This blog was inspired by a friend of mine from Switzerland who asked my advice about a young horse she knows. The horse apparently used to load fine and has begun refusing to load, or loading but then backing up when the back bar is put into place. The owner is getting frustrated because the problem seems to be getting worst and more importantly, is completely confused as to why the horse has ‘suddenly’ developed this problem, when he ‘loaded fine’ before.
It’s important to mention that I’ve never met this horse, I don’t know the owner, and I haven’t seen a video of the behavior, so I can’t possibly comment on what I think the problem is in this exact case or how to fix it. What I can do though, is to share the process that I would go through in a similar situation and the kind of questions I would ask myself if this happened with one of my horses.
The following is by no means a definitive guide of how to deal with a tricky loader, but hopefully it offers some insight into how and why this problem can develop, and some steps that might be taken to solve it. It’s also important to mention that this particular horse isn’t demonstrating ‘dangerous’ or ‘out of control’ behaviour, and doesn’t have a long-standing fear of loading—in that case, I would definitely recommend consulting a professional trainer, not only to ensure the owner’s safety, but to ensure that the problem isn’t made worse.
A couple of things to think about before you start…
Whenever these kinds of problems present themselves the first thing to remind yourself is that horses don’t often do things for no reason or out of spite (although that doesn’t mean that their ‘reason’ would always be logical to a human!) So, instead of thinking ‘he’s doing it for no reason’, try instead to think ‘if I was a horse, what possible reason could I have for this behavior?’.
The second thing is to remember that while we probably have lots of emotions tied up in our horses and their training, sometimes to be an effective trainer, we need to lose the personal attachment to the situation and approach it objectively.
It can be really frustrating, especially if we believe we’ve been doing everything right or if our horse seemed absolutely fine before and ‘suddenly’ a problem occurs (believe me, I’ve faced these same frustrations on MANY occasions!). It’s easy to feel angry at the horse, at ourselves, or at others; it’s easy to point the finger and blame something or someone; and it’s easy to just give up or pass the problem on to someone else. I really sympathize with these feelings and they may even be justified at times, but we must remember that these emotions don’t help us to actually deal with the issue. So, by all means, go for a drink with a friend and rant about how annoyed you are, get all of those frustrations out by punching a pillow or going for a run, or have a good cry—whatever helps! But when you come to work with your horse, do your best to put aside all of these unhelpful emotions and approach the situation in a calm and logical way.
Step 1: Find the root of the problem
Understanding why your horse developed a habit of not wanting to load in the first place is crucial, not only because it can help us understand the best approach to change it, but because it will hopefully mean that we prevent it from happening again. You might manage to get your horse to load (for example using a bucket of grain to entice him or forcing him on with a whip) but without figuring out the reason for him not wanting to load, the problem will likely not be solved, and you will find yourself in this same situation time and time again.
Here are some options to consider and I would advise to really think about each one before writing them off. Remember that if the answer was easy or obvious, you would already know it, so spend extra time on those questions that you immediately think ‘no, it’s not that’, because often it is in those areas where we are SURE there isn’t a problem, that we might find the root of the issue!
- Pain or Discomfort: It’s always a good idea to mention it to your vet/osteopath/farrier/dentist if your horse starts doing anything out of character. Pain or discomfort can often manifest itself in behavioural issues, even if they don’t seem related. The only time my mare has ever been difficult to load was when she was recovering from an injury. She was given the ok from my vet and osteopath to travel the short distance back home, but she was obviously still sore and she knew that loading meant traveling and she didn’t want to. Thankfully, I was aware of this and I gave her lots of time to load, put comfy bedding down, stuck carrots in her haynet to try to make it a more pleasant experience, and drove really slowly and carefully. I’ve had no problem loading her since. But imagine if I hadn’t realized that she was sore (horses are very good at hiding their pain or discomfort) and I had got really annoyed and forced her in, creating a really horrible experience for her that might mean she didn’t want to load the next time because she now associated with pain or discomfort.
- Something has changed: Are you loading into a new van? Is something different about the van (a new type of bedding on the floor, a broken light bulb, a strange smell of disinfectant because it’s just been cleaned?) Is the van parked in a new location, on a slope or uneven ground (so the ramp feels more unstable when he puts his foot on it). Are you acting differently, perhaps because you’re in a hurry, nervous about going to a show, or angry at your horse ‘because he’s doing this on purpose!!’? Have you just bought some new travel boots that he’s not used to and finds it difficult to walk in? Has something changed in your horse – has he moved yards recently, is he eating a new food, or is he cooped up all the time because it’s winter so he’s generally being more difficult to handle? Is he tired or sore after a show? Are you trying to load at a different time than usual – perhaps when he is normally taken in to get his feed or when all his friends have just been turned out in the field? I’ve heard of horses refusing to load on bright sunny days because it’s so dark inside the van (horse’s eyes adjust to changes in light much slower than ours do—similarly, when loading at night, turning the lights off inside the van can sometimes help). I also once read a story about a horse who had started to become really difficult to load and when the owner had their trailer serviced, they found that the floor was all rotten and could have given way at any moment. So the ‘naughty’ horse turned out to be a pretty smart one!
- Your horse had a bad experience: One of the most frustrating things about horse training is that sometimes one painful or scary experience can override months or years of good experiences. This is particularly easy with a young horse—if your horse has just a few good loading experiences under his belt, one or two negative ones might be enough to at least plant the seed of not loading. Sometimes this might be really obvious—a traumatic car accident or a nasty fall on the ramp—but sometimes it could just be a little thing or lots of little things that build up over time. Maybe your horse hit his head on the top of the van one time, slipped on the ramp, or gets bruised by the breast bar when traveling? Maybe its noisy, stuffy, or uncomfortable to travel inside the trailer, or maybe the driver drives too fast or brakes too hard, or you took a really long trip and it was difficult for the horse. I’ve had a fair bit of experience traveling with horses to overseas competitions (the longest taking three days of traveling) and occasionally the horses are a bit hesitant to load after a long or bumpy section of the journey. If traveling itself isn’t a pleasant experience, loading won’t be either.
- Your horse is afraid/worried/nervous: Remember that as horses are flight animals, they are naturally wary of just about everything, and sometimes this fear or worry can manifest itself as ‘bad’ behavior, ‘naughtiness’ or even aggression. Also, a horse could be quite happy with the trailer itself but worried about just one aspect. In the case of my friend’s horse, it sounds like the horse isn’t scared of going into the trailer, but could be worried about the back bar being put in place. Perhaps it’s the being locked in a small space that is worrying, being alone in the trailer with no other horses, perhaps it is the noise of the bar behind him or the slamming of the door afterwards that worries him, perhaps the bar hits his rump when it comes down because he shifts his weight back?
- Your horse wasn’t really OK with it in the first place. Sometimes we can think that a horse is OK with something because they do it without questioning us, but that doesn’t always mean that they are happy and comfortable about it. If you’re lucky enough to have a brave and curious horse, you may well think you don’t have a problem until suddenly it becomes too much for them. I like the analogy of a ‘worry cup’ that fills up with all the little worries that your horse has, however small. If you never address any of them and ‘empty’ the cup, they will build up and when you add just one more, ‘suddenly’ the cup overflows and your horse panics/explodes ‘out of nowhere’. So consider whether your horse is really, truly comfortable at each stage of loading (more about this later!)
- The problem isn’t really the trailer. Do you only load the horse and take a long drive? Or only load and go to a show, which might be a stressful experience, especially for a young or green horse? Perhaps your horse isn’t really objecting to loading itself, but to the result of loading or the destination?
- You are reinforcing the wrong behavior. This is always a tricky one, because as caring horse owners, we always hate to think that we are to blame, but be really careful that your horse’s ‘bad’ behavior isn’t something he has learnt from you. I would say that it’s quite normal for a young horse to ‘test the rules’ or ‘push the boundaries’ once or twice whenever they learn something new. This can be a great opportunity to calmly reinforce the rules and strengthen your leadership role, but if you miss the chance to teach the ‘right’ thing, it can sometimes backfire. This could work either way—perhaps your horse didn’t want to load and stopped, so you immediately smacked him with a whip which was unpleasant and therefore reinforced his idea that the trailer was a ‘bad place’ or maybe your horse stopped so you tried to reassure him by scratching him and saying ‘good boy’, but actually what you did was reward him for stopping—oops!
- He just doesn’t want to. Sometimes horses, just like us, make decisions based on the fact that something just doesn’t seem worth it to them. If there is no real motivation for your horse to go into the trailer and no consequence for not going in the trailer (note: consequence doesn’t have to mean punishment), your horse may decide that the most comfortable option is to not bother. This could be that the horse doesn’t see a reason to follow your leadership or it could simply be that he believes the easiest option is to say no.
Step 2: Break the habit
Now that you’ve figured out (hopefully) the cause for the refusal to load, you need to break the habit and work towards changing it (or ideally, prevent it from becoming a habit in the first place!). The most important thing to remember here is that your aim should be to get your horse happy and comfortable with loading, not simply to get your horse to load. If you result to force to load your horse, it may work once, twice, or even several times, but it won’t work forever. Similarly with using coercion, such as carrots or food to ‘bribe’ your horse to load—this certainly isn’t a bad way to entice your horse onboard, but if you don’t work on the real issue, there will likely come a time when the worry about loading becomes greater than the desire for the carrot, and you’ll be back to square one.
Stay safe
The primary concern in any training situation should be safety, both for you and your horse so it would be irresponsible of me if I didn’t point this out. If I’m working with a young horse, a horse I don’t know, or a horse who I know might be worried, I ALWAYS wear my helmet and gloves. I also always use a long 12ft rope or lunge line, and a well-fitted headcollar that offers good control without being painful to the horse.
My personal preference for a horse that pulls or backs up as an evasion is a Monty Roberts Dually headcollar, but I’ve also had success with a lunge cavesson. Basically, you want something that is strong enough to hold the horse if they pull back, but without causing pain, because this will only cause the horse to panic more. This is why I would never use a bit to load a horse—I know a lot of people think this offers more control but if a horse was to really pull back on a bit, they could seriously damage their mouth and I don’t feel comfortable inflicting that kind of pain on a horse in any situation. Similarly, some rope halters are not really designed to have a lot of pressure placed on them and can be quite harsh and cut into the skin, so just be aware and choose your equipment wisely.
Brush up on your groundwork
First things first: how is your horse to handle in general on the ground? Can you walk, stop, turn left and turn right with your horse on a loose line, without him barging into you, overtaking you, or completely ignoring you? Can you ask your horse to backup a few steps and to stand still at an arm’s length from you? Can you safely navigate ‘obstacles’ on the ground— for example, walking over a ground pole or a tarpaulin, walking through a narrow space (such as between two raised poles), or walking under a low-hanging branch?
My advice would be to master all of these things before you even think about asking your horse to load. I often find that behavioural problems start before you even introduce the ‘problem’. A horse that has a problem at a canter for example, very often has the same problem in a walk or trot, it’s just that we don’t find it that big a deal if our horse sometimes veers off the track, is a bit behind the leg, or occasionally evades the contact when we’re at a walk! The point is, make sure that the behavioural issues (stopping, backing up, rearing, etc.) are not at all present when you are away from the trailer before you deal with them at the trailer.
Expand your horse’s comfort zone
Once you are calmly and confidently maneuvering your horse away from the trailer, you can start working on the loading itself. The very first step that I would take is to establish where your horse’s comfort zone ends. By that I mean, at exactly which point do you start to notice tension, worry, fear, or resistant behavior? Is it at the bottom of the ramp? Half way up the ramp? Is your horse happy to load but panics when you put the back bar up? Perhaps your horse starts to get worried before you even get close to the trailer! This will be your starting point.
While you’re figuring this out, pay extra attention to when your horse starts to feel worried, not just when he starts to act worried. In the case of my friend’s horse, perhaps the horse only shows this worry when the back bar is put up, but maybe he is actually beginning to show signs of resistance at the bottom of the ramp – slowing down, hesitating, backing up a step or two, zigzagging from left to right, or getting just a bit heavier on the lead rope are all signs that your is starting to at least think about not loading. Look out for the tiniest signs that your horse isn’t sure and start there. It’s better to play it safe and pick a spot that you KNOW your horse is happy in, even if that’s 5 meters from the bottom of the ramp.
The idea is to start slowly inching your horse out of his comfort zone. There are different ways that you might do this. You might ask your horse to take a few steps forward and before he starts to worry or think about stopping, you back your horse up into the comfortable area, or you could walk your horse in circles each time getting closer. At first, try to sense when your horse is beginning to get worried and go back to the comfortable sport before he starts to act on it – this will help the horse to realize that there is no need to worry and also to trust in your decision making. During all of this, you should aim to work with a loose lead rope, walk with purpose (believing that the horse will follow your lead!), but also stay calm and relaxed (remember to breathe!!).
Sometimes just giving the horse this extra time to consider the situation without forcing it can make a big change, but if it doesn’t, after you have done this several times, begin to stay a little longer in the ‘uncomfortable’ zone or ask for one more step forward into the ‘problem areas’. If your horse does stop or pull back, it means that you have hit the edge of their comfort zone, so just stay calm and maintain the pressure on the lead rope. Don’t be tempted to increase the pressure or get into a tug of war, just WAIT, be patient, and as soon as your horse takes one tiny step forward, release all the pressure and reward him with a scratch (or a carrot, or whatever your chosen ‘reward’ is). (Note: if your horse really gets ‘stuck’, you can try pulsing the lead rope or applying the pressure at an angle, so that he can’t brace against it, or ask him to back up a few steps, then come forward again).
At this point you might think it is ridiculous to reward your horse- who used to load perfectly – for taking one tiny step towards the trailer, but it is really important that you reward every single time that your horse makes the right choice. The more that you can win these little ‘battles’, the quicker that you will win the ‘war’, but if you go headfirst into the war, you don’t have a chance! (of course, good horse training should never resemble anything like a battle or a war, but hopefully you understand what I’m getting at!!).
Take your time: The idea is for both you and the horse to stop thinking about the end goal, and focus – literally – on taking one step at a time. You might find you have to ask your horse to put one foot on the ramp ten times before it’s no big deal, or you might even find that your horse starts wanting to go in the trailer. But at each stage, be sure that your horse is really comfortable with it, not just that they are tolerating it.
Once your horse is loading happily into the trailer, I suggest loading and unloading several times, each time reinforcing that it’s a great place to be (see below).
Some other ideas to try:
Make the trailer a great place to be
Once your horse is loading or if you have a horse that loads fine but gets worried about being in the trailer afterwards, work on making the trailer a really great place to spend time. Tailor your reward to your horse. If your horse is really fearful of being in the trailer, the best reward might be to immediately return to a ‘safe’ spot (outside the trailer!), rewarding him for being brave by taking him away from the ‘scary place’. Then you can simply slowly increase the amount of time you spend in there until your horse starts to not think about going out any more. If your horse is a more of a ‘stubborn’ or ‘lazy’ type, you might choose to just let him relax in the trailer, so that he realizes just how much easier it is to do what you ask than to continually pull and resist. If your horse has a favorite place to be scratched or a favorite food, use this to show him that the trailer is a really good place to be!! While I don’t personally use food in training, I definitely recommend using it to create positive associations and making the trailer the only place your horse gets his favorite treat is a surefire way to do that!
Make the ‘right’ thing easy and the ‘wrong’ thing hard
Although I have not tried this technique myself so can’t vouch for its effectiveness, I have a friend who once solved a problem with her horse not wanting to load after a show, by each time the horse backed out of the trailer or refused to go up the ramp, she would lunge her in a circle at a trot at the bottom of the ramp. After a couple of tries, her horse decided that the trailer was actually the better choice, as he could rest and enjoy his haynet.
Be sure to lunge calmly though – the idea is just to put the horse to work, not to chase him around or punish him for not loading, just to calmly say ‘ok, you don’t want to load, no problem, we’ll just carry on working then’. (Also be aware of the kind of horse you have – I think this technique would work brilliantly for my mare, who is naturally lazy, but it wouldn’t be effective at all for my very hyperactive youngster who would probably prefer to trot circles forever than have to stand still!)
Teach a ‘stand’ command
Some horses have a real problem standing still or being patient, and this can make the entire loading process much more difficult. My youngster is like this – he loads fine, travels fine, unloads fine… but while I am sorting out the ramp, tying him up, and getting ready to drive off, he is constantly pawing, shifting his weight from foot to foot, or tossing his head around. He had the same problem in every situation that involved standing still (mounting, grooming, bathing) so it wasn’t only the trailer. After trying all my usual training methods to help him be happier about standing still, I decided to try a different approach – rather than assuming that once he was relaxed he would want to stand still, I made standing still the task and walking the ‘reward’. I only asked for a couple of seconds at first and I would be really strict about him not being able to move even one step when I asked him to ‘stand’, then I would reward him by letting him walk forward (you could also do this with clicker training/positive reinforcement). To my surprise, this really worked, because it occupied his mind – he was so focused on ‘standing perfectly still’ that he forgot momentarily about the desire to keep moving his feet.
These days he’s happy to stand still for mounting, grooming, and saddling without me asking, but he can still get fidgety in the trailer, especially if we’re at a busy show with lots going on around us. So I use our ‘stand’ command to give me enough time to load my other horse, put up the ramp, and get in the car. I hope over time he will become more relaxed about the whole thing, but until then, this means I’m not worried about him causing himself an injury before I have time to drive off or unload him.
Use distraction and desensitization techniques
Many horses are less worried about going in the trailer, than being locked in there and this is understandable. Having once locked myself in the back of a horse van by accident (don’t ask!) I can vouch for the fact that it’s weird and echoe-y, and the ramp makes a lot of noise when it is being opened and closed. So take the time to desensitize your horse to all of these things. If it’s safe to do so, stand in the trailer with your horse (holding the lead rope, so that if your horse does worry, he’s not going to find himself tied up and restricted, while a helper puts the back bar in place and opens and closes the ramp (taking care to stand to the side and not in the kick zone!). Start small and find your horse’s comfort zone just like before. Even just rattling the bar gently might worry your horse at first, so give him time to figure out that it’s not going to hurt him.
If your horse backs up, resist the urge to pull back – let him back up a couple of steps, then ask him to come back up to the bar, so that he can learn for himself that there’s nothing to worry about. You could also use distraction techniques, offering your horse a haynet or some grain to take his mind off the task in hand – just be careful that he is still aware of what is going on around him, you don’t want to surprise him!
Listen to your horse
Horses are all different and while a lot of trainers seem to have one set way that something has to be done and the horse has to adapt to that, I see no reason that you shouldn’t adapt your training techniques or loading style to suit your horse’s preferences (as long as you remain safe and in control of the situation). So don’t be afraid to experiment to find out exactly what works best for your horse.
For example, when traveling with other horses, is your horse more comfortable loading first or last, or being the first one off on arrival? Does he have a spot in the trailer that he seems to prefer traveling in? Is he worried about traveling alone? Does he not like traveling next to a certain horse (I remember one horse who just would not load if the farm’s donkey was on-board!) Does your horse prefer to turn around and come down the ramp forwards (this isn’t always possible, but it might be something you can accommodate). I’m not saying that we should do every single thing that our horse prefers (one of mine would definitely prefer to just have the entire trailer to herself and stand smack-bang in the middle!), but if we can make small accommodations that make our horses more comfortable and give them a bit of a say, I think we should.
My mare likes to stop and sniff the ramp before she loads every single time even if it’s the same trailer she just came out of five minutes before! I distinctly remember one time when a guy at my stables tried to load her and got annoyed that she stopped so smacked her with the whip – she ended up rearing up and not wanting to load. When I arrived, I let her sniff the ramp for about 5 seconds and up she went all on her own, no questions asked. The guy – who was clearly not impressed that I made it look easy in front of his buddies – told me loudly how ridiculous I was for ‘letting my horse call the shots’, but the way I see it, if my horse is going to travel 2 hours to a show so that I can enjoy myself riding, I can at least give her 5 seconds to sniff the ramp before she walks in.
Step 3: Create positive associations
Remember that the key to successful training is REPETITION (of the RIGHT thing!!) so don’t just load your horse once and think ‘problem solved’. If you want a long-lasting solution, I advise repeating this new process as many times on as many days and in as many different locations as possible.
I would recommend that when you first successfully load your horse, you don’t travel anywhere. Try loading him every day and just giving him his feed in there, or maybe take a short drive to a field where he can graze on lush grass then drive him back home again. Take the time to rebuild positive associations.
Finally, be aware that sometimes horses will try to revert back to old habits after a few successful training sessions. I can’t really explain why, but I have noticed this a lot, especially with young horses or remedial issues. It’s almost like it’s a last-ditch attempt at having ‘their say’ or a final ‘check’ to make sure that this is really the best option available. Your horse may never have a problem loading again, or, just when you start to think the problem is solved (say after 3-5 great training days), he might suddenly act as if he’s forgotten everything!
I’m telling you this so you can be prepared for it and not think that your progress is ruined or you’ve made a mistake (of course, it’s worth checking that you HAVEN’T been making mistakes too!!). I find this to be a normal part of the process, so be patient, stay calm and just treat it like any other training session, using the same method that worked before. I often find that if I do this, I don’t get anymore problems after that, so it’s worth being patient even if it can be frustrating to feel that the problem is ‘getting worst’ or that you have to start again from zero! This is another good reason to set aside plenty of time to practice at home before you head out and about – it’s much better that your horse does this at home when you have the time and resources to deal with it!
Horsemanship With Heart 