Loading a new horse

Question
Hi Christine,
I bought a new horse a week ago. She's 10 years old, and rides very well. Took her out on the trail her 3rd day here, and she did great. The problem is, she won't get into my trailer. Her previous owners said they never had any problems loading her. We practiced last night and today. Today was bad, as she first, pulled back, and broke they ring on her halter, and backed out of the trailer before I could close the divider. We got her back in, and she walked in several times, so I tied her again, and shut the divider. I had a hay bag there for her, but she pulled back, reared, and pawed until she peeled the rubber mat right up off the floor. Other than the trailer, she has been everything we want, but the loading is a big problem for us, as I bought her for my daughter to show, and she will need to trailer frequently. Any suggestions?
Thank You,
Stacy

Answer
Hi Stacey

Thanks for your query and I will do my best to help.


Loading is a frequent problem, I have a horse of my own who  is a devil to load and travel and she is 22!


There are several things you can do, but first we have to ask questions.


Is the trailer a new one or an old one?   Is it the same model she has travelled in before?  Is she facing a different direction to what she is used to?  By this I mean   over here in the UK we have trailers where horses can travel facing forward or backwards.


The best thing is go right back to basics with her.  She is in a new home, with new people, it could be she is trying to see how far she can get without you giving up on her, ior it could genuinely be nerves.

First of all, get her headcollar on and a long lunge line, lead her to the trailer, now if she pulls back  feed the lineout  for a ways, but don;t let her get too far.  Then gently but firmmly start leading her up the ramp.  Have the unloading  front ramp done ( I hope you have this on your trailer) and walk her straight through it several times.    When she is used to this then  lead her into the trailer and stand her there for a minute and then take her out again, repoeat several times.   The feed her in the trailer, just a little reward to tell her she is a very good girl.  

Once all this has been done and if she backs up or rears then let her  she isn;t hurting anyone except herself in the end, you may have to repeat the steps until you get her being confident about the trailer, thats it is not a big spooky monster  thats going to hurt her at all.

Then you hitch trailer to car, and turn the engine on, walk her  and through and feed again and then when you feel she is ready  then put the ramps up  front one first and then the back one.   Let  get used to this and then move the car slowly and gently, no jerking,  just fluid travelling.  Take her on a small journey
at first, when you get back and she has been good  plently of praise and a reward. SHe will soon learn to associate the two things, she is good she gets a reward.

I know this all sounds like a lot of hard work but normally one day will sort out the most  difficult of travelers!

You can also put some of her bedding from her stable in the  trailer as well, it then has 'her' smell in there.    Some trailers if they are new are very off putting to many horses.

Hope this advice helps, please do let me know if I can be of further help, and wish  you good luck.

One more thing though, the last people genuine as they are  might not have told you the full tale, ask around quietly to see if she has ever had an accident in  the trailer, this migh go some way to explaining the  problem, horse like elephants have long memories!