# My horse is terrified of a trailer



## xXWildFlowerXx (May 4, 2011)

Flower will not so much as go near a horse trailer. I am trying my best to get her to so much as step inside, but nothings working. I've tried everything, from feed to treats to coaxing. 
If I were here, I'd be terrified of them, too. When I went to bring them home ( As there was her brother, Gunner, who died last year ) the people that owned them then, when they didn't want to go on the trailer, beat them to death with whips and chains, then blindfolded them and beat them up the ramp! I tried to tell them they were doing it very wrong, but no one listened. 

So now she's scared out of her wits of them, and won't go up one. I have three months to train her with this, so we can continue to the show.
Please help me and give me some tips with this!


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## AlexS (Aug 9, 2010)

it is perfectly understandable, I would not be a flight animal and go into a dark closed off space. Open every window, every door that you can. 

In England it is common to have a side ramp on a 2 horse bumper pull, sadly it is not here, as we would open the front ramp. 

Skip dinner, offer breakfast on the ramp, skip meals and offer more inside. Stay patient, and keep with it. Obviously I don't mean starve your horse, but you can reward with feed at any stage the horse is willing to give, and just push that. 

Once the horse is in, feed in their for a while.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

I didn't find feed to be a good thing to teach horse to load or stand in trailer (sorry, Alex  ). They get on after the food, eat and in hurry to leave as long as its done. 

I had a VERY hard loader I tried everything people advised on and to be honest I ended up using a trainer to deal with the problem (as I didn't have enough experience, yes yes I have no problem to admit that :wink: ). So my first suggestion if the situation is as bad as it sounds is to get a good trainer to help you with the loading. The trainer I used basically worked the horse next to the trailer letting her rest ONLY on trailer (just with front legs on at first, and then the whole body in). That was the only technique to work for me.


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## usandpets (Jan 1, 2011)

Kitten Val's is one way that I have used. As long as the horse has an interest in even just checking the trailer out (sniffing), let them stand there. They don't have to go in at first to rest. Work the horse away from the trailer and bring them to the trailer to rest. As they get more comfortable with the trailer, that is when I start to have them enter it to rest. If they back out, put them to work right away, and then let them rest at/in the trailer.

The other way I have used is using pressure to get them to move forward. The horses needs to know to move away from pressure beforehand. I would start by tapping the air at the horses rear, then tapping the rear, slowly increasing the level of intensity, until they take a step forward/towards the trailer or put their head down to check the trailer out. If they back away, I keep tapping until I get forward movement. When I get the forward movement, I let them rest and rub away where I was tapping.

The second way probably won't work very well for the OP's horse from what had happened before, but it does work.


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## xXWildFlowerXx (May 4, 2011)

kitten_Val said:


> I didn't find feed to be a good thing to teach horse to load or stand in trailer (sorry, Alex  ). They get on after the food, eat and in hurry to leave as long as its done.
> 
> I had a VERY hard loader I tried everything people advised on and to be honest I ended up using a trainer to deal with the problem (as I didn't have enough experience, yes yes I have no problem to admit that :wink: ). So my first suggestion if the situation is as bad as it sounds is to get a good trainer to help you with the loading. The trainer I used basically worked the horse next to the trailer letting her rest ONLY on trailer (just with front legs on at first, and then the whole body in). That was the only technique to work for me.


Yea, I think I may get a trainer for this issue, because I wouldn't want myself pinned inside the trailer when she happens to have enough of the trailer training. I may also try Alex's idea first, because it sounds exactly like my horse to go anywhere food is, especially if she's hungry.


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## MHFoundation Quarters (Feb 23, 2011)

I have used Kitten Val's method also and it works well as they see the trailer as a place to rest. 

With horses with traumatic trailer experiences, I like to be sure that you can control each foot independently on the ground before we ever approach the trailer. I have a platform that they all start on as a foundation for trailering. One foot on, one foot off, so on & so forth, all when you ask. I always add a verbal "Load" with this training. I can point any of mine towards the trailer, toss the rope over their necks and say "load" and they put themselves in. When you get to the point of her putting a foot in the trailer, back her off before she gets a chance to do it herself, make it your choice. Keep at it until you can put, 1 foot in and out, both fronts in & out, etc. Don't rush her or try to force her in as she is coming from a place of fear. When she does get in, make it a big party, love her up big time and back her back out. Eventually the bells will go off and she will think "oh yeah, going in there means getting loved on".


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## Alwaysbehind (Jul 10, 2009)

I am very glad to read you are willing and able to hire a trainer to help.



xXWildFlowerXx said:


> Yea, I think I may get a trainer for this issue, because I wouldn't want myself pinned inside the trailer when she happens to have enough of the trailer training.


But I admit, I am confused by your other post that said you could not afford a trainer.



xXWildFlowerXx said:


> My family doesn't have the money to afford a trainer. We have money to afford the horse is needs, such as vets, feed, farrier, ect. , but no money to put towards a trainer. I think I'd rather work with her myself anyway.


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## xXWildFlowerXx (May 4, 2011)

Alwaysbehind said:


> I am very glad to read you are willing and able to hire a trainer to help.
> 
> 
> 
> But I admit, I am confused by your other post that said you could not afford a trainer.


We don't have the money to afford a trainer that can break her  All the trainers around here are too expensive. They charge like, 50 dollars for each training session day, which is every day. My grandfather has agreed to help me work with her, as he grew up riding and broke some horses. I can ride my horse, she just needs training with commands like walking. Other then that, this is all we mainly need to work on.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

Flower, I don't want to come across rude, but I truly hope you won't get hurt in your experience with that horse. Is your granddad a knowledgeable horseman dealing with problem horses? I DO understand trainers are expensive (tell me about it! :wink: ), but sometime those money spent on trainer truly worth the broken bones or injured horse (or even worse). With that being said all I can say is good luck!


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## xXWildFlowerXx (May 4, 2011)

He's experienced. He was a horse trainer in his past days. My horse has been ridden before, I'm just making sure she still knows that she accepted a person on her back before then. I did ride her a couple days ago, last week, and she was doing fine  She did give a small buck though, but not enough to throw anyone off.


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

Having just been through a loading problem myself, and finding that it had little to nothing to do with the actual trailer, make sure you can first yield this horse's hind quarters both directions as well as send her through tight spaces. Clinton Anderson has excellent videos on both things and does a good job of showing what not to do to avoid getting kicked. 

The idea with the sending exercise is to get the horse both confident of going through tight spaces and respectful of the handler. First stand a good 10' away from a wall or fence and send the horse between you and the solid object, turn him around and send him back. The idea is to get the horse going back and forth calmly with no resistance. If the horse tries to jump on you to avoid going through the space, you need to immediately correct with a pop on the shoulder with the line or crop to get out of your space. Same thing with if the horse tries to kick out. That needs to be met with immediate correction. Make his life a living hell for the next 3 seconds and resume the exercise. There's a lot of sides to this exercise, so if you can find a video of it, you're better off watching it than me trying to describe it. I can tell you it will help tons with your problem. Good luck.


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## usandpets (Jan 1, 2011)

xXWildFlowerXx said:


> Yea, I think I may get a trainer for this issue, because I wouldn't want myself pinned inside the trailer ...


 You should never be inside the trailer if at all possible when the horse is loading or loaded. There may be times that you have to go in but the horse should be relaxed and standing still. I really hate when people say their trailer has an escape door. It really is only an access door. You shouldn't rely on it to escape.


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