How to train a horse to load
At some point, in every equestrian life, there is going to be a reason to transport your horse. The reasons range from occasional visits to a veterinaryina, moving to a new location, horse shows or the critical colic emergency. Whatever the reason, it’s important that your horse is prepared for the experience and is safe and comfortable as possible.
TRAINING YOUR HORSE TO LOAD
Being prepared is more than an optional issue. The best tatic is to start early and often, getting your horse used to the experience. Negative experiences, like bullying and whipping your horse into a trailer, a common old fashion technique, can leave a lasting impression and make the trailer a unfriendly zone from the horses point of view.
When a horse is being difficult, this is usally past experiences that the present owner may know nothing about. The good news is not only is this preventable and past problems can be resolved with patience and positive training.
STEP 1: INTRODUCE YOUR HORSE TO THE TRAILER
Starting as young as possible, introduce your horse to the site and smell of a horse trailer. At this point, don’t run the truck/car engine. Just let them look and smell the trailer. If they are curious, give them a reward. A willing entrance should immediately be rewarded, by ceasing the introduction.
Some trainers use clicker training for this training, which gives a positive feedback when a horse behaves in a way that you desire. Others use food or other positive rewards. It really depends on what works best for your horse.
Just as in riding training, each horse has his/her own pace of education. Try not to turn a training goal into a personal accomplishment. Your horses abilty has nothing to do with your own personal success.
If your horse wants nothing to do with the inside of the trailer, settle for walking around the trailer, letting them look it over and call it a day. Another day will arrive, where you can start again.
Always keep each step positive.
STEP 2: ENTERING THE TRAILER
Depending on your trailer type and equipment, may change your stragity of how to encourage your horse to go inside. Take it step by step. As in the trailer introduction, allow your horse all the time it needs and encourage a exploration of the interior of trailer, even if it means just sticking their head in.
For young or inexperienced horses, we recommend you use a trailer with a ramp, rather than a step up.
1. It is safer for you and your horse.
2. A horse is more likely to enter and explore if they don’t have to perform gynmastics to enter this “strange stall”
A common trick is perform this activity just before feeding time. Place some hay just inside the trailer and allow the horse to nibble on the food.
STEP 3: GO SLOW
If you horse has entered the trailer easily, reward and then don’t trap them. Allow them to exit the trailer, put them away and repeat the excerise on another day. The goal is to make the trailer a safe and trustworthy place. One that each horse would easily step in by themselves…useful in a emergency event, like a fire, where you don’t have time to negioate.
If your horse has not entered easily, ask for one thing, like a foot into the trailer. Reward them and call it a day.
Horse training to load is a slow process and never one where they should be hit or forced into a small space. That technique may work once or even twice, but creates a negative experience and will not serve you in the life time of horse ownership.
