Loading in a trailer

Question
I have pony who has a tricky little habbit of refusing to load at events.

She will always load at home and I have taken her away from home and got her to load fine on the return journey when there are no other horses around. the problem is, when there are horses around, she does not want to leave the 'party'.

She always used to be fine when she travelled with her little friend, but he has not been around for a while. She now has a new best friend who travelled with us to the recent event, but this seemed to make no difference whatsover.

So after riding 20 kilometers, I then had to ride another 20 k to get home. In other circumstances, I would have stayed and not given in, but I had to work in the evening and only just made it back in time!

In short, the excitement of the event gets the better of her. She is the boss of her field and she will try to boss me around - although the only time she ever gets away with it is when a trailer is involved.

She is quite an insecure pony. In the field she is constantly bullying the other two ponies, trying to reassert her authority.

I have done some join-up work with her and she will quite happily follow me around with no ropes etc - except where other horses are around.

Sometimes, when riding out if she wants to go in a different direction to me, she will try and spin around, but I always insure that we finish by moving in the direction I intended, no matter how many circles we go round.

The trailer problem has only stated in recent years. Before this she used to go off travelling all over the place.

Ps. She is a very intelligent pony. I have travelled with her in the trailer. She travels well and settled quickly. she is not afraid of the trailer. She walks in just enough when enticed with food at an event, but runs back out in a really controlled way - she is not panicking. she just knows how to get the food without completing the task, yet will not go in at all without the food. Very annoying!

Answer
Your pony is not displaying insecurity while trying to assert her authority on the others in the field.  This is a challenge to the others as she wants to establish herself as leader of the herd.

It is good that you are working with her doing the join up technique.  The fact that she does not continue to follow your lead around other horses shows that she does not fully believe in you as her herd leader.  My suggestion is that you continue working with the join up technique and begin incorporating this with other horses around to also join up with you.

As for the trailering issue, she is challenging your leadership.  By giving in to her you are failing her as a leader.  If she is willing to follow you in with a carrot halfway, then perhaps you could enlist another person to help you.  If that is not an option, consider a long enough lead rope that you can use to loop around her hind quarters to continue urging her in until you have her hooked up in the trailer.  

If you can enlist help, have the other person guiding her in by using a rope or hand on her rear and immediately closing the trailer door once she's in.

I have found that successful loading and unloading is done when the handlers refuse to dilly dally and are succinct with every action.  This means that the horse is swiftly loaded without time to offer the horse another option and immediate closure of the trailer door.  Once the door is secured then without delay immediately head out on the road.  

Karen Scholl offers helpful insight in successful trailer loading.  Please visit her website if you need further assistance: www.karenscholl.com