Horse Problem - Trailer Loading Problems - 3 Problems/Questions - Same Solution

I tried to help her with several methods driving her in, but they didn't work. Now I tried to lead her in for over 14 hours. But she doesn't get further than both front feet in the trailer. No trouble getting her on the ramp. At the beginning, I got her into the trailer once but she panicked (was just half a second in there), and that was it, she was out and won't go back in now. Do you have any ideas what I could do? My friend does not have any money to hire a trainer right now, so I tried to help her, but I don't know what else to do. Can you give suggestions?

Question #2: I own a mare appendix, 14 years old, who is very, very difficult to trailer. I bought her about 1 and a half years ago and live in northeast Florida. Did not have the necessity to move her until this summer with the hurricane threats. However, we did have a couple of bad experiences before this without success. On one occasion she reared up while backing out of the trailer and cut her forehead.

Recently during the threat of evacuation, I did have a trainer work with her. He was able to get her on 2 different trailers. He did also describe her as the most stubborn horse he's worked with. A few days ago, thinking that the worst problems were over, I took her on a trail ride several miles from home. She loaded up at home without incident. At the trail site she refused to reload, demonstrating her worst aggressive behavior, rearing and charging. I finally called it quits and ended up walking her home.

I feel desperate. I tend to get overly anxious and fearful and I know she also reacts to that. At this point I don't know what to do. Would love to take her and myself to a training camp or the likes. Do you have any suggestions? Thank you.

Question #3: I like Parelli trailer loading methods the best. I know John Lyons' method and I studied others -- I don't agree with going into the trailer. Do you? You don't need to at all. The horse stands quietly and waits to be asked out by a gentle tug on the rope or later by a gentle tug on his tail if you have prepared him for that. What are your thoughts on trailer loading?

Trailer loading problems in general aren't always necessarily just about the trailer, but often about a whole lot of other things missing in the horse's foundation. For example (just one of many I've dealt with): a particular rearing/attacking quarter horse I worked at a clinic, the owner had a real hard time loading him onto the trailer to come to the clinic. Well...by the time I was done training him on the 2nd day of the clinic there, when the lesson was over, the owner took the horse to the trailer and the horse was so mellowed, so trusting, his fear bar raised so high via all the challenges I'd put before him and gotten him past earlier, so quiet & willing, that this time he just walked onto the trailer like it was no big deal at all, stunning the owner. So, with some horses, it's not about the trailer, but about them trusting, understanding what you want and knowing how to communicate well with them in a nonthreatening manner.

See...tackling the trailer with an issue horse, you generally want to back him up in his training to plug up the holes first, raise his confidence bar with lots of other things, deepen the trust level, etc., then the trailer itself is less a big deal. Let me explain how more.

Re Question #1: If I came in to work that horse myself (just showing you what I would do myself in that situation probably), I wouldn't even start at the trailer. I'd probably want to round pen the horse first (since that's such a serious trailer loading problem she's got there) and then I'd have in place control of that horse's 4 feet, including disengaging the hindquarters at liberty (how I round pen/teach round penning: http://www.naturalhorsetraining.com/RoundPenning.html

My Whispering Way Round Pen Leadership DVD also teaches the art of natural horsemanship round penning visually. To learn more about and order that video: CLICK HERE

By the time I'm done with a first round penning session, the horse will place her feet anywhere I ask, at liberty/not on line yet. Goes a long way in their foundation!!

Then, next, I would halter the horse in my natural horsemanship halter with 12 foot lead rope ONLY for teaching; I will not work with any other halters/leads, the NH halter/lead combo is THAT good for well communicating to horses our expectations and this means the lead is TIED to the halter, NOT clipped on with a clip. You don't want to be using a clip for several reasons two of which are: 1) if you have to jerk the lead rope to get the horse to back off/away from you, a clip can fly up and bonk their chin painfully, which greatly contributes to head shyness and 2) the clip diffuses the pressure too much making you have to ask "louder" with the ripple effect of the lead, whereas when the lead is tied to the halter, there is no communication diffusion, and therefore you get softer responses for softer asks, with far less pressure being necessary then.

And then I'd plug the horse into my training program to have down deep bonding and pressure/release. The bonding I would then return to real often to relax the horse incrementally, when needed from then on, head down, my finger in horse's mouth to get her working her mouth to relax her (a lot!) so that she's never pushed over the fear threshold from then on, but she instead trusts deeper & deeper as she sees I can control/facilitate her relaxation. Here are more horse whispering tricks of the trade to relax a horse so you can keep them focused: CLICK HERE

More and more she'd start turning to me to help her relax because she'll see I can do that for her, and this shuts off the flight fear response.

I'd also place into her foundation a backup cue right after Step 2, which we'd need to have for the later trailer loading lesson and for general good ground manners. To learn how to teach a horse to back up on the ground on cue which I feel is absolutely crucial to plant into their foundation before attempting trailer loading lessons, stop and read how to do that: CLICK HERE

My Whispering Way 12-Step Total Training System DVD set teaches all of this and more: CLICK HERE

I would also want to spend some time teaching the horse to back over logs laid on the ground, because that helps them learn where their feet are and how to pick them up and put them down to get over obstacles, which is going to go a long way for remaining rational as they back out of trailers "blind." It builds confidence in them that they can step over and down off of things rationally and proficiently when you practice first with logs or a series of logs on the ground. Believe it or not, stepping backwards even over logs is very hard for most horses to do at first, but what they learn there will help them cope with backing out of the trailer! So it's a well-worth-your-time exercise!

After she's got that well in place, I would proceed forward getting into her foundation desensitizing to ropes, plastic and even tarps if needed to raise her confidence bar. Especially teaching crossing over tarps will go a long way for trailer loading later! And getting well in place there being able to be driven from the rear which we are going to need for the trailer loading lesson. Here's how to teach that:

http://www.naturalhorsetraining.com/TrainingTips39.html

Away from the trailer, teach the horse to be driven from the rear

Once that's all in her foundation, THEN I would come closer to the trailer to reintroduce her to that.

Teach the horse to be driven from the rear around you near the trailer

And here's where you need to remember that it's the retreat that is more important than the advancement there. Via the retreat, the horse digests her successes incrementally. And it's after the retreat that I will come in to rebond/relax the horse, as well. Here's step-by-step how I would teach trailer loading there now at this point:

One of the biggest mistakes I see others make in teaching a horse trailer loading is to be too goal focused about "getting the horse inside" the trailer when the truth is advance/retreat works far more effectively there. I'm usually going to drive the horse from the rear there (not lead the horse in), which the horse already learned how to do/be driven from the rear before approaching the trailer.

Drive the horse from the rear - keep lead rope loose in forward hand, drive with back hand/rope end twirling

But I'm only going to drive the horse forward a step or two, then I'm going to back up/retreat the horse with the rope jiggle cue now. Via the retreat, the horse lets down and also digests each incremental baby step she has accomplished. For example, for every one step forward the horse makes there (even just outside the trailer), it's real important to instantly back her up and retreat. Multi times. They "let down" their inner pressure via the retreat.

For every forward progress toward the trailer, retreat, back the horse up using the rope jiggle back up cue

I will pause often after the retreat, back to bond on and calm the horse.

Bond on the horse after the retreat to keep the horse calm and feeling emotionally supported.

This NOT about force, but about patience and nurturance.

Then when she gets that down well, and we're closer to the trailer now, I'll ask for one foot in the trailer (or onto the ramp if it's a ramp loader). Then that one foot back out as I back the horse up. Many, many times, just that one foot. In/out. Then when she does that rationally, confidently, easily, I'll drive her forward asking for two feet in, back the horse up, many, many times.

Ask for 2 feet in, then retreat out, multiple repetitions

When she's got that down well, many, many times, I'll ask for 3 feet in, back the horse up, many, many times, & so forth. Via many, many retreats the horse gains confidence. And if you can catch the horse with the thought that she wants to go in, and back her up right at that precise moment, it's in the category of "leave her wanting more" and it goes a long way in her psychologically moving forward positively.

The less "inside the whole trailer" goal focused you are there for the schooling or reschooling, the better. And the more retreats you do incrementally (which is the release of pressure) the better. All horses learn from the release of pressure what it is you want, not the pressure itself, so, get your release timing reward quick and accurate for the smallest tries, the slightest changes the horse makes in the right progressive direction. By the time the 4th foot goes in, which is generally the easiest foot to get in, in the end, if you've gone this multi-retreat route, she'll usually be begging to go in by that point, but you again ask her to back out instantly after the 4th foot goes in.

In other words, when the horse succeeds in getting in finally, it's real important to back them out and repeat dozens of times until it's no big deal. And this even means backing up after every baby step is accomplished along the way. One foot in, then back the one foot/them out. Pause, stroke for reward. Dozens of times. And so forth. Be the opposite of goal focused there; be retreat focused, which works best with prey animals. We're predators and our brains tend to be very goal focused, which is what nature set up in us predators (to catch/kill prey!). Switch that off and think/speak more like a prey animal, and be retreat focused. Via retreats they gain confidence.

I've also found that the fear most horses have about getting inside the trailer most of the times is often more about: fear of how to get out without feeling clumsy and vulnerable. So, the more you practice the retreat, incrementally even, without being too goal focused nor them pressured forward too much as you school them there, the quicker/smoother they get there. Long way is the short way, as we say in natural horsemanship!

The other tip I'd like to add into the formula there, since horses do tend to fear the step out, especially after all four feet are in and you ask them to back out, but even earlier there, well...since their blind spots are directly behind them, they can't see to step out and they fear they won't know when/where to step down. As you are baby stepping them there, and as you retreat/back them up, teach some word you use like "Stepppppp" drawn out sounding, or some such word/phrase you will use consistently to let them know that foot needs to step down/back now. It's like leading a blind person down stairs, telling them ahead of time the step down is coming. The horse often needs the same cue reassurance and they'll start reaching back when they hear that "stepppppp" (or some such word). This way they learn to listen for your word cue that lets them know, because they're blind back there, they need to reach now, and this reduces their stress level there. It's not important what word you use, but that you pick something, use it consistently and they learn it means you're prewarning them the step down is coming.

Usually if you go the entire above route, trailer loading is no big deal. Also...sometimes it's a good idea to put their favorite food in there, maybe half way in the trailer to start, to let the horse know the food is waiting for them there, but even when they reach the food, ask them to back up/out, because this then leaves them wanting more and them thinking/acting upon eventually, "will you let me in the trailer already so I can eat that yummy food in there!!" But real important to do multiple repetitions of in/out, incrementally, and the horse's fears are respected. You're baby-stepping them there appropriately and before long getting in the trailer is no big deal. Even if you succeed getting them in quicker/early on, it's still important to ask them to come back out instantly, multi times so they get real confident about it all and the problem fixed for good.

People often make the mistake, too, of once they get the horse in the trailer, closing it up real quickly with a "whew! got the horse in!" when actually quickly asking the horse to come back out right away and repeat the task over & over again is the answer. The more retreats you do there, the better the horse gets at it.

And also since that friend's horse there was abused in the past to get into a trailer (letter #1 there, but applies to any horse who has had abusive means used on them to get into a trailer), you're going to want to stop real often to bond on the horse (rub face/favorite spots, put your finger in corner of their mouth to produce the mouth working, and drop the horse's head; high head is tense horse, lowered head is relaxed horse; where the head goes, the mind follows). This way you're not forcing like she has experienced in the past, but nurtured through her fears there instead, this time, as she rewalks through what used to scare her.

But also, even as you drive her forward there, you have to remember to not release for the wrong thing, but only release your twirling rope/asking pressure behind the horse's shoulder and back IF/WHEN you get forward movement. You don't want to be rewarding with a release for a balk. But if you pushed too hard too fast there, just know you need to break the request down into smaller baby steps so you can reward for the smallest try, the slightest change in the right forward direction.

Hard to explain all the need-to-know dynamics for teaching trailer loading, but hopefully you can read between the lines here for whatever I left out. Try that and see how you do. And keep remembering: retreat the horse before the horse retreats herself and you'll get there faster. You did good there but you probably missed your retreat timing there. She probably retreated before you did. Because, probably, you were too goal focused about getting her all the way in/keeping her in. Try this other route I've described and it should be a lot easier to get her past this issue.

Prey animal psychology is all about understanding the horse is a prey animal whose first instinct is to flee/retreat/move the feet when afraid. This route respects that innate need, yet keeps you in the director seat and her increasingly trusting you to retreat her before she feels the need to do it herself. Get it? Try all that and let me know how it goes.

Regarding Letter #2, above, I would give all the same above advice. Back this horse up and begin reschooling as described. I did want to comment on one thing there, though. I don't believe in using the word "stubborn" with horses, especially in this case and most all cases for that matter.. Horses get "stuck," not "stubborn," there's a difference. Horses don't "connive" against us to be stubborn; they simply act on prey animal instinct/fears. The horse is afraid there and that's the bottom line. Back up and plant into her foundation what I taught above, then reschool her using baby steps and advance/retreat and she'll get there.

Trailer lessons aren't even about trailer lessons, for a start. It's about...having the horse understand in the first place how to be driven from the rear and completely compliant and trusting about that -- and us as their "herd leader" -- away from the trailer for a start.

However... what you'll get dished out there, so often as a trainer in the trenches, is not teaching a horse to load properly from the start, but more about: fixing what got messed up there from another human's clueless hands who tried to force the issue, did it all wrong/unproductively, and it all blew up on them and the horse is now traumatized. So...I back them up and teach them the earlier steps so we've got all that going well, far away from the trailer. Then I re-baby step them by the trailer so they can relearn what they didn't learn right in the first place. With lots of retreats (so important to retreat after every forward step) and lots of deep bonding in between asks for forward movement. Bonding is one of the strongest cornerstones my program has. If you don't have bonding down, and down very deeply, baby, you've got nothing.

At clinics I do, often I'll get pretty serious trailer loading problems I then turn around and sometimes, with the really formerly traumatized ones, and unfortunately a time constraint with a person needing to leave to go home (not the ideal scenario for a trailer loading lesson), I'll use a two-person approach there so that the horse can have more successes at baby steps (hence far more opportunities for me to reward them warmly). See...some horses can be so very, very traumatized from past bad loading experiences that we have to get real creative there to help them learn how to succeed. You can have some of them rearing the second they get even remotely close to the trailer (again, these are past damaged-there horses, not your taught right from the start ones). With those, when they do that, we quickly assertively retreat them back ourselves....for many, many yards, to start making the right thing easy, wrong thing hard. But sometimes one will come along that is defying all your normal tricks in our handy "tool bag" and there we get as creative as we have to.

One clinic I recall, we had a horse who wouldn't load to go home, it was getting dark and our normal driving from the rear just wasn't going to do it in that particular time-constraint case. We're talking rearing, the whole shebang. Was a very sensitive horse, to boot, I remember well. This horse would go A to Z stress-wise in a nanosecond and explode if too much pressure was applied to him near the trailer. Clearly, he'd had very bad trailering or loading experiences--probably beaten even. The owner was a very forceful guy, but he made quite a transformation in our clinic -- but...he was left with past damage he'd done to the horse in the category of loading.

So...when we saw how badly damaged the horse was in this category, we used the two-person approach. One person asks for the forward on the lead gently, while another from behind with the extendable training wand taps on the rump ever so quietly, very, very low on the pressure scale to start, and starts building up the pressure slowly there with the tapping. But real slowly. The second the horse gives there, even the tiniest try of a muscle twitch or forward thought (release for the smallest try, slightest change!) we simultaneously release the pressure there (so you have to get your mutual timing down real well). No tapping, release of lead rope/slack in rope, exactly at the same time. Then back the horse up. Then bond. Always retreat for every try forward, backing the horse up. Via the retreat, the horse "lets down" and digests his successes.

You can't be too forward focused with such serious problem horses, but the opposite: be retreat focused and only tiny-progression focused. With seriously troubled horses in this category you sometimes need to go this route, especially in time-constraint situations. And pretty soon they start thinking forward is a really good spot! And by that time, even if they are easily putting one foot in, we still retreat them. Two feet in, we still retreat them. Quickly the horse will show, "will you let me in there already!!" And...for such horses we always try to put their favorite food in there, as well, half way in for a start and as they are on forward mode, we let them take a quick bite but then retreat them out quickly. Very soon the horse is shooting in there, pleeease let me in to eat, no issues. But even there...even when the horse goes in all the way, easily, we retreat them back out. Dozens of times. So that it's never an issue again. Long way is the short way, as we say in NH. The time you take to back up slowly and fix a problem, patiently, it then gets fixed for good.

All that to say: yes I teach driving from the rear, horse going into trailer by themselves, but sometimes you have to get real creative with problem horses who have had bad experiences and often those tend to occur at the END of a clinic, or some such suddenly inconvenient situation where it's already getting dark and the person has miles ahead to drive. (I've gone as far as have someone park their car with headlights facing into the trailer for those sudden, unexpected night time loading lessons so that the horse can see better/things are more well lit for them to ease them along faster there; horses can sometimes fear entering a dark trailer so even in regular trailer loading lessons, face the trailer so sunlight will shine in through the back opening).

Once a horse is okay with trailer loading, repeat the lesson often in in all kinds of situations and scenarios. One gal who runs a rescue near me says she works with all the horses in her charge to trailer load and once they get it down well, she'll work on repeating it with them in the dark of night, because, she said, you never know some night you might have to trailer load suddenly, or...your trailer could break down at night and you have to transfer them to another one, so good to practice that at night as well. Good advice!

Seriously, natural horsemanship is an incredibly creative field and the more "tools of the trade" you gather up, from many directions, the more you have to draw upon in a pinch if suddenly you meet the exception to the rule horse where your normal tricks aren't working as well. That's what creates a stronger trainer in you. Just develop a good radar filter to run methods through. I like John Lyons' simple 3 rules for good natural horsemanship training:

1) I cannot get hurt.

2) The horse cannot get hurt.

3) The horse has to be better off at the end of a lesson than at the beginning -- which is about ...leaving them in a softer spot.

Couldn't 'a said it better myself! That's a really good filter to run things through that you see in other NH directions. Certainly a good first-line quick evaluation to know if it's smart/wise/humane, etc. or not.

The more you study and practice in this field, the better & better you get and the quicker you see what's right, what's not, because it becomes honed instinct in you before long. And you start to learn to migrate to what you know instantly is the more evolved out there. The more evolved indeed all train pretty much the same way because they've gone through the same learning curve process the rest of us have.

As for trailer loading videos...I like:

Buck Brannaman's here:

http://www.brannaman.com/bbtldvd.htm

Monty Roberts' here:

http://www.montyroberts.com/shop_education.html

And Clinton Anderson's: CLICK HERE

Hope this stuff helps! Good luck to all of y'all. Stay safe!

 

 

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