# New Trailer, Old Horse, New Tricks



## livelovelaughride (Sep 13, 2011)

Sigh....so I was told by the previous owner my guy had been in an accident with a straight haul so she bought a slant and he's good in that.
Fast forward to recently - he's been okay with my coach's oversize straight haul - he just rushes out backwards.
Now we have that new 2 horse slant and I'm having to re educate him slowly to entering it and staying in. I haven't yet used the divider in practicing him getting used to having it close on him. He backs out before I'm even near enough to close it.

My trailer has the one big rear door and there is no escape door. I am considering using my trailer as a stock trailer and hauling him loose. My coach is against this idea, and I haven't tried it yet. I do plan on getting the local training pro to give me a hand on moving forward.

Right now I am working on getting him comfortable inside the trailer. He tends to back up quickly and he has now improved to walking backwards calmly without running out. I'm aiming for controlled movement forwards and backwards, and I know it will be repetitious.

Logistically, how do you load your horse and manage to close the door if its loose, and how do you unload (if by yourself) ??? I will either remove the divider or have it against the side wall. TIA


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

On the advice of my horse's chiropractor which I have replied on for 20 plus years, I don't back horses out of a trailer, so I don't have that problem. I also don't have loading problems, unloading problems, nor hauling problems. I haul once a week a least through mountainous alpine regions with never so much as a scratch on my live cargo. Only time I have ever had an issue was when I purchased a straight haul, the mare I owned would go in, then fall to her knees. I sold that trailer and went back to a stock. I currently own a slant, no problems ever. I can load up 2 horses and be out of the driveway in less than 5 minutes. The mare I mentioned earlier, was left loose in the front part of the stock and I closed the center gate. When I unloaded her, she would turn right around and stop, I would attach the lead rope and walk her out. Other than the straight haul fiasco, loading, unloading and hauling have always been non-issues for me and most horses I've hauled have been trained to the trailer by me. My methods work so I ain't changing a thing.
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## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

This sounds very similar to my trailer layout and the baby steps I had to take to get my horse used to it.

I had trouble getting him to go in at all at first, but some help from a good trainer fixed that very quickly. My horse prefers to turn around and walk out, so this may not work quite as well in your situation. But here's what worked for me.

I first made sure my horse was backing up well with a shake on the lead rope. This allows me to tell him to back up from a distance. I started out by loading him into the trailer and letting him turn around, but shaking the lead rope any time he came close to the edge to leave. At first I just focused on getting him to pause before allowing him to leave, then getting him to stand for longer, and then getting him to stand as I moved away from him towards the door. I got through this in one session, but he did need quick reminders on this at the beginning of future sessions.

As a note, I initially tried with him facing the back wall, but that was a no-go... he would do a very quick turn and try to leave as soon as I moved. It seemed to help a lot to let him see where I was the whole time.

Once I could get to closing the door completely without him trying to leave, I could reach through the slats and remove the lead rope. When I get to my destination, I reach through and re-attach the lead rope before opening the door. Luckily for me, he's always a little bit hesitant about stepping down off the trailer and I've never had him try to rush through the door as soon as it opened.

With this approach I was able to load and haul him all by myself pretty quickly. Regular trailer rides made this pretty routine for him, and once I was doing this very smoothly I started asking him to scoot up into the first slot before turning around and waiting for me to close the door. Then I started to move the divider after scooting him over there (took a few times before I could actually get it closed on him) and eventually I could get it closed completely. I found it helpful to use a long lead rope that I could thread through the slats to direct his head over to that corner. It's important to make sure it moves smoothly so you can just drop it and relieve all pressure if the horse pulls back. The first few times I closed it on him I immediately re-opened it and still hauled him loose and started hauling him with the divider closed on short trips. Now I haul him loose or with the divider closed and he's happy either way.


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## jbonnot03 (Jul 22, 2014)

Curious as to reasons behind unloading forward. I was taught to back a horse out of the trailer so they don't hit their rear leg on the bumper as they push off.
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## livelovelaughride (Sep 13, 2011)

Thanks! Verona, I'm curious - did you have him facing rearward in the partition as well, or was he facing the driver?

I'm laying awake at night thinking of how to keep him in the trailer while I get the door - and your response makes sense.....I will try it when he's ready.

As an aside, I just bought a wireless camera and hand held monitor so I can see what he's up to in the trailer. I haven't received it yet - bought from Amazon- but its of some comfort to me knowing what he will doing back there.

Regarding 'allowing' walking off - I think it depends on the horse. If he is clearly more calm walking forwards than scrambling backwards, I would have him walk off. But I am doing more schooling so he is better backing up. Interesting about the chiro though - is it a SIJ thing? (sacro iliac joint issue)?


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## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

livelovelaughride said:


> Thanks! Verona, I'm curious - did you have him facing rearward in the partition as well, or was he facing the driver?


I put him in facing the driver's side. When he would turn around, he'd get in and turn to the left, so it started out as just kind of interrupting his turn (blocking his head/eye rather than trying to block his body) and asking him to take a small step sideways (towards the bulkhead) before letting him continue his turn.


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

Not sure why your coach would have an issue with using your trailer more like a stock trailer and bypassing the divider, at least for awhile to help him get over his anxiety in the trailer.
I found that most horses that have never been trailered or anxious about it do better with more room like in a stock trailer. You can introduce the divider later as he gets more comfortable.

I would practice to loading and unloading without going anywhere. I would load him, pet him and ask him to come out. Whether you decide to back him out or turn around is a personal preference. Like wares, I turn around and teach my horses to step down rather than come leaping out. I wouldn't make a big deal about forcing him to be in the trailer just load, unload, load, unload not worrying about shutting the back door. As he becomes more comfortable ask him to stand in the trailer a little longer, it may only be 10 seconds at first but ask him to unload before he gets anxious. As you said in your post, it will be repetitious and boring. Eventually he will be comfortable enough to stand there (untied) and you will be able to shut the door when your by yourself. 

I stress that he should be trained to stay in the trailer untied, tying horses in smaller trailers without a helper to close the door makes nervous as I have seen a few wrecks where the horse was tied, handler walks out of the trailer to close the door, horse decides to back out, gets hind legs out of the trailer and hits the end of the lead, panics, pulls back and gets hind legs stuck under the back of the trailer causing some nasty injuries.


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## livelovelaughride (Sep 13, 2011)

Tonight I thought I would take out the divider, as it rattles inside the trailer when my horse steps up. No luck by myself - its got a pin that needs to be driven all the way up so I need another set of hands.

That would give the trailer a larger 'look'. That can be important to a horse - I'm hoping LOL.

What we accomplished today was - slower stepping backwards off the trailer. However I couldn't get him to put his hind legs into the trailer. But he is calmer, and only pooped once. The previous practice, he'd pooped multiple times, in addition to hitting his head 3 times on the way out because he had been worried and rushing. Good thing for those geeky helmets! And he had chiro yesterday - she checked and he didn't damage himself.

I'll update when we get more improvement....


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