Site Menu:
This is an archived Horseadvice.com Discussion. The parent article and menus are available on the navigation menu below: |
HorseAdvice.com » Training, Behavior, & Conditioning Horses » Behavior and Training » Trailer Loading a Horse » Unloading Questions » |
Discussion on Unloading Problem | |
Author | Message |
Posted on Tuesday, Sep 26, 2000 - 10:59 am: Hello everyone,I have a 18 month old Paint colt. He walks right into the trailer and he trailers really well. When it comes to unloading he is fine as long as I take the divider out and turn him around. He backs fine on the ground (about 4-5 steps) but when he is supposed to back out of the trailer he just freezes up. We have a 2 horse gooseneck with a ramp. Pretty soon he will be too big to turn around. I read not to back a young horse so early, but I have to for the trailer reason. I cue him with the back command and a long whip tapping his front feet and lots of praise. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks Monika |
|
Posted on Tuesday, Sep 26, 2000 - 11:16 am: Monika,Something that should work well for you would be to teach him to back off something that's higher than ground-level *before* you load him in a trailer again. A handy way to do this is to start with a piece of .75" or 1" plywood flat on the ground (asking him to back off of it), and over a series of sessions raise it up to where it's several inches above the ground. You can use 2x lumber, flat on its sides, for the first increment, and from there move to landscape timbers, etc. It is crucial to make sure that the plywood is well supported in the middle and will not move. While you are going through this process, be sure to occasionally lead him all the way over the plywood--like a bridge--from time to time, so that he doesn't become discouraged about stepping up on it. Over time, you can raise it even higher if you have access to something like railroad ties, which are nearly as high as some trailer floors anyway. You also might find that when you do move to the trailer, just loading his front end and then asking him to back off will give him more confidence than starting with the back end, because he'll be able to see the DrOp. Best of luck. ~Amy |
|
Posted on Tuesday, Sep 26, 2000 - 11:20 am: Ooops, I just reread your question and I totally spaced the part about the ramp. Duh. Well, it should help anyway. :-) You can also try backing him off the ramp before he's completely loaded--the smaller you break it down, generally, the better.~A |
|
Posted on Tuesday, Sep 26, 2000 - 12:34 pm: Thank you Amy, practising on the ground with wood might might be a good idea anyway.I appreciate the reply, thanks again! Monika |
|
Posted on Tuesday, Sep 26, 2000 - 1:38 pm: Agree with Amy. Work your colt by asking him to take a step onto the trailer, halt, and ask him to back off. Practice one or two feet at a time first, many, many reps. Then get the 3rd foot on, and all feet back off. Then ask for all 4 feet to be on the ramp, then back off, over and over and over. By then he'll feel much more comfortable backing off once he's on. You could even go so far as to get 2 feet in the trailer, 2 still on the ramp, and back off from there. |
|
Posted on Tuesday, Sep 26, 2000 - 3:49 pm: Thanks Amy and Jordana, I really appreciate your input. I will work on it this weekend and let you know how we are doing.Monika |
|