Unloading from trailer: www.thinklikeahorse.org Rick Gore

Question
My horse is 12 yrs. old and has trailer since young. A few months ago when unloading he had not been untie so when he went to come out of the trailer he spook and broke the tie causing him to come out real fast, now he is doing this when he is unloaded even thou he is always untied. What can I do to stop this?

Answer
You have to one make sure you untie him so he will not get confused and scared.  Now you have to start over and show him how to back out of a trailer slowly and controlled.  So don't let him load all the way.  Load just his front feet and back him out slowly.  Do this a few times so he builds his confidence on back out slowly, then load only his front and maybe just one back foot, then back him out slowly, after few times of this, load him all the way and back him out slow (Don't tie him), after a few times of this he should learn that he can back out slowly and will not be trapped because someone forgot to untie him.