trailer loading problem! clicker/parelli

michelle c

michelle c

dieting! 8 pounds to go!!
Oct 17, 2004
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well not really a problem yet, as i havent started again yet!! :eek:

what i wanted to ask was that i did the loading thing parelli style a few years back and only got to the point where my mare would go in every time but would not let me put the ramp up (this was a trailer with only a rear ramp)

i now have one with a front ramp aswell, BUT am unsure wheather to let her go through the whole trailer and out the front while practicing because i would like her to think the only way to get out is backwards (her one and only time traveling in the trailer she tried to get over the breast bar)
i will be doing it with a clicker this time though.

if any one could help that would be great thanx
 
I agree with you regarding only unloading backwards esp in light of her 'breast bar' incident.

Why would "she not let you put up the ramp" in the last trailer?
 
I agree. I'd teach her first with the front gate closed. Get her good about all that first, before showing her that trick.

Have you got a breaching bar/rope to go behind her when she's in? I would get her comfortable with standing with that done up first, before actually shutting her in. Safer too, esp if you're not tying her & she may turn around. I've actually started the shutting in part with horses facing backwards on occasion. Just work in baby steps, getting her confident at each step before moving on & you'll keep progressing.
 
Will you always unload out the back then? If not, at some point you are going to have to deal with the front unload issue and personally, I would let your horse walk through the trailer and out the front many many many times. When she is doing this completely calmly and offering to do it (which she will if you use clicker training correctly) start to bit by tiny bit ask her to stand in with all the doors open and no bars and gradually increase the duration before putting bars in place and shutting doors. With mine, I do not start to put up bars and shut them in until they have learnt to stand calmly, untied and on their own while i walk all around the trailer and back to them, reward them and repeat many times. If the horse leaves the trailer in any direction you know that they are not 100% happy and haven't learnt to stand in calmly and wait for your return so it is too soon to be fitting bars and shutting doors.

I would also encourage you not to use a rope or pressure halter in conjunction with Clicker work and just use a normal flat head collar.

Hope this helps :)
 
thanx for your suggestions

wonkeywoody

i think the reason is that she doesnot like to face away from an opening e.g when she is in her stable she wont turn and face the back of the stable for any length of time, she always likes to be able to see out! so puttin the ramp up feels (i think) that she is being trapped and i dont think she understands that i am not goin to leave her all day and night lol!!! i think iwill hav to travel her with the front top door open

wundahoss
i did get to the point where i could put a rope behind her and she would stay in, but was reluctant to fasten it in case she paniced when lifting the ramp. not sure how to over come that problem?

quarryhorse
at first i think i will unload from the back and as she gets confident traveling i think i would then let her come out the front!!! i think it is a good idea to walk round until she waits until i say and think by using the positive reinforcement will work much better and get better results.

if any one has got any other suggestions or experiences similar i would love to hear thanx again
 
Just retrained mine to load after a bad experience and a year when he wouldn't go near a trailer. It only took a year because for the first 10 months I was trying to borrow other people's trailers, and it didn't occur to me that I had a tremendously sensible horse who was telling me that it was not safe to go in a trailer that wasn't attached to a car (no matter how well propped it was). I bought my own trailer in the end, and things progressed very quickly indeed :)

I did pretty much what Quarryhorse suggests - though I used the help of long-suffering OH to do things like putting up breeching bars, and closing doors towards the end of the process.

Like you, the trailer I bought has a front unload, but all the training I did was for him to unload by reversing off. Towards the very end, when he was very happy with loading, standing in trailer etc., I started to introduce occasional unloads via the front ramp - but only at the point where he was completely calm and would respond to very soft requests in the trailer. Even then, he found the front ramp more difficult.

I guess all the clicker work on backing up on the ground means he always feels confident when I ask him to back up (we even do back up onto a mat as prep :)).

No other suggestions apart from saying again what everybody else said - break it down in to very small steps and go back a step if she seems unsure or unconfident :) Oh, and when you're introducing the breeching bar closing and door closing, it's actually quite useful to have a ham-fisted OH, because the horse quickly learns that clanking, faffing and wobbling etc. coming from behind are swiftly followed by a click/treat if you stand still ;)
 
LOL capalldubh :) I have a great assistant to help me with this work but she pretends to be hamfisted at the appropriate moments for the very reason you have said :)
 
I have a great assistant to help me with this work but she pretends to be hamfisted at the appropriate moments for the very reason you have said
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:D
I know - at the time, I thought "Oh no, he's faffing around, the horse will get worried" - but then realised, after all that training, did I really want a horse who would load perfectly and then get worried if the slightest thing made a noise or happened in a different order?

Now we are all chilled and even non-horsey OH is impressed. Mind you, he helped me tow to go on a clicker clinic last month, and was more worried than I was. We had to stop about every 40 minutes, pull into a lay-by, hop out and give the horse a few pony nuts. The horse reckoned the in-flight service was excellent, and despite a 6 hour journey to the clinic, the previously nervous loader hopped straight back in for the trip home :D
 
What a brilliant other half you have
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Ah, but he is well clicker trained too :D Seriously, though, taking a whole precious weekend and two days off work to help tow, and then entertaining himself for all that time in the middle of nowhere while I faffed about clicking - I think he's worth his weight in gold :D It was an Alex Kurland clinic, my second, the horse's first :)
 
Mine wouldn't go in the trailer until I coaxed him in with a carrot! I realise though that it isn't always as simple as following a carrot and many horses have issues with previous bad experiences and being confined etc. Good luck
 
i think the reason is that she doesnot like to face away from an opening e.g when she is in her stable she wont turn and face the back of the stable for any length of time, she always likes to be able to see out! Play in her stable getting her confident and happy about facing the wall and accepting stuff going on behind her, afterall this is exactly how it is going to be in a trailer.

. i think iwill hav to travel her with the front top door open thats not a good idea. Things fly into trailers and into horses eyes. You have to work on her confidence.
 
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