Trailer Training: Step 2

Now that your horse is comfortable with being inside the trailer and has learned to accept you in the trailer with him, it is time to teach him how to load on command.  I like to teach all of my horses two ways to load.  I first teach them to load being led inside (suitable for stock trailers or slant load trailers).  I also teach them to load by themselves, while I stand at the back of the trailer (suitable for straight load trailers that don't have a walk-through).

What You Need:

• Trailer
• Halter and Lead
• Training Stick (optional)
• Enclosed Area

I like to begin working with the horse in a smaller area, such as a round pen.  This helps prevent the horse from being able to get far away from the trailer and keeps them contained in case they should pull the rope out of your hands.  This also gives you a safe location to lunge the horse if needed during these exercises.  Eventually, you want to graduate to being able to load your horse in an open space, but wait until he is consistent in the enclosed area.

Goal: The horse will consistently load in and out of the trailer, both by leading him in and by sending him into the trailer.

Step 1: Leading In

This step is fairly simple: lead the horse into the trailer, reward him with treats and praise, and ask him to back out.  At first, he may only put his head or front feet into the trailer.  That is OK.  Reward the baby steps.  When he is ready, ask more of him by only rewarding him when he is half-way inside, and eventually, all the way inside.  Make sure that you tell him when it is time for him to leave the trailer.  Don't let him decide when to leave.

If the horse responds to your request to load, make him do something else.  You can lunge him, move his hindquarters away from you, back him around the pen...whatever you want.  Don't reward his refusal by allowing him to stand still.  After a few minutes, ask him to load again.  Repeat as necessary.  Eventually the horse will decided to try to do what you asked, even if it is only a baby step.

Step 2: Sending In

Once your horse is consistently loading each time you lead him into it, you can begin to teach him to load by himself.  Throw the lead rope over the horse's neck so that he can't step on it and lead him up to the trailer.  Encourage the horse to load using a verbal command (I use "load up") or clucking.  You can also use a training stick or whip to tap the horse's rump if needed.  The horse will most likely turn around to exit the trailer.  Make sure to make him wait quietly at the door until you tell him that he can step out.

Repeat the same procedure as in the previous step if the horse refuses to load.  If the horse is struggling to load by himself, go back and practice loading by leading him in.  Always return to something the horse knows and is confident about when he is struggling with something new.

Once your horse is comfortable loading into the trailer using both of theses methods, you can move onto Step 3!

Zeke relaxing in his trailer.

Case Study: Zeke

I worked with Zeke on this step for around 10 minutes a day for about two weeks.  I started in the round pen for a couple days, and then moved the trailer to the driveway.  For the first week or so, I used a rope halter.  He tends to try and turn away from the trailer and the rope halter gives me more of a chance to get his nose pointed back in the correct direction.  After he was loading consistently with the rope halter, I switched to a nylon halter.  I love training with rope halters, but I never trailer with them because they can deeply cut the horse’s face in an accident.  Nylon halters distribute the force over a much wider area and are much safer for trailering.

The first step is to ask the horse to follow you into the trailer.  This was naturally an easier step for Zeke to do because he feels safe when I am with him.  Every time that he followed me into the trailer, I rewarded him with treats and praise.  Zeke is highly motivated with food, so grain is an excellent reward for him.  He had a few refusals in the beginning, but after trotting in a circle for a few minutes, he quickly learned that going into the trailer was the better option.  I like to vary how long I ask the horse to stay in the trailer and make the training session less predictable.  I want it to be my idea to leave the trailer, so I always try to back the horse out before he starts to think about it.

Asking him to load into the trailer by himself was a little trickier.  In the beginning, he would refuse to go all the way in, putting two feet in and then stepping back out.  Once I was able to get him all the way in, he would turn around and try to exit the trailer right away.  I am fine with him turning around and coming back to the door, but I make him stay in the trailer until I ask him to step out.  He started loading more consistently and with fewer and fewer refusals.  Eventually, I had to get in the trailer myself to get him because he wanted to stay inside!

One weekend when we were out of town, the horses broke through the fence and ended up at a neighbor’s house about a mile away.  This gave me the opportunity to test how Zeke would load at a less familiar location.  My husband loaded our Quarter Horse first in the front partition.  I had to literally hold Zeke back from getting into the trailer.  When it was his turn, he jumped into the trailer without hesitation.  This would have never happened a couple of months ago, so it was a really encouraging sign!