By
Diana McGrew
The ideal situation in trailer training a horse is starting them at a very young age so they think that loading up to go
somewhere is a normal everyday event. Unfortunately not everyone has that luxury and usually gets a horse that has already
had a bad experience with a trailer. It usually means they have been forced into a trailer with an impatient owner or maybe
tossed around during the drive and had to scramble to keep standing which made them fearful. There are some horses that just
simply refuse to get in because they can. Whatever their past experience is, it does not change the fact that they won't get
in.
If you have that fearful horse, patience is the key to success. First you must earn the respect and trust of the
horse. Horses are naturally herd animals and have a definite pecking order. Establishing alpha status is important in order
for them to learn to respect you. Do a lot of ground work such as working in the round pen to help establish that status.
Once you have gained that trust and respect it will be much easier to ask the horse to do what he is fearful of. Trailer
training a horse will definitely challenge your patience.
This is also true with the disobedient horse that just
refuses to get into the trailer. If you have set basic ground rules for the horse to follow, trailer training will be less
stressful. When asking this horse to load and he begins to fight by refusing, DO NOT fight back. Try to stay calm but
forceful in what you are asking him to do. The horse will feed off of the energy you put forth if you fight with him. This
will only make him stronger and more willing to refuse what you are asking of him. Instead, keep his mind off of what the
task at hand is, loading in the trailer, and ask him to back, halt, walk forward, halt, etc. Then walk him around to give
him a chance to calm down then start over.
There are several techniques to use when trailer training a horse. The
trick is to find the one that works for you. I have had many experiences with these techniques in my twenty-two years of
owning horses and have found the one that works the best for me. To learn more about this technique visit trailer training a horse.
If you would like to learn how to
gain that respect and trust from your horse, this site is one of the best that I have found to help you communicate through
these horse training method.
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