Loading........a pain!

[Monty]

5 year old gelding.......Trying to teach him to load. What a palava!! He walks half way up the ramp quite happily......then stops, and pulls back.I have the jockey door open, and have someone stand in there with grub.Still no chance.We made a little headway today.I borrowed a friend's Ivor Williams which was taller, and had a front ramp, which we opened.He walked all the way up the rear ramp and stopped.Eventually the bucket proved too much temptation.Ooooops, forgot to say that today, we made sure he was hungry!! Is this unacceptable?? An Ivor Williams is completely enclosable.He didn't seem happy with that.He seemed to like having the front window,i.e above the front ramp open. Is this allowed when travelling?? My pony trailer has an open back permanently, but nothing in front to open if you see what I mean, except the jockey door that is. He wasn't keen on this as he could 'see' the lorries creeping up on him from behind,then spraying him with rainwater.
Anyone any hints?? That is before the expense of Richard Maxwell??

[Murphs]

just timeand patience and keepon doing what you are doing. Do you have partitons in your trailer? you could try and remove them togive himmore space - he may feel that it's a less claustrophobic space. I've been here withmy mare and have bought the Richard Maxwell training halter - i've got her working well in the four directions but haven't had chance toload yet as the weather has been toobad when i've had the time to spare - important not ot rush these things:)

[myEllie]

My horse used to be a real pain to load, especially when we got a new trailer with a step-up instead of a ramp. We tried everything, entice her with food, watch another horse load first, nothing worked. Finallly someone suggested that we get a lunge line, have two people hold it right behind her, and touch her right below her hocks with it. What do you know? She jumped right into the trailer. Now she loads without any trouble, for the most part. If she starts to give me trouble, I just get the lunge line out. I don't even have to use it, she just sees it and walks right on. You can even do it by yourself. Tie the lunge line to one side of the trailer, pass it behind your horse, and hold the other end in your hand. Once he loads, put across the butt-bar or do up the ramp, then go to the front and hook his head.

[Monty]

Someone else told me about the lunge line 'method'.But I wasn't clear exactly what it was they were doing with the lunge line!! Now I understand, and will give it a whirl! And also have more patience! I am not very good like that.I should try abit harder.I'll keep you posted.Thanks folks!

[Katharine]

I would be very wary abot putting a lunge line behind a horse while loading it. You have to be very quick and be careful not to faff around behind the horse as you are putting yourself in a very vulnerable position. if you do go for this method, make sure that there is no way that the lunge line can get tangled and that it is not going to slip down the horses legs and get caught up. This would frighten your horse even more.
From my experience, I would say buy a "Be Nice" halter. I have tried to load a few difficult horses and ponies and as soon as they have been trained with this they will follow you anywhere. It doesn't take that long to train them to it either.
Hope this helps.:cool:

[Katharine]

I would be very wary abot putting a lunge line behind a horse while loading it. You have to be very quick and be careful not to faff around behind the horse as you are putting yourself in a very vulnerable position. if you do go for this method, make sure that there is no way that the lunge line can get tangled and that it is not going to slip down the horses legs and get caught up. This would frighten your horse even more.
From my experience, I would say buy a "Be Nice" halter. I have tried to load a few difficult horses and ponies and as soon as they have been trained with this they will follow you anywhere. It doesn't take that long to train them to it either.
Hope this helps.:cool:

[myEllie]

Wow, you felt so strongly about it that you had to post it twice. :p

[wordbird]

We spent the entire summer of '01 trying to get my new horse in the trailer. At first he was great, and then gradually he took longer and longer to load until he wouldn't at all. We tried just about everything possible to get him in. It took tons of patience, and there were many days in which we spent three hours waiting for him to load. And anybody who has spent three hours with a horse behind a trailer knows exactly how long that is. We put a skylight inside the trailer because we thought he may be cholsterphobic, we also moved the partition on an angle, we rubbed his tail, we used your loungline methods (which didn't work for us, but did work for one of my friends by the way), we made a trail of grain, carrots, clover, you name it from the ramp to the front end. We renovated the trailer so that the bar that the doors attach to was removeable (we thought he may be scared of it), we put the trailer in his field so that he wouldn't be afraid of it. Since we couldn't get him on the trailer to eat his grain we would have to put the grain in the trailer and let him get it himself. In our deepest desparation, we blindfolded him (didn't work). Finally we changed our ramp load trailer to a step-up. This didn't work at all at first. Then we tried putting him in by not leading him but us standing at the back and the horse going in the trailer on his own and have somebody stand at the door by his head and tie him in while the other person puts up the ramp. This proved successful and now my baby goes in like a pro (tap wood). We think his problem was that since our trailer ramp was made of wood that when he stepped on it, it made a crunch noise which scared him and also that maybe he didn't like going in with somebody leading him. We'll never know exactly why, but we are thankful he goes in. Anyways, I've babbled on long enough, I just wanted to let ya I've been through it all. this is my best advice:

1) Have patience and practise everyday, give him his grain on the trailer in the morning/night if possible
2) Make sure he gets used to having the truck hooked up, they seem to know the difference from when they are not going anywheres and when they are
3) Try having sombody rub his tail, this lets him know somebody is there and may give him reassurance
4) Keep his concentration on going in, don't let him look all around the place, he will try to stall as much as possible
5) Put your partation on an angle, horses rather to stand on an angle than straight this helps them keep their balance better
6) Make sure he gets rewarded for going in!
7) Try to keep the trailer a pleasant place. By giving him his grain on it, he'll recognise the trailer as a good thing and this helps
8) Even thoughs some people may argue the lounge line is dangerous, if it is in the right hands, it will keep your horse straight, and I wouldn't reccomend putting it close to the horse's hock's, just hook one end of the two line on each end of the trailer | | and have somebody hold them at the end.
9) I can't stress having patience enough. He will get it eventually, and you just have to keep troubleshooting and try and try again.

Also, some people believe that having another horse in the trailer helps too, especially if it is a good companion of the troubled horse. Good luck!!

[B W]

I would not leave a window open for a horse while trailering. I can't remember if it was Horse Illustrated or Horse & Rider but there was an article about trailer accidents in the magazine. One was two horses in a large trailer going down the highway. Both horses heads out the window. They pass a tractor trailer truck going the other direction. You guessed it! Both horses decapitated. That convinced me. There were other even more disturbing stories but I won't go into it. This one just hit me when I read it and thought I would share that information.

[Monty]

I'm almost sure this little monkey is not scared,you know! He goes up the ramp fine,then stretches his neck out like a giraffe,without actually moving his legs any further in.So we just stand there,about half way in now, holding out a piece of turnip.He puts two legs in,(just) and gets a bite.Then I go right to the front of the trailer,holding it out again.But this time,he has to come and get it.He usually does,eventually!I think we're getting there, but I think his lordship is taking the mickey!!

[ponyvet]

Originally posted by wordbird
Make sure he gets rewarded for going in!

Yes but not just for going halfway in! I'm sure that's a mistake lots of people make! Tempting the horse up with a feed bucket, and when it stops half way up the ramp, letting it get a mouthful of food to encourage it to go a bit further! All you're doing then is rewarding it for stopping!! The horse doesn't have to go on to get the food, it can wait and let you turn it round and try again, then it knows that when it stops it will get another mouthful!! Most horses figure this out and can do it until the cows come home!!

[Rachel C.]

I had an IDENTICAL problem with my pony. Being a pony mare she wasn't scared, she just knew that if she didn't want to go in there was no way I could force her in! I start with our Ifor Williams totally opened out with jockey door open front ramp open and all the bars down.

It wasn't practical for me to put the trailer in her field and with a cheeky horse I couldn't see the point, so we had traning sessions every other day. The first day was spent making her walk calmly around the trailer without hesitating when we walk past the ramp.

The next day mum held a lunge whip as tightly turend her to the ramp at a forward going walk. This way it suprised her and before she could protest she had walked right through the trailer!

We kept walking through for a few days with regualr treats in the trailer. Next step was to get her to halt and stand in the trailer, when she got a handful of chaff each time (we did it too many times for a handful of nuts!!)

Then we started gradually closing the trailer up as we went in until we were having her tied up and ready to travel, going in calmly and easily.

Before we went through this training program, we tried the lunge line (made her rear!!) spraying her backside with water (had temporary effect) and a be nice halter (again made her run backwards!)

Hope that helps!

[raincld]

I have only had one horse that was difficult to load and it took about a month of working every day to get her over it. I first tried the lunge line trick and it worked once, but then she learned to resist that and I had to move on to more creative methods.

What finally worked was feeding time. I would measure out her feed and take it to the trailer (hooked to the truck of course for stability). With all of the doors and windows open, I would lead her to the trailer. For every forward step she took, she received a nibble of her meal. If she backed out at any point, she had to come past that point to receive any more feed. Once she was inside the trailer completely, I would set her feed down and let her eat her dinner in peace, while I closed up the trailer.

It took a week of doing this twice a day to get her loading easily, but I continued to reinforce the behavior for about a month. At the end of about the second week, I could simply walk her straight into the trailer and give her her dinner. By the end of the month, she would walk into the trailer completely unassisted by me and wait for the feed.

Hope it helps.

[Monty]

Thanks all.I've printed this thread off,so that I can try them.

[Bootyfulcobs]

Please don't try the one about putting a lunge line behind them - i once witnessed this being done, - the horse was on the ramp, and the line slipped down below her hocks and she walked backwards, panicked at feeling something round her feet, threw her head up and nearly toppled straight over onto her back - she was a very nervy horse and this only frightened her even more. Not worth the risk.

[ilovebacara]

okay well i ave got 2 methods that r solid!! one is a bit like the lunge idea but you do it with to long lines not one! i will try and post a diagram! the other is open up the trailer put it in a small paddock or the sand school put the horse with the paddock put its feed at the back of the trailer and leave it! it should be able to smell that it is there and walk in and eat it! When you have done this a few times and the horse associates the trailer with its din dins then it should walk in!! okay:D works wid me :D


hope that the thing attaches!! :)

[Bootyfulcobs]

yay that looks like a good idea - i love the piccy!!!
Just another thought - there was an article by kelly marks in horse and rider i think not so long back, about how to get a horse to load, or it was on one of her clinics - i'll dig it out and put it into words as best i can!!

[lamprellsarah]

my horse, is pain too!! but she was abused with it a long time ago, people tried to blind fold her and yell at her and bully her in

she gets nearly all the way in grab a muthful then throws her head up and runs flying back out.
only persistance and gaining her trust and respect has help me to lead her in!!!

[RoxR]

My problem with Roxy is that she positively leaps in the trailer to go somewhere, or just practising at the farm, BUT if we go somewhere, she won't get in to come home!!!

I tried putting her in, getting her out and riding her, the putting her in for her reward feed - all of this at home works fine! She would be trying to look in over the ramp even when it was up to see if her dinner was up there!

But as soon as we go to the riding school for a lesson, or to a friend's for a hack, then she decides that it's much more exciting to be out! Even when it meant standing about in freezing fog for an hour and a half!!!

I was thinking of trying training her to a pressure halter, as she can be a bit bolshy leading at times too.

[myEllie]

Carolyn R, I'm sure that if you did not know what you were doing, it could be dangerous. If you know your horse, and know what s/he responds to, the lunge line method can be very effective. My horse is probably the nuttiest of them all, and she loads without a problem now. In the situation you saw, it seems like the people did not know what they were doing or were not paying attention. You should never do something that you are not sure of, but if you know what you are doing it is not a problem. I do not criticize the way you load your horse, so don't criticize mine.

[Bootyfulcobs]

My ellie, please don't take what i said the wrong way - i was simply giving my opinion which is what these message boards contain - i wasn't criticising you in any shape or form, and i take into consideration what you are saying, but stand by my opinion. And just for the record, they were experienced people and in a matter of secoonds, the horse had got the line round her feet and then was backing into the pressure they created - very little time for even the most experienced horse person to react, when you have a nervy horse on the ramp

[lamprellsarah]

yeah i see what you are both saying, i think you have to agree to disagree, for one horse i may use a lunge line like my current one, but for another like my friends pony i wouldn't take the chance!!

[Penelope]

I can second the dangers of the lunge line round the bottom!

My pony was being very naughty, and with two qualified instructors tryng to load her, she ran backwards tripping over the lunge line. She then reared up and fell over backwards, putting her back out!

Works for some, but for others ... it doesn't!

Penelope