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Expert
Posts: 1561
  
Location: North of where I want to be | The other thread got me thinking, I have the opposite problem. My gelding flat out refuses to back off a trailer. To the point that one night at a local show I was frustrated and just left him tied in the trailer while I exhibitionedmy other horse. He will walk of, but will not back off .
Any thoughts?? |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
 
| Good luck I had a couple that would never back off, when I send mine out for the first 30 days, this is now a requirement. |
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I'm Over It!!
Posts: 2830
| There is at least one thing about every horse I've ever had that I just had to live with or go insane over. For my 13 year old mare, it's not backing out of the trailer. She was hauled in a big horse van for the 1st 2 years of her life where she was loaded walking in and unloaded walking out of a ramp in the front. I just live with it. I do however, require that she turns and walks out calmly. |
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Location: South Dakota | I think it is a fear issue, my young mare had those thoughts of refusing to back out of trailer, and after working with her several days backing out of our barn, which has a little drop to it, she backed off the trailer...slowly, shakey at first, but she trusted me to do it.
The first time getting her to back out of the barn, was a challenge I'll say..both of us sweaty, but all is good now.. |
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Expert
Posts: 1561
Location: North of where I want to be | Well I guess its not the worst issue he could have
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 Expert
Posts: 5290
| I have always been told to pick my battles. THis is not one I really am willing to fight over. If my horse wants to turn around and walk off the trailer so be it. I don't see where it really makes a big difference.lol |
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Expert
Posts: 1561
Location: North of where I want to be | Truth be told I don't see it as a big deal either. I actually prefer to walk them off. All my hauling friends make an issue out of it though.
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 A Barrel Of Monkeys
Posts: 12972
Location: Texas | I use driving lines to back them out. Can be dangerous, so be careful. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1119
| I have one that won't back off either. I don't really care, I just have to be careful about which slot she is loaded in. There's been a few times I thought she was going to get stuck turning around! |
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Sock Snob
Posts: 3021
| Put a chest rope and a vig hackamore with driving lines. They will back,off my trailer. I will not let them jump off, i see some real almost accident if they jump off.
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Red Bull Agressive
Posts: 5981
Location: North Dakota | If he walks off calmly I wouldn't worry too much. If he walks of like my old mare (who turned herself around in a 2 horse straight load w/ a divider blocking of a third of it then flew off the trailer) then it might be a problem. |
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  Sock eating dog owner
Posts: 4553
Location: Where the pavement ends and the West begins Utah | I make sure they back off. When one turns they can shove that divider into you crush you and literally go over the top of you. I try to back them any where and every where so at least I'm one step in front of them so I can half way get them to back out. I refuse to turn around in any trailer. I backed my trailer up to a hill and teach them to back off with out the drop off so they know what I want . I make them stop at the edge so they know where the trailer ends and let them pick how they want to proceed. |
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 Expert
Posts: 3534
Location: Stuck in a cubicle having tropical thoughts | Mine won't back off either. She will back to the back edge of the trailer, but once she starts to step off backwards and feels that drop, she panics and runs back forward. I've even had the trailer parked on the side of the hill so that the drop is only an inch or two, but she gets so terrified. I figure is that is the worst thing she does, then oh well. I also think of it as a 'pick my battles' thing and it's not worth the fight. She always goes in the first stall and I tie her so she can't turn around on her own. She has to wait for me to un-tie her.
My other mare however, when she was on a trailer at 4 months old, she backed off the first time like it was regular instinct. This mare never needed any training on backing off. |
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| I have one like that! Wish he would back off! But not a big deal! I open the window throw the lead over his neck when he turns to look at me.. I open the divider he turns around and walks straight out! Wish he would back off but less chance of horse or myself getting hurt! |
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 Horsey Gene Carrier
Posts: 1888
Location: LaBelle, Florida | I find that it is harder for young horse to back off, they are still learning to trust you and haven't built up strength in those muscles.
My 3 year old has only just started backing off the trailer.
Last year, everytime we tried it was a major fight and she just flat refused. This past November, getting getting her ready to haul to a clinic, worked her like a baby loading, 1 foot at at time and backing out.
Really seamed to help and she is backing out of the trailer now like a pro. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 383
Location: Sweet Home Alabama | I had a yearling filly that refused to back off too. I also have a little drop off in front of the barn. I got her backing off that (not sure if I could have with a big horse) then had my dad build a sturdy ramp for the trailer. I would walk her up enough to have her front legs in the trailer and her back legs still on the ramp then stop and back her up from there. Then next time we'd walk up a little more and back further. After a few days of that, I loaded her with the ramp and had my dad move it while she was still loaded. I made sure she took her time and she did great. Three years later, we haven't looked back. I start all my yearlings like that now. |
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 I'm Cooler Offline
Posts: 6387
Location: Pacific Northwest | I had two that had a really hard time backing out. Previously, our horses had always been able to turn around. We had a big trailer and they all had plenty of room, no matter which slot they were in. But then I bought a two horse, and while it was still a slant load it was a lot narrower and I preferred them to back off.
For the one horse, all it took was one time backing out (although to get to that one time, it took a LOT of convincing) and he was like "oh this is no big deal." And he was a pro about it ever since.
The one mare, not so much. After I finally got her to back out the first time, she refused to get back IN the trailer (and she never refused the trailer before). It ended being like a 2-month actual training process of getting her trailer loading/unloading issue figured out. The only reason I stuck with it and REALLY wanted her to learn to back out is because I was planning on selling her and I didn't want her to ever be in a situation where she was difficult to handle. She was a green-broke 10 year old and I wanted her trailering skills to be 100% so that she at least had that going for her, where no matter what kind of trailer or what slot she was in she would be easy to load/unload. |
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 Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
Location: Phoenix | See that would be a no go for me....I've been around rodeo horses my whole life and they all love to load up and will all back out. On my main horse I usually make him back out, but if I let him turn around he's never in a hurry to do it. He's really good about waiting to see what we're doing. |
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The Resident Destroyer of Liberal Logic
Location: PNW | The best way I've found is to start with a low decked trailer, like a stock trailer. Step one foot in, back that one foot out. Repeat. Step two feet in, step those same two feet out. Repeat. Step three feet in, back those same three feet out. Repeat. Step all four feet in, back all four feet out. Repeat and reward A LOT. I've gotten several horses that had never backed off before, trained in this way and then never had any trouble afterwards. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1302
Location: California | Many of my horses are too large to turn around in my trailer. It has mangers and I have seen horses panic trying to turn around in it. Backing off a trailer is a necessity to me. Mine, within a week of having them, back off the trailer if I touch their tail. The few that struggled I put a snaffle and driving reins and they backed out perfectly. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1182
Location: Do I hear Banjos? |
Turning around and unloading forward can be safe depending on your trailer....BUT...for me it is a necessary life skill for a horse to be able to back off a trailer. You just never know what kind of trailer your horse might have to be hauled in at some point...and there are some that would make turning around either unsafe or impossible.
It may take a lot of training/time...but working with them on the ground backing between poles...stocks...anything...and making it a habit. I have done the driving lines trick as well with great success. |
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 I Chore in Chucks
Posts: 2882
Location: MD | I would pick your battles if he walks off quietly.
If I was a horse I probably wouldn't back off either.... |
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 Morale Booster!!
Posts: 1459
| My mare would not back off. Well, that made it so I always had to take my trailer and couldnt haul with anyone. She was safe when turning around and coming off, but I decided I was tired of always being the driver. It took almost and entire day, but we got the job done and now she backs off without a problem. I will always make that a priority from now on. Besides the fact that if I ever wanted to sell her, which I wont, that if the new owners didnt have a trailer that they could safely turn around, then what do you do? |
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 The Bling Princess
Posts: 3411
Location: North Dakota | The problem is not unloading or loading off/on the trailer. The problem is that you have a lack of respect to back off or come to pressure. Refine those skills and I would bet that most of your trailer issues will dissolve without a fight. JMO. |
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Expert
Posts: 1694
Location: Willows, CA | This would be an issue for me. When my two daughters were small I really got in the habit of making sure that all of our horses had respect for a persons space, and proper ground manners. Backing out calmly was one of the things that have always been important to me. I teach this to a horse on it's very first trailer loading lesson, and it stays with them for ever. This does not have to be a big deal, but can be with an older horse that has learned that it can dictate the rules to it's owner. The time will come when you are in someone else's trailer and turning around inside is not practical. Then what do you do? My feeling on this is that it is worth the effort to take the time to teach them to back out safely. |
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 Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | Ask one for them to put one foot on the trailer and then take it off million times. Then ask for 2 feet on and off a million times. Then three feet a million times. By the time you've got 4 feet on, they've already unloaded 4 million times. They know how to unload.
The problem isn't that they don't unload. It's that they never learned to load properly in the first place. |
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 Member
Posts: 25
Location: TN | I had a colt that was this way 2 years ago. It all stemmed from him not ever learning the basic manners and respect in-hand. It took some time to undo what his previous owner had already screwed up but eventually he got the point.
We did a lot of stopping and backing on the ground. Then we started asking him to back off of our carport which had about a 6 in drop to the grass beside it. Once he mastered the carport we tried the trailer again. It took some coaxing the first time but with some practice and then finally being hauled he got over all of it. |
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Unloading issues