Trailer training - putting the ramp up!!

Yubbie

Yubbie

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My 16.2hh gelding is a seasoned traveller in a box with no issues whatsoever. However finances dictated that I changed to a trailer (an Equitrek) and this is now where I'm having a problem. From the word go he was very reluctant to even go in it but I spent a lot of time being calm & patient etc, and not forcing him on and thankfully he'll now load without hesitation every time.There is tons of room in it as I've taken the partition out and there is loads of head height - he has more space than in a lorry!!

But once in the trailer he still has issues and gets stressy, fidgety and seems to struggle with the concept of standing in it. He's absolutely fine with a small feed or pieces of apple but once that's gone he starts to get wound up and seems to want out - in the early days he would just blast off leaping from the top of the ramp in the process. However after practise, practise, practise I've managed to stop that and now comes off slowly and calmly.

I've managed to go a step further and shut the side gates and he was fine whilst he had some food (I must mention that he has no interest in hay/ haylage whilst on board) but i know the time is coming when i have to shut the ramp up and to be honest I find the thought really scary as i'm expecting him to freak because he's still not completely relaxed just standing in it!!

Well-meaning fellow liveries etc have offered opinions of just stop messing around and put the ramp up and go for a short drive as he's used to travelling and being shut in and he'll settle once you get going; to take it very slowly and just try putting the ramp up a little at a time so that he gets used to it in small stages!

I feel that I've cracked the part of getting him in and out sensibly....... but I now have to tackle the next stage and would welcome opinions on the best way to approach it??
 
Not that this is any help but have you tried in him different types of trailers? I was never able to get my horse into an Equitrek but she loads perfectly into an Ifor Williams 510. (have given up trying to work out why she loads onto some trailers but not others!)
 
Make sure he has a little radio in there with him. Just tune it to a talk show or classical music, so he thinks he has company. If you can put a light on inside. He isn't slipping on the floor is he, does it have matting?

Sounds like you have done all you can now so maybe your fellow liveries are right. You could pussy foot around forever and not get anywhere. Now you have done all the hard work and he is able to go on relatively easily then you should just shut the ramp and go for a drive.

Make sure whilst driving you anticipate corners/bends/cars braking in front of you well in advance, use your gears to slow your towing vehicle and make any acceleration slowly and calmly. I've seen horses thrown around time and time again by people who go round bends too fast, even pull out of driveways and forget they have the trailer on the back.

with my boy it took Monty Roberts and Kelly Marks, a dually, additional ventilation in the trailer, and a radio on to 'keep him company' to make a difference. He now loads exactly the same as he did three years ago, and I have to leap out the way before he runs into me whilst loading. Although he's always been good travelling, the initial loading was a nightmare at times.
 
I'd stay with him in the front of the trailer and have 2 friends close the ramp, standing well to the sides, then start up the tow car ASAP after closing the front ramp and go off for a short drive. He hopefully will be focusing on balancing once you are moving. Once stopped, let him out as soon as possible. Mine used to stress until we were moving but I built it up slowly.
 
i use one of those buckets that have hooks for hanging on door, and put feed and treats in it and just hook it over the front bar. it buys me a few extra seconds to get the ramp up, as i load alone. They now load much easier once they see the bucket on the bar. I take it away after a few mins, but it definitely encourages them to load.
 
If its an equitrek with the grooms door at the back someone could stand in that space safely to distract him whilst the ramp goes up, then slip out the door. But make sure the grooms door is shut at all times, I probably would only open it enough to get out after the ramp is up as you don't want him to see it as an escape hatch!
 
Do you think he would be more settled with an equine friend? If so, could you borrow a sensible horse to load with him before you shut the ramp and go for a short drive?
 
I had similar issues with my girl but I found that she stressed more in the trailer while we weren't moving. So while training her to load I found it easier to throw the ramp up and go for short drives rather than be hanging around in the trailer, locked in but not moving. She loaded ok each time after which I think is the proof that she was ok actually travelling. Give it a go. Nothing to lose :-)
 
How often do you practice, because you need to do it 50 times a day at this stage until it becomes boring and he does start eating hay.

Will he stand tied on the yard by himself with no hay or company?
 
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Thanks for all your replies and helpful ideas which are really appreciated.

I think his behaviour in the trailer has surprised me really as he's normally no bother and as previously mentioned loads, travels, and unloads beautifully in a lorry. He's not usually a stressy horse or one who needs company and he'll stand by himself, be turned out by himself, hack by himself etc etc. He's 15 so perhaps it's just a case that he's never been in a trailer and is just finding it different!

I'm going to practise again this weekend and see how he is but think I'm going to try putting the ramp up and getting mobile because I'm a bit concerned that if I carry on just loading and unloading (which he's now totally happy with) he'll never the get the idea that he's got to travel in it......so fingers crossed & i'll report back with the outcome!!!
 
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