Saturday, September 2, 2017

MORE ADVENTURES with TRAILER LOADING!

MORE ADVENTURES IN TRAILER LOADING

To paraphrase a well-known Australian horseman, “If you build a strong set of foundational skills with your horse, 90% of your problems go away.”  This means that is you get your groundwork really tight and your fundamental riding skills solid most of you behavior issues go away because you have dealt with the problems through the course of your training without even really focusing on the problem.

Time and time again we see this to be proven as “gospel truth” and are so glad we took that particular message to heart.

We also know that “the basics” are boring. It is the truth. Everyone would much rather be cruising down the trail, playing with cattle or riding is a show that working on your round pen and ground work skills. Playing over obstacles is more fun that working on your steering wheel, gas pedal and brakes. Still, if you don’t have those “basics” rock solid then the enjoyment of the cool stuff is a far off dream…or a nightmare depending on your horse! You can’t build a house without a good foundation. Taking the time to make sure the basics are really solid is an investment that pays off over and over again!

Today we met a sweet 7 year old Quarter Horse mare with limited “life” experience and a fear of getting into the trailer. This is a common issue. Humans lose their brains trying to get a horse to load up in a trailer. It is almost comical if it wasn’t s dangerous for both eth human and horse! The goals is to have the horse quietly lead into the trailer on a lose lead line…or better yet step in and load themselves.

We got acquainted in the round pen first. This is a great step to take because it tells LOTS about the horse and the level of sensitivity and training they have had. It demonstrates their attitude “today” and lays the foundation for a solid partnership. This mare had LOTS of energy. She needed to burn it off and open her brain up to communication and following our lead. So we worked on these exercises: respectful lunging, 5 in 1 circles, backing, lateral flexion and sending through. We wanted to make sure that these exercises were “on the brain” before going over to the trailer.

At the trailer we allow the horse to take time and investigate. This allows them to become familiar with the trailer on their terms. Then we ask them to load up. Why? Because with a slim minority of horses that is all that you need. Most, however, decline the offer and the humans as to get busy and start hustling hooves! We work all around the trailer and only rest near it. This gets repeated with rest only happening when more and more of the horse is actually in the trailer. Now, you often have to work through some “ugly” to get to the “good” and this mare was no exception. She crowded our space, she pulled back, reared up, jigged about, and had a hissy fit. We just make a correction and then get back to moving those hooves! When the horse quietly leads into the trailer on a loose lead line…or better yet steps in and load itself several times…we call the lesson a success and quit. The human will have to follow up with the horse several times over the next week or so to ensure that no “backsliding” happens.

We called the session a win when the mare lead quietly up to the trailer and then with a simple point loaded up several (like six) times calmly and backed out calmly.

It was a good day!

If you need help with teaching your horse to load up in a trailer just give us a call or drop us an email at luckstarhorsemanship@gmail.com!


Highlight pictures at: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2023571557866899&id=1857426887814701

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