Wont stand on horsebox alone

Question
QUESTION: I have recently bought a Welsh A gelding, aged 12. I was told that he does not like to stand on the horsebox on his own. He will graze on his own and is happy in his stable, alone. If he has company on the lorry he is fine. I have tried loading him and feeding him on the lorry but he really does not like being alone there. What can I do to overcome this problem?

ANSWER: Hi Heather!

I would like some more info before I answer this question.  Please be as explicit as possible about this situation.

Is he truly afraid OR is he angry.... fighting the program and disrespectful of his training?  When you say "unhappy" do you mean he calls and shifts around OR is he violently refusing to go on, kicking out and such.

How often must you load him by himself?  Daily, weekly or just occasionally?  To go to shows where he must be calm upon coming out and ready to work or just for pleasure riding?  MUST he ride by himself or do you just want to train him to?  In his previous life, how often did he load and ever by himself?

Are you alone in the loading with no other person to help?  

Solange

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Having put him on the lorry again yesterday and watched him closely I feel that he is angry, rather than afraid. He would grab at his hay net and then barge at the doors. He did not kick out of jump up.

Answer
Hi Heather!

Hmmmm...this is actually a difficult problem to solve when you really think about it.  How do you train a horse to not want to be around other horses?  The real thing working against you is his age.  He's quite set in his ways and opinion of "I do not want to be alone on the trailer".

Honestly, this is more of a personality quirk than a training issue.  You have done all the correct things to entice him into the trailer and try to make it a "non-issue" for him to be alone....but, he just isn't responding the way you want.  He wants his trailering buddy.

If this is very important to you to have him trailer alone, you can try a strict and consistent plan of desensitization.  This would work better if he was younger, inexperienced and truly afraid.  Having no prior ideas about trailering alone and overcoming fear is easier than trying to convince a grouchy, old gelding to stop being angry and relax.

Google the "Clicker Method" on the Internet and read up on it.  These clickers are available at pet stores too and this method works as well on horses as it does on dogs.

You want to only use positive re-enforcement on your guy and food/treats is the way to go  :-)  The training must be daily for awhile and you must go in small increments to really ingrain the knowledge in him that there is a reward for standing still and behaving....even if he is alone.

So, the day you start, skip his breakfast except for a little hay.  Let him see his favorite treat in the bucket and start towards the trailer.  You must have a plan and an easy to reach goal for everyday.

First day...all he has to do is walk to the trailer and stop.  DO NOT ask him to load up.  Just stand by it and eat treats.  You need to surprise him and change the way things were working in his head.  In the past, he saw the trailer and thinks "Oh Yeah.  I KNOW what she is going to do...put me on there by myself!  I'm not doing it!!"  So, you need to break that chain of thoughts in his head...you must be more clever than him to win this fight.  Force will not work in this situation.

For a week he just walks up to and around the trailer, doing nothing but getting food for being calm and indifferent.  Then you add loading up, but walking right off immediately, again surprising him and changing things up in his head.  All the while he gets treats and praise for good behavior.  You set the rules and pace for awhile but, then he must set the pace.  Once he's been on and off the tailer for a few days, ask him to stay on and watch him carefully.  You must anticipate just the second he is going to get anxious and snotty and immediately take him off.  He decided when he was unhappy, yes.  But, YOU removed him before things got out of hand.  Again, lots of treats and praise for good behavior.  The clicker is used just before the treats so he knows they are coming.

Attempt to string out the amount of time he stands well.  2 minutes, then 5 minutes, then 8 minutes....and so on.  This is the tricky part where you must be alert and watch him, where you are firm and making the decision to remove him.  That is the key, you decide when to remove him....he does not.  Right about this time in the process you need to get smarter than him.  I cannot recommend anything hard and fast that will work at this point because I am not there to see the progress to here.  You must watch  him and make plans and goals for him based on his reaction to everything.

This is long and arduous process but, if you really want it to stick and work for you whenever, wherever...it must be firmly ingrained in his head to be calm.

Lastly, he will backslide if he gets too stressed at any point in the training (like if you rush him too much) or in the future if he is rushed at a show and gets anxious.  Always give yourself plenty of time to load him from now on so he never feels pushed.  Once you develop a routine that works, stick to it.  Horses are creatures of habit and the reason they accept their training is because they know and understand the outcome.

Be consistent, be firm and above all be patient.

Good luck and remember to always wear an ASTM/SEI approved helmet!

Solange