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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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