Lets talk about trailer loading.

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nbsp;        In my years of training horses one thing I have seen time and time again is horses with people problems, especially when it comes to their people asking them in all the wrong ways to get into a cramped, dark cave. We have to remember some simple principles when it comes to training horses. First and foremost, horses are prey animals. That, simply put, means that they eat grass, and other things eat them. They have only two defence strategies, fight or flight. And most of the time they are going to choose flight over fight every single time.

        They are also a lot like me in the sense that we are both very big very claustrophobic creatures. We do not like tight enclosed spaces. They would much rather be out in the wide open. We have to understand that and understand why. To be able to know how to get them to willingly go into a space that they don't want to go into in the first place. 

        So why are they so claustrophobic? You see it goes back to them being a prey animal. Out in the open they can see all around them, and they can see any threats to their safety. When we put them in a small, dark enclosed space they feel trapped. They are going to feel like they have no exit plan. That's where we come in. It's our job to make them feel safe and comfortable in their surroundings. But how do we do that? There are several methods, I am just going to tell you about what works for me.

        I will always start a horse in a round pen and get the horse to trust me. I will then put the horse on a longe line and begin longing the horse near the back of the horse trailer. We will begin to progressively get closer and closer to the horse trailer until we are finally right behind the trailer. I will then stop the horse facing the trailer. I will let the horse stand there as long as it takes until it's calm and collected.  Once the horse is licking and chewing and shows me it's calm I will then ask them to take ONE step towards the trailer opening. Then another step and another. When his head is finally inside the trailer I will ask him for his foot. At this point in his training he should freely give me his foot. I will then set his foot gently down inside the trailer, and just let him stand there. Now don't get upset if he pulls his foot back to the ground. Just simply pick it up and place it back in there.

        Once he;s stood there awhile I will repeat the process with the other foot. I will go through the entire process the same way as the first foot. Once he's been there awhile and he's calm I will then ask him to take a step forward. And we will repeat the first two steps the same way with the rear feet.

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        Ok, phew we made it ! I would be so proud, but now what?  Now that you got him in there what do you do, just slam the trailer door and hit the road? NO! You don't. You reward him . Take a treat, an apple or something so he can associate something good with being in such tight quarters. I personally like to use one of their feed buckets that hangs on the fence. I will put a cup or two of their sweet feed in the bucket and hang it all the way towards the front stall of the trailer and let them stand there eating their feed. What this does and I am going to repeat it , is this reinforces the GOOD association of being in the trailer. Not only is he alive but he's safe. He's happy. He's eating. And most importantly he's comfortable. In the upcoming days I am going to try and work Ellie with trailer loading , our two year old filly who was born on the ranch to Velvet and has never ever been in the horse trailer. But she fully trusts me. I swear she thinks I am dad. But I will do a video and put it here as well as our YouTube channel so stay tuned to the blog as well as the channel. And remember to give us a like and comment and share on both the video and the blog.

        So why is getting the horse to safely load in a trailer so very important? Well besides the obvious of wanting to take the horse trail riding or going to a horse show or rodeo. Let's just say there is an emergency and you have to get the horse to a vet. Or you live somewhere like California where they are plagued with wildfires, and you are forced to evacuate. If you have properly worked with it to safely load in a non stressed atmosphere. The horse will be much more trusting and willing to load when it's absolutely crucial.

        That being said about stress, if you find yourself in a high stress situation it is absolutely crucial to do your very best to remain calm around your horses at all times. Horses are amazing creatures and can feel our stress and they will absolutely feed off of us and any stress that we are going through at that particular moment in time. That goes for riding as well. If you're calm they will be calm as well and they will trust you fully.

        Well that does it for today folks. Happy Trails and God bless each and everyone of you . We love you and keep coming back for more tips and tricks on training your own horse.

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