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Veteran
Posts: 102
| I have a 3 year old filly that has only been hauled once or twice in her life. I have a 3 horse slant load and wanted to start working her on loading in a trailer. She absolutely refuses! Any helpful hints for getting this young one to load? |
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Location: Not Where I Want to Be | sounds cliche but make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard.
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
 
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | I would start with a more open trailer, so she can get use to loading and unloading.. |
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 Take a Picture
Posts: 12838
| Clinton Anderson has a good video and method.
Personally, I prefer the no sweat method. I put the horse in the round pen then back the trailer up to the gate. Feed in the trailer and let the horse get in and out by themselves. When they are comfortable with that, I put the feed in the trailer and lead the horse in.
When I halter break my babies, I always use a butt rope. Always. When I have a problem leading anywhere I get out the butt rope. It is amazing how well that works but they really have to be started with one to be most effective |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 306
| Only way to go....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT4FCaNvX6A
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Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
| can you load another horse? Our colt really preferred to have another horse in there for the first dozen trips or so. Now he’s good to load first, usually no issues. When we got him we had to string up a butt rope and force him on - and that was an open stock trailer.
If you have the set up to back the trailer up to a run or roundpen and feed them in it that can help, but I’ve also found if they don’t trust you and what you’re asking them to do you can feed them in the trailer and they’ll go in all day long while it’s their idea, but still refuse when you ask them to go in.
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 883
Location: Southern Indiana | Butt rope is the only way to go! A long lunge line or lead rope works great. Use pressure and release and reward them when they get in. I don't force them with the butt rope. Once I have it wrapped around their hiney, they are ready to go anywhere I put them! Have someone help you so they can shut the door. They'll usually eject quickly. Never let them turn around! Light taps with a whip help too. In my experience the angrier you get, the more they refuse. One must have patience. LOTS AND LOTS of patience LOL
Edited by TheDutchMan01 2018-09-18 10:40 AM
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 Too Skinny
Posts: 8009
Location: LA Lower Alabama |
While the video is a little more dramatic than I remember I think this is a good way to go because you can see the horse try all the wrong ways first and how he handles them. You can still add the feed to make it a little more comfortable but I like the respect he gains with this method first because it will seep into other requests you may make of your horse. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1210
Location: Kansas | Maybe it's just my hard-headed horses, but I've never gotten a butt rope to work. Ask to load in trailer, when it refuses, lunge them for a few circles, try again. If they refuse again, lunge longer the next time, try again. Increase the time you lunge them until they figure out not doing what you ask makes them have to work. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2489
Location: somewhere up north |
I agree. I think there are a lot of horses that are lacking proper ground manners. Establish that first and then they will be more willing to trust you. We use the direct and drive method but first they are taught it away from the trailer. All of our horses load themselves. My husband has helped several people with trailer loading with this technique. The other thing is that some take more encouragement than others. If you think it will take 1/2 hour then you better plan on as long as it takes. Sometimes it can take a while. Have to be more willing to go the extra mile than the horse. It can be exhausting. LOL! This is why I let my husband teach them. |
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 Born not Made
Posts: 2931
Location: North Dakota | chopchop - 2018-09-17 6:07 PM I have a 3 year old filly that has only been hauled once or twice in her life. I have a 3 horse slant load and wanted to start working her on loading in a trailer. She absolutely refuses! Any helpful hints for getting this young one to load?
Ultimately, a trailer loading problem is not a trailer loading problem. It's a GROUND WORK problem.
Realistically, most of the handling problems that horses have are also GROUND WORK problems.
Now, you have a 3-year-old. Obviously she's just a baby and she has much to learn. I would forget about the trailer loading for the time being, and just start working on basic ground work. The most important thing to take away from ground work is that you should have control of her feet. If you can control her feet, you can fix just about anything -- including "trailer loading problems". Because if you tell her feet to go onto the trailer, guess what, her body goes on too. 
Ditto to Clinton Anderson. Now, I personally feel he is way more aggressive than the normal person needs to be, but he's also usually trying to accomplish something in one hour that the rest of us can take a couple weeks to do (at least at his clinics). So take the aggressiveness with a grain of salt. But he does a great job (I think) of describing what he is doing, why, when where, etc.
So teach your filly to move her feet where you want them to go! Spend 10-15 minutes every day, just working on ground work. When she has better ground manners, you should be able to "Send" her anywhere -- including the trailer.
I do highly recommend CA's trailer loading video. I have it myself and it's very good.
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 433
Location: The Lone Star State | His method works every time, outside of the trailer work, inside rest. You have to know what you're doing but its so cool to watch their brains comprehend it. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 599
| streakysox - 2018-09-17 9:55 PM
Clinton Anderson has a good video and method.
Personally, I prefer the no sweat method. I put the horse in the round pen then back the trailer up to the gate. Feed in the trailer and let the horse get in and out by themselves. When they are comfortable with that, I put the feed in the trailer and lead the horse in.
When I halter break my babies, I always use a butt rope. Always. When I have a problem leading anywhere I get out the butt rope. It is amazing how well that works but they really have to be started with one to be most effective
I did this with my yearling this year. I put her feed and hay in the open trailer and left her in a smaller pen. I would stand at the back of the trailer with her feed and let her eat a little, then let her watch me put it in the front. It took about 6 or 8 hours before she was getting on and off totally on her own. So I turned her back out and haven’t had any problem with her loading since. I took her along to a few shows and she loaded and unloaded like a champ!
GOOD LUCK!!!! |
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Veteran
Posts: 102
| Thanks everyone! Lots of good ideas on here. Watched the video and picked up some pointers there too. Don't have another horse so that's not an option at this time. I do have a fold away tack area and never thought to fold it away. I will try that this weekend along with doing this near feeding time and feed her on the trailer. I, also prefer the no sweat method and want to make it as easy for her as possible. She does respect my space, just freezes up as she gets to the trailer. I did get her on after an hour but that is not acceptable at all! |
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Take a Picture
Posts: 12838
| dRowe - 2018-09-18 5:25 PM
streakysox - 2018-09-17 9:55 PM
Clinton Anderson has a good video and method.
Personally, I prefer the no sweat method. I put the horse in the round pen then back the trailer up to the gate. Feed in the trailer and let the horse get in and out by themselves. When they are comfortable with that, I put the feed in the trailer and lead the horse in.
When I halter break my babies, I always use a butt rope. Always. When I have a problem leading anywhere I get out the butt rope. It is amazing how well that works but they really have to be started with one to be most effective
I did this with my yearling this year. I put her feed and hay in the open trailer and left her in a smaller pen. I would stand at the back of the trailer with her feed and let her eat a little, then let her watch me put it in the front. It took about 6 or 8 hours before she was getting on and off totally on her own. So I turned her back out and haven’t had any problem with her loading since. I took her along to a few shows and she loaded and unloaded like a champ!
GOOD LUCK!!!!
I usually leave mine in the round pen a few days so they are comfortable with the idea |
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Industrial Srength Barrel Racer
Posts: 7264
| The last horse I had that had issues loading, got to eat every meal in the trailer. (Of course, you have to get them IN there to eat it)! LOL |
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Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
| chopchop - 2018-09-18 6:47 PM
Thanks everyone! Lots of good ideas on here. Watched the video and picked up some pointers there too. Don't have another horse so that's not an option at this time. I do have a fold away tack area and never thought to fold it away. I will try that this weekend along with doing this near feeding time and feed her on the trailer. I, also prefer the no sweat method and want to make it as easy for her as possible. She does respect my space, just freezes up as she gets to the trailer. I did get her on after an hour but that is not acceptable at all!
Next time it might be 45 minutes.
Fold the tack away for sure. Slant loads with rear tacks are tricky trailers to start with because you kind of have to stand in their way. You’ve spent time teaching them to respect you and your space, and now you’re asking them to move into a spot your standing in. It can be confusing for them.
Do you have someone who can help you from the outside? For our colt it was just standing off to his side kissing at him, others maybe tapping on the butt or hock with a long whip until they move forward, even 1 step, and then stop immediately until they resist again.
Practice practice practice. |
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Veteran
Posts: 102
| Yes, I have someone who could help me. But I need to try the one step at a time. Watching the video, I noticed that he only let the horse load front feet first, then back out. I need to try this also. |
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I Really Love Jeans
Posts: 3173
Location: North Dakota | When my grouchy mare refuses to load I lunge her until she loads! No butt rope just the punishment of work if she refuses! It doesn’t take them long to figure out it’s easier to load instead of work! |
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  Semper Fi
Location: North Texas | Griz - 2018-09-19 5:50 AM
The last horse I had that had issues loading, got to eat every meal in the trailer. (Of course, you have to get them IN there to eat it)! LOL
This! Feeding them in the trailer for days straight. Even if One has to leave a trail of grain or hay to the feed box in the trailer!
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Born not Made
Posts: 2931
Location: North Dakota | chopchop - 2018-09-19 2:39 PM Yes, I have someone who could help me. But I need to try the one step at a time. Watching the video, I noticed that he only let the horse load front feet first, then back out. I need to try this also.
Yes, this is part of your problem.
You loaded your horse the first time you tried working with her. That should NEVER be your end goal. And shouldn't be for WEEKS.
You need to ask her to put one foot on, one foot off, one thousand times.
Then two feet on, two feet off, one thousand times.
Then three feet.
And by the time you get to four feet, you have now both taught your horse to load and unload at the same time, so they will willingly go on when you ask them, and willingly back off when you ask them.
Don't rush!!! Work on ground work 10-15 min a day and that is plenty. She's only a 3 year old. Most don't have the mental capacity to focus on something for an hour. Their brain is fried (and not learning anymore) by that point.
Again, teach her how you can control each individual foot and place her body exactly where you want it. The trailer is merely an obstacle that you would overcome like any other obstacle ( bridge, logs, etc).
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 BHW Resident Surgeon
Posts: 25351
Location: Bastrop, Texas | 1DSoon - 2018-09-17 7:17 PM
sounds cliche but make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard.
Of all the advice so far, this one actually sums it up best.
That’s the fundamental principle of almost any training, in my opinion, and it’s especially true when teaching a youngster to load properly. I have a feeling that the number of people and/or horses actually hurt or injured because of leading a reluctant, scared horse into a trailer is more than we think. You will get several different, detailed training routines on trailer loading and unloading, but the fundamental principle is making the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard. Eventually, the trailer becomes a refuge from pressure.
That’s really what Clinton Anderson is doing here:
https://youtu.be/q3aKWWB9ZMA
Edited by Bear 2018-09-21 8:15 AM
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Born not Made
Posts: 2931
Location: North Dakota | Bear - 2018-09-21 8:13 AM 1DSoon - 2018-09-17 7:17 PM sounds cliche but make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard.
Of all the advice so far, this one actually sums it up best. That’s the fundamental principle of almost any training, in my opinion, and it’s especially true when teaching a youngster to load properly. I have a feeling that the number of people and/or horses actually hurt or injured because of leading a reluctant, scared horse into a trailer is more than we think. You will get several different, detailed training routines on trailer loading and unloading, but the fundamental principle is making the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard. Eventually, the trailer becomes a refuge from pressure. That’s really what Clinton Anderson is doing here: https://youtu.be/q3aKWWB9ZMA
Somebody else commented about lunging the horse outside the trailer to make it "hard work" and then resting them in the trailer as reward. And then you commented about making the trailer a refuge from pressure.
Neither of those ideas are quite accurate, as far as CA's training philosophy. I think the confusing issue is that that particular video is of him loading a horse in ONE SESSION at a clinic .... which no normal person does at home. But still, CA teaches to have control of the feet. It is just coincidence that he's asking those feet to go onto the trailer. It's not necessarily about letting the horse rest in the trailer, or making that the refuge; it's more that the horse correctly moved his feet onto the trailer, and that is why he is getting rewarded.
If you can control the feet at all times, then trailer loading is a piece of cake. The trailer is just an obstacle. That obstacle could be a bridge, or a jump, or a blue tarp, or nothiing at all. You are simply training the horse to allow you to put their feet wherever you ask.
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Tips for trailer loading