Lots of good insights, and creative solutions to this challenge.
And I think this may be the most important element in successful, or at least tolerable trailering. Creativity.
Of all the things that we know about our horses this could be the defining one that makes us pay attention to the fact our horses are each individuals, and that even then they are changeable according to circumstances, and sometimes for no apparent reason at all. Just like us humans.
I ran across, and unable to cite the source, an interesting suggestion recently. Do not place feed in the trailer manger before the horse loads.
I thought about it, as there was no reason given, and it occurs to me that feed time for many horses is when they are, from ancient instinctual memory, at their most vulnerable.
I watched Dakota, a horse a bit difficult to load, get a very bad habit because I was putting hay in the manger to "reward" him for loading.
What he did was grab the biggest mouthful he could get, sometime a whole thick leaf of hay, and explode back out of the trailer. He would stop immediately, and calmly chomp on his hay prize.
This, folks, is how NOT to train a horse to trailer. I removed the hay, but he had picked up the reaction for a few attempts he boiled back out of the trailer as soon as he was all the way in. Trying to catch him with the butt chain was futile. He was just too fast, so I moved back down the chain of training.
Starting over I shaped toward the goal. This means that I would, at first, click a single step toward the trailer, with treat of course. Then back him up and C/T that. Then two steps - C/T. Then a foot in the trailer, etc.
Always with backing on my voice command. Those of you that C/T know exactl what's happening. It's not getting in a trailer. It's simply stepping forward, and stepping back on command.
In other words I could stop him when I wished. For his treat.
Here's where we most often untrain a horse to trailer.
We get focused on the trailer. The horse picks that up and we have an "anxious" association. We act like we are trapping him, as we are, of course.
Lure him in. Quick get the butt bar or chain up, or the door closed, "because we have to leave for the vet, show, trail ride, etc. right now."
It was delightful to see Dakota, when I got smart and broke down the "trailer entering, backing out, HALTING for your treat" game the first time he loaded all the way forward, and he gathered for that explosive exit --- and --- click!
He stopped, relaxed, and focused on his treat, of course.
You may recall, some of you, the trailering adventure of "The Fancy Mare."
A lovely dappled iron grey QH mare. The owner asked me to train her to trailer. She was difficult to get in, and like Dakota, hard to keep in, and would do a highspeed load, practically jumping in the trailer, but coming out much faster as though she had been shocked. Really frantic.
Wouldn't you know that the barn owner, both owners of the horse, and a neighbor that just had to come and "help" showed up to watch.
As you know, difficult training challenges demand focus. You have to be able to predict, by seeing the horse's language coming at you, and you can't afford to be distracted. Not in a situation where you could get trampled or jambed up against parts of the trailer.
Nothing went as planned. For one thing, she was almost immune to any treat. She simply was too anxious. She did grab a couple of treats from my hand, but it made no difference in her behavior. Dakota, great but funny guy that he is, I think could have stopped in mid air to receive his treat. The world stopped for him at the click.
It took me 45 minutes of circle work for building her courage (you PNH folks know what I was up to) to actually get in. and probably 10 minutes or so to develop a "halt," at different points along the route.
The onlookers, I could tell, could NOT figure out (except for the barn owner who pretty much knows her stuff) why I kept taking the horse out, when getting OUT was the problem. Of course I was teaching her to follow my voice command.
All went very well, considering. Though I was getting very tired.
Figured I had it almost done, had stopped her with her front feet in the trailer, and the wind came up, caught the door on her side and swung it into her. Hard.
Naturally she blew up. But, and one poster in this thread mentioned prior owners beating the horse up in the trailer which made that horse actually willing to get in (but of course with the potential for it all to fall apart at some future time) that's pretty much what happened to The Fancy Mare.
Next approach to the trailer she did get in, quickly. I could see the potential for an explosive exit, but I had found her calm button. The withers. and I pretty furiously began giving her a hard scratching, like a horse's teeth, just ahead of the withers.
And a lot of sweet talk.
Much as I'd have liked to work further with her I knew I was too tired for safety, so I let them button her up, and drive off.
But I do not consider this a successful trailer training by any means.
She has plenty of potential to come apart in the future. I can only hope the owners observed some of the things I did and would do them right in the future. I have a chance to reconnect with them in the Springtime next year, and I'll see if I can coach them to do trailering with her again.
My vote would go to certain suggestions made in the thread: short hauls, tons of goodies (whatever they are for your horses) especially when going to a new location, and of course, when possible, living with the trailer.
Oh, and TIE BACK THOSE DOORS EVEN IF IT ISN'T WINDY.
Think about your horse as you work out your campaign for training. Especially what seems to make him calm and happy.
I had one horse that if I fed him pretty heavily before trailering he was a peach. But put him in hungry? Unh uh, NOOOO way. Stuff him and he'd practically fall asleep, and the trailer then was just a nice safe padded bedroom for him to snooze in.
Some horses are calmed by drinking water, of all things. Some by having their grooming in the same way as always. Routines are reassuring.
That's that thing about trailering that we miss. It's just not routine, and it should be. And one can make randomness routine for one's horse.
Some horse's love puzzles and challenges, others get nervous.
Dakota was charmed by the forward side escape doors and manger doors popping open and me sticking my head in and passing him a treat. A wonderful clown. Dakota.
Some AND folks sing around their horses. Others hum. It's your companion. Do what works for him or her. What others do may be useless, even counter productive, for you and your horse.
Just some random thoughts on trailering.
Donald
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