© Antti Walnestedt Next. Previous.
© Antti
Walnestedt
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If the
horse is taught to load when young, you get the least problems. First you must
be able to lead the horse, if it's not possible to lead him correctly, you have
no possibility to load him easily. Time is very important when training to
load. The training must take the time it takes, otherwise you must do it again
and again. Five minutes before the horse's first trip is too late to think of
starting the training.
There are horses who are loaded drugged, which tells you everything you need to know about that kind of horsemanship. A person should be able to load the horse on his own, you could be alone in an emergency situation and the horse's life depends on him being able to load in the trailer. In all horse training it is best if the trainer is alone with the horse, it is good to have help at hand, but the more persons around, the more difficult it can get. Let the helpers sit and watch. The trailer must be prepared for training, the partition in the middle is not needed in the beginning. It is easier for the horse to enter a wide trailer with good illumination. Sweep away hay and other bits of food on the floor, there is no reason for failure because the horse puts his head down below the front bar to eat and hits his head on it. The horse will not die of starvation during the training, so remove all carrots, feed buckets and hay nets. The ramp is what creates the biggest problem, the horses don't want to step on it, and can do everything to get around it. The easiest would be if there was no ramp, for some reason horse owners believe horses can jump obstacles over one meter, but can't lift their legs a couple of decimeters to enter a transport.
 The ways of escape a horse tries to take are sideways, back, up, stand put or in some rare cases lie down. Whichever way the horse tries to escape he must not get a release. The only time he gets a release is when moving toward the trailer. If he wants to step on the ramp from the side, let him, he will learn eventually that it is easier to enter straight forwards. If the loading is done in the gate of the paddock the horse can't throw himself sideways. The stable door should only be used in extreme cases. If the horse goes back hold him back as much as possible, nobody is strong enough to to stop the horse if he wants to go back, the release comes when the horse stops and moves forward. If the horse thinks going back is a good solution, let him go back, but he has to go back a little bit more and a bit faster that he wanted, when he then wants to move forward it must be easy and comfortable for him. If the horse goes up put on the brakes, release only when the horse comes forward but don't get in his way. Many people make the mistake to stand too close to the horse and are in his way when he moves forward, no horse wants to pass on top of his trainer to enter the transport. Use a rope 3 meters. or more and give the horse space. It may happen that the horse jumps over the ramp into the trailer so get out of his way. If he continues to rear make him work, make him go back, just be careful that he does not throw himself on the ground and gets hurt. If he lies down, help him get up, if he does not want to stand up, make him lie down a bit longer than he wanted.If the horse stays put without moving forward, wait for him. Keep a steady traction on the rope and let him be uncomfortable, the one with most patience will win. If he definitely refuses to move forward a helper can drive him on, but he must stop as soon as the horse goes forward. |
The horse
must learn that life is comfortable inside the trailer. The same method can be
used to teach the horse to pass ditches f.ex.
When the horse enters without problem, he can be trained with the partition in the middle, first open to the side, then fixed in the middle. Train with two horses, they must enter even if there is already one in the trailer. And you should be able to get one out without anything happening. When the horse is inside he should feel free, not forced. If the horse throws himself out you can only hold as much as possible and follow the horse out, no release until the horse before the horse has stopped and moves toward the transport. Load him again. A helper can lift and rattle the ramp, rattle with chains, throw gravel on the trailer and so on. When it starts moving and you are on your way, it is too late to do something if the horse gets scared of the noises. When the horse is backed out of the trailer he must go in his own tempo, here the command "back" is useful, many horses learn to throw themselves out just because the person who leads him holds back when he is allowed to go out.
 Horses don't like to enter dark holes. If the light works and the trailer is lit inside makes it easier. Few transports are made for horses, the ramp has got sharp edges and corners. The lamp settings are protruding, the light bulbs fall out of their sockets from the vibrations when the horse steps in. Sharp protruding edges at eye level in the opening. The partition in the middle can't be removed, then the bars fall, if a horse travels alone he is much happier if he can have the whole space, some mares can't travel in a narrow space. The inner height is too low for horses over 1.55 meters. The front load is an excuse for bad horsemanship. The tying points are too low, a horse can brace against things and pull and lift backwards with lots of power, but if he is tied high he lifts himself and is powerless. No horse has starved to death during a normal transport, but many horses have got hurt from hay nets during short rides. Stop during the trip, unload the horse and let him have a lunch break together with the driver. If you want to develop the training, you can f.ex lead the horse up to the trailer then send him in on his own, lunge him in with a long rope and so on.
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