How Do I Load A Spooky Horse In A Trailer
Read this tip to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Questions Submitted and other Horse topics.
How Do I Load A Spooky Horse In A Trailer
trailer loading problems will not load 5year old mare rears freaks out
Answer:
Depending upon the trailer is EVERYTHING! and the people assisting you. If she has had a bad experience, you are going to have to take time in getting her memories over the bad experience, and will have difficulty every time loading everytime for a long time. Most all horses prefer stock or angle haul trailer to load into. They don't seem to mind whether or not it is a ramp or a step up, but definately prefer stock or angle. Given she is already difficult, until you have reinforced some Good Trips, and given the short space I have to provide you with info, I would recommend only working with a large stock trailer. Kindness, patience, persistance work best. DO NOT LOOSE your temper at any time, and DO NOT let her leave the immediate proximatey of the trailer loading door. Do not let her think that by acting up, backing away or running over any one will get her out of this. Providing that you are able to use one properly, put a "be nice" halter on the mare. You can try loading another horse B4 her, but once a horse does load on its own, they don't really care if any other horses are along or not. Use carrot pieces as rewards, as she progresses, feed her one. As she degresses, give her one-quick-hard-release jerk on the lead shank and have someone behind her very lightly wave a dressage whip with a white plastic bag on it just little enough that it aggitates the mare, and she wants to move forward to get away from the agitating white plastic bag. Set aside an entire day for the task. Once inside, tie her short (about 12" of lead rope only--MAX), and tie her close to the front by the truck. Drive very slowly. Brake very slowly. Anticipate corners driving cautiously around. Make her trailering experiences GOOD ones, and in time, she will be okay. She could consider leaving her "friends" enough to be a bad experience! Thank you for your question, Mary from http://communities.msn.com/goodgofarm I have an article on my home site. Trailer Tips.
