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New User
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Location: plattsmouth nebraska |  okay, I have a tb gelding that has had problomes loading into a 2 horse trailer. The kind that has a steel pole going down the middle. He has never used a ramp before and we are looking at one right now, that has a ramp. It is 7 ft. tall and is in good condition, I am worried that he will not go into the trailer if there is a ramp. You cannot take the ramp off, we have looked at may and cannot find one we like. But this one looks good and we really like it, if you have had a tb or a horse that has had problomes loading please let me know. 
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New User
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| Sometimes our TB used to balk at loading, but on the advise of a good friend and savvy horse owner, we put the chain over his nose, hold lead in right hand, lead him up with a lounge whip in your left hand. You never have to even touch him with it, he just knows it's there. With the chain over his nose, (again no pressure just like the whip), he just knows he is no longer in control and has to go. works like a charm, both step up and ramp style. This is after a bad trailer experience where he was kicked. We thought he would never load again. Good Luck | |
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Expert
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| Ummm, isn't this kinda like taking a jump ?
If YOU have doubt then HE will have doubts - that sort of thing ?
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New User
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Location: plattsmouth nebraska | well e is okay in a trailer but it takes me like 5 min 2 get him in. | |
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Expert
Posts: 1719
Location: PA | There are quite a few threads about this on the horse forum section of this site. Go there and do a search. I do think that a 7' might be a little low for a TB. I wouldn't go lower than 7'6". I also wouldn't worry about the ramp too much. You can teach the horse that the ramp is nothing if you take your time and make it no big deal. I do hope whatever trailer you get, if you are looking at straight loads, has an escape door. I think that is a necessity with any straight load. I prefer to teach a horse to load by using a war bridle but they have to understand the war bridle first. Of course, they have to understand whips and chains first too. Loading is NOT the place to introduce a new training method! BTW, if it takes 5 min. to load him on any trailer, then he needs to be retrained. All horses should walk right on.
Edited by hav2ride 2005-07-22 7:32 AM
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Member
Posts: 46
Location: New Mexico | If you could find a stock trailer to borrow, he might just hop right on that. My TB is that way. Hates the 7 foot 6 tall two horse and walks right into a stock trailer. I had a big appalossa years ago that was the same way. Would take two hours to load him into the two horse, but he would walk right into the stock. If he likes the stock, might be time to sell what you have and get something else. | |
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Member
Posts: 18
Location: Warner Robins, GA | We have a 9YO TB that is retired off the race circuit. He was used to loading in a nice big 6H straight load and when he saw our little 2H straight load he would just flip out. A good friend of mine who trains Arabians taught me a trick and within a week he went from not loading at all to walking on the trailer himself. The trick she used involved no pain or discomfort what so ever. She used a halter whip, just a 4 ft whip with a 2in tail on it, and taught him that by tapping on the rump, that meant to walk forward. After about 15 minutes of that, she introduced him to the trailer. She would constantly tap him on the rump until he put his head in the trailer, stop and reinfoce that he did a good job by loving on him. Then she would back him up 15-20 ft and do it again. After about 10 min., he got to the point where all that was on the ground was his back two feet. She would let him stand there for a bit and tap him on the rump. Remember that he learned tha tapping meansgo forward. A total of 1/2 hr he was on the trailer. We did this everyday for about a week, and now he walks right on. I still keep the halter whip leaning next to the trailer in case he forgets, but have not had to use it again so far. This might work, might not. But remember that it was a tapp, not a hit, no quick movements, and no whipping sounds. I might also add that he had a bad problem of rearing up when he got close to the trailer too. If he does this, tap the whip on his chest and make him back up 15-20 ft and try it again. Good luck. Duck
Edited by duckmaniak 2005-07-22 12:17 PM
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 455
Location: Ontario - east of TO | I had the same trouble with my 2H - now with the larger trailer both mine walk right on - but the new trailer is also 100x brighter. My little 2H only had the one small window in front that the horses couldn't see out of (that plexi stuff) and 2 windows in the back at their rumps. The horses also didn't eat much hay at all in the 2H - and they gobble it down in the new 3H slant - I take that as they are much more comfortable. I think it is more to do with light and windows than anything - which would explain why many horses like stock trailers - they can see out. Hopefully this trailer you are considering has lots of windows - if not - maybe you can look into adding them - it seems to make all the difference in the world. As for height. My 2H was also 7ft high and I hauled a friends TB who was 16,1" I think with no trouble at all and he still had pleanty of room. | |
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Member
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Location: Warner Robins, GA | I should also add that my trailer is a 2005 Featherlite 2H ST with mangers. It has drop downs at the head, and two sliders at the rear for each horse, and a step up. It is also 7'6" tall for a 16.3 TB. He has all the room he needs. I was considering getting a ramp put on mine until that little trick with the tapping. I am glad now because it saved me about $1500. | |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 350
Location: Newton, NJ | I have a 6 yr old QH gelding - about 15.2 h - as a 2-3 yr old, he would load with just a little hesitation in my stock trailer with a ramp. I had a more difficult time with my friend's 2H straight load with a ramp and my new 2H slant without a ramp. It might take 20 minutes to 1/2 hr to get him to walk in. If you tried to bully him it would only get worse. Both trailers are fairly new, well lit and 7' tall. I tried the buggy whip method similar to Duck's, but made sure that he understood the queue by working in the arena against the fence before trying it in my new trailer. I used the tap-tap method on his lower hind legs and the verbal queue "load up". When he moved forward, I stopped tapping and praised him. It seemed like he caught on to this rather quickly, so I tried him in the slant load. Low and behold, one tap with the whip on the back legs and the command "load up" and he hopped on that trailer like an old pro. I backed him out and tried it a few more times (I think I needed to convince myself that I wasn't seeing things) and it worked great. Now I just throw the lead rope over his neck and say "load up" and he goes right in without any resistance. I don't even have to swing the rear tack out of the way to make the opening wider. Do the ground work first. If there's no history of trauma with trailering in his past, hopefully he will learn quickly that it's better to load than to fight. I remember hearing from one of the better know horse trainers that when a horse gets worked up his adrenalin kicks in and overrides his ability to reason. If your horse gets too excited when you are attempting to get something accomplished, you may need to back off for a while and let him get the adrenalin out of his system. This is another good reason to make sure he understands the queues you are giving and has some safe and sound behavior ingrained. Do the ground work and good luck. | |
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Member
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Location: Christiansburg, VA | My 14yo QH/TB 16.0hh had a history of bad hocks and back problems, I don't like a step up and neither did he. NOW I have a 7'6" tall Trailet with full size escape doors and a ramp now and he walks right into it. (also has a center divider that can't be moved) I had problems a few years ago getting him into a step up-yes, it was a small QH trailer with the hay mangers and he didn't want any part of that. Now, he loads in a stock or mine without hesitation (except sometimes with a brief one when he doesn't know where he is going-gets nervous going to shows!-in that case--just brush the lead rope -no chain-at him and say "come on", he walks right on..) The ramp on my trailer doesn't have springs, it is very stable and he almost is at the point of loading himself, he does unload himself...just meanders off backwards and looks around on the ramp, like "oh, we are here, cool-they have grass". He also will eat the hay in the straight load, when his fly mask is on. This trailer is big, he can't see out the front, but there are windows in the escape doors, the sides, and the back doors. He is a thinker and if he didn't like it, he wouldn't go on it. I think he trusts me also, we have been together for a long time, I have known him since he was 3. That may also be an issue besides setting ground manners and rules with your horse. Good Luck, just remember to do what is right for you and your horse and you both will be fine.  | |
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trailering a throughbred
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