Trailer Loading Lessons

What techniques I should use during a trailer loading lesson with a naive filly?
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Q. I’ve had my yearling filly all of her life. I trained her from week one to trailer load, and she was fine with getting in and out. However, this was with a four-horse slant load trailer that steps up. Now I need to load her into a two-horse trailer with a ramp and a divider.  When I tried to load her into the two-horse trailer, she would not load and tried many evasive tactics (rearing, biting, even kicked out once–which is not typical for her). We did manage to get her in the trailer once, but she rushed out almost immediately, ducking underneath the butt bar. I tried tapping and using pressure and release, which seems to be a very successful method for many. With this method she would back up and get really frustrated. However, away from a trailer she knows that tapping her means forward motion, or sideways motion depending on how and where the tap is given. When my helper and I realized she was just frustrated, we ended on a good note with her standing quietly on the ramp.

We came back the next day to start fresh, going slowly and not pushing her.  We did not use any tapping.  Therefore, we did not have any rearing, kicking, or biting.  We tried to let her make up her own mind to go in, but she was hesitant and stubborn. I imagine she is scared or unsure of the confined space.  We tried letting her watch an older horse get in, and she still would not go farther than the ramp. Finally, the other horse got antsy and we had to take him out of the trailer. I even went back to a rope looped around her butt in the hope that she would remember her early training as a foal and respond; however, this frustrated her again. She is normally very well-mannered, friendly, and responsive, but she’s made up her mind about this two-horse trailer. So I’ve made arrangements for her to stay at her current barn for the time being until she is trained to this trailer.

We parked the trailer in the paddock with her and put her food in it; we’ll just let her live with it awhile and get used to it while feeding her on the trailer. I figure she will get on in her own time with no people around and realize that it will not hurt her, eventually considering it a good place since her food is on there.  This technique worked for a friend of mine. Have you known it to be successful? So far she has been exploring the trailer on the outside.

I wanted to ask you exactly what techniques I should do while doing a trailer lesson. I don’t want her to end up frustrated, rebellious, or scared, and I want to make sure that I do this right the first time since this will affect her the rest of her life

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Written by:

Sue M. McDonnell, PhD, is a certified applied animal behaviorist and the founding head of the equine behavior program at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine. She is also the author of numerous books and articles about horse behavior and management.

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