My Horse won't load

[Nashoba]

My horse use to be a really easy horse to load; but one day at the vets office, she spooked, ran out backwards and managed to flip over. She was fine. She loaded fine after and I loaded and unloaded her at home for a week or two after the accident. Well, now she won't load at all. Won't even stick a foot in the trailer. I have tried loading her buddy, lunging her next to the trailer, "nagging" her with a lunge whip until she moves forward and now I have her in my round pen with the trailer backed up to the gate and feeding her in the trailer. She won't even go in to eat. This has been 2 days. My farrier said that when she get hungry enough she will go in. She has water, mineral block, salt lick. Should I give her hay in or out of the trailer? What else can I do? I have been working on this for months now and I am getting frustrated. I would sedate her but, I don't see that helping in the long run.

[Horselady44]

Here is my 2 cent worth,
Do not sedate her. That just covers the problem up. Before trying to get her into the trailer again, teach her to 'step up' get a pallet and a piece of plywood out and set it up. Teach her to step up on it with her front feet. Then step down, then all fours and then step down. make sure to give her lots of praise and a treat for stepping up. Try to make the step as tall as your trailer, so when you transfer this to the trailer she will relate to it. Then when you get to the trailer just get her to relax at the trailer without having her step up. Then take it slow. Start by asking her to take small steps toward the trailer, rewarding her when she does and correcting her when she dosnt. Once she comfortable by the trailer start on asking her to 'step up' just one foot at a time. Rewarding her when she trys and correcting when she backs up. Keep at it and work on it. Dont sedate or give up. You may not get her in the trailer the first day or two but make sure you end the lesson on a GOOD note. Then go back and go at it again, once you get all four in there, give her alot of praise and make her relax in there. Make sure you make it fun for her to be in there so she enjoys it.

[Hideaway]

I'd leave her water out of the trailer but put her hay in it and be patient.

[Slim Pikkens]

Are you maing not loading uncomfortable. I'll start out by asking the horse to face the opening and stand quietly. If it tries to duck away I will then lunge the horse at a brisk trot for 5 rounds then back to the opening. Continue to do this until she will stand quietly for a full minute. Then ask her to place one foot inside by as you aptly put it "nagging on her hip". Again lunge if she ducks out. You must stop tapping the moment she puts a foot in. I like to lightly stoke them in the girth area with the back of my hand, near the elbow. Always make her work when her action is undersirable. When you have both feet in, rub her then ask her to back. You want to train her to back out quietly as well. Then put her away. Try to work on this for at least 3 days in a row. She may not load by then but you can't be in a hurry or she will read you like a book and act accordingly.

[Longshot]

I don't know if this will work for you but it sure did for me. I have a bit of a "pig headed" mare and this summer she decided that she wasn't going to load. She has loaded perfectly before and there had been no bad experience she just thought "nope, not going there!".

My BO mentioned that I should put a chain over her nose and stand in the trailer door. Put a little bit of pressure on the lead and stand there. My mare tried to pull away a few times, I just kept the steady pressure on her nose and said walk on. She planted her feet for about 10 minutes then gave up and walked on. I gave her a pat and stood on the trailer for 5 minutes and walked off. We did this 40 times that night. By the 5th time she didn't care and realized that she HAD to get on. I haven't had a problem since.

It may help, my girl is just a know it all type of horse, so sometimes I need to prove to her that I know better!

[soccer mom]

MY boy Zeke went thru an I don't want to load and you can't make me stage. He was fine in a slant load but not a straight load. I bought a straight load (because it was what I could afford). Previous owner had painted all the dividers black. Removed the ones that I could and now he loads. Silly horse. The first time we tried with the dividers removed, I was leading him and hubby was behind. He tried to back up and hubby bopped him in the butt. He went on. Patience and persistance will work.

[Nashoba]

I have tried lunging her. She will stand still and quiet for hours, she just will not get in. I have tried "nagging", she will expode( rear and back) and when I say back, I mean it. That is how she fell over backwards. She backs so fast that her back feet get too much underneath her and she will flip. I will put pressure on her. She will plant her feet and let me pull her head. She is spooky on the ground and has had problems with pulling back when tied. I don't know about the chain because of the pulling back. I am going to have a friend make me a ramp for my trailer. My trailer is a 5 horse slant, I have all the dividers folded up. I went outside and worked on lunging and walking on tarps and wood, she does fine with all that. Would blindfolding her after the ramp is on hurt anything?

[mlh619]

I agree with the "the only rest place she gets is facing or in the trailer". The more you want her in the trailer the less she is going want to get in lol! Do lots of sending and direction changes in front of the opening and on each side of the trailer. The only place she gets air is facing the trailer straight or getting in. A pallet or ramp can help alot in the transition from the ground to the trailer. Change your position up from in front of the opening to either side to having the horse go between you and the trailer. Once your horse has worked a few 1/2 circles with you in every position offer the trailer as a place of rest. You just have to make it available and if they don't get in no worries just go back to working them from every position. If they are getting tired and get no rest on the outside eventually they will decide they need to change the behaviour and will more than likely try to get in. It took me 25 minutes with my horse who would only get in if I went in to load by herself. Here is a video that kinda demonstrates how to do the 1/2 circles and then make the trailer available!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksQKK1ysOfY

[horselady]

We had a geldiing here that has been around the country dozens of times he came in as a rescue, so loading him should not have been a problem right?
wrong, on the day he was to go to new home, trailer comes and Bailey plants feet. 1/2 hour later, we are standing there talking about drugs or blind fold, and he was standing with his back feet towards the ramp, Well he just starting backing up all by himself until he was in the trailer, of course this was a ramp style. owner takes the horse everywhere backwards, and the other horse forwards.
A trailer with panels on either side of the opening and run in like a shut? or blindfold worth a try.

[SkipsChic]

This technique really, really, really, helper me out on two of my loading porblem horses! I have a 9 yr old and a 10 yr old that just one day decided that loading was just not for them anymore and I did ALL the suggested loading techniques, lunging and rest at the trailer ( that was a big koke for me, lol), feeding inside the trailer ( well they would rather starve then go in), standing inside when someone put pressure form outside the trailer on them, etc. nothing at all was working and I was stressing out. So my shoer was schedule to come out and trim and he saw the trailer in the middle of the ring and asked what that was about and I gave him the low down on my problem and all the approached I have been using. So after we talked he offered to help and I jumped on it because I had ran out of things to do. So here are the steps he used on my tow and I still use if I run across a horse that will not load because of plain stubborness, I actually just used it last weekend!Step 1: ask the horse to load like you would normally ask them, if they do not load on that first time circle them around and ask 1 more time and stay very confident.Step2: After the second time of asking them to load normally and them refusing, once you step onto the trailer with your back turned to them(that Important) and you feel that first pull on the rope form them resisting the load turn around and nearlly run at them from within the trailer(yes you have to go on the trailer first for this to work) moving the rope up and dowm very vigoursly( like you do when asking them to back away from you when on ground, but this time with force behind the movement on the rope) and back them very frimly all the way away from that trailer and keep backing them firmly with that rope firmly moving up and down and asking, from my experience the firmer and faster the better.Step3: After you back them firmly away from the trailer a good distance turn right back around( back to them again) and ask them to load and if the resist again turn and repeat step 2 and keep going form there. Once they do get the the trailer you can reward them with some food and then back them off and reload and the re-reward. I had to repeat this ONCE after the first time and after that Both horses went on and never had a problem since. It is not a friendly as all the natural horsemanship ways, but it worked for me and got the message to my horses and now we are all good!