I had to evacuate a young unbroken horse during the Australian fires in 2020. His paddock companion was a very old Andalusian who was a rescue and had phobias about being trailered. The only float I could get a hold of at the time was very scary, the floor was terrible and the bars were fixed at the front. It was raining fire and I had no option but to force both these horses on. The young fella fell over twice and got caught under the bar. It was literally my worst ever nightmare come to life. So now some four years later I am feeling able to start training my beautiful boy to float properly. He is awesome under saddle and the ground work I have done has helped but we are both traumatised about the events of that time. This video has helped me so much. Because it is calm and unhurried. My lovely little fella is walking on and backing off but I think it will be sometime before I can close that bar. Or the door. Or travel. But thanks for this it really has helped.
This was amazing. I see a big mistake I am making. I can get my big guy in and close the divider but he comes out dripping wet. I feed him his grain in there in the morning, but now i understand why he is not eating...he is stressed. He is way too big to allow him to turn around, so backing out is allowed. I will try your method tomorrow morning and allow him to just stand for a few days.
Yes you’re right on about why he’s sweaty and won’t eat! Let me know how it goes :) Also, don’t be surprised if it takes many many sessions of having him stand in there without the divider closed before he’s confident and relaxed enough for you to do so. Taking your time will pay off big time though! 😀
I know my horse will go in the trailer but I usually have to coax him with food and even that doesn't always work or happen fast enough. Ive only had him since March and this has been a known thing. He's 9 but I'm hoping whatever caused this fear or hesitation hasn't scarred him for life. He definitely has come back sweaty on a few occasions and there was a time he wouldn't go in for me but went in with someone with more experience that he didn't know. It's been frustrating since I want to haul him for lessons. I'm trying methods like this, going back to the basics and making him feel safe. I'd like to get to a point where I don't have to keep using food as a motivation. I don't use the longe whip but that might be a helpful tool. Someone also told me to just keep him moving to build momentum into the trailer. He typically baulks right before we get to the entrance of the trailer and won't budge. I reward him each time he takes a step forward. It seems like I have a long road ahead.
Great job taking the time it takes to help teach your horse that trailers aren't a bad thing :) Usually if a horse is scared of something, food won't work to bribe them to do it. The reason why is that horses value the feelings of safety and comfort over food. Once a horse feels safe in the trailer, you can use food to make it feel "comfortable." Horses have a hard time in trailers because it feels like a trap to them (can you blame them ;) ). As prey animals horses are terrified of being trapped. Flight is their first defense. You will have to prove that the trailer is not a trap by having him do other things around the trailer (like out his nose on the outside of it), and never force him in or lock him in there until he is ready. Horses can be trained to love the trailer and to load with ease every time :) I highly recommend this book. It has everything you need to know about trailering and teaching a horse to trailer calmly: shop.happyhorsehappylife.com/collections/all-products/products/the-ultimate-guide-to-trailer-loading-volume-1
I love your method. I see alot of things I was doing wrong. I have one question please. Should you let him turn around. I would be afraid of getting ran over? Thankyou
Hi Tina! Be careful about letting them turn around. As you can see, sometimes they rush out. If you’re going to let them turn around, make sure you have left plenty of room for them to do that and that you are well out of the way even outside and off to the side of the trailer. Or you could decide to teach your horse to only back out. The important thing is that your horse learns the trailer is not a trap, and that you won’t force them to stay in it. You can accomplish this by letting them turn around or by backing them out.
We have a two horse straight haul and have recently discovered that my one gelding may be a ‘scrambler’. Other than buying an angle haul, do you have any suggestions on how to stop him from thrashing around? He does it mainly on corners.
Can you move the straight load divider over or take it out completely to give him more room until he’s more confident? I would also highly suggest this book: a.co/d/bRFvtTj It (along with volume 2) has everything you need to know about trailering horses.
My mare will will load and stand. But when we go down the road. She starts to paw. Every trip is different. Sometimes she eats her food and is dry. And sometimes she doesn't eat and is sweaty. But she paws most of the time.. . Any thoughts?? Thanks in advance.
How long can she stand tied (not in the trailer)? Traveling in a trailer and standing tied can both feel like a trap to a horse. We can teach them to accept this by helping them learn to relax while tied. Start with only a few minutes, but you can work up to a couple of hours. I've found that if a horse can stand tied for 2 hours, they can stand there all day. This has really helped a lot of horses relax and accept traveling in a trailer.
I had to evacuate a young unbroken horse during the Australian fires in 2020. His paddock companion was a very old Andalusian who was a rescue and had phobias about being trailered. The only float I could get a hold of at the time was very scary, the floor was terrible and the bars were fixed at the front. It was raining fire and I had no option but to force both these horses on. The young fella fell over twice and got caught under the bar. It was literally my worst ever nightmare come to life. So now some four years later I am feeling able to start training my beautiful boy to float properly. He is awesome under saddle and the ground work I have done has helped but we are both traumatised about the events of that time. This video has helped me so much. Because it is calm and unhurried. My lovely little fella is walking on and backing off but I think it will be sometime before I can close that bar. Or the door. Or travel. But thanks for this it really has helped.
Wow Lisa! What a story!
You’re on the right track! Take your time building his confidence. Teach him the goal is to stand relaxed in the trailer 😊
This was amazing. I see a big mistake I am making. I can get my big guy in and close the divider but he comes out dripping wet. I feed him his grain in there in the morning, but now i understand why he is not eating...he is stressed. He is way too big to allow him to turn around, so backing out is allowed. I will try your method tomorrow morning and allow him to just stand for a few days.
Yes you’re right on about why he’s sweaty and won’t eat! Let me know how it goes :)
Also, don’t be surprised if it takes many many sessions of having him stand in there without the divider closed before he’s confident and relaxed enough for you to do so. Taking your time will pay off big time though! 😀
I know my horse will go in the trailer but I usually have to coax him with food and even that doesn't always work or happen fast enough. Ive only had him since March and this has been a known thing. He's 9 but I'm hoping whatever caused this fear or hesitation hasn't scarred him for life. He definitely has come back sweaty on a few occasions and there was a time he wouldn't go in for me but went in with someone with more experience that he didn't know. It's been frustrating since I want to haul him for lessons. I'm trying methods like this, going back to the basics and making him feel safe. I'd like to get to a point where I don't have to keep using food as a motivation. I don't use the longe whip but that might be a helpful tool. Someone also told me to just keep him moving to build momentum into the trailer. He typically baulks right before we get to the entrance of the trailer and won't budge. I reward him each time he takes a step forward. It seems like I have a long road ahead.
Great job taking the time it takes to help teach your horse that trailers aren't a bad thing :)
Usually if a horse is scared of something, food won't work to bribe them to do it. The reason why is that horses value the feelings of safety and comfort over food. Once a horse feels safe in the trailer, you can use food to make it feel "comfortable."
Horses have a hard time in trailers because it feels like a trap to them (can you blame them ;) ). As prey animals horses are terrified of being trapped. Flight is their first defense. You will have to prove that the trailer is not a trap by having him do other things around the trailer (like out his nose on the outside of it), and never force him in or lock him in there until he is ready. Horses can be trained to love the trailer and to load with ease every time :)
I highly recommend this book. It has everything you need to know about trailering and teaching a horse to trailer calmly:
shop.happyhorsehappylife.com/collections/all-products/products/the-ultimate-guide-to-trailer-loading-volume-1
I love your method. I see alot of things I was doing wrong. I have one question please. Should you let him turn around. I would be afraid of getting ran over? Thankyou
Hi Tina!
Be careful about letting them turn around. As you can see, sometimes they rush out. If you’re going to let them turn around, make sure you have left plenty of room for them to do that and that you are well out of the way even outside and off to the side of the trailer. Or you could decide to teach your horse to only back out.
The important thing is that your horse learns the trailer is not a trap, and that you won’t force them to stay in it. You can accomplish this by letting them turn around or by backing them out.
We have a two horse straight haul and have recently discovered that my one gelding may be a ‘scrambler’. Other than buying an angle haul, do you have any suggestions on how to stop him from thrashing around? He does it mainly on corners.
Can you move the straight load divider over or take it out completely to give him more room until he’s more confident?
I would also highly suggest this book: a.co/d/bRFvtTj
It (along with volume 2) has everything you need to know about trailering horses.
My mare will will load and stand. But when we go down the road. She starts to paw. Every trip is different. Sometimes she eats her food and is dry. And sometimes she doesn't eat and is sweaty. But she paws most of the time.. .
Any thoughts??
Thanks in advance.
How long can she stand tied (not in the trailer)? Traveling in a trailer and standing tied can both feel like a trap to a horse. We can teach them to accept this by helping them learn to relax while tied. Start with only a few minutes, but you can work up to a couple of hours. I've found that if a horse can stand tied for 2 hours, they can stand there all day. This has really helped a lot of horses relax and accept traveling in a trailer.
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So what do you do to make them relax in ties ??