# Teaching your horse to load in a trailer



## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

Its tough if you don't have your own trailer, but the trick is to get them to think of the trailer as a safe place. Its not something to do quickly it takes time and patience. Unfortunatley most people just want to get the horse in, get to where they are going and get the horse out. Ride. Repeat. 
I start mine out just getting in to eat and rest, gradually working up to going a few 100 feet moving up and down the driveway working our way up to driving down the road. 
Its not the loading and unloading thats hard on them, its the trip itself. Its not fun back there for the horse, and can be terrifying for a young or inexperienced horse. I wish everyone would train this way. It would make it easier for future owners. Take a ride in the trailer with your horse. It will give you new perspective on what its like. 
You know your horse will load. Next time you have a trailer available try making it a less scary experience for her. Don't get mad, that will get you no where. 
This is one of those times that patience will be your best asset. Once she is in take a short trip let her out, let her eat some grass or do something pleasant, load her back in and repeat. Spend a few hours or a day doing this, I guarantee she will load in any trailer.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Vida, that is a good idea. The way that I get my horses used to the trailer is also to have them think of it as a safe place or a place that they can rest. We take care of about 500 head of yearling cattle every summer and they are spread out over many pastures that are spread out over a large area. We go and ride through 3 or 4 pastures at a long trot or a lope then go load back up in the trailer, then go through 3 or 4 more pastures the same way, then load back up in the trailer, etc. When they figure out that trailer = rest, the same result happens. I can leave my horses ground tied while I open the trailer gate then just smooch a little and they jump right in. The only problem that I have ever encountered is a drastic change in trailer style will need just a second to look at to decide that it is in fact a trailer, then everythings fine.


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## SamboStar (Sep 18, 2008)

Yep, that's how I prefer to do it - outside of the trailer is boot camp, in other words, they have to work alot. Inside the trailer? Rest.

Start by lungeing her outside the trailer, between you and the trailer, on either side of the trailer, etc, until you feel they are thinking about you, then point their nose to the trailer. If you have a ramp load, send her over the ramp both ways. She'll learn that she can rest in the trailer and outside means work.

Clinton Anderson does it this way. It was amazing to watch him at one of his tour stops, working with a mare who HATED the trailer - in thirty minues, she went into the trailer willingly. Way cool.


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

I'll just add 2 things..

Besides being patient, remember that it can take a lot of practice/experience before the horse will _consistantly_ load. Many people stop practicing after their horses loads without problem a few times and then don't understand what is wrong when the horse won't load at 9pm, 100 miles from home, in the rain.

Make sure you recognize the different between the horse being scared and the horse just being ornery. Just like most things with a horse, even 'good' horses sometimes just don't want to do what we want, e.g. I was riding out at a friend's ranch one weekend and they were hosting a 4H horse event. When _I_ was ready to load up and go home, one of our mares (the very curious one) wanted to stay and watch her buddies in the arena. This is an entirely different problem for which we resort to the quick swat on the butt with a broom.


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## FGRanch (Feb 9, 2008)

I am totally with ***** on this one. My 2yr old Rem hated to load in trailers, she was probably one of the worst loaders that I ever had. She was so stubburn, she wouldn't even fight. Just freeze. It wasn't something she wanted to do so she just would not do it. 

Everytime I went to load her I would lunger her at the back of the trailer and then ask her to load. If she didn't load then back to lunging but this time faster. She soon realized that loading was much much easier than running small tight circles and now loads like a dream! I also always make sure that while I'm doing this I don't just load them once and say okay I'm done. I load a couple of times with lots of reward when she goes up into the trailer! And to top of off when she got up in the trailer I always let her have her fave treat once she is in the trailer! 

Another very important thing, make sure the person driving the truck knows how to haul a trailer with horses in it. Slow down a good ways in advance before you have to stop, take corners wide and slow, etc. I've seen tons of horses that load fine and then they have one bad hauling experience. It takes hardly anytime to teach a horse something but a lifetime to fix something.


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## whitetrashwarmblood (Aug 24, 2008)

FehrGroundRanch said:


> I've seen tons of horses that load fine and then they have one bad hauling experience. It takes hardly anytime to teach a horse something but a lifetime to fix something.


This is exactly my mare's problem. She's scared, not being bratty.
I had her to where she'd load perfectly fine into our stock trailer, and she was if-y about the slant load but loaded up after a minute of sniffing at it. When it was time to load up after the clinic (in the slant), she completely froze. I was doing fine trying to get her over it, but then one of the girls there decided to 'help' and started whipping her hind legs with a lunge whip. This completely scared the crap out of her because one of her main reasons of being scared of the trailer is because she's afraid of people hitting her from behind like that. She's also afraid of going in and having the door slammed on her. 


This completely ruined our little training session, and the girl didn't go away in fact she thought she'd be nice by bringing her friends and they ran a lunge line along each side of her to pull her in. Now she has rope burns above her hocks! I tried being nice, and asking them to stop but they insisted. This seems to happen every time I go to a clinic and Athena has a trailer problem. Someone comes for help, but for all the wrong reasons.


Today, I took her over to the old stock trailer by ourselves. She was a little afraid at first, and would swing her butt around the side of the trailer so she couldn't walk straight in. After about 15 minutes of just letting her eat grass around it & walking her right up to the trailer but not in, she had put her front feet in the trailer by herself without me trying to pull her in or anything. And after about another 15 minutes she followed me all the way in (all four feet) on a loose rope, or in other words I wasn't pulling her in or anything. I think having tons of people around her makes her nervous, and having a different trailer doesn't help much either. I 'll probably stick with the stock trailer until she's very comfortable. I know that when we take breaks at gas stations, and I check on her she's shaking like a leaf. I think I'm going to have to take this trailer training really slow.


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## FGRanch (Feb 9, 2008)

Poor Athena (I absolutly love that name BTW) 

Next time someone tries to help you load politily say know if that doesn't work just tell them "I know you are trying to help but you are actually making the situation worse. She loads better when it's just the two of us." It's your horse and you can't have people trying to help you with her but in reality wrecking her! 

If I were her and I had rope burns on my legs and had been whipped I wouldn't want to be anywhere near a trailer either! I'm not saying you did anything wrong, but be patient with the poor sweet girl. She really does have a reason to be geniunly scared! It's gonna take Athena a long time to get over her fears, just be sure that something like this never happens again please!


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## Velvetgrace (Aug 17, 2008)

I will add my experiences.

1. 4 horses that would not load were taught to load with patience and work. They would be lunged outside near the trailer and then lead up to the trailer and asked to go in. I would run the rope up through the side of the trailer and encourage them from behind. After several attemps, all four horses will load without having to led them into the trailer. I should also add that I did leave some feed up in the front of the trailer as a treat, but just a little. I would load and unload several time and then take a good long break and try again. The break would last as long as an afternoon or a couple of days. 

2. I had one horse that I could not get into the trailer with the method above. We ended up taking a lariat and puting it around the horse's withers and running the end up through between the front legs and then through the halter. This attempt taught the horse to move foward and as the reward was the release of the rope. You may have to play the yo yo affect and were gloves, and encourage from behind with a buggy whip.


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## Velvetgrace (Aug 17, 2008)

I don't want to leave the impression that the use of a whip is to slap the fire out of them. I use it as an extention of my arm and to try to pat them and rub them.


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## mom2pride (May 5, 2009)

FehrGroundRanch said:


> Another very important thing, make sure the person driving the truck knows how to haul a trailer with horses in it. Slow down a good ways in advance before you have to stop, take corners wide and slow, etc. I've seen tons of horses that load fine and then they have one bad hauling experience. It takes hardly anytime to teach a horse something but a lifetime to fix something.


This is sooooooo vital!!! My DH bless his soul, "thinks" he knows how to pull a horse trailer with horses in it...but he will still pull out in front of vehicles, push on the brakes too hard, and take off too quickly. My last horse, Pride, NEVER sweated when I hauled him in the trailer, except the very first time, because he was a little nervous, after that, he was always cool as a cucumber. Well, the ONE and only time I let my hubby pull him he was soaked and very upset in the 1\2 hour that he drove. After that half hour, I drove the remainder of the 2 hour drive we had to get home, after which Pride dried off, and relaxed. Unfortunately my hubby still thinks that it's "just me" that thinks that pulling horses needs to be done in such a way, but one of these days I'm going to put him in the back of a trailer and tell him to stand there, with his hands tied behind his back and stay standing...Then he might realize what those horses go through, and perhaps change his mind on how he drives with them in tow; in the mean time, he won't be pulling any of MY horses in tow! :lol:


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## whitetrashwarmblood (Aug 24, 2008)

FehrGroundRanch said:


> Poor Athena (I absolutly love that name BTW)
> 
> Next time someone tries to help you load politily say know if that doesn't work just tell them "I know you are trying to help but you are actually making the situation worse. She loads better when it's just the two of us." It's your horse and you can't have people trying to help you with her but in reality wrecking her!
> 
> If I were her and I had rope burns on my legs and had been whipped I wouldn't want to be anywhere near a trailer either! I'm not saying you did anything wrong, but be patient with the poor sweet girl. She really does have a reason to be geniunly scared! It's gonna take Athena a long time to get over her fears, just be sure that something like this never happens again please!



Haha, I always thought that was a neat name. :wink:

Thanks, I'm gonna make sure everything goes good for the next clinic. I'm going to take extra precautions like parking farther away from the arena and other people, and making sure to leave early/get to the clinic early. I really want to make this a good experience for her, but it's kinda hard when certain people try to force their own training methods on ya. Idk, I think they seek me out. :lol: This is the fourth or fifth time that someone has decided to try and help me.


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## whitetrashwarmblood (Aug 24, 2008)

Velvetgrace said:


> I use it as an extention of my arm and to try to pat them and rub them.


Yea, that's what I used before. I would lead her in front of the trailer, and if she didn't walk in on her own I would tap her hind leg until she took a step. 

Now, after the incident she won't let me come near her with one. =/


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## whitetrashwarmblood (Aug 24, 2008)

mom2pride said:


> This is sooooooo vital!!! My DH bless his soul, "thinks" he knows how to pull a horse trailer with horses in it...but he will still pull out in front of vehicles, push on the brakes too hard, and take off too quickly. My last horse, Pride, NEVER sweated when I hauled him in the trailer, except the very first time, because he was a little nervous, after that, he was always cool as a cucumber. Well, the ONE and only time I let my hubby pull him he was soaked and very upset in the 1\2 hour that he drove. After that half hour, I drove the remainder of the 2 hour drive we had to get home, after which Pride dried off, and relaxed. Unfortunately my hubby still thinks that it's "just me" that thinks that pulling horses needs to be done in such a way, but one of these days I'm going to put him in the back of a trailer and tell him to stand there, with his hands tied behind his back and stay standing...Then he might realize what those horses go through, and perhaps change his mind on how he drives with them in tow; in the mean time, he won't be pulling any of MY horses in tow! :lol:



O I'm not worried about the driver. My boss drives VERY slow pulling a trailer or not. She takes extra wide turns, slows down gradually before turns/stops and all that. 

I'm thinking about loading her up with a horse that could careless about the trailer and drive them around the block once a week or something. Right now, I've just been practicing with me and her by ourselves with just loading and unloading.


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## Piper182 (Jun 18, 2009)

This story isn't too helpful, but it's awesome.

My friend has this one horse, Simka, that she has trained ridiculously well. She got a wild/abused stallion mustang in, but she had to trailer him back to her place. Needless to say, he didn't really want to go in the trailer. After two tries, she pulled Simka off the trailer, handed him the leadrope and in ten minutes Simka had trained the wild stud to load and unload perfectly. She sent me a video, Simka is amazing.


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## HalfPass (Jun 12, 2009)

Hey there WTW!
I agree with *****. I too saw Clinton ANderson do a clinic on trailering. He does make a vide/dvd that has the trailering concepts.
I was shocked too when I saw him work with 2-3 different horses in I think it as 1 1/2 hours session and he had gotten both problematc horses into the trailer with out any major issues.

At one time I also watched Monte Roberts do a trailering clinic and I have to say the Clinton Andersons concepts seemed to take way less time and where much more effective. I think in the clinic I watched he had both a step up and an ramp trailer so it was full of great information. 

Using a long lead line or a lounge line to work the horse over the ramp was very effective. Rewardarding the sloghtest efforts of the horse also seemed to go a long way.
I think this is Huge when doing any training things...
Our body language and what is going on with us affects them so much as well. That is something I really have to be mindful of.
If I go out and say to myself "oh this is going to be a hard thing to deal with" I usually have a difficult time and become frustrated. If I say to myself " I am going to do my best to be consistent and remember to reward my horse when he trys then usually things go well" 

Sometimes all the reward is ...is when I allow him to come and Be with me and get rubbed and loved on.

I have a lot of work to do with my horse who has forgotten all hiss manners due to being in pasture for a long while....
SO consistency and a lot of groud work excersises will be instore for us.

I wish you luck with all of this...Oh and taking short trips in the trailer I do believe helps as well...

Hope this and all the other info posted will help you with your process..
Half Pass


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## whitetrashwarmblood (Aug 24, 2008)

Update:

Today I worked with her some more by ourselves with the old stock trailer. I had another worker come sit next to the trailer, so she can get used to having others near by without worrying about them. Again, I kept plenty of slack between me and her with the lead rope. (side note: I use those rope halters.) Another thing that she has problems with (when it comes to the trailer) is trying to pull/drag her in. She completely freezes and swings her butt around the side of the trailer. So I let her decide how close she wants to be behind me as I walk straight up to the trailer and take one step inside. Today, she didn't hesitate to step up and put her front feet in, but it took a few more tries to get her to come in completely. After she had done that I asked her to come in again, but if she didn't come in all the way and backed out I asked her to come in again right after she backed out. Usually after she walked in and backed out, I let her have some grass near the trailer then walked her back to try again. But she had to try twice now before I let her have some grass. She's gotten the hang of it, and has realized that she needs to at least half-way in to be able to get some grass. Besides following me in, the only other encouragement I give her is talking to her, and lots of lovin' when she comes in weather it's 1 hoof or 4. She seems to prefer this much more than anything else, and so far she's gotten so much better already. I also give her one treat when ever she comes in the trailer completely.


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## chika1235 (Jan 1, 2009)

whitetrashwarmblood said:


> This is exactly my mare's problem. She's scared, not being bratty.
> I had her to where she'd load perfectly fine into our stock trailer, and she was if-y about the slant load but loaded up after a minute of sniffing at it. When it was time to load up after the clinic (in the slant), she completely froze. I was doing fine trying to get her over it, but then one of the girls there decided to 'help' and started whipping her hind legs with a lunge whip. This completely scared the crap out of her because one of her main reasons of being scared of the trailer is because she's afraid of people hitting her from behind like that. She's also afraid of going in and having the door slammed on her.
> 
> 
> ...


 
i think the girls knew what they were doing besides going over her hocks,when my horse (her names booty) wouldnt load i made a pully system with the trailer and i had the lunge line across her but and i eventually got her in(she has been loaded before just didnt want too) and then i fed her and let her back out again,then the next time she walked right in and i kept working with her until i could snap my fingers slightly behind her shoulder and she would get in in just a halter.the way i had the trailer set up was it was back into the barn.now she will go into any trailer anywhere and she had no injuries whatsoever.i did this to my other horses that didnt want to load and they had the same results.and all this took only 15-30 minutes ill post a video too what the results where.she isnt afraid of it at all.in fact when i have the trailer parked in the field she will go into it.she loves the trailer.


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