Horse Trailering Problem?

Question

I recently purchased a thoroubred mare about 3 weeks ago. I was told she trailers perfectly and gets on before you do. YA, i wish. I mean, she will get on but last time we tried to bring her home from a local show she would not get on until someone came with grain and we tied a rope to one side of the traier and held on to the other end until she just jumped on. Then once we started driving away, she freaked out and broke her brand new leather halter and tried to turn around in the trailer. After we situated her we were on our way and she was fine the rest of the time. I must also add that there was a stallion at the show we were coming home from and he was in the paddock behind where we were trying to load her into the trailer so i dont know if that could have anything to do with it. My trailer is a thoroughbred height stock trailer with a ramp and my horse is 15hh. Do u have any advice or tips? Thanks!!!

Answer 1

i saw a great monty roberts video on u tube about your problem check it out its cool :-)

Answer 2

Feed her out of the trailer. I'm not kidding. Set her grain and hay at the edge of the trailer, and don't bribe her to eat it either. She should be used to it in no time. :)

Answer 3

Work with her to load for a good 4 weeks everyday. She will learn to go in & be calm. You are going to have to be calm with her. & Just keep doing ot over & over! She'll get it.

Answer 4

I have had great success in my way of trailer training.

My horses are of sound mind during the process also so they seem to retain what I am teaching.

I'm giving info below on the info you gave....that your horse will load and has no problems but at times won't load and panics.

For non loading horses Day One could take two weeks!

Day One

load her into the trailer. Do not tie or put the butt chain up. Let her grab a bite of hay from the haynet...back her out with a rub to her head.

Repeat a few times then put her back into the paddock.

Day Two

Repeat but have her stand a little longer in the trailer.

Put her back in the paddock.  Come back out a few hours later and repeat.

If she's cool with all of this then

Day Three

Load her up and have someone hold her up at her head area.  

You rub her back and sides and rump. Rub rub rub.

Back her out.

Reload and rub rub rub.

Pull the but bar up but don't hook it.  Let her feel it. Hold it up on her for a few and rub her rump.

Back her out of the trailer now.  Put her up.

Repeat in a few hours

Day Four

Repeat Day Three but this time hook the butt bar.

Rub rub rub

Loosely tie her head (use a nylon halter so it wont break)

and by loosely I mean so she can actually raise her head and put it over into the empty stall.  Tight enough though so that she cannot turn.

Let her eat hay for a few minutes then back her back out.

Repeat two or three times then put her up for the night.

Day Five

Repeat Day Four but this time put the ramp up.

You stand up front and rub her head and talk to her.

Lower the ramp, back her out.  Let her look at the trailer and think on it.

Repeat

Day Six

Repeat Day Five if it wasn't going well.  If it went perfectly now you:

Load her, tie her (still loose) drive her in the trailer just about 20 feet.

Unload her and put her up.

Repeat a few hours later but now drive around the block and give her a treat before you put the ramp down and unload.

Unload for the night

Day Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten

Repeat loading up and driving around the block. The following days add a block.

You can now try tying her head up a little shorter but make sure she can still move it to almost her shoulder.

She may be like my mare and can't be tied up tight.

My mare to this day will panic if tied up.  I have to use a Tie Blocker on her and can only do a loose tie on her in the trailer.  Enough to keep her from trying to turn around.

She also learned to stay calm when traveling with a buddy. :)

She can trailer alone now. She's got her confidence.

I also think that if you 'force' the horse in he will always be more reluctant the next time.  Work on his issues before the show.  Slow and steady and give him time to think on the situation.  If he cannot think then he will blow.

If he takes a small step, let off the pressure and let him think...then ask for another step.  He feels calmness around him and that there is no human anxiety.

If the humans are anxious "maybe I should be too!"

Take a deep breath and relax.  

Good Luck!

edit:  Forgot to add that if your horse blows and bolts backwards out of the trailer....you make her feet move quickly around you....small lunging circles.  One way then the other.

This is punishment.  If she wants to run out of the trailer then the only thing waiting for her is work. Lots of work.

Reload her and have her stand.  YOU cue her to back up (I touch the chest with a finger and say "back")

If my mare raises her head in a panic I say "Head down" and I do a couple of quick short pulls on the lead.  She knows this is the head down cue and lowers it...then backs out calmly.

She used to bolt out.  We had a trailer accident and she ripped her eye open, her sides, got a concussion, and ripped her legs up.

This happened IN the trailer.  She now loads calmly and just a little anxious during the drive.  Just now started eating hay after a year.

Answer 5

What I find can work is load her onto the trailer at home and feed her in there. Also take her for very short rides around that yard etc to get her used to it. It just sounds as though she wanted to get off and go back to the stallion. Just make sure she associates the trailer with good things, not bad. Take her for nice rides somewhere and not just to shows, as shows can be quite stressful places to be (on the humans side of things anyway!) You may find that this will work and that she was just pining for her new boyfriend! :) Hope this helps Godd Luck!

Answer 6

Work with her...back your trailer and make a pen. put her on a lunge line and work her outside of the trailer. then load her and let her rest in the trailer. then take her out and repeat until she finds out that the trailer is the best part and you'll get lucky and maybe she wont want to leave it. thats when you know she is comfortable with the trailer.

Answer 7

Drive more gently.

The fact that she gets on but freaks when you start moving tells me something's really bothering her in the trailer.  Check out the shocks and wheels - even a slightly flat tire can make the ride really bumpy!

But the biggest problem in cases like this is usually the driving.  Go slow.  Don't do fast starts and abrupt stops.  Don't swerve.  Go really slow around corners.

If the horse is used to a stall type trailer, the stock trailer could be really freaking her out - there's no support for her to lean into, which makes swerves and so on really hard on her.

Good luck!

Answer 8

i have great advice and tips, my horse was a 16 year old tb/qh who was abused and for the life of us(me, my mother, my dad, my two trainers, my vet, and everyone going to shows with us) could not get this horse on a trailer the easy way.

but.... i dont feel like getting thumbs down for answers that do work for non-trailer-liking-horses.  and i really dont like giving people wonderful emails with details and not getting a thank you, or hey that did/didnt work, but thanks anyway. type reply.  

all i can say right now is 1. get a vet to over see. 2. get a trainer as well. 3. get two really strong guys who dont mind having their shoulders pulled out if in so happens the horse does have a bad day (my horse pulled mine, and my dad's out more times then we could count when we were trailer training).  4. rope, lunge with, vet approved drugs(not big heavy hitters, just the ones that relax the horse), horse blanket (heavy winter blanket) and alot of time and slow moving. dont ever rush a horse. (i learned that the hard way tyvm,lol).

if you so happens to want a step by step on what we did, please feel free to email, if not, tis okay.

Answer 9

You said she freaked out and broke the halter trying to turn around in the trailer. She has had a bad experience in the trailer then and so now she remembers that and is afraid to go in. Don't try to force her to go in as that will just make the problem worse. She has to want to go in and I think it is best you go back to the basics with her in trailer training. I have had terrific success with horses who have a stubborn fear of loading using the Monty Roberts gentle trailer loading training technique and I also like his Dually training halter. If you care to learn that technique, I suggest you purchase the Monty Roberts "Load-Up" DVD.

No other method of trailer loading training I have ever used works as well on horses who have a serious stubborn fear of loading.