Trailer Loading is one of those things that is either incredibly easy for the horse owner or exceptionally stressful and with good reason. So much can go sideways and yet it doesn’t have to. The trouble centers around the fact that loading a horse in a trailer is actually a very accurate exacting maneuver that has to be done a certain way or it fails. There is no other way to put a horse in a trailer but head in, no other door but the big one in the back to load through.
The basic reason trailer loading is difficult for us is that we have to balance patience, wisdom, and persistence in perfect harmony. Too much patience badly timed and four hours later the horse still hasn’t loaded but is very relaxed, too much persistence and we can’t get the horse within a mile of the trailer. The key is helping the horse to approach the trailer through the proper use of driving and directing the basis of horse language. The goal is not to load the horse rather to merely have it approach the trailer and allow them to investigate it. This followed by encouragement well time helps the horse to press a little closer and become interested as well as increasing its comfort level with the trailer.
A horse that understanding the fundamentals of driving and directing will usually be in the trailer within 20 minutes of it being presented, sometimes less sometimes a little more.
Things to Avoid
1. Pulling a horse into the trailer.
A horse’s thought process breaks down into 3 areas I have found. Logic, feelings, and instinct. Logic is the part we train a+b=c, feelings is the part we work with using lessons learned (the horse’s logic), instinct is the fight or flight reaction that we cannot control. When we force a horse to do anything it will revert to instinct as a form of self-preservation. When a horse pulls back in a violent death struggle it is not being stupid or stubborn or whatever human emotion we superimpose on it. The horse is instinctively attempting to escape being trapped. It is like swimming and feeling yourself being pulled under, you fight hard to escape regardless of pain or the fact that you just kicked your buddy in the face who was messing with you. Its instinct to escape when something feels trapped.
So when we attempt to heave a horse into a trailer they naturally and understandable pull back. This is why many horses that have trouble loading will run backwards or rear when we attempt to load them. The cure is to direct and drive the horse to the trailer slowly and comfortably. Not pull.
2. Baiting them in.
Now understand I am all for rewarding a horse that is trying. Pats, treats, good boys the whole lot. However, putting bait in a trailer usually does not work and when it does it is problematic. The hay is in the trailer the horse gets further and further in and then…whamo the door is shut. He looks up and says what the heck and panics. We always want a horse to know it is being loaded in a trailer. This is part of the reason we load and unload them. Yes it makes them more confident, but also they know they are being loaded. It is analogous to getting a cell phone, its only 99 cents and your rates won’t change, but after you sign the contract you realize with taxes,fees,data plan, and all the rest you now paying triple what you were paying before. I didn’t sign up for this, well you did you just thought it was something else. Same thing with a horse, rewards are great baiting a trap is not. The goal is to enforce the good things not pull a fast one on an unsuspecting horse.
3. Tie them in so they can’t run out.
This should be obvious but… The goal is a horse that is comfortable in the trailer. If we have to load and unload a hundred times so be it. A horse who blasts out of a trailer is a horse who is not comfortable in there. A mark of a horse who is comfortable is one that comes out quietly – goes in quietly. If we tie them in to keep them there they will pull back and panic. Just a side note, 98% of horses that I have seen having problems in a trailer was because they pulled back, why? Because they were tied before they were comfortable loading
So once a horse is comfortable loading and unloading use a friction tie. There are many different types but they all work the same. When the horse pulls it slips rope to them so they get slack and do not feel trapped the way a hard knot or tie makes them feel.
There are a lot of ways of doing it right. Trailer loading doesn’t need to be a frustrating scary misadventure. We can easily avoid common mistakes and working with trailers early and often takes away the apprehension and fear they we and our horses can have.