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Veteran
Posts: 235
 
Location: Keymar,Maryland | Considering buying my first slantload. Do you walk in your first horse, close divider, then send in second horse ,close divider / butt bar? Have always owned straights ( actually my preference) and my horses load on command without us going in ( again, my preference), will need to do some practicing at home, mostly concerned about getting the first horse ( last in) to " make the bend" as he comes out, in a controlled fashion. Thanks in advance for any tips . Rich |
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Member
Posts: 27
Location: Beasley, Tx. 77417 | Yep, you've got it! I have a 4star 3h slant. All of mine are like yours....they load up in automatic mode, I don't think you will have to walk them in...well maybe the first time you load them in it but they will adapt quickly I bet. I don't tie mine in the trailer, except when I take the yearling and she hasn't learned all of her trailer manners yet. But you will close the divider bar after each one and then the butt bar. The last one at the end of the trailer that gets off first does have a quick "drop" but I just tell mine whoa...undo the butt bar then tell them back and right before their foot is to come off the trailer I tell them "step" and you would be amazed that they know that the drop is there. It might take yours a time or two but I bet they will like the slant better and you will too! Good Luck! |
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Regular
Posts: 70
Location: Northern, CA | Agree, sounds like you are all set to go. Ours self load, either in the stock trailer (straight load), or into the show trailer (slant). The horse loads himself, I go in and shut the divider.
Coming out, it is the reverse. I undo the divider and the horse backs itself out, same as in a straight load. Doubt that you'll have any problems. |
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Regular
Posts: 74
Location: IN | I just went from a straight load to a slant as well. My horse was "automatic" with my straight load, loading and unloading just fine. With the slant, he walks right in, but backing out had him confused at first. He kept trying to back out straight, and when his butt hit the wall, he'd step forward again. He couldn't figure it out, and I didn't want to have to go in and lead him out every time. So I worked with him on the ground with commands to cue him to move his hind end sideways by saying "scooch" and prodding his hind end over. So, now, when he hits the "butt" side of the trailer, if he gets hung up, I remind him with "scooch" and he moves his butt sideways. We've only had the trailer a few months, and he's pretty much figuring out how to unload backwards...finally! |
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Member
Posts: 45
| Agree as stated above by other posts, the horses learn quickly about the butt wall. We trailer tie the horses though, especially since the last horse loaded has that extra room in back and don't want him exploring. We use verbal cues "load up" and when unloading, it's "back" and then "down" repeatedly when a step or two from drop off. They'll stretch and feel for the ground on that last step. Good luck. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 644
Location: Odenville, Alabama | I always ask my horses to load themselves. That is I stand at the trailer door, and they walk past me and into the trailer. I follow them in and close the partition. I don't usually tie. I feel that my horses have to load themselves in a slant load as they do in a straight load. I've found this to work well for the last horse loaded and the first out of the trailer. I use 2 lead ropes. One hooked on each side ring of the halter. I then throw them (criss/cross) over his back. When I unload him, I take the lead ropes one in each hand and "drive" him back out of the trailer. At first he'll try to go straight which doesn't work, but if you bend his head to the right with the right lead rope, and lay it against his right hip, and pull back on the left lead rope, he'll learn to bend and come out easily, while giving him whatever verbal command you may use to have him back up. This has worked for me with the different horses I load last and unload first. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 434
Location: Brooksville, Fl | I don't think that loading the horses will be your problem....I have a 4H Slant and do love it but if you are buying a 2 horse, why would you want a slant? If you are buying a larger trailer you can stop reading now :) .Unless you have a way of unloading the first horse up front, it can create (in my opinion) an un-necessary safety risk. I have a side unload on my slant and with telescoping dividers can unload either front or back. I have been looking for a 2 horse for just going to and from the forest for day rides and I can't understand the need for a slant in a 2 horse. Another disadvantage of a 2 horse slant is room for larger horses. If you only ride small horses, this is obviously not a problem. Just food for thought and my 2 cents worth. Enjoy your new trailer and many happy trails! Tammy |
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 Expert
Posts: 1391
Location: North of Detroit, MI | Originally written by Dunagain on 2007-07-10 11:36 PM
I just went from a straight load to a slant as well. My horse was "automatic" with my straight load, loading and unloading just fine. With the slant, he walks right in, but backing out had him confused at first. He kept trying to back out straight, and when his butt hit the wall, he'd step forward again. He couldn't figure it out, and I didn't want to have to go in and lead him out every time. So I worked with him on the ground with commands to cue him to move his hind end sideways by saying "scooch" and prodding his hind end over. So, now, when he hits the "butt" side of the trailer, if he gets hung up, I remind him with "scooch" and he moves his butt sideways. We've only had the trailer a few months, and he's pretty much figuring out how to unload backwards...finally!   I had this exact same problem when my horse was 3rd on the 3H slant after always hauling in a 2H side-by-side. He had learned that "baaaahhhhcccck" was his cue to back outwards - but just like your horse, when he bumped into the doorway, he immediately stepped forward - well trained horse. So, I squeezed into the stall with him and we dropped the bars on the head window to give him a little more room to go forward so that he could back out better. I did find that letting him tip his head around, to see what the situation was behind him, helped him figure out how to negotiate.  My friend and I still get laughs when we tell "Bubba's story"
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Veteran
Posts: 243
Location: Maine | "... if you are buying a 2 horse, why would you want a slant?" I bought a two horse slant with a DR because it cost less than any of the straight load models with a DR. And I have the optional back tack area. I think my horses like it because they can look right out the windows! |
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Expert
Posts: 2615
| Most horses ride better standing in a slant load.They can get their balance better. |
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Veteran
Posts: 235
Location: Keymar,Maryland | Thanks for the tips everyone. I'm buying a 3 horse to haul dogs in the first stall with stud divider, regular cab truck, puppy soon to be giant dog. As far as slant vs. straight my feeling is whatever your horse rides best in. But get down on all fours, have someone push you from the sides, then try and push you from the rump or shoulders.Rich |
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Regular
Posts: 85
| Originally written by crowleysridgegirl on 2007-07-24 11:17 PM
Most horses ride better standing in a slant load.They can get their balance better. Not true at all, this is a myth. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 671
Location: THE GREAT NORTHWET, OREGON(THE REAL GODS COUNTRY) | My arab always rode in a straight trailer and it took her a while to get used to a slant.I put her in the middle of My 3 horse and she rides good.Any place else and she can't get comfortable. |
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Veteran
Posts: 243
Location: Maine | I've been fairly lucky so far with my horses. They will haul slant, straight or loose in a stock- step up or ramp; and three of the four will self-load. It's probably not a bad idea, if you have the opportunity, to get them used to all sorts of trailer configurations. You never know when you'll be in an emergency situation where your own trailer is unavailable and you'll need to load them into something else. I picked up a ranch-broke QH from a dealer for a friend once. Now out here in the east, it never occurred to me that this horse had only been hauled in stock trailers. He loaded up fine in my 2-horse straight load. But when it was time to take him off, he didn't know what to do! "Back off? You're kidding, right? I'm supposed to turn around and walk off!" No matter how we tried we could not get that horse to back off the trailer. The trailer was older and the floor-to-ceiling center divider was not something my friend and I could remove ourselves. We were truly in a dilemma! Fortunately a few things fell nicely in to place here. The trailer did not have mangers or a dressing room. It had the open area about 3 feet wide in the front. It also had separate ramps and butterfly gates in the back. So when I opened the other ramp and gate, he saw light from that side and figured it out himself. He was barely 14.2 hands, short barreled and flexible. He just went forward, turned himself around the divider and walked out the other side. It was absolutely amazing that he bent like that. He scuffed up one hip just a bit, but otherwise unscathed! Of course, he has now been taught to back out of a straight load and a slant load.
Edited by barstow 2007-08-07 5:31 AM
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Slant load users....
