I had the same problems when I made the move to "big/tall" horses. People will tell you no matter what, you can train a horse to load and I agree to some extent, BUT with the tall/long necked horses they just don't do well in certain trailers. (Imagine sitting in one of those tiny kindergarten seats for any length of time.) I made the move to a "tall" trailer and moved up to a ramp. My tall horses never feared the drop and once they realized the trailer roof wasn't going to eat them they loaded/unloaded like dreams. I worked before and after the "upgrade" with John Lyons methods for leading and loading...it's almost the same as Clinton Anderson and all the other hundreds of Aussie trainers. My final conclusion, no amount of training will teach a round peg to fit in a square hole. (Further research on one of my top horses showed that all his past trainers had hauled in tall ramped trailers and they wouldn't recommend anything less.) If you have tried all the training methods that seem to make sense for your situation and you still are not making headway you might look at the bigger problem...your trailer. |