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There’s more to Trailer Training than just Loading.

For many people, just getting their horse on the trailer is a struggle and when you finally do, it feels like the battle has been won.
And because we are human and direct line thinkers, all we want to do is get that horse on and go somewhere which is probably the last thing the horse wants to do.

Simulations and good preparation are the key to easy loading and confidence building.

If we look at trailers from the horse’s point of view, we would see a mobile cave that takes them away from their pasture mates and most likely means hard work or frightening new experiences.

Horse are naturally claustrophobic so it takes a lot of confidence building to have them feel safe in such a confined space.
More importantly and something that we humans don’t often consider, is that horses are herd dependant so asking a horse to go on a trailer on their own is quite a challenge for them.
A horse’s instincts tell it that being alone and confined possibly means they will die.
Thankfully, horses are naturally inquisitive so once fear is overcome, they are willing to look at new things.

Its only once a horse has become confident about what happens after he gets in the trailer, that he will look forward to and enjoy outings. Once he does, loading will be a breeze and travelling easy with your horse arriving dry and happy.

So how do we train our horse to love trailers?
Its relatively easy actually once you take the pressure off - first of all about getting the horse loaded in just one session and then, go nowhere.
If you think of the trailer as a comfort zone for the horse then it’s your job to convince him that it’s the best place in the world to be.

This can be achieved by placing the trailer in his pasture so he/she can spend time checking it out. It’s probably a good idea to cover up the towing connection and wiring so an inquisitive horse doesn’t chew it.
If you’re worried about the paint work being scratched then maybe you need to take up breeding budgiesinstead!

Be sure to chock the wheels and if you leave the ramp down, ensure there are blocks under the back so if he steps onto the trailer, it doesn’t tip up which will alarm him.
If your horse has had some negative trailer experiences or is very suspicious about it, then feeding him near the trailer or from the ramp will allow him to see it’s a good place to be.

Some people have success with feeding their horse in the trailer which is fine providing there is nothing he can injure himself on, or get stuck trying to turn around (this can happen if the centre divider is pushed open wide – its better to remove it altogether or keep it secured in the middle).

When your horse is confident about being around the trailer when you're not demanding anything from him, then its time to add your suggestion to load.

Loading for the first time.

But before you do this, consider what’s happening with his pasture mates. If he’s in a place where they can disappear from sight then it may be best to keep one yarded nearby preferably where he can see it from behind.

Better still, if he has a buddy that loads calmly then put him on first and ask your young or frightened horse to join him.
You need to be careful here as a particularly assertive horse may be too threatening expext a submissive horse to load beside so choose a gentle friend as a trailer companion.
If you are asking your horse to learn to load on his own, then have a helper hold his friend at the front door so he doesn’t feel like he’s completely on his own.

However you choose to load (by leading or driving in) take small steps and use lots of approach and retreat.
If you can ask your horse to back up after each time he goes a little further in and once he’s relaxed at that point (licking and chewing, head down or willing to eat food), you will be confirming that he will not be forced or trapped in this ‘metal cave’.

When horses know they can come and go if they need to, they feel much safer and therefore will be more willing to stay there longer.
It will be up to you to judge how far to take your horse in any one session but think about the saying ‘Less is More’. If you can finish when the horse has made some small achievements and is relaxed, he will remember this for next time so his confidence levels increase rapidly.

As an example, for the first loading lesson with a young or frightened horse, I would only expect them to feel comfortable putting the front feet on the ramp and being able to back calmly in their first session.
In the next session, they might get all 4 feet on the ramp or 2 in the trailer and be able to stay there for a minute or so.
Then in the third session, they may go all the way in but not have the back closed which is something I don’t do until the horse can stand calmly on the trailer to eat some food without me holding him there.

Before doing the back up, see if he can cope with the ramp being lifted a little and put back down. Horses need to become familiar with all the noisy things a trailer does and at first these may cause him to shoot out – allow him to but then ask him straight back in and re-confirm the trailer is the comfort zone.
Better still, show him the ramp lifting while he’s outside the trailer along with rattling and banging the chains and dividers so he becomes familiar with the noise before loading.

When he can handle the back being done up, I would then teach him about a breeching chain by first using a breeching rope outside the trailer and asking him to yield forward to the pressure.
Then repeat the same thing on the trailer and when you can back him off half way and use the breeching rope to bring him forward again, then you know he will accept a breeching chain.

So, now we have our horse standing calmly on the trailer and you’re thinking – “now we can go to the horse show”! WRONG!!
This is the quickest way to confirm to the horse that the trailer means discomfort instead of comfort. I like to get the horse thinking the trailer is just another version of his stall – where he gets fed really nice things.

So, rather than drive him somewhere, feed him in there several times.
He will then look forward to going in the trailer and get used to being separated from his herd mates. Be sure to only allow him off the trailer when he’s relaxed as releasing him from confinement when he’s upset, only leaves him with a negative memory of the trailer.

When you are ready to go for a drive, just go a short way – this will depend on your situation but it may be anything from a few metres to around the pasture once.
Again, when your horse is relaxed, he can be let off the trailer so don’t be in a hurry to get him out when you stop.
By all means, check on him and leave the front door open for some fresh air but teach him that he only gets off once he is quiet.

The same goes for when you let the ramp down. Wait until he’s quiet before you undo the breeching chain and remember, never undo the back unless he’s untied as a pull back in a float is usually a disaster.

Once your horse copes with short trips, either with a friend or alone, then its time to take him somewhere that you can unload but put no demands on him other than to perhaps enjoy a nice pick on the grass while you have a cuppa with a friend.

You could even use the trailer to move your horse to a new pasture – provided he’s not leaving his best friend as then he’s likely to think trailers take him away from familiar things.
A couple of trips like this and your horse will think trailer rides are a good thing. Only then, would I ask a horse to go to a play day or a small event where we could ask them to do things.

When you’re at the event, if you need somewhere secure to leave your horse while buying lunch or walking a course, the trailer is probably the best place as it’s his comfort zone.
When you first get to a new place, your horse will feel happier in his comfort zone (the trailer) than outside in unfamiliar surroundings so leave it a while before you unload – once he’s happily eating, you can be sure he’s relaxed enough to get off.

Now your horse is happy to go on and travel to an event, the training needs to be reinforced occasionally. I try to put my horses on for a feed and go nowhere after 3 trips somewhere.
This reinforces the trailer as a comfort zone and will keep your horse travel happy for a long time.

Lili convinces Zarb that floating is fun.

Hi my name is Lili Foster and this is a story about floating Zarb ,my gray Arab, who was a problem float loader.

I’ve had Zarb for 19 months. When I got him he would walk right on the float with no problem, but then we hired a single float and it went down hill from there. It took us 3 hours just to get him in!

I didn’t float him for about a year because I didn’t have my own float and I broke my arm falling off Zarb .

Then Cynthia came and we desensitized him  to tarps, low tree branches and that type of thing.

We made a simulated float out of hay bales and when Zarb was ok going in that we started with some ground games.

A simulated float helped Zarb regain confidence.

We did the Parelli yo-yo game, the circling game and the driving game for me to earn his respect. I put a hay net on the float ramp and let him eat, then I put the middle divider right across and I did the games on and near the float.
Next I did a driving game on to the float a couple of times before I put his feed in the float

We put him in the float and wriggled the tail gate and he wasn’t fazed by that so we rhythmically closed the door three times.
Zarb wasn’t worried by that either, so then we fed him in the float with the door closed twice and once he had finished his feed I backed him out.
After he came off the float I did the circling game and loaded him two more times.

The next night I fed him in the float and he was fine so we took him out for a drive for about five minutes. When we got back I fed him in the I fed Zarb in the float two more times without going anywhere because when we took him for the drive he got a bit sweaty which meant he wasn’t really comfortable yet.

Zarb enjoys his feed on the float so it becomes a comfort zone for him.

Then we took him for a short drive in the float, fed him in the float when we got back and he  was fine with that.

So then we fed him in the float two more times without going anywhere just to keep it a comfort zone.

I took him for a drive for 15 minutes to a local horse beach and left him in the float for 5 minutes before unloading him.

I let him walk around, do the 7 games and then I took him back home fed him in the float unloaded him and put him back in the float two more times.
I took Zarb to the beach again for a ride and he was great with the beach but he was such a sook in the water.

Travelling by boat to Flinders Island by Cynthia Cooper
Have you ever thought how would your horse cope if it had to be transported by boat….in a ‘bull crate’? A bull crate is something like a single horse box but with big metal bars overhead that are quite low – the average horse would need to keep its head low to get in then cope with standing there for 8 hours on the open deck of a medium size boat.
Well, I got to experience this scenario when asked by friends who live on Flinders Island, to load two horse on the boat for them. I took my friends, Paul and Karen with me as they were keen to see how this went and I’d need an extra hand when dealing with two horses I didn’t know.

We were amazed a the trust these horses put in us – first to go into their paddock and catch them, remove their rugs, load them on a float and drive a few km to the dock.
Although they were both a little sceptical about the whole process, they accepted our leadership and did what we asked. One horse had been educated by a student of natural horsemanship so he was that bit calmer and braver than his standardbred mate who was all too willing to follow.

When we arrived at the dock, the boat they were booked to go on, was leaving early and we were shown the ‘bull crates’ (pictured here) but told we’d have to be quick if they were going to have time to forklift them on. I looked at the space left on deck and the two horses would have been separated and unable to see each other so that would not be a nice experience for them. So far they had travelled several hundred miles together and were therefore quite ‘buddied up. I also took one look at the bull crates and apart from the slippery looking metal floor, I was worried that we’d have trouble asking them to lower their heads and get on in a hurry.

Fortunately, we were given another option in the form of another boat, specially decked out for carrying livestock that was leaving in an hour. A quick inspection of the yards on board showed a much better option as the horses would not be crated and could share a yard together, free to move around, eat and drink.
So, we asked the man that was doing some deck maintenance with a welder to stop for a bit, while we led the horses up a steel ramp onto the deck and then in under the roofed area of the boat. While is felt a bit dark and enclosed, it would offer more protection from the cold wind they could expect on their eight hour voyage.

We stayed with the horses until they had settled and relaxed, tied up a couple of haynets and got a bucket of water for them. Although the floor was metal, it had mesh welded on it to offer some grip and the horses were not shod thank goodness.
The captain and crew came and met the horses, and showed us around so we left them with phone numbers in case needed, knowing they were in good hands.

From this experience I learned that if you’re going to transport a horse on a boat, try to check out the situation first so you can train them to go into a crate if that’s the way they need to travel. Personally, I’d be trying to time the travel when a livestock carrying boat was sailing so they could have a yard instead.
Check the weather forecast – you don’t want to ship them if you can avoid it, when there is rough weather. If you don’t have a choice, make sure your horse is wearing a waterproof blanket and has a haynet to munch on.
Remove their shoes and apply travelling boots if they have to stand in a crate – that will assist them with grip and protection if they did fall. Make sure they are tied to a breakable string in case of a fall. If you had hoof boots like the Old Mac or Easy Boots, these could help with grip and support.

It will be important for your horse to be desensitised to large noisy machines and be accustomed to travelling alone. Loading calmly in different surroundings will also help make the process a lot less stressful. Stay with your horse to reassure them for as long as possible. If you are travelling on board yourself, find out if you can check on your horse and make regular trips to be with them.
Take some Rescue Remedy to administer before and during the voyage, and a bucket to offer water. If your horse is a fussy drinker, get them used to water with molasses or cider vinegar in it to mask the taste of unfamiliar water.

Remember, one of the most important aspects of travelling horses for long periods is they must be able to lower their head, or you risk the horse getting very ill and possible dying from a build up of fluid in the lungs. Travel sickness and colic are two of the most common illnesses suffered by travelling horses – prepare your horse well and their ability to relax will hopefully make the journey safer for them.

To see the best and worst features in Trailer/Float design
click here

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All articles are authored by Cynthia Cooper (unless otherwise stated) and may be reprinted with permission, aknowledgement and a link to my web site please.

 

• Floating is Fun

• Travelling by Boat

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Cynthia Cooper -
Natural Horse World

46 Wattle Lea Lane, Golden Valley. Tasmania, 7304. Australia.

Ph. 0419 372279