my horse wont load

Question
Dear Bella,
I own a 13 year old Quarter Horse mare. I love her and we get along great. I have recently joined my local 4H Equestrian Team and would like to ride my horse in some parades, but she won't load. When we bought her we brought her over in an open cattle trailer. They couldn't get her in that until they opened the side door, then she walked right in. But we can't always get a cattle trailer and i would like to get her to load into a regular one. This past december we tried to load her in my best friend's two horse trailer. Needless to say, it was a bad idea. She would not go in that thing. We tried baiting her with grain, moving the stall divider over, and even blindfolding her. We got her halfway in but she bolted and ended falling and rolling, cracking one hoof up to the coronary band in the process. She is fine and din't get hurt other than the cracked hoof, but I just don't know what to do with her. This summer i need to haul her to horse camp. Is there anything at all that i can do to get her to go into a small trailer, or am i going to keep having to use cattle trailers?

                             Thanks,
                                Erin

Answer
Well, I've been thinking over this for a while now.. and I'm not truly sure what to tell you.

Have you tried using a rope behind her to coax her in? Or do you have access to a trailer that you can leave in her corral.. this is very handy if you do, because you could put all of her feed in the trailer, and leave her alone. If she wants to eat, she will eventually have to get into the trailer. She'll learn that it is a good place..

Other than that, it just takes a lot of time and practice. And once you get her to load, praise her a LOT, give her whatever her favorite reward is.. whether it be grooming, pats, food.. just make sure she really enjoys the trailering experience.

I'm sorry that I can't provide more help. I hope things work out for you, best of luck.

-Elise