# Trailer Loading 101



## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

I see it as kinda an inefficient use of training time to teach a horse to load in a trailer. All fine you taught your horse to load, now what happens when you get to a bridge ? Teach him to cross a bridge, oops ut oh, now we have a creek, well guess I gotta teach that. and on and on, see my point.
Techniques I use is I teach the horse to go where I point regardless of what the obstacles are there. I dont want to train to a specific obsticle. I want to train. "GO where I say, because I say," I dont want my horse thinking about loading or not loading. I think he acts.
This is accomplished in a roundpen with lots of obstacles . Anything you can think of, tarps, blowing plastic bags, tires, seesaws, gates, steps logs, I dont just do mindless circles in a round pen. I point and make the horse go where i point. 
The round pen is a safe familiar environment for them. They are receptive to learning. They get used to my commands, body language and symbols. By the time I walk them over to a big scarey trailer, they already know that my pointing inside means "go that way". The advantage to this is they learn "Go that way" no matter what obstacle you come across. They learn I am the leader and trust I wont get them hurt.
A horse that wont load either doesnt understand what you want him to do, or doesn trust and respect you as a leader. Once you fix those two items in the round pen, you can send that horse over or through anything.


----------



## hickly (Oct 22, 2011)

This is a great post, I highly recommend it! It's a great explanation-I'll definitely come back to it. Thanks for sharing!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## OutOfTheLoop (Apr 1, 2012)

I am with Joe. I have never had to teach a horse to load, I just point with the rope and they go in. My gelding I have now, I wrap the rope up out of the way and point and he loads himself. I never had to teach him or any other horse. Maybe I have been lucky. I had a few refuse at first, but after I give them the stink eye they run in.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

I have had a couple that wouldnt load. Both were fixed with a day or two of "sending" in the yard or roundpen. You have to teach the "send" in a non threatening environment. A horse that doesnt know go the way I point. Isnt gonna learn it standing at he mouth of a big scarey trailer. His flight instincts are activated. He aint learning he's reacting to danger. You gotta teach the go command. Then hopefully when you get to a trailer he is sane enough to allow his training to overcome his fear.


----------



## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

You know, I could pick this post apart, but I won't. I believe that training your horse isn't getting a degree in nuclear fission, though sometimes it looks like fission. The MORE time you spend doing ANYTHING with your horse, creates the bonding and the obedience that your horse needs to behave himself at home or away from home. SO, IMHO, all of the Original Post could be followed and your horse will listen _better _to you when you're done.
I want to add that putting a big animal in a small claustrophobic space can create an explosion. _Therefore, to help with his preparation,_ I suggest that you FIND a human width door, ~34" wide, 6 ft. tall and teach your horse that doesn't want to load to go through this door on command. Use one that leads from a big space to another big space, like the entrance to your stable. Preferably, the door should be flush with the ground/floor. You can drive him or bribe him through it, even have a helper catch him on the other side. When he finds this door relaxing and even boring you will have few problems loading into any slant load trailer where the opening is 1/2 of a stock trailer.


----------



## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

Fantastic thread, Beau. Too many people will rush the process (I've been there!) and end up with two frustrated parties. 

Joe and OOTL - that's fantastic  but when someone is searching for trailer loading problems only, this thread is great.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

Exactly Joe! I had a mare that would cross anything, go everywhere, spook at nothing, even helicopters landing beside her. She loaded fine, then I got a straight haul because it had a nice tackroom, she loaded fine, but was hesitant next time and it got worse & worse, she started refusing then finally one time, she ran in past me & deliberately fell to her knees. I sold the trailer and went back to a stock, after she rode in it once, she was back to her old self. The straight haul was big enough for her but that mare couldn't handle hauling straight and told me in every possible way she knew how, I finally listened. Just like a saddle that don't fit, you don't train a horse to wear it and accept, you get one that accommodates their body, money aside.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

thats my point, "trailer loading problem" isnt a trailer loading problem. Its a trust, communication problem. Wartesbear horse loaded because it ws trained to do what it was told. It kept doing it even though there was somekinda problem with that trailer. Had a ranger told me he responded to a "horse wont load call " at the park, got there to a lathered up horse and equally lathered up lady. Lady couldnt understand it, horse wouldnt load. Usually he was fine.
After the ranger put her lug nuts back on horse loaded fine. Kinda makes you go hummmmmmmmmmmm. 
I had something similar happen to me one spring. Turned out to be a big wasps nest in the manger area. Horses are smart. They have to accept us as leaders, but sometimes we have to accept they have better sight, smell, hearing, and basic sense of survival than we do. And sometimes they are just buttheads.


----------



## beau159 (Oct 4, 2010)

Joe4d said:


> I see it as kinda an inefficient use of training time to teach a horse to load in a trailer. All fine you taught your horse to load, now what happens when you get to a bridge ? Teach him to cross a bridge, oops ut oh, now we have a creek, well guess I gotta teach that. and on and on, see my point.
> Techniques I use is I teach the horse to go where I point regardless of what the obstacles are there. I dont want to train to a specific obsticle. I want to train. "GO where I say, because I say," I dont want my horse thinking about loading or not loading. I think he acts.


I agree with you Joe, and hence why I stressed it is important to spend weeks (or longer) just working on ground work and respect with your horse before ever introducing them to the trailer. The trailer itself is usually not the problem; it's the horse's respect toward the handler (unless of horse the horse is physically too big for the trailer ... I wouldn't want to load either if I didn't fit!)

Absolutely these steps could be applied to anything at all; not just trailer loading. It's all about when you ask your horse to move their feet, they should respond to you without question. 

I'm a very step-by-step orientated person. So I approach trailer loading (or any other ground training or obstacle) in a step-by-step fashion. I find things easier to understand that way.

I very much agree when you say that a "trailer loading problem" is actually a trust and communication problem. But a lot of the people that come on here looking for help with their "trailer loading problem" do not understand that. Hence to have good information for them to review to learn that!



Corporal said:


> *You know, I could pick this post apart,* but I won't. I believe that training your horse isn't getting a degree in nuclear fission, though sometimes it looks like fission. The MORE time you spend doing ANYTHING with your horse, creates the bonding and the obedience that your horse needs to behave himself at home or away from home. SO, IMHO, all of the Original Post could be followed and your horse will listen _better _to you when you're done.


Please do. I'm sure there's things I said wrong or ways to do it better. I am just a no-namer ... I do not know it all by any means. This is an open discussion. Please contribute. 

I agree completely. Time spent with your horse means good ground manners, good respect, and a more willing horse partner.

And you could certainly substitute the word "trailer" with tarp, or bridge, or puddle of water, or jump, etc etc.


----------



## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

Corporal - why pick this post apart?? You could add to it but there's no need to insinuate that the OP's post is severely lacking. It's an easy to follow method that is pretty dummy proof for those looking to trailer train their horses. It establishes good practices and that it is not something achieved overnight. 
I thought that the OP was well written and easy to understand by even a novice horse person. It's spring/summer and we are getting to the height of trail/show season - lots of loading problems about now! The OP is simple and outlines a very stress-free method.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## Cherie (Dec 16, 2010)

I have NEVER had any trailer loading problems or hauling problems. That includes way back when I had a little narrow Stidham 2-horse and when I had a pickup truck with stock racks and my horses had to jump in and back out of. 

I have always believed that if you properly train a horse to lead and respect a halter and respect you as the one who 'calls all the shots', trailer loading is just one more little thing that takes care of itself. 

I cannot count how many dozens (if not hundreds) of times I have raised horses and never even showed them a trailer until I was ready to haul them somewhere. Every single one of them has just walked right in. They already knew that whatever I wanted them to do was going to be how it is.

The same is true of bridges and water and ????? If a horse is obedient and goes forward when told, the fact there there is a bridge in front of them is only a reason to hesitate -- never refuse. The rider then tells the horse to go forward and they go over the bridge.

We have encountered many horses that had been spoiled for trailer loading. We teach all of them to load by teaching them to respect a halter. After loading a few times, all we have to do is throw a lead over their back and 'smooch' and get out of their way. 

For us, obedience should never be optional -- it is just the way IT IS. 100% consistency is the cornerstone of any good training program. We have also found that horses trained in this way are much happier. They ALWAYS KNOW what they should do and are perfectly happy to comply. Just like you have never seen a happy, spoiled tantrum throwing child, you will not see a happy spoiled horse. When a horse is going around with its ears back, is mad, is 'on the fight', don't tell me that animal is happy. An obedient horse that KNOWS EXACTLY who is in charge is more relaxed, has its ears up in an inquisitive way, is much more responsive and is HAPPY. Just like people that are happy working for a good boss, horses with a good, strong 'no non-since' leader are happy.


----------



## beau159 (Oct 4, 2010)

Well said Cherie, as usual.


----------

