Useful Info

TRAILER-LOADING ..... MADE EASY

Kalisto getting ready to go into the trailer

A Step by Step Approach

By (C)Rick-NHS

 INTRODUCTION
 Have you ever had difficulty loading your horse into a trailer? I am sure we have all seen some real interesting loading scenes - the person who "bribes" his horse into a trailer with food, or the two-person loading ordeal when one person pulls on the lead rope and the other pushes on the rear of the horse. Usually there are two kinds of attitude in horse people when it comes to trailer loading. One approach is the ‘give him lots of carrots’ attitude, and the extreme is the, ‘I’ll make him do it with the stick’ attitude.

Common Problems
Common problems and challenges people face when loading or unloading horses include one or more of the following:

It takes 1/2 hour to load the horse; Horse doesn’t want to load; Horse loads, but resists putting his butt in; Horse is kicking in the trailer; Horse has traveling difficulties; Horse doesn’t want to unload; When unloading, the horse is rushing out of the trailer, rearing, and turning to go out forwards in a slant load.

Before trailer loading protective bandages are put on Kalisto's legs and tail
to avoid bruising during the journey. The trailer is waiting with the ramp open.
 

How long does it take?
 This is not a timed event, but with proper preparation away from the trailer and avoiding any fear (or fight) responses, this obstacle is not such a big deal and it doesn't have to take forever. It may have taken 4 to 5 years for your horse to learn to be a "bad loader". You, or the previous owner, didn't mean for this to be the case but this is what you have to work with now. When working with a horse, especially a traumatized one, the time needed is as long as it takes – and that time is dictated by the horse. It may take a horse half an hour of examining the ramp of a horse trailer before he will even put a foot on it.  In reality, teaching a horse to trailer load can be done safely and painlessly. A horse who has been "trailer raped"

Unacceptable Ways of Approaching Problem Behavior
 When working with difficult behavior, it is unacceptable to assume the horse is at fault. It is totally irresponsible and short-sighted to work with a loading problem without diagnosing the cause first. It is unfair to the horse to override behavior by using force, mechanics, fear and intimidation, as this will only be working with the symptoms and not the cause. It is inexcusable to put in place corrective training programs based on assumptions and preconceived ideas when it is the cause, not speculation that should determine the way forward. One seldom hears or sees trainers address diagnosis.

 Objectives 
 We want the horse to load on his own by walking up a ramp and/or by stepping up into a "step-up" trailer. He will do this off our cue to move forward. We are not going to "pull" the horse into the trailer. We are going to avoid triggering any "flight or fight" instincts. We want the horse to think about what he is doing, his situation and his responses to our cues. By the end of the session, we should be able to throw the lead rope over his back as he steps into the trailer and "loads himself". This is for your safety. Your horse must be able to stand quietly and be able to back softly before you are ever going to get quality loading/unloading. 

  (i.e. forced into the trailer through pain and pressure) may take more patience, but the same fundamental principles apply. 

Kalisto on the trailer - after one single attempt ! He is an experienced horse
and no longer gets excited when going into a narrow trailer.

Scenery during the 150 km drive to the NESC stables

The Welcoming Committee at NESC

Kalisto on his way to a cool bath after the hot trailer ride

Nibbling his first grass at his new home

Make sure that on either side of the trailer there is plenty of space to work. Set up the learning exercise and construct a practical set of choices.

Groundwork Exercises 
There are a few things that seem to make all the difference in the world when it comes to quality loading and unloading. All of these should be accomplished on the ground before you ever get to the trailer. All of these exercises are important for building a foundation for your horse. The byproducts of this foundation are good behavior, ground manners, cooperation, respect and attitude.   

GROUND WORK PREPARATION  

Good groundwork preparation equals good and reliable trailer loading and unloading. Before you can even begin to approach trailer loading you must be able to build rapport with the horse, to lunge correctly and ground drive your horse. This also implies that your horse will yield, stop, backup softly, and stand quietly when you ask and while tied.  

Backing 
Teach your horse to back softly via direct and indirect pressure. Practice backing your horse over obstacles, such as ground poles. This does two things at once: it gets them used to picking up their feet and they are going backwards at the same time.   

Another exercise that you can do is to practice going through gates both forwards and backwards. You can even add a tarp to your gate opening to make it even scarier to the horse. Many horses will rush through a gate because they don’t like being in a confined area. This is a real good clue that your horse will probably rush into and out of the trailer. Try to use a gate or area with a 1.20m to 1.80m opening. Drive your horse through the gate and ask the horse to stop at the gate. Ask the horse to stand quietly. When you can do this with your horse responding quietly, ask your horse to back through the gate. Then ask the horse to stand quietly. Remember to reward your horse for appropriate behavior.  This may sound strange, but you can also ask your horse to load into your trailer backwards. It's not really important that the horse actually backs itself into the trailer. The concept is that it's difficult enough for a horse to go in forwards, but if he has to back towards that big scary box then he's really working through the fear and flight responses. Start by asking the horse to take a few steps backwards towards the trailer and work up to where he is just touching it. This can be very difficult and you may wonder what in the world that this has to do with trailer loading and unloading. When you do turn the horse around to go in forward, he'll seem to be eager to attack this problem from the front. You are working on a couple of issues at once with this technique - backing up softly and going into the trailer (you just happen to be doing it backwards). It’s tough for a horse that hasn’t been exposed to these situations to accept being asked to back into a confined area. This is a very worthwhile exercise for both you and the horse to learn. 

  LOADING AND UNLOADING  

Loading (Sending a horse into a trailer)
Trailer loading is not about eating. Don't bribe your horse with food to get into the trailer. You may be able to get him in this way, but the horse probably doesn't want to be there for any reason other than the food. This is where you can get into some bad behaviors such as the horse rushing out of the trailer, stepping on or over you, etc. Besides, what are you going to do if you don't have any grain or hay to get him in after the ride or competition?  Approach trailer loading step by step. Again you have to be able to lunge and ground drive to effectively teach the following technique. There is no magic time limit to any of these steps. Some horses can learn in five minutes while some may take two weeks. Be patient and make time work for you. Most of all remember to reward your horse for appropriate behavior.

Step 1: Show your horse the trailer. Open the doors. Make sure that everything is safe. Let the horse look around. REWARD your horse. Is your horse calm? If yes, proceed to the next step, otherwise work on this until your horse is calm being outside of the trailer. If he can’t handle being outside of the trailer, you’re going to have a difficult time when you have the horse inside the trailer. Remember to reward your horse for standing quietly.  

Step 2: Lunge your horse at a walk at the door of the trailer. Have the horse back up, change direction, and stop. REWARD your horse. This is a new environment, make sure that this is a good experience. Is your horse calm? If yes, proceed to the next step, otherwise work on this and reward your horse for standing quietly. 

Step 3: Drive your horse (ground driving) on the ground at the door of the trailer. Ask for a halt. Drive him by the door and around in a circle, and stop. REWARD your horse. Is your horse calm? If yes, proceed to the next step, otherwise work on this and reward your horse for standing quietly. 

Step 4: Drive your horse (ground driving) into the trailer. Now that he has approached the trailer, it's time for you to narrow down the choices. Use the lead rope as a tool to ask for direction/power and to keep the horse out of your space. Don't worry if he stops or takes a step into the trailer and then backs out. Be patient and continue into the trailer. Horses are claustrophobic animals by nature, they don’t want to be in a confined space. Drive the horse into the trailer and ask him to stand there. Your goal is to have the horse standing quietly inside the trailer for as long as you ask.  

Many horses will get the front feet in the trailer and just stand there - REWARD this! You are making progress. Reward  every step in the right direction. Don’t tug on the horse's head unless he tries to turn away from the trailer. Otherwise the horse needs to move on a loose lead so he can see his feet and focus on his own movement. 

If the horse just stands at the back of the trailer and won’t step in, make him work. By this I mean yielding and lungeing at the back of the trailer, and ground driving towards the trailer.  Reward any little step towards your goal of stepping into the trailer, but make the horse work when he’s looking for a way out of the job. Horses don’t want to work any harder than they have to and they search for the reward and release that come from doing what you ask. Use this to your advantage.  This can be a slow, repetitious process of ground driving into the trailer, rewarding for standing quietly, backing out and then getting back in again. You want the horse to be so comfortable with the process of loading and unloading that it’s “boring” to them. You want to load your horse “for life”. 

Step 5: Ask your horse to stand in the trailer. Once in the trailer the horse should be able to relax and explore the inside of the trailer. Let him look around, smell the floor and walls, and show him the hay bag. Don’t restrict curiosity and most importantly don’t have a "death grip" on the lead rope. Let the horse know that this is a good place to be; your posture and attitude will show the horse a lot about the environment - if you are tense and nervous then your horse probably will be too. You should also be aware of the horse’s posture and body language when getting in or out of the trailer. Posture is an important clue as to what you can do to improve the horses "comfort level" in this type of stressful situation. One of the most important things to look for is the height of the horse's head. A horse that is stressed will keep its head high, so work on yielding at the poll with a horse like this and you’ll eventually get the horse into a more relaxed posture. The horse's posture and frame of mind go hand in hand - a relaxed posture equals a calmer attitude and you can encourage your horse to have a better attitude in similar situations. Many people will regard it as success when getting the horse into the trailer the first time, slam the trailer doors shut, and drive off. This is a HUGE mistake, because the act of getting into the trailer is only part of the success - equally important is the posture and attitude of the horse while he’s in the trailer.  

Step 6: Tie your horse in the trailer (he should already know how to quietly stand tied elsewhere). Practice tying and untying your horse in the trailer. Close dividers if you have them and ask your horse to stand quietly while tied in the trailer. Practice opening and closing the doors on the trailer so that the horse gets used to the trailer getting darker when the doors are closed and the light flooding the trailer compartment when the doors open. Walk around the trailer and bang and clang anything that the horse will likely hear, such as doors, starting the engine of the truck, loading saddles in the tack room, etc. Also make sure that the horse has hay to munch on while standing tied in the trailer. In other words, make the trailer a place the horse wants to be. Reinforce these things every time you load your horse. Teaching a horse to load properly can eat up a lot of time.

Ideally, you want to practice numerous times with each of these exercises and do them until the horse is soft (in a relaxed posture). Is your horse calm loading and standing in the trailer? If yes, proceed to Unloading, otherwise work on this (patience) and reward your horse for standing quietly. 

Understanding Equine Behavior
It is not now uncommon for highly skilled riders to be all but ignorant of who and what the horse is beneath the accoutrements of domestication, as if we had changed the essential nature of the animal so that it retains only the characteristics of the captive servant; as if the product of fifty-five Million Years of evolution could be swept under the carpet in the mere six thousand years during which the man-relationship has existed. It may seem strange that there is this void in our knowledge – many might think that after a few thousand years relationship there would be little we do not already know. Yet the reality is that it has been our natural inclination to view the horse through the filter of our own desires, rather than the 'wellbeing' of a subordinate species.  

Stressful Experiences
Trailoring is one of the most difficult and stressful situations for a horse. This is not a natural thing for a horse to do. Hurtling down the road in a metal box at 80 km per hour is not something that horses learn to do in the wild. Depending on the quality and style of your trailer, and on your driving style, you may be subjecting your horse to a lot of stress by the time you get to your destination. You really need to make this a low-stress and positive experience for the horse as possible. 

How Horses Think
Horses don’t think like people, that’s why so many people have problems with horses. To get along with horses, and achieve your goals, we need to learn to think like a horse.  The type of intelligence people have is based on reasoning power. We use logic to figure out things and to get what we want. It is commonly thought that horses are poor at rational thinking, but we have to remember that rationality depends on one’s perspective. What is rational in one situation may not be in another – it may seem rational to take a short cut across a piece of land, until someone tells you the land is mined.   What is rational to us may not be rational to the horse. So, the rationality (to us) of going into a dry  stable on a wet, windy day may be an irrational action for a horse. The horse’s rationality tells him that enclosed spaces are dangerous, especially when you can’t hear anything because of the wind.  Horses base their thinking patterns on comfort. Horses want to feel safe and comfortable. Anything that interferes with that can cause fear and anxiety in horses. In addition, horses are lateral thinkers. So, whatever you do with horses, make sure you don’t use direct-line thinking as a predator would. Linear- and straight line approaches tend to bother horses.   

How Horses See
It is the horse’s vision that is the most difficult for humans to identify with. The horse’s field of vision is almost 360 degree, so they are able to see things we don’t. The horse has mostly monocular vision, when looking to the side or rear. That is each eye sees a completely different field of view.  We have stereoscopic binocular vision, which gives us excellent depth perception. We can judge distance and, unlike a horse, see that puddle  or a ditch  is only  a few centimeter deep, or a horse trailer  only a few  meters long. Horses, in order to focus, must alter the position of their heads, like a person wearing bifocal or trifocal spectacles. To a horse lacking depth perception, they can’t tell a trailer from an endless tunnel, or a mud puddle from a bottomless lagoon.   

Light and Dark
Horses taken from a brightly lit area for loading into a trailer may lower their noses to the floor of the trailer, then raise their heads rather high for loading. In addition to smelling the trailer for identification, they may be trying to find the head position that gives them the best possible vision. They also may be biding time until their eyes adjust to the light change, a much slower adjustment than for humans.

Natural Training Techniques
Some of the natural training techniques I encourage you to use when teaching horses trailer loading, include: 

Positive and Negative Reinforcement
This is also sometimes called ‘reward training’ and ‘pressure and release training’. Reinforcements underpin what and how our horses learn from us. They are the primary means by which we shape equine learning and behaviour. Reinforcements provide the framework for all ‘methods’. Being able to identify them keeps our perception in context when working with equine behaviour and training.   

Advance and Retreat 
Horses use advance and retreat methods themselves when investigating strange or frightening objects in their environment, so this method of handling suits their psychology. Almost anything that you do with horses, from putting a bridle on for the first time to picking up feet, can be done using an advance and retreat approach. People who are true exponents of this method never have to use any real force or engage in battles of strength with horses.   

Lateral Thinking 
Use lateral thinking (approach and retreat - horse sense), rather than direct-line approach. This exercise is not about trailer loading – it’s about your relationship with the horse! About rapport, respect and leadership. It’s about learning how your ideas become the horse’s ideas.   

Teach the horse to think
Horses have two ways of thinking: they use two sides of the brain: There is a prey animal side (the right side of the brain), and there is a thinking side (more logical, left side of the brain). Follow through with exercises, until the horse uses the thinking side of his brain and responds rather than reacts to your requests! 
 

Reverse Psychology
Use prey-animal psychology, by setting up choices and  allow the desirable things to be very easy and cause the undesirable things to be difficult. So in the end it becomes the horse’s idea to accomplish the requested task.   Horses are creatures of comfort, i.e. use comfort as motivator! 

The Horse's Body Language
If you listen to your horse with more than your ears, you will hear him talking to you! Many people keep stimulating beyond the response. They fail to see that the horse tried. They fail to read the horse’s body language. The opposite of fear is “curiosity” – If you just take the time it takes and allow things to happen!  Every time he tries, leave him alone!

Don’t give him more pressure if he does try!  

Time is your Friend 
Horses don’t have the same sense of time we do. Allow the horse to concentrate when approaching the trailer and when loading and unloading. Allow a horse thought time. Do not correct constantly or interrupt the thought train of a horse doing a job that requires deep concentration. The horse can think of but one thing at a time. The person who continually punishes or corrects the horse detracts attention from the task at hand and the horse loses respect for the handler. So give the horse time to learn. Allow your horse to inspect and sniff the trailer as long as he wants.  I.e. if your horse gets curious, let him inspect!   Put the horse’s energy to use – don’t fight the horse! 

Yielding
Your horse should yield to you and move out of the way. If you don’t have this, then your horse thinks that you are the one who is subordinate. You want yielding from respect, not fear. If you punish your horse you don’t have respect, you have fear.  You have to have the  six basic yields working for you: forwards, backwards, hindquarters to the left, hindquarters to the right, shoulder to the left, and shoulder to the right. 

Ground Driving 
Ground driving is the basis for many things. Before you can effectively teach a horse to ground drive they must be able to work on a 3 meter line. If you have an arena wall or fence you can save yourself a lot of time.  The fence acts as a barrier which you can use to your advantage. A good exercise to practice for ground driving is to be able to drive a horse all of the way around an arena, round pen, or pasture. When you get good at this you can move off the fence and drive the horse to objects, like a gate. Then you are ready to move to trailer loading, this will be simple if you have ground driving working for you.  Practice driving your horse over different surfaces, including concrete or pavement, over a tarp, over a piece of plywood, and over a wooden training bridge (60 cm wide and 250 cm long). Ask him to change direction, stop, back up, stand quietly for a while and then walk off. Once the horse has this under control, you can add a piece of wood under the center of the bridge. This adds the effect of motion to the exercise, which is very similar to the horse trailer giving way under the weight of the horse. This is one of the best exercises to build confidence and bravery into a horse.   

Lateral Lungeing 
You need to be able to lunge your horse over obstacles and onto different surfaces. Lungeing is used to teach a horse direction, posture, power, yielding and to move off of pressure. For this exercise, I assume that you have already worked through the basics of ‘lateral’ lungeing on the ground. Start with a 3 m lead rope. Practice lungeing your horse at the walk on good footing such as dirt, sand, shavings etc., then move on to a section of concrete or pavement, carefully. Once you have that working for you, practice lungeing over a tarp. Then move onto a piece of plywood. Do not trot or canter your horse on these different materials, this exercise is meant to be done at the walk. 

Set up the learning exercise and by constructing a practical set of choices, you can get the horse interested in the trailer and stopping to investigate it.  Work both directions and let the circle drift around a bit so that  the horse has opportunities to observe the trailer from different angles as you work. As you "drift“, ease off a little bit when you move a little closer to the trailer so that he can scope it out, but also keep his mind occupied with transitions, reverses, etc. As you get real close to the trailer, give him opportunities to actually stop and investigate it as long as he wants by letting up on the pressure as he approaches it, but keep on lungeing him any time he choses to pass on by it.  

Loading (Leading a horse into a trailer)
With larger trailers and slant loads it may be more desirable to lead a horse into a trailer, particularly if you are loading a horse who wants to stir up trouble with horses already in the trailer if he isn't led in and tied off. If you have done your homework of groundwork preparation, leading a horse into a trailer should be as easy, if not easier, than lungeing a horse into the trailer.   

The key to safe loading when leading a horse into a trailer is forward motion, i.e. to have the horse conditioned to walk forward into any situation on a light "ask." One of the best conditioning prior to trailer loading attempts involves ground working the horse on bomb proofing obstacles.   

Unloading 
Now that you have your horse in the trailer, your objective is to ask your horse to calmly back out of the trailer. Trailer unloading is as much about groundwork as is trailer loading. You can really see where you are with your horse’s foundation by how he reacts to getting out of the trailer. Ideally, you want your horse to slowly back out of the trailer in a relaxed posture. Whether you are using a straight load or slant load trailer with or without a ramp, you should be working towards this goal. 

Don't let the horse turn around to go out headfirst, this is dangerous in most trailers. The exceptions are stock trucks. These vehicles have steep ramps that may not be safe to back down. The reason you want to ask the horse to back up is safety related, a horse that is in a hurry to get out of a trailer may step on or over you to get out. The trailer is one of the most dangerous places for you to be with your horse, so make it a little safer by following some simple guidelines. 

Step 1: Untie the horse. Ask the horse for a step backwards and then release and reward. This is  exactly the same exercise that you would do if you were asking the horse to back up outside the trailer, you’re just doing it in the trailer now. Reward the horse and ask the horse to stand quietly for a few seconds. If you are working with a horse that starts out of the trailer on his own, go with him and support him through getting out of the trailer. You want the horse to think that it was your idea to get out of the trailer, not his. Then immediately load the horse again. 

Step 2: Ask the horse to stand quietly, and then ask for another step backwards. Get one good soft step backwards, then two, then three, etc. Pretty soon your horse should be backing up softly out of the trailer. Ideally, the horse should not start to get out of the trailer unless you ask. Use the backing techniques that you learned in the groundwork exercises. You have to be flexible, some horses will step back and seem to get "stuck" and some may want to get out of the trailer as soon as possible. Take what the horse gives you and work with it. You may need to use the forward yield to correct the tendency for the horse to drift or rush out of the trailer immediately - when a trailer door opens, a horse is naturally going to try to get out of the trailer. Don't try to hold the horse in the trailer with the lead rope. Again, if your horse needs to get out, let him out. It’s much safer for you and the horse if you work up to longer periods of time of standing still in the trailer. I still want the horse to think that it was my idea to get out of the trailer, not his. If the horse rushes out, you should immediately load the horse again and work on standing quietly and stepping backwards softly out of the trailer. You may already see that patience is a difficult thing to teach when a horse is concerned about the surrounding environment. If you go into trailer loading/unloading with the attitude that the horse is going to do this because "I said so", then you really need to consider whether you should be training the horse.  

Step 3: Back out the horse calmly. This is the point where you will see if your horse will stand still and your groundwork has paid off. Use your yielding skills to ask the horse to stand quietly by yielding at the poll (lowering the head at the last vertebrae between the head and spine), then to back out calmly. Take your time and don't worry about getting everything right. You may even want to ask for an occasional step forwards. You don't want the horse to anticipate your next move and it's easy to get stuck in this rut when you're in a hurry to get out and get ready for a competition or to go riding. You should be rewarding your horse as you go. Your horse should be relaxed, not sweaty, nervous, or anxious to get out. If not, then you probably missed something along the way. 

Step 4: Take your horse for a ride in the trailer. Get him used to the movement of the trailer as soon as possible. Some horses do better with another horse in the trailer for their first few rides. If you have another horse that will stand quietly, use him as a "role model" to help support the horse you are training to trailer. Don’t wait until you are going to a competition or riding to see how your horse handles the movement of the trailer. Get the horse used to the trailoring process. 

GOOD TRAILERING PRACTICES 

Check out your trailer
Is it safe? Make sure that there aren’t any sharp metal edges. Check the floor to make sure that it’s sound, no rust or rot.

Check for any noises, loose objects, broken dividers, etc. Fix or remove them before they become a problem. Is it dark and gloomy? Ideally, your trailer should feel light and airy. This is much more inviting to the horse than a cramped dark cave of a trailer. Consider painting the interior of your trailer with a light colored paint. Does your horse fit into the trailer? I have seen people stuff a draft horse into a very small straight load two-horse trailer. Sure they got the horse in, but its chest was on the front wall and they had to push its rear with the trailer door to squeeze him in. Ideally, your horse trailer should be large enough for your horse to get in and stretch out lengthwise. The side-to-side measurement is not as important. Are your floor mats clean and dry? Throw some dry shavings down for traction. A horse that has slipped in a horse trailer is going to remember the bad situation and will be cautious of the footing in the trailer. Take care of this before it becomes an issue. 
 

Tie your horse in the trailer. Don't leave the horse loose in the trailer. If you have hay bags or mangers, I can guarantee that some of that hay is going to hit the trailer floor and the horse is going after it. This is where the trouble begins. Use a flat halter; don't use your rope halter to tie your horse in the trailer. These are good training tools but lousy trailer ties. The rope halter can be very dangerous to a horse that gets into trouble in the trailer.

How is your driving?

One thing to consider is that the horse’s issue may not be with loading or unloading. Do you accelerate smoothly? Do you stop slowly? Do you change lanes quickly? Do you drive fast around corners? You may be contributing to your horse’s issues with the trailer if you do any of these. Evaluate your driving and consider changing your driving style. 

 When you get to your destination
Don’t immediately rush to let your horses get out of the trailer. Get them used to the idea that they may have to stand quietly for a while before you let them out. If you always hurry to let your horses out of the trailer, you’re training them to expect that they’ll be released immediately when you get to your destination. If the trailer becomes a good place to be, what’s wrong with hanging out there for a little while? You can even open the doors and let the horse stand inside the trailer for a while. The horse can see out and doesn't think that now that the door opened, he's going to get out immediately.

(C)Rick-NHS

Don’t bribe your horse
Don’t bribe your horse with food to get him into the trailer. But, there’s nothing wrong with offering him hay while he is standing in the trailer. This is a positive thing to do for your horse, make it a good experience to be in the trailer. He will soon associate the trailer as a good place to be. Standing quietly in the trailer is a good thing to reinforce. Fill the hay bag and let him eat while he is in the trailer, but don’t hold food in front of his face in order to get him in the trailer.   

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