Getting a stubborn Horse into a horse van/box?

Question

yesterday went to a show ,. the horse was a night mare .. we tried lunge rope .. bridal .. riding .. broommss .. angerr ... in the endd a big off angerrr made him relise . but anyy really good tipss so it doesnt happen tomoroo pleasee x

Answer 1

Bag over his head

Answer 2

Take it slow with him, constantly reassure him and try holding his favourite food under his nose and see if he follows it. Cover the ramp with either loads of straw/hay or a rubber mat so it won't make so much of a noise when he stands on it. Cover his eyes with a blanket so he can't see the trailer and lead him blind folded in to the trailer. Cover his eyes over before he has chance to see the trailer and see if that helps.

Good Luck

EDIT: As Lauren H said - NEVER get angry. Horses are what you call a flight animal (i.e. They would rather run away if they scared, rather than stand and fight), and you need to stay calm with them, anger won't get you anywhere, apart from in hospital when the horse kicks you!

Answer 3

polos, food etc calling him calmly and quietly =]

Answer 4

In the long term, anger, brooms etc will not solve the problem and i dare say will only make it worse.  Yes it is frustrating when you know the horse is just being stubborn, but from dealing with and witnessing any a horse like this i have seen the best method by far.....

Time and patience.  One livery had a similar horse.  she every night sat on the ramp with a bucket of feed, each night she sat higher up the ramp, until horse followed her for the feed, she then used to feed him in the box, it worked amazingly.  the horse now relates the box to food, a good thing hence willingly walks in.  

Other things are to make sure the box is light and airy.  try having the grooms door open to let more light in when loading etc?  the horse will not see it as going into an enclosed space but as if its just walking through a building etc as it can see an escape route - remember horses are flight animals.  

If you dont want to spend time, have you tried loading in a bridle?  using a controller headcollar?  getting someone who is very exerienced and strong loading him?  I know its not an answer, but maybe the horse would prefer a trailer as it wont have such a steep ramp?  Also, maybe the horse would be more willing to go in if there is another already in the box?

Another thing is if the horse is stood at the bottom of the ramp, get someone to calmly lift one of his front hooves and place it on the ramp, encourage with food, and he sould be more willing to go in.

good luck.

Answer 5

http://msxml.excite.com/info.xcite/searc...

Answer 6

NO NO NO! NEVER USE ANGER! If you use anger, the next time you try to load your poor horse, he will associate the horse box with anger, and him being scared! NEVER use anger again, it doesn't do any good at all, trust me!

I highly doubt your horse was being "stubborn", he was either over excited ot scared.This is how to load your horse! The main key with working with horses is PAITIENCE! Even if you don't have all day and your getting really annoyed, you still have to ACT like you have all day to your horse!  

Put a haynet or a bucket of feed into the trailer, as this may encourage your horse to go into, Approach the ramp head on, calmly and smoothly walking towards it. If your horse stops,rears or bucks e.t.c then turn him in a circle away from the ramp so he's facing the opposite way. Stroke him and pet him unti he has calmed down.Approach the trailer again, calmly and gently, with a treat in your hand to encourage him. If he stops again, repeat the last exercise. A good thing to do is if you get someone else to loosely hold the horse. You go up the ramp on your own and sit at the top with something like an apple or carrot that you can eat, start eating it, and your horse may come up the ramp to get it! Give him the treat and load him in. If  this still doesn't work, don't lose hope! Remember, you have all the time in the world! (Wink wink nudge nudge!) My last technique I could offer you is blindold the horse.(If he still trusts you, which i doubt he would after you hit him with brooms just because he was scared) At the bottom of the ramp, pick up his front feet and place them on the bottom of the ramp, so that he is half on the ramp. Try to lead him up still blindfolded. He will probably just go up. Once he is in, remove the blindfold. Or, you could remove the blindfold once his front feet are on. He will see that he is already on, and realise that he can go up.If absolutley none of what I've said has worked, i expect your horse has some serious issues. I dont know if you've heared of Natural Horsemanship? It's  basically a lot of excerises that create a bond beteween your horse similar to the bond of horses in the wild(You become the herd leader) Ask your vet if he knows of any Natural Horsemanship classes near you. Our look on youtube! Just remember: Never use anger, plaese! I'm begging you and i expect your horse is begging you as well after his last traumatic experince! xx  

Answer 7

has it occured to you that he may be frightened of the horse box?  Be kind and gentle, and seek the advice of a vet or "horse-whisperer".  Brooms and anger won't solve the problem!!!  How would you like someone to shove a broom up your ar$e and shout at you?!