Trailer Training

Easy Trailer-Loading Fix

When you approach your trailer, your horse needs to know right away that you mean business.

Load your horse every time you ask with these steps from top trainer/clinician Julie Goodnight.

By Julie Goodnight with Heidi Melocco Photos by Heidi Melocco

Have you ever had trouble loading your horse into your trailer—even when he’s loaded successfully in his past? There’s a chance you may have unknowingly contributed to his trailering issues.

“It’s easy to train your horse to resist trailer-loading,” notes top trainer/clinician Julie Goodnight. “Chances are, you may not even realize how you’re contributing to his behavior. It can take years to train a horse to do the right thing, but only moments to ‘un-train’ him.”

Here, Goodnight will help you examine the innocent mistakes you might be making. Then she’ll show you how to squelch a behavior problem before it escalates. She’ll also give you three things to avoid.

>>

Before each training session, outfit your horse in a rope training halter for control, as Julie Goodnight shows here. Switch to a gentler flat halter for trailering. Left: As you load your horse, point his nose straight ahead. Don’t allow him to look from side to side. Right: Once he knows he must go forward, he will see his only option is to step inside your trailer.

Before You Begin

Wear sturdy boots and leather gloves, for safety. Outfit your horse in a rope training halter for control. (Switch to a gentler flat halter for trailering.) Find a quiet place with good footing. Consider backing up your trailer to the barn, close to the fence, so that your horse’s options are limited and the only way to go seems to be into your trailer. Avoid wide-open spaces that might encourage him think about freedom instead of stepping forward onto your trailer.

Step 1. Perform Ground Work

Begin with ground work. How well your horse handles from the ground will impact how well you can handle him in a difficult trailerloading situation.

If your horse suddenly decides he doesn’t want to get into your trailer, you need to know that you have fundamental handling skills intact. If he doesn’t normally have good ground manners (for instance, he pulls back, balks, drags you to the grass, and doesn’t stay in step with you), work on instilling those manners before you work on trailer-loading.

Make sure your horse will stand still on command. A horse that will stand still on your authority has decided he must abide by rules of behavior. He’s respectful. If he won’t stand still, work on that skill first.

Step 2. Correct Unacceptable Behavior

Does your horse look away from the path you choose? Do you allow him to look away without correcting him? Does he walk in front of you or look where he wants? These are all signs that your horse isn’t paying attention to you. He thinks he can look and go wherever he wants.

Address those small acts of disobedience away from your trailer—and before the lookingaway behavior leads to a turnand-bolt. Once he learns he can get away from you, it can’t be unlearned.

If your horse has learned to get away from you or turn his nose to the side to go where he wants, he may display these behaviors when trying to avoid something he doesn’t want to do, such as approaching your trailer.

If your horse displays the turnand-bolt behavior when you’re trailer-loading, examine your leading techniques and his behaviors when you’re working away from your trailer.

The first time your horse ripped the rope out of your hand and got away, it may have been an accident. But then he thinks, Wow, I got free. It’s a terrible thing for a horse to learn, because he’ll forever know that he can overpower you. You can dissuade the behavior and remind him not to do that, but he’ll always remember that it’s possible.

By not correcting your horse and allowing him to look away, the behavior escalated to getting >>

away. Once he got away, that was a reward for him. You trained him to pull away and be rewarded. To fix this behavior, establish a solid relationship from the ground. He’ll remember that you’re in charge when you approach your trailer.

Caveat: If your horse has escalated his behavior and knows how to get away, you may need to enlist the help of a knowledgeable horse friend or qualified trainer to help you work through the trailer-training process.

Step 3. Be Confident and Aware

Your horse will always turn away from what he doesn’t like and toward what he does like. Watch his ears to see what he’s “pointing” at. Horses are also keen on your determination and intention level, so pay attention to your own attitude and body language. Here’s how to be confident and aware.

Be confident. When you approach your trailer with your horse, there should be no doubt in his mind that he’s going in. Be a confident leader. Conduct yourself in a way that tells your horse you both are walking straight in your trailer.

Catch the look-away. If your horse doesn’t want to load up, he’ll tense and look away long before he’s close to your trailer. Determine the exact moment when he sees your trailer and realizes that’s where he’s going. If you don’t notice that small glance away, your horse may look right and left to plan his evacuation route. Correct him the second he looks away, before he escalates his plan and balks, turns, or even bolts.

Keep his nose straight. When you approach your trailer, keep your horse’s nose pointed straight ahead. If he even tips his nose to the side, bump the rope to correct him. Out of the corner of your eye, watch his eyes to see whether he’s even thinking of moving back.

Avoid circling. When you circle back around, your horse learns that he can get his way—if only for a moment.

Step 4. Avoid Circling

If your horse is “experienced” in throwing tantrums before trailer-loading, he may learn that if he does turn his head, balk, or even wind up completely out of position, you’ll circle him and approach your trailer again.

Never circle your horse when trailer-loading. It’s a fatal mistake. If you turn him around and allow him to face the direction he wanted to go, he’s gotten his own way for a few steps.

You may think you need to get a better approach by circling back and starting again. But your horse only associates his behavior with what happens within three seconds after he acts. He wanted to turn away and he got the reward of stepping in the direction he wanted.

You’ve unknowingly trained your horse to throw a tantrum by allowing him to turn away. Horses are more in the moment than we are. In the moment, your horse wanted to turn away, and you allowed it. Turning away reinforced the tantrum, so he’ll certainly do it again.

If your horse throws a tantrum and gets out of position, let him figure out how to straighten up and get his feet in line without circling. Then follow the guidelines in Step 3.

Step 5. Stay Out of the Way

Think about your position as you enter you trailer. Horses are trained not to invade your space, so avoid stepping up into the door of your trailer before asking your horse to step up. If he were to follow your request, he’d have to walk on top of you. If you’re stepping up into a long slant-load trailer, go in the door well ahead of your horse. Keep walking straight ahead, then step as close to the wall as possible to get out of his way. Show him there’s a path to move forward.

>>

Stay out of your horse’s way as you load him. A horse that doesn’t want to load will take your placement as a reason not to move forward.

Step 6. Praise Your Horse

If your horse has been known to balk at entering your trailer, approach, then ask him to stop before he enters. When he stops, praise him for listening and looking forward at your trailer. If he looks away, correct him to remind him he’ll be moving straight ahead. When he looks at your trailer, praise him.

When you stop, your horse will show you what he’s thinking about. You’ll have an opportunity to praise him for looking forward and looking at your trailer.

Stopping your horse also keeps your horse in a compliant mindset—he’s being praised for moving and stopping on command. It keeps him interested in moving forward and discourages him from thinking about an escape.

Your praise instills confidence in your horse. You’ll have an opportunity to maintain obedience. Plus, you’ll encourage his forward interest and his investigative behavior.

What Not To Do

Here are three things to avoid when loading your horse into your trailer.

Don’t train your horse on the

road. Don’t fight with your horse because you need to get on the road right away. If you’re in a hurry, you may be tempted to resort to different and inconsistent tactics to get him loaded. Instead, schedule plenty of time (days and weeks) for trailer-loading practice sessions. Let your horse know he’s going in your trailer; there’s no time constraint.

Don’t use a rope or whip. Teach your horse the right response rather than trying to force him into your trailer. To do this, your horse has to be thinking about moving forward. Therefore, avoid touching him with anything from behind, including a rope or whip. As soon as you touch him from behind, his attention is immediately transferred to his hindquarters. Using a rope or whip could also scare him; a fearful horse isn’t going to learn what you’re trying to teach him.

Teach your horse that he should move freely forward. Let him know that you want him to think through the problem and learn that the easy answer is to go forward. If he needs extra encouragement, enlist a helper to snap a training flag. This technique applies mental pressure that tells him backward isn’t the direction to go. The noise helps your horse associate quiet and easy with forward movement and an unpleasant sound with thoughts of backing up. You’re not physically touching him or applying constant pressure.

Don’t trailer-load alone. If possible, ask a traveling buddy to go with you to help you load your horse. After your horse walks into your trailer, your buddy can snap on the butt bar, close the doors, and help you tie your horse, all in the correct order. Be sure to close the back door before you tie your horse for safety. You don’t want your horse to learn that if you’re alone, he has time to back up before the butt bar is snapped and the door closed. USR

Julie Goodnight trains horses and coaches horse owners to be ready for any event, on the trail or in the performance arena. After producing the popular RFD-TV series, Horse Master with Julie Goodnight, for 11 years, Goodnight now shares the world of horses through 2Horse Productions, and through appearances at clinics and horse expos throughout the United States. She also hosts her monthly horse training podcast, Ride On with Julie Goodnight.

Heidi Melocco is a lifelong horsewoman, equine journalist, and photographer based in Mead, Colorado.