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Author
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Topic: Won't Trailer!
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pleasurerider18
Junior Member
Member # 2058
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posted May 01, 2004 01:50 PM
Hi everyone,
I have a 19 yo T.B. who is a wonderfully well mannered dressage and trail horse who will walk through fire for me anytime and is bombproof:he has even passed riding for disabled and police horse training! The problem is he will NOT get on a trailer. It takes on average an HOUR to get him on the trailer. We have tried everything: food, no food, whip taps, no whip taps, patience, gentle pressure on the nose band, nose chains, lip chains, lundge line on the butt, loading another horse first, having another horse waiting, the John Lyons method, Tellington Tough Awareness (Lynda Tellington Jones) training and have had little to no progress. I think he is generally terrified because he gets this "blank" look in his eyes as soon as we go near the trailer, and if you get mad or aggressive with him he will rear/kick and refuse to budge and start whinnining (sp?) for his heard mates. In ANY other aspect of his life his a wonderfully well mannered horse who is even a school lesson horse for a 3 year old little girl!
I am at a loss and would really like to show and explore new trails! I have had him for 7 years and all I know from his background is he was a bit abused (he was nervous around jumps and very headshy when I first got him, and I know his last owner and she beat the living tar out of him if he messed up a jumping round!!)
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! **sorry so long!!**
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-Kait
Relax! Go for a trail ride. Be beautiful! Do Dressage. Be me? Do Both!
A natural horse is a happy horse.
I Love my Jokey-Pie!
Posts: 26 | From: Ontario, Canada | Registered: Mar 2004
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Blistering Winds
Member
Member # 843
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posted May 01, 2004 05:05 PM
Sounds like he had a VERY bad experience in a trailer.
What kind of trailer? Maybe an open stock trailer may help get him in.
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Horses should not be treated as people. They should be respected for who they are and what they are capable of doing!
Born Free Now Expensive
Posts: 4337 | From: Texas | Registered: Oct 2003
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Sandra-A1
Member
Member # 588
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posted May 01, 2004 05:07 PM
What kind and size trailer are you using?
2 Horse? 4 Horse Stock?
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"It is our choices Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
-Dumbledore
Posts: 1863 | From: Alabama | Registered: Aug 2003
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1rish
Member
Member # 1951
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posted May 01, 2004 06:24 PM
Personally I have never done this myself but have seen it done quite a bit with mustangs.
People will hook their truck up to a large 4 horse stock trailer then park it in the arena. Put the horses daily feed just inside the door of the trailer so the horse can stand outside on the ground and eat the hay out of the trailer, slowly over a couple of days move the feed further and further into the trailer so the horse has to go inside to eat. I have had a lot of cowboys say that by giving the horse time alone with the trailer to acclamate will help even the most wimpy horse.
Posts: 113 | From: Nevada | Registered: Mar 2004
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spyro1
Member
Member # 647
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posted May 01, 2004 07:04 PM
Holy cow, have your work cut out for ya don't ya...have you tried loading a trusted companion in the trailer first? Or another suggestion is to take him over where the trailer is parked daily, say, after your ride, and you are cooling him down, let him graze, let him realize that the trailer is not going to hurt him. maybe put his treats on the wheel well of the trailer, let him get friendly with it. then start putting the treats inside the door, let him see them and reach them without getting too close to the *monster*. I am fortunate that my horse will jump into anything I put in front of him. Good luck wtih him. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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http://members17.clubphoto.com/beth819817/2122088/guest.phtml
Only those who risk going too far, will ever know how far they can go.
Posts: 2755 | From: Sunny South Florida | Registered: Aug 2003
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probarrelracer
Member
Member # 1942
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posted May 02, 2004 09:45 AM
I agree with Irish in this one! ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
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http://www.picturetrail.com/gid3998200
Posts: 466 | From: Louisiana | Registered: Mar 2004
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pleasurerider18
Junior Member
Member # 2058
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posted May 02, 2004 01:01 PM
Thanks everyone for your suggestions! Unfortunatly, the only trailers I have access to are 2 horse straight load trailers to work with (the only other people who trailer around here will not even try to trailer me as , well, he won't get on!) I've tried the line of treats but once we start trying to load he gets so nervous he starts to shake and won't eat! We graze near the trailer all the time, but as soon as you try to get him on he goes into a sort of "trance." I'll talk to my barn owner about parking in near the end of the arena. This is the same horse who won't bat an eye at crossing a raging river and stands motionless while getting tennis balls thrown at him and pool noodles lobbed against his body (police horse training). Thanks again everyone!
p.s. does anyone know of any thing NON-sedative to calm him before *trying to* load?? Maybe like a herbal thing or a massage??
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-Kait
Relax! Go for a trail ride. Be beautiful! Do Dressage. Be me? Do Both!
A natural horse is a happy horse.
I Love my Jokey-Pie!
Posts: 26 | From: Ontario, Canada | Registered: Mar 2004
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Sandra-A1
Member
Member # 588
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posted May 02, 2004 01:46 PM
How TALL and WIDE is your trailer?
What type of divider does it have?
Is it a walk thru or does it have a built in manger?
The trailer might not be big enough for the horse to feel comfortable in.
You might want to consider hauling the horse alone without the divider.
If it has a built in manger the horse might not be able to occasionally get it's head down to blow and clear it's nose and wind pipe.
I would just get out there every day, at least once a day, twice if possible, and work on loading and unloading. It won't happen over night but I would jusy stick with it and keep taking baby steps until the problem was solved.
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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"It is our choices Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
-Dumbledore
Posts: 1863 | From: Alabama | Registered: Aug 2003
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pleasurerider18
Junior Member
Member # 2058
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posted May 02, 2004 01:55 PM
Not sure about how tall and wide but average, and my guy is just under 16 hh and *once he gets in* fits fine (side not, my bo's 18 hh clyde fits in there!! he he what a funny sight!, kinda like sucking into jeans that are a bit too small ). It is not a walk through and does not have a manger or a removable divider, unfortunatly.
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-Kait
Relax! Go for a trail ride. Be beautiful! Do Dressage. Be me? Do Both!
A natural horse is a happy horse.
I Love my Jokey-Pie!
Posts: 26 | From: Ontario, Canada | Registered: Mar 2004
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Cyn
Member
Member # 1208
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posted May 03, 2004 09:25 PM
I think maybe you should pick out one method and stick to it. Changing all the time may be his way of thinking he has won.
Pick out the one that had the most progress. Stck to it. Try everyday. never leave on a bad note. When you feel he has made any progress stop for the day. Do it again tommorrow. Have patients. It may take a really long time but if you are persistant and patient at the same time it MAY work.
It's like my kids, they have certain things they must do, If I change it all the time because they don't like it my way. They would just be manipulating me into doing something else.
Just a thought!!
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*Cyndy*
Counting the days Til Sugar foals...DUE APRIL 29.
Posts: 1021 | From: Central, Ca | Registered: Dec 2003
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John
Member
Member # 1854
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posted May 04, 2004 12:29 AM
I have another method that I dont see mentioned. Give yourself plenty of time and not when you have to load to go somewhere.1st put a halter on him and start leading him towards the trailer.2nd BEFORE he starts to act up stop and lead him away from the trailer.3rd do the same exercise but go a bit closer.Give him a big pat then do it again.When you do get him to take a step onto the trailer stop and back out again. Keep going until he will load all the way and then back him out and put him away.It dosent always work but I have seen some amazing results with it.Dont hurry ,its worth a try.
Posts: 109 | From: B.C. Canada | Registered: Mar 2004
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CJ
Member
Member # 1979
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posted May 04, 2004 12:32 PM
I'm thinking maybe/ probably the former owner beat the daylights out of him in the trailer at show/s if they didn't do so well. That would make the trailer the last thing on the planet he would willingly walk into, to be a captive audience for a bashfest. PO'Horse! Loading a companion 1st would be my sugg too. The other remote poss. is to build a mock trailer, plywood box of trailer dimensions, and see if he will load into that. Whatever you do don't let anybody resort to force/ terror- sounds like he's had plenty of that previously. It might be worth it to sedate him lightly, not to take him anywhere but just to load him, and start getting fuzzy but positive memories of being on trailer.
Posts: 662 | From: NJ | Registered: Mar 2004
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Super_Trooper
Member
Member # 1344
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posted May 04, 2004 12:36 PM
Do you know what we did? We placed the trailer in the field and fed our horses IN it, they became VERY accustomed to going in and out of it, and when it did come time to trailer, they loaded fine.
(he was also a terrible shipper prior)
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True commitment begins when you reach the point of not knowing how you could possibly go on, and deciding to do it anyway!
Posts: 2411 | From: BC Canada | Registered: Jan 2004
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saraa
Member
Member # 2377
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posted May 08, 2004 06:37 AM
Some horses are like this my friends horse was like this but now shes not what we did we walked him on the trailer it took like a hour the 1st time then we got him on and gave him apples and treats and did it 3 times over again and hes perfect
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TwO sTeP
Posts: 33 | From: Newfoundland | Registered: Apr 2004
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slc
Member
Member # 1713
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posted May 08, 2004 07:05 AM
It is very hard to fix something like that in an older horse. He's 19 and has been doing it for a very long time.
Everyone has their own pet method and they will always tell you to do that, and that will work. I haven't found that any one way always works. I think you have to just experiment and find out what works the best.
I don't think that, say, if a horse wasn't treated right years before, that it is really an excuse for why he can't do something in the present day. I think it is a good idea to try different things and see what you can do about it.
I had a really bad loader to deal with and he was just whipped on and beat for hours and hours at a time for not getting in the trailer, and he just got worse and worse, he started coming at you when you were standing on the ramp and running backwards hauling you through the air and things like that. He hurt me pretty bad a couple times.
The idea of the trainer was he was going to stand down and beat on the horse, and I was supposed to hand on to the lead shank and help guide him into the trailer. Well that didn't work very well.
What I learned is basically that just being nice isn't going to get a horse into a trailer, but neither is beating him up.
There has to be something in between that goes along with how the horse thinks and learns.
I know a lot of people swear by a lip shank, control halter, chain shank over the nose or under the chin.
To be honest, most of the time when i have a really bad one i take the chain off and just clip the shank to the bottom ring of their halter. I find a control halter can get you killed if you have a really bad horse to load.
I think the best thing is to work with the horse and teach him to bring one foot forward at a time, slowly, and just keep working him forward.
You have to be almost like a robot. Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap, the foot moves, an inch forward is fine, give a carrot. good boy. then, tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap, foot moves, good boy, give a carrot. if he backs up he has to come forward to that spot before he gets another carrot.
I carry a feed bucket, and i keep breaking up what is going on, tap tap tap tap tap and then get them to reach their nose for the food, and i talk nice and just stay very calm, but at the same time, i am pretty firm. they have to move some and they have to keep tuning me in.
He has to face into the trailer, and yes, I do smack them on the hind quarters to straighten them out if they don't stay straight. I do insist they have to stay straight. And I use a long whip and I do not want to get kicked.
For a while, they just tear back and you can't stop them, they tear you off your feet, and you just right away work them forward again each time. Giving them the idea that no matter what you are immediately going to go right about it again helps.
Don't let the horse throw his one front foot way up the ramp or take one big step up the ramp with one foot and leave his hind feet all stretched out behind him. keep his hind feet moved up forward, and don't let him paw on the ramp, blow on it, or look around behind him, and shank him if he winnies. he has to pay attention, he is working. while he is working he has to pay attention.
don't let him come at the ramp at an angle. have him come straight in.
it takes time. keep working on it. you have to be just like a robot and repeat every little step again and again and again and again. it is really just like being a robot, except that you are also watching just what reaction you get and adjusting what you do all the time to that.
Posts: 297 | From: ohio | Registered: Feb 2004
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zorse
Member
Member # 1633
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posted May 08, 2004 11:07 AM
What ever you do...never lose your patience with him around the trailer..or he'll associate fright with it even more. You must try to find another trailer...most horses won't go in straight hauls...ours wont at all, and yet they literally bound into our angle haul.
I agree with the thing Irish suggested. He needs to become comfortable around the trailer..so if you can, park it in his paddock. Put his feed on the edge the first day and every day move it further in. It may work and it may not work...depends on the horse. If he doesn't go for his feed right away, DON'T just give him more hay and give up on the idea...if he doesn't get fed for a night, he's not going to die. Obviously you can't starve him though..think logically how long he should go without his hay.
We had a TB gelding like this. We'd try everything on him too, and he just wouldn't go in...he'd have a complete freak-out and start shaking hysterically and rearing. The day we bought him, he reared and fell into a lady's car and dented her hood. We tried everything with him too...even the "trailer in the paddock". Eventually, after trailering around the block every day for months, he was starting to get really good...even though some days he'd lose his mind again and spazz out. We sold him to Ohio and he soon climbed up the ranks in the hunter world...he jumped in the trailer like a pro that day
Good luck.
[ May 08, 2004, 11:14 AM: Message edited by: zorse ]
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Some athletes don't care what kind of shoes they wear, or how many fans they have. They don't even care that they're on television from coast to coast. They just want to run.
--Unknown
http://www.picturetrail.com/zorse
Posts: 800 | From: BC, Canada | Registered: Feb 2004
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arabianlvr87
Member
Member # 1288
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posted May 08, 2004 11:14 AM
When we cant get our horses into the trailer, one person walks them straight into it, while someone else holds a crop in the air and whisks it around. This may sound dumb and dangerous, but it works really well. To get them used to it, we'd feed them in it once a week. Now, they go on easily.
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http://community.webshots.com/user/catandfelicity
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We are all of us stars and we all deserve to twinkle.
--Marilyn Monroe
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Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising in every time we fall.
-Confucious
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I AM an egotistical BRAT!!
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Treat you like my horse? HAH! Only in your wildest dreams!
Posts: 970 | From: SC | Registered: Jan 2004
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slc
Member
Member # 1713
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posted May 08, 2004 12:04 PM
i have some pretty sad news to report. a friend of mine put her trailer in the paddock or maybe it was the pasture, and put food in it to get her horse used to it.
please, friends, please don't do that. if the trailer isn't hitched to a truck, it isn't safe for the horse to go in and out of it. i also don't think it really works if the horse is really bad to load, but in any case, my friend's horse backed out quick, the trailer shifted, and he broke his leg and slipped under the trailer, and he was there all day thrashing around under there til she came home and the neighbor had to come over and shoot the horse, he had busted his head wide open, his eye...don't even go there. it was not a good situation.
please, friends, don't do that. it is not safe to leave a horse trailer any place where horses are, unhitched.
in fact, that accident wasn't unusual or a freak case. it happens quite often, and the better books on horses, trailering and training nearly always tell people not to try and train a horse to load that way.
[ May 08, 2004, 12:05 PM: Message edited by: slc ]
Posts: 297 | From: ohio | Registered: Feb 2004
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pleasurerider18
Junior Member
Member # 2058
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posted May 08, 2004 12:21 PM
Thanks everyone very much! Wow so many people have a great many methods which makes me feel like I'm not alone in this!
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-Kait
Relax! Go for a trail ride. Be beautiful! Do Dressage. Be me? Do Both!
A natural horse is a happy horse.
I Love my Jokey-Pie!
Posts: 26 | From: Ontario, Canada | Registered: Mar 2004
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kotyskillerkolors
Member
Member # 715
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posted May 09, 2004 12:30 PM
I have hte same exact problem with my Tb mare. I can get her in though when the truck isnt hooked up and we are at home but the moment anything changes all you know what breaks loose. my first show a few weeks ago we had 5 people trying to get her in the trailer, and now she has been lame for about 2 weeks, just had the vet come out and stuff. we finnally managed to get the chain over her nose, and we had to seriously use soem methods i didnt like to get her on. I feel your pain.
Liz
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I measure distance in strides.
http://community.webshots.com/user/skizzledizzle
Posts: 278 | From: the bottom of jersey | Registered: Sep 2003
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Mis3836
Junior Member
Member # 2478
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posted May 13, 2004 11:35 AM
I would shoot the previous owner!!! ![[Flaming Mad]](graemlins/flamingmad.gif)
Posts: 3 | From: MA | Registered: May 2004
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MissBandit
Member
Member # 1377
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posted May 14, 2004 09:05 AM
Have you thought of doing joinup? I know some people on here only few it as a "fad". But I personally have had some amazing results with it. It teaches your horse they can trust and follow you. It just might be what you need...
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You know you are a horse person when...
...You pull change from your pocket , and hay falls out.
...you yell at the kids, and the horse's name pops out.
...you actually get to a point where flies don't bother you so much.
Posts: 2292 | From: BC, Canada | Registered: Jan 2004
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Midnight Felicity
Member
Member # 1106
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posted May 14, 2004 09:28 AM
I also tried everything and i mean everything to get my mare into a stright load trailer. NOTHING would work until i showed her a SLANT load lol..she went in like it was nothing. I would try and get a hold of friends or someone with a slant i mean it will work wonders lol.
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I whisper but my horse doesn't listen!
You can tell a gelding, and ask a mare, but you have to discuss it with a stallion!
I will always love and cherish(well spoil) my baby girl Midnight Felicity!
Posts: 371 | From: Washington | Registered: Dec 2003
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MissBandit
Member
Member # 1377
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posted May 14, 2004 09:40 AM
Then there was the report in Horse & Rider magazie that did colour testing on horses. They tested what colour mats caused the most and the least trailering resistance. It was an interesting article that found Black mats caused the most resistance, while Green mats had by far the least resistance. The article suggested getting a strip of carpet roll from a carpet store, they will give you the off-cuts for free. Colour test your horse by laying the coloured carpet over your exisiting mats, let some of the carpet run over the edge of the ramp onto the ground as often the sharp contrast between the ground and the ramp will make horses weary.
It is something you could easily try. I would be REALLY interested to know if this worked for anyone.
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You know you are a horse person when...
...You pull change from your pocket , and hay falls out.
...you yell at the kids, and the horse's name pops out.
...you actually get to a point where flies don't bother you so much.
Posts: 2292 | From: BC, Canada | Registered: Jan 2004
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