Trailer loading problem

[Rowena]

The other day I tried to help a friend load her (awkward) horse in a trailer, by using my horse as a lead example. Oh regrets, regrets :mad:

Her horse learned to trailer load alright, and in the process managed to teach my horse to run out backwards at a hundred miles an hour!! :mad:

Now I have ended up with a problem I did not have to begin with, and don't know how exactly to fix...
It's a dangerous problem to have, and seeing as my friends horse really frightened my horse in the process, those lessons learned in fear tend to be lodged deep. I could kick myself :mad: :mad: :mad:

Now my horse is very frightened about going in the trailer, he goes because I have asked, but then panics and runs out at a hundred miles an hour...

HELP PLEASE :eek: :confused: :eek:

[cvb]

what kind of trailer is it ?
and at what point does your horse do the high-speed exit ? Is it before you have put any kind of bar etc up ?

He needs to gain some confidence that its ok to stay there...but it depends what is worrying him what exercises you might do.

At least, at this stage, he is still going IN - so now is the time to reduce the stress levels before that stops as well :(

[bevy]

If he will go in, could you encourage him to stay in by having a bowl of food there as a reward/inducement to staying put! Some years ago, we had a problem loading 2 ponies after an accident( quite understandable as trailer went over with them in it). We parked the new trailer(it was a write-off) in the field left all ramps down and put their feeds inside, it didn't take long before greed overcame fear!!!! then we started leading them thru, stopping in the stalls for a treat and then out again. Probably took about half a dozen attempts before they stood in quietly; took them for a couple of little trips round the village. We also have a mare that had been taught(!!!!!!!!!!!) to come out of a lorry backwards, and we followed a similar regime with her. She took about 2 weeks of a max half hour session a day. Now she loads herself.

[Rowena]

what kind of trailer is it ?
and at what point does your horse do the high-speed exit ? Is it before you have put any kind of bar etc up ?
:(
It's a two berth trailer with one ramp at the back. He does the high speed exit when we have arrived at our destination, and he decides he wants to get out NOW!!! I have bars at the back so he cant get underneath, but he rams his backside up against the bars, and this makes it all the more tricky to un-latch them without him crashing out on top of everything :eek:

If he will go in, could you encourage him to stay in by having a bowl of food there as a reward/inducement to staying put!
I tried by offering him his favorite treat, but he stands shaking and will not eat:confused:

What to do, what to do?

[dwoodie]

Does he lunge? This is what I did.... Start by lunging him, load him--let him rest in the trailer, if he wants to come out let him. As soon as he comes out lunge him again. Reload him, let him rest. If he comes out again, let him but lunge him as soon as he comes out. Continue this untill he will stand in the trailer for 4-5 minutes. Then end the session. Repeat this session for 1 week. By the end of the week he should understand that as soon as he comes out of the trailer he has to work and he will see the trailer as a place to rest and therefore it will be a placed of comfort. At the end of 5 days take him for a short ride. When you stop and it is time for him to get out, if he backs out slowly and waits for you to unload him--lesson learned, if he races out, lunge him and let him rest in the trailer again. (you might have to do small rides in the trailer for a week also and then unload him, lunge him reload him) Took me aprox one seek of loading and one week of loading, trailering, unloading and small trailering again, but all I have to say now is get up in the trailer and up she goes, and lets unload and she slowly unloads herself.
Hope this works. Good luck.
(by the way, learned this from Clinton Anderson shows)

[Rowena]

[QUOTE=dwoodie;1051708] Start by lunging him, load him--let him rest in the trailer, if he wants to come out let him. As soon as he comes out lunge him again. Reload him, let him rest.
)/QUOTE]

This is an excellent idea!!! Thank you.
Very clever indeed - to get the horse to associate rest with the trailer. Makes me think that's perhaps why the regular show horses load so well (maybe after all the work going on in the show, the trailer is somewhere they can just stand in)

I shall do this... thanks for the input.
PS: who is Clinton Anderson? down in Africa, we have never heard of him :o

[dwoodie]

In my opionion Clinton Anderson is one of the best trainers. He is origionally from Australia. Here is a link to his web page. He now trains in the US. http://www.downunderhorsemanship.com/about.html he is into Flexing your horse alot to get him soft.

Here is a quote "Clinton works hard to educate horse owners on how to be safe and effective while enjoying their horses. His training methods are easy to understand and designed to help horse owners get the results they desire." from the web site. His techniques and the Parelli methonds are close together.