At 00:25:28 on 16.09.11, jumpin_barrels wrote:
I need all the help in the world right now!! Late August me and my new horse were going to our first show, just a schooling show 20-30 minutes away. He had a problem getting into the trailer so my trainer put a chain on him. He loaded right in. Then my trainer started driving and he started bouncing around, peed himself and fell. We had to take him out to avoid further injuries. We currently got invited xc schooling 3 hours away. So me and my trainer tried loading him again. After when got the chain on it took longer to get him in. Someone helped us and hung on the side of the trailer while we went around in circles. he moved around a lot and peed himself again. My trainer is still not very comfortable putting him in a trailer that long. I think it may be he hit his head a while back. HELP! I really wanna go do that xc schooling!!!
At 02:11:58 on 16.09.11, kibby wrote:
How long till this xc day? How big is? Hiw big is the float? The first thing I'd do is spend a day getting the horse comfortable with the float. So I'd just load them on give them some of their favorite treat then unload them again. Do that over and over until he feels a little more relaxed about it. Then the next I'd load him on and off a couple of times then load him on give him a hay net and leave him in there for a little while about twenty minutes. Keep an eye on him so he doesn't get panicked. Unload him leave it at that. The next training session I would load him turn on the car, see how he is going if he looks nervous just give him hay leave the car running if he looks calm and relaxed drive it forward a little. Unload leave it at that. Basically you've just got to work him up to it. He has somehow lost his confidence in the trailer so you have to get it back. But that's a slow process and one that can't be rushed. Good luck.
At 04:54:06 on 17.09.11, Adimarie1997 wrote:
If you have a door in the side of your trailer open that into one of your horse's favorites place's and walk him through it see if that helps. if not then try it with his favorite treats and then try it again
At 20:24:07 on 17.09.11, NMH wrote:
Totally agree with Kibby's approach. You can't rush it, you gotta do the preparation until the horse's anxiety is less, it's such an unnatural thing we expect them to do, travel in a trailer & if they get that anxious all sort of accidents can result & you can't force them in! If they are food motivated that's the easiest! but it takes many loadings without travelling anywhere. If you do the prep well, they are good to load for life after, that's the plus! Keep us posted, good luck.
At 02:02:19 on 18.09.11, jumpin_barrels wrote:
Thanks everyone it's in a week! Right now I'm injured and can't do much. I'll be up and Adam by Tuesday. Right now it's a lot of force. I want to start with the treats and move up. This week my trainer will try again and then decided if she will bring us. we have a couple trainers in mind to come this week and see if they can help us rebuild his confidence.
It's a pretty big trailer. He's not the only 17hh horse that goes in there. It's a 6 horse trailer i believe. It's not mine but my trainers. It's a slant not a float. It's actually a 4hr trip and he'll be with 4 other horses. I do think he was better last time because he was in the last slant. But he is still nervous.. Anyway we can do this in a week?
At 02:02:35 on 18.09.11, jumpin_barrels wrote:
There is no escape door.
At 18:23:07 on 18.09.11, zoelovesanimals wrote:
i Would say if he is really unhappy go back to basics with 'desensitising' (if you like) him to the Trailer. Maybe every evening feed him in the trailer, keep all doors open. Again like what Kibby said build it up slowly encouraging him with lots of praise and treats, and build it up a little bit each time you do it over a course of a few days. Be patient, it can be extremely frustrating but they get so terrified sometimes. I don't know whether you could do it in a week or not but if you have a couple of hours to practise every day i would. You just don't want to rush him or force him and make him ten times worse. Hope all goes well! good luck
At 23:24:24 on 18.09.11, JessAndGrenville123 wrote:
number 1 put plenty of straw down and your rubbermatting on the trailer/wagon (not sure which it is with different terminology haha) should have grips so that the horse won't slip even if the floor is wet. 2 im not sure what you mean by chain? is it a chain around the nose or something? i would discourage this as he will associate the trailer with pain and negative association with just make it worse, try a dually headcollar and long line and apply adequate pressure and dont release until he steps forward then praise and a long line means you can give if your horse needs to step away without letting too much control slip away, it should be taken slowly your horse has had a knock to his confidence, here is a video on loading problem horses i will load a couple of horse trainers i quite like the theories of so you can try a few as not all horses will respont to the same method
At 09:00:54 on 20.09.11, Flicka wrote:
I agree with a lot of what has been said especially Kibby's post about taking time to load and unload and not go anywhere. I've found whenever I've done this the horse has improved. My mare got funny about loading-lorry and trailer- as I'd taken her on a few long distance journeys-I don't think it was travelling that was the problem with her but the staying away from her friends for a few days. Anyway, I got the trailer out on a day I didn't have to go anywhere, opened up the front door and just asked her to walk through, with the encouragement of food-then I asked her to stand calmly inside and then out again. The next day she loaded straight away and we went for a short lesson not far away. Then the following day I loaded her into the horsebox for another trip and she didn't hesitate to go in.
I think the trick is to use your energy in a positive, forward way rather than getting angry. It is easy to get angry-I've done it a few times myself but it never gets me anywhere!! Stay calm, focused, use pressure and release, and feed them once on board, keep repeating and repeating, don't just think you've done it once and that's it. On the first day don't go anywhere, then on another just go down the road and come home again. Oh and another thought, if your horse is losing his confidence when losing his balance then try leading him over a teeter totter, they can really help. Let us know how it goes and if you're still having problems what exactly your horse is doing to evade going in.
