Horse trailer

Question
When we bought our 12 yr old ex hurdler he travelled to us in a horsebox partitioned without problems.  In fact he seemed incredibly quiet.  A year later we bought a trailer and from day 1 we had problems loading.  After two and half months of repeated feeding him and taking him through the trailer he is reasonably happy, but we cannot shut him in without major panic.  As soon as someone tries to put the bar at the back of him it is total fear - and I have lost my nerve to go any further, although I try to look as though I am calm.  We tried a herbal calmer but it did not do anything at all.  He does panic with the unknown but is calmed by lots of reassurance and assured handling, but this is seeming a step beyond him and me.  We really want to take him to shows etc and I don't know what to do or who to contact to help us.  Please do you have any answers?

Answer
    Hi Frances,
  The first thing I will say to you is to relax. I certainly do have answers, and if I can explain them adequately, and if you can carry them out, I would be 99% sure of a successful   outcome.
  The answer to your problem is "pressure and release", and it is an easy method and should be taught to every animal. Now I hope you won't mind if I send you off to do a little bit of research. I am assuming that when you look me up on this site, you can see my previous answers. On 12/4/09 I described the technique in an answer to Alice. If for any reason you cannot find that answer just let me know. In any event I would like you to get back to me once you have read it, as there are a few additional things I would like to say. It's just that these ought to make more sense to you once you have the basic information.
  Please believe me, that in your case, this method has the potential to make an enormous improvement in your relationship with your horse.
  It has just occurred to me that it might be helpful if you told me what your plans are for him, who will the rider be, what experience he/she has, and any other detail you might consider relevant.
  So! Hoping to hear from you soon,
                  Slan,
                     Brendan