Trailer Loading (Equine Tip)

     A trailer is also a scary object. Horses hate “objects”—anything that doesn’t regularly appear in their living space. If something is always in your horse’s stall or pasture, then he obviously sees it every day and gets desensitized to it. Horses especially hate objects that move and make a noise. A trailer does a little bit of everything; it’s an object, it moves, and it makes a noise when a horse walks onto it and as it’s traveling down the road. So of coarse its scary!
 When you start  teaching your horse to load onto the trailer, the first rule is to completely forget about the trailer. Yep! Forget it!!! Act like loading your horse onto the trailer is the furthest thing from your mind. Why? Because the more you think about getting him on the trailer, the more you’ll start to act like a predator and scare him. You will get tense and so will your horse!
Make sure your horse is comfortable around the trailer. If he’s not, he won’t want to get inside of it. Start by asking him to move his feet  around all three sides of the trailer. Letting him inspect and smell it!
When your horse is comfortable moving around the trailer (he’s not spooking at it), lower the trailer’s ramp and send him back and forth across it. (lounging him over) If you don't have a ramp, no biggy.. just do the same thing with imaginary ramp!

This will help him get used to the noise the trailer will make when he steps up onto it. Anytime he wants to stop and smell the trailer or paw at the ramp, let him! That’s his way of doing his own safety check and proving to himself that the trailer isn’t going to harm him at all.  :) It also lets him know that you are willing to take your time with him and are letting him be a horse!
When your horse is chill.. walking back and forth across the ramp of the trailer, ask him to take one step inside the trailer.

 And just before he gets nervous or plants his feet and refuses to move, back him out! You’ll play a little bit of a cat and mouse game with him. Its great fun! That’s the complete opposite of what he expects you to do; he thinks you’re going to force him on the trailer. And most people would! But you’re going to make it his idea to get on the trailer by pretending you don’t even want him in there. Its a whole different mind set! Each time he steps inside it and you back him out and he doesn’t get hurt, he’ll gain more confidence. And he will get more curious!
When he’s comfortable taking one step inside the trailer, ask him to take two steps, and then back him out again. Keep working on that until his whole body is in the trailer. Then let him rest in the trailer for a few minutes as a reward. Soon it will be old school to calmly walk into the trailer! Then you can start asking him to stand in the trailer for longer periods of time. It takes time and patients, but its worth it! And your horse will trust you more buy the end as well! instead of freaking him out by shoving him in the trailer!

Soon you will have a willing horse that walks in and out of a trailer calmly and likes to hang out in there if you want him to!