Travelling in a trailer

Palominopony68

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Due to a bad experience in a trailer (loaded perfectly before but after trading in our IFW 505 for a 510 at an IFW dealer, we discoveres there was a problem with flooring in the new 510 now how have brand new 511) horse will no longer load confidently.
He doesn't appear to be scared once on as we had to stand at the vets for 30 minutes the other day and he stood quite patiently.
I had a natural horsemanship type person out who got him to do the usual pressure / release and loaded. She taught him to back off the ramp, except now he seems to go onto the ramp, even into the trailer, but now will back off the trailer at a rate of knots before we can get the breach bar up!
Has any one got any suggestions how we can work on this? He seems happy to come off the front ramp once we are at the other end so I would like to continue the unloading from the front
TIA
 
Practice, practice. Walk him through again & again until he forgets he can go backwards. Then ask him to stand quietly, and walk off the front.Eventually you should be able to put the back bar up. But again unload front wards before he can back up against it.
My lad was like this, it takes months of regular practice. I have to be able to load on my own, so I hang the bum bar from the partition rather than the side of the trailer so I don't have to step behind him to put it up.
 
Practice, practice. Walk him through again & again until he forgets he can go backwards. Then ask him to stand quietly, and walk off the front.Eventually you should be able to put the back bar up. But again unload front wards before he can back up against it.
My lad was like this, it takes months of regular practice. I have to be able to load on my own, so I hang the bum bar from the partition rather than the side of the trailer so I don't have to step behind him to put it up.

Agree completely with Carlosmum, you need to just put in lots of practice. Even now with mine who are established, if they ever even hesitate about loading to go anywhere, I'll then spend the next few days doing practice.
 
I've met a few like this, but I'd do it slightly differently, I'm not sure they would ever forget how to go backwards.

Presuming the horse goes forwards and backwards with a light request on the ground then I would start with just front feet on, then back off at my behest. Then all 4 feet on the ramp, and back off, but then change my mind half way and come back on again. I would practice this on the ramp until the horse was comfortable with backing off, and changing his mind half way.

Then all 4 feet on the ramp, front end only in, back off 2 steps and then change my mind and go 2 feet on again.

Then all 4 feet in, back so 2 feet are off again, change my mind and go back in.

I would not look to go for the breech bar until I knew that if the horse changed his mind and started to reverse as he was worried, I could change his mind back again.

In effect, I am taking control of reverse, and making it so we can turn a reverse into forwards, in a place where the horse does not feel so threatened.

I would then have someone fiddle with the breech bar, but not put it up, and keep the horse so I could float him back or forward at my will.
 
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