Huge Horse Load

The horse that has been properly handled and trained since hewas a foal should present no problems when being loaded into horse box or trailer. He will have been transported, as a foal, with his mother and will have complete confidence in his handler. If,however, these elementary precautions were not taken at an early stage, and he was first bullied into a trailer at four or five years, and given a rough ride, it will almost certainly follow that the horse will be unwilling to load quietly. Further bullying,whipping and shouting will only compound the problem and he will be all the more reluctant next time.

Often horses refuse to enter the box because they have suffered traumatic experiences whilst traveling. A bad driver can put a horse off traveling and consequently make him difficult to load, with all the trouble and frustration that that can cause.The road speed should be kept down in order that the horse is given the smoothest possible ride. Coarse steering, braking, gear changing and accelerating are all contributory causes to making horses bad travelers. It is a strain for a horse to travel in a box or a trailer. The effects of claustrophobia and the generation of static electricity in the trailer can cause hint discomfort. This combined with driving in 'fits and starts', can ensure that the horse will be difficult to load on future occasions.

Horses that arc difficult to load should be taken to a quiet place, away from onlookers and other volunteering 'experts'.The fewer people that there are assisting the handler the better.The trailer should he parked close to a wall to discourage the horse from stepping off the ramp to one side. It is vital that testability feet on the trailer are lowered securely when the horse is being led in. Many a horse has been put to fright by a ramp that springs up and down when he puts his foot on it.

In a two-horse trailer the partition should he removed or taken well to one side. If two horses are to travel in one trailer it is often best to load the difficult one first, as he will have more room in the trailer to walk into.

The horse should be fitted with a lunge caves son with a lunge rein attached to the Centrex ring. A stable head collar and a lead rope are not good for leading a horse that is reluctant to go into trailer. It often helps if some straw is spread on the floor of the trailer and up the ramp. The handler should then, with the rein about 30 to 45cm (12 to 18in) long, walk up the ramp into the trailer leading the horse, the front door having been previously opened so that the horse can see straight through. The handler can leave by the front door. He must look straight to his front, not backwards at the horse. He can take in his hand a few oats or horse cubes to encourage the horse, and to reward him if he lead son well. The assistant should stand on the open side of the trailer with the horse between him and the wall. He should be ready to encourage the horse forward by a click of the tongue or a slap on the quarters.

With the really reluctant loader it sometimes helps to fit the lunge caves son as described above, and to pass the lunge rein through the ring in the front of the trailer and back out of the trailer past the horse. It should not, of course, be used with great force but the tension should be carefully taken up to encourage the horse to walk forward without the encumbrance of the handler standing in the trailer in front of him.

horses that are reluctant to enter the starting stalls arc often almost carried in by the loaders, who link arms just below the buttocks and above the hamstrings to lift them forwards. This method can be used to get a horse into a trailer but it is potentially dangerous and should be left to those who are skilled at it. The horse, after all, has only to stand in the starting stalls for few seconds. The horse being loaded into a trailer may be therefore some time.

Loading into a vehicle is part of the horse's basic training. It should not be left until a few minutes before departure for a show or the opening meet. The best possible method of persuading difficult horse to load is to allow him to find his own way in. If possible he should be put in a very bare paddock with little grassland no water. The trailer is then put in the paddock with the brakes on and the stabilizer feet down. The ramp is lowered and the horse's feed and water are put in the trailer up at the far end so that he has to walk right inside to reach them. It is usually not long before he is walking in and out of the trailer quite calmly of his own