whilst stood at the top of the ramp.
She has absolutely no interest in following a friend on.

Over the last week a friend has been helping me try get her on, we're basically opting for the patient route hoping she works out it's not a stressful situation. Using her feed I've progressed from only 2 feet on the ramp to, with time, she will stand in the box but is quite stressed about it, and is keen to get off.

I have a couple of questions really
1) is there a chance that she's learned transport = long, tiring journey/vets so with time hopefully that will change once she's been on a few short, hopefully fun journeys?
2) are there any tips or trick people can think of I'm missing?

It's an older 7.5 and admittedly the ramp is quite high, I'm worried this may be something she just can't get used to as financially I can't afford a newer box with a more modern chassis I can drop the suspension on, and logistically, I need to be able to carry 2 so a 3.5 is not an option (I don't like the idea of towing either which is why I went and did my C test) I'm hoping she just needs the time to learn she's 6, and short of travelling over from Ireland, I've had her 4 years and that's her entire travel history

Please give me hope!

 

[blitznbobs]

All the research shows that longer journeys are better for confidence . Id be tempted to start at the beginning. I take all the partitions out and walk them in (however long it takes ) and then take them off immediately then immediately turn round and do it again. Just keep in and outing til that is no stressor and quite boring. I usually give a treat or 10 at the top to build in a pause before turning and taking them out and with most young horses without a problem within 2 or 3 on and offs they are very keen to play the ‘getting treats on the wagon game’ - that is enough for day 1 . Next day we play the same game but extend the pause at the top - spacing out the treats or even giving a feed in there. Repeating the loading and unloading so that its boring. Once they are keen to go up the ramp i stick the partitions back in and we start introducing those in a similar way. The concept is making the wagon the best place on earth to be… not had a failure yet but some horses have taken an hour or two to load the first time but they get quicker and quicker after that.

 

[Hallo2012]

my 4yo has been a bit tricky-only been off the farm twice for shows as 2/3yo and then to move to mine which was 4 hours so probably decided travelling is rubbish and he's never coming home if he does go on!

i do use a rope halter which stops his little trick of a rear a spin and set his neck facing off the ramp then refuse to move.

i read they need to load 30 times a day for 3 months for it to become an auto habit and whilst i haven't quite managed that we did 15-20 times a day for two weeks solid and now 10/12 repetitions twice a week and he's 1000% better in as much as walks straight on only slowing down very slightly.

if she is walking on you have done the hard part, now its just building up the good habit

 

[donkeyindisguise]

Thank you both for taking the time to reply! ?

Honestly, I think she knew I was starting to despair haha! She walked almost straight on tonight, managed to get her to stand properly inside and discovered she absolutely cannot resist the cheap equerry treats that come in the 15kg bag and will do anything to get them! Not fussed for stud muffins though ?

who knew ?

will keep this up and work our way up to shutting the partition then ramp ? we’re on the way

 

[claret09]

i don't know where you are but can i recommend grant bazin. he is based near banbury. he really helped me with my boy. jay went over and stayed for five days and he worked him with me there. i have since spent a lot of time working with jay but he now loads well. : 07548 374289 . he will also come to you. call him and chat if it's of interest

 

[MagicMelon]

Ive got a horse who can be funny about loading, annoyingly with her though is she will always load within seconds at home but its leaving a venue that she will object. I find a pressure halter works to a degree, I got the dually one. But sometimes she still says no and plants. She did it last weekend, goes half way up then her checked-out look comes across her face and she plants on the ramp, did this for 10 mins then suddenly its like something clicks in her brain and she wakes up and just walks in. Frustrating! She used to move about a lot when first went in, to begin with I worried she was going to try and jump out. I spent a lot of time at home loading her then giving her face and neck a good groom which she enjoys, might be worth trying to help her relax and enjoy being there. Clicker training might be worth a go, Im intending to spend time doing it for loading.

 

[Sossigpoker]

My yard owner takes any young or new horses for a short drive round the corner and unloads them in a place they've been hacking before so it's familiar, and then hacks them home.
This seems to work well.

 

[Green Bean]

Agree with getting someone who does loading for living to assist. I did it with my horse as she was just impossible, rearing, barging and so on. It wasn't a pretty sight but the end result was that she started loading like a dream. The only issue is to keep practising. After a change in feed made my horse very fizzy, she would absolutely not get on. Change back to previous feed and we still struggle but she will eventually get on. I have issues both at home and away.