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HorseAdvice.com » Training, Behavior, & Conditioning Horses » Behavior and Training » Trailer Loading a Horse » |
Discussion on Dushing out of the trailer | |
Author | Message |
Member: natalya |
Posted on Thursday, Mar 14, 2013 - 11:24 am: Hi guys, ones again I need your help. We just bought about 2 months ago a new horse for my daughter, she is 7 year old registered appaloosa. Very sweet mare. Little bit background on her: with her previous owner she had a big trailer, and then she was sold to a man with a two horse trailer, so she was load before. She was at rescue facility for several months, without loading. When we decided to buy her we have asked if she would load in a two horse trailer, I being told that she came in a 2 horse trailer. So no worry. in a few weeks when we suppose to take her home I asked again try to load her, just to see what I’m going to deal with, and sure it is she don’t want to load. Guys being working with her for a week she was loading. Then when I came with my trailer( my actually bigger and Toller) and she will go but then dashing out in about a minute being inside of a trailer like a bullet no way to prevent it. Well we took her home anyway and begin loading her every day. I have to walk her in, I know it’s dangerous, but it’s only way for now (I’m still hoping for better outcome). Well she will rear before going inside, sometime trying to swing behind the doors, my daughter using a crop or lead line blocking her from doing that, sometime not that successful. So any way now we don’t have to do it every day, just a 2-3 time a week, we going for lessons every week 30 min drive one way. She put less fight to load, but want stay in too long, sometime not enough to close the door. And we go again: rear, load and try to keep her calm, she has hay inside, sometime apple, carets, senior, everything. So she still dashes out and when we close the door and tie her up she still trying to rear and pool back hitting a gait. I definitely need a chain or bar behind her. She is acting up the same way with other horse in a trailer. I need any ideas what I can do to teach her stay inside without dashing out. and other thing after being in a trailer and do several attempts to barge out she will move a lot and when we open a door she actually stay without moving until we asked her to unload, so go figure! Ideas please! Thank you, and sorry for grammar, English is not my native language. |
Moderator: DrO |
Posted on Thursday, Mar 14, 2013 - 5:06 pm: Hello Natalya,Get rid of the food in the trailer. I do think parking the trailer in the ponies pasture and feeding from inside the trailer may help the pony get use to being around and in the trailer. Start by feeding on the step and slowly over time moving it in. I also think that offering very small food rewards when and only when the pony is relaxed and doing what is asked can help shape the desired behavior. For more on this see HorseAdvice.com » Training & Conditioning Horses » Behavior and Training » Modifying a Horses Behavior: Conditioned Responses. Be sure to review the article on trailer loading, it addresses unwanted backing up. As you review the article carefully consider your commands. Are you being clear in your intentions? Are you tapping, coaxing, or pulling when the horse is moving forward? These would confuse the pony. Are you consistent on your cues to move forward when the pony resists? And are you trying to move forward while the pony is upset and not listening? All of these can make the process harder and more confusing to the pony. DrO |
Member: natalya |
Posted on Thursday, Mar 14, 2013 - 5:39 pm: Thank you DrO, I thought to keep food in a trailer will make it a happy place for her to be. She is not afraid of it, just resisting. I’m afraid to leave trailer on a pasture without hooked up to a truck. How we being told before you have to lead a horse in a trailer with a thought that she will load and no hesitation. So we are pretty confident and calm with consistent moving forward if she is resisting we just stop and invite her( not pooling) to move forward when she dos we just continue to the trailer and then problems begin, she will try to waive from side to side if she blocked she will rear, she does not respond to a crop behind her, so my daughter just swing lead rope lightly without hitting her behind and she goes in. I read your articles about loading, thing is she is already had a bad habit, now we fixing it. I'll try with a food reword for a good behavior only. We never use a food to coax her in. she will go without it too. Just staying there that a problem. Maybe with time. Do you think 2 months loading is long enough to cure a problem? Or it’s going to be ongoing problem or she will eventually give up? Because I'm sure not. Thanks again I'll try. |
Member: npo33901 |
Posted on Friday, Mar 15, 2013 - 2:26 pm: Natalya, there are some good ideas how to load on Google.Good luck and patience. |
Moderator: DrO |
Posted on Saturday, Mar 16, 2013 - 8:25 am: Hello Natalaya,I think with consistant training, rewarding good behavior and correcting unwanted behavior in a manner the pony can understand, the pony will learn to load and stay loaded. DrO |
Member: natalya |
Posted on Monday, Mar 18, 2013 - 9:56 am: Thank you Dr.O I hope so. And Thank you Anna-Marie, I did look on you tube. It’s a good idea there too. I know most of them. It’s just when we get a difficult to load horse usually after a couple of days maybe a week with consistent loading they load like a pro. Not this one. I don’t know what a deal is. For the past 2-3 days we used Dr.O technique and were able to load her without rearing and going inside of the trailer she did great but Saturday after lessons in a way home something set her off she reared inside of the trailer and stuffed her front leg all the way up. She was tied very short to prevent it, I have this happened to me before, so I learned. She had a bad day anyway maybe it’s just wasn't her day. Thanks for your help |
New Member: repeter |
Posted on Friday, Mar 22, 2013 - 10:49 pm: Hello Natalya,Looks to me like you've got plenty of experience, and have been given very good advice and mostly followed it. For the horse not being afraid of the trailer, and being somewhat willing to go in, but then not staying in, I thought the best advice was keeping her trailer with her in her pasture and giving her all her meals inside it (or as many as you can). You said you didn't want to do that because you were afraid of leaving the trailer in the pasture without being hooked up to a truck, and that's understandable. But perhaps you could figure out some way to make it safe. Like if you know someone with an old farm truck they don't use much that isn't even registered for the road you might be able to borrow it and just use it to anchor the trailer? It doesn't have to be good enough that you'd actually use it to tow the trailer on the road, it's just being an anchor. Or you could make sure the trailer wheels are carefully chocked, and the hitch is resting squarely on a good solid stand, and then load a few hundred pounds on top of the hitch, like maybe some sacks of lime or concrete? It seems like the biggest problem you're facing is that she gets worried after being inside for some amount of time, so you've got to find some way to let her discover that she can spend lots of time in there without it becoming worrisome. Since it's been an ongoing problem for so long, it's probably going to take more dedicated time learning to relax inside the trailer than you can spend with her, so letting her learn on her own at her own pace sounds like a good approach. |