Problems backing out of trailer

[Hunt~Jump21]

A friend of mine has a serious problem, his horse won't back out of the trailer! He loads just great but once you get him in, he refuses to back out. I don't know what to tell him as I have never experienced anything like this before. I've had plenty of horses that wouldn't load, but never one that won't back out! He thinks his horse might be afraid of backing down off the step (we would try a trailer with a ramp but don't have access to one).
This is becoming a serious problem because the only trailer my friend has access to on a regular basis is a straight-load (or "side-by-side") step-up and it has taken as long as over an hour in the past to get his horse to back out because in those trailers the horse has no other choice, they can't turn around. So does anyone have any suggestions for training this horse to back out of a step-up trailer safely and in a reasonable amount of time? Thanks for any advice.

[Bebe]

If a trailer with a ramp is absolutely out of the question, have you tried actually teaching the horse how to back down a step? It isn't something that horses would naturally do and it probably feels very unnatural and strange for the horse.

The way I'd do it would be to find a small step or even use the kerb on the pavement and teach him to back down this. Give him lots of time and when he does do it, lots and lots of praise.

Once he's happy with this small step down, try to find something a little higher and do the same thing with that. Aim to gradually build up the height of the step down until it's on the same level as the trailer. Do give the horse lots of time to get used to this and take it very slowly. If he gets upset, go back to a lower step down and build his confidence back up with that.

You might have to get a bit creative with what to use for steps and if there's nothing at all to use you could try backing him down a small hill just so he gets used to going back and down at the same time.

I think if you can work through it like this and take lots of time you should find that after a few weeks (may take longer) the horse will be okay about backing out of the trailer. You may find that the horse seems to regress a bit when you actually put him in the trailer and ask him to back out, again you just need to be patient and let him do it in his own time.

Hope this helps
Amanda

[Tina J]

The first time I saw those types of trailers in the States I wondered how the horses cope with backing out down the drop! We only have trailers with ramps in the UK. Mind you, I really like the swan neck attachment design of American trailers, which is something else we don't have over here.

If your friend is going to use the trailer on a regular basis, how about getting a detachable ramp made that can be taken either in the pick-up, or carried in the other stall of the trailer? It will need to be very solid (obviously) so might cost him a bit, but worth it surely in the end. Though Amanda's suggestions for training the horse sound good too.

[Shiny McShine]

I saw a horse that like the one you are describing at a training clinic I went to once. The horse went onto the float fine but would not want to come off.

This particular horse was given some revision on leading, backing up and moving side to side and then was put onto the float a couple of steps and then backed off. When he could do that calmly he would be walked on a few more steps then backed off again. He was only moved as far into the float as he would calmly walk off.

After about 5 minutes the horse was calmly walking on and off the float. It was suggested that the horse may have been taught to go on the float the first time without being taught to get off, just put on and the door closed behind him. After his first trip he wouldn't have known how to get down resulting in the panic.

I don't know if this could be the case but all the same the way the horse was taught to back off the float may be of help.