OK, I thought I had the problem fixed but apparently not. I have a mare who I have had for about a year that will load into a trailer (most of the time) but almost as soon as she gets in, she comes out. She used to come out at about Mach 3 (which is extremely dangerous) but she now backs out under control. She has has trailer issues ever since I got her but I have been without a trailer for the past 3 months so I couldn't work on the problem. I worked with her on Friday for over an hour just getting her comfortable walking in the trailer and getting some food. The longer I worked, the longer she was staying in the trailer. However, the minute she hears the butt bar rattling, out she comes. From her expression, she is truly nervous when she comes out......almost like she gets in there and realizes she's trapped and wants no part of it. If you try to force her in or trap her in, it's like starting over again next time you try to load. Here is what I'm working on.....just wanted to see if there were any other suggestions or ideas.

I want her to realize the trailer is a "good" place and she gets to rest and eat when she's in there. Last night I would work her in the round pen for about 10 minutes and then walk straight to the trailer. If she went in, I left her alone and let her eat hay. The minute she came out, we went straight back to the round pen for more work. We did this for about 45 minutes. Unfortunately, the round pen is not situated so I can back my trailer up to the gate. I am planning on continuing this until she is comfortable enough to stand in there for 5 or 10 minutes at a time and then I will put the butt bar up and give her some feed as a reward for staying in there.

Any other ideas?? Before you answer, here are some of the other things I have tried.

*Lunging outside the trailer and asking her to go in the trailer. Once again, she usually goes in, but doesn't stay in.

* Tapping her on the hip as a move forward cue. She will go in, but once she decides to get out, you can tap until you're blue bacause she's coming out.

* Popping her on the butt when she starts to back up. Once again, she is coming out or she will panic and go forward into the trailer and almost go wild in there if she thinks she can't get out.

* Putting a rope around her butt. This worked OK, but she still still got paniced in the trailer.

* Working on leading to where the word "whoa" means whoa. She does great.....until she gets in the trailer and then "whoa" means get out of my way or I'm going to mow you over.

I board so leaving my trailer in the pasture and putting feed in it isn't an option. I also work during the day and they feed at 4:30 in the evening so I can't get to the stables and make her eat her dinner in the trailer. I am thinking about letting them give her about 1/2 of her feed on some of the evenings that I can go out and putting the other 1/2 of her feed in the trailer when I get there. I need to get this mare to the point I can SAFELY load her and keep her in the trailer by myself.

What is really sad is that this mare has EXCELLENT ground manners. She is sweet as can be, very respectful, very sensitive, but just terrified of staying in a trailer. I want to teach her correctly so we can solve the problem because obviously someone prior to myself used methods that had made her scared to death of them.

Thanks for any suggestions you can give.

Here is some info that was given to me when I had the same problem.  Now my horse goes in like a dream and stays there. It is all about confidence.  Since I no longer put the butt bar up before my horse is confident and willing to stay in the trailer when I walk my horse up to the trailer, she goes right in.  Even if she goes right in, I still bang the butt bar etc. as a safety check on her state of mind. 

One thought for you, it's not about the trailer. Get less interested in loading your horse and think about the trailer as an obstacle or toy. Can you get one foot in, another one, can he cross the ramp, stand on the ramp, etc. etc. Sometimes horses know they've got you when they see what you want and do the opposite, and it upsets you! They know they are then in control because you're no longer acting like a leader.

Thanks for the ideas. I have been rattling the butt bar and the door hinges when she's in there and she's getting better about not wanting to immediately leave when she hears them. I have also done a lot of ground work trying to build her confidence in closed-in spaces. We have been backing between objects, walking through tight spaces, etc. and she is becoming more confident. I have also been asking her to back out of the trailer before she is ready (she still has some food in the bag) to teach her that I am the one who needs to decide when to back out. However, sometimes she starts backing out after being in the trailer only 5 seconds. I also don't want her to learn that as soon as you get in there, you are supposed to leave. Once she starts staying in for longer periods of time, I will reinforce the fact that I decide when she needs to exit but I need to get her to consistently stay in the trailer for a little longer period of time before I can continue with that. The last session we had, I was also reinforcing the "whoa" command and she started stopping once she had her back feet out of the trailer but her fronts still in it. She was perfectly fine stopping at that point, but not until the back feet were out. I am taking that as progress - at least she doesn't feel like she needs to completely get out of there to feel comfort. Hopefully with some more work, she will "whoa" before she gets any feet out of the trailer.

I welcome any additional ideas. Unfortunately, I think this is going to take longer than I want and will take a lot of patience on both of our parts. It really makes me wonder what horrible things were done to get her that scared of loading.

When you get a chance take a look at markrashid.com

He has several books out that are also very helpful.....

Is it possible for your horse to have some turn out play time before going to the trailer? 

The lungeing technique actually is key...if done properly.  I teach wild mustangs and problem loaders. I would start all over one afternoon.  Walk up to the trailer with door open, but ignore it and lunge.  This time however, lunge about 2 circles in one direction, then have her quickly turn and lunge 2 circles in the opposite direction, turn,2circles, turn, 2 circles, turn 1 circle, etc.  If she understands the turn and departure, then really change it up.  If you ask her to turn and she immediately anticipates moving off, then turn her back and continue the original direction.  This concept works because you are making her really think and listen and tune in to you. The slowing and turning is more physically taxing than just lunging in circles, so she tires more easily.

When it looks like she is really paying attention, ask her to stop in front of the open door of the trailer. If she moves off, continue the circles and turns. She will come to realize she gets rest if she stays by the open door. Then ask her to put her head in the trailer. Allow her to stand there as long as she wants, but if she moves away, its back to circles and turns. Progress to stepping inside.  If she backs out, just return to circles and turns.  It actually will take a surprisingly short amount of time for her to WANT to be in the trailer. I allow my new horses to stand in the trailer for several minutes.  That shows me they are comfortable and want to be there. Then I back them out, do a couple of circles and turns, and have them re-enter.  Once they are to the point I have to back them out, I know they are more ready to be closed in.  The backing out and extra circles and turns reinforces the idea that the trailer is good. Upon re-entry, I proceed to close the bar.  And make sure you do this quickly. If you move very slowly, they will sense you are sneaking around and get nervous. Do it as though she had no problems. Leave it for just a minute or two.  Another tip, if she DOES react at this point...try fastening and unfastening the butt bar on the other side BEFORE trying hers. And remember, anytime she gets out, back to circles and turns. Good luck!

Thanks again for all the responses. To answer some of the questions....

Rose - My mare is turned out every day. I have tried loading her in the morning, afternoon, and evening after 45 minutes of work in the arena......same results. She also has TONS of energy so it takes a lot of work to get her tired.

Lobo - The trailer is not particularly dark inside and I have tried 6 different trailers including 3 different 2H straight loads -  one of them with a ramp, 1  - 3H stock trailer, and 2 different 2H slant loads. Same results with all trailers. When we first got her, we loaded her into the 3H stock trailer and someone thougth the "slam the door shut while she's in there" method would work. Well, she hit the back door so hard it bent it. Not just a small dent, it bent the whole door. She is now so much more in control backing out that I'm pretty confident that wouldn't happen again. I have also tried loading her at night and during the day and the results are pretty much the same.

cmemory - I have tried the lunging thing and the loading isn't where we have the problem, but rather staying in the trailer. I am continuing using the similar philosophy that she needs to understand that being in the trailer means rest and no work, but the minute she backs out, we go to work again. It has been partially effective, but not as effective as it usually is with horses who don't want to load. I mean, she loads like a champ.....just casually walks in there but there is no staying in there for more than 30 seconds at the most. However, we are up from the 5 seconds we started out at.

Thanks again for all the support. I'll keep you updated on her progress. I'm headed out there right now for some more work.

I am absolutely baffled by this and I have never had a horse with this problem. I do appreciate all the suggestions an

She's getting about 2# of Nutrena Safe Choice in the AM, free choice coastal during the day, and 2# Safe Choice at night plus 1 additional flake of coastal.

She's 1/2 Tennessee Walker so I think she gets a lot of her energy there.

*** UPDATE  - I went out last night to work with her and I put some alfalfa cubes, Black Oil Sunflower Seeds, and about 1 handful of her feed in with the hay in the trailer. I kind of hid it in the hay so she would keep occupied looking for it. She walked right in the trailer when I asked and she stayed in there for over 2 minutes. I asked her to back out and she was all ready to go right back in there. I made her stand quietly outside the trailer for about 30 seconds and then asked her to go back in. She walked right back in and stayed in there for another minute or so before I asked her to back out again. While she was in there, I was rattling the butt bar, bangin on the sides of the trailer, etc.. - never phased her. We then worked in the round pen for about 20 minutes (it was too cold to ride) and then I let her go back in the trailer for another 2 or 3 minutes and eat / rest. Once again, I asked her to come out before she was ready to and I decided to call it a night. I wanted to leave her with the impression that she wanted to get back in the trailer. Anyway, if she does the same thing on Saturday, I will start putting up the butt bar and working with her to move over so I can get the divider fastened. I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel !!!!!     

An arab trainer used that tie to the arena wall method and broke my thoroughbreds neck.  Doing something like that does not help a horses confidence. 

Thanks, Montana. This is the first horse I have ever had with "confidence" issues and you really have to get creative with training or you end up a ground zero again whenever something else doesn't work. She can be very emotional and exciteable and luckily I am a very laid back, even tempered person so we compliment each other well. She will go into the trailer because she respects me and I am asking her to go in but it is flat out panic once she gets in there. That has improved significantly through patience but she is still not completely comfortable in there.

About 2 months ago, I loaded her into a friend's trailer and she loaded OK, we got the butt bar up before she decided to exit, and we traveled about 10 miles for an afternoon trail ride. The ride was very enjoyable and we started to load to come home. However, she decided she didn't want to load to come home. One of the people with me had the idea of waving their hat behind her to try to "force" her into the trailer. Well, that backfired and then she wouldn't even put one foot in the trailer. She kept looking behind her to see where he was. After about 45 minutes, we finally got her into a 2H stock trailer using the rope around the butt. They had to close the door as soon as she went in and I was still in the trailer. After she attempted to rear 2 times, I finally got her calmer - enough so to secure the divider. Her entire body was quivering. I have a feeling this is how she has been "trained" in the past to trailer load and it absolutely puts her in survival mode. However, because she has respect for me, I was able to keep her from completely flipping out. Once we got back to the stables, I went in the trailer and petted her and stayed in there for about 5 minutes until she was calm before I would let her out of the trailer. By that point, she was fine and we calmly walked out.

By the way, my current trailer doesn't have mangers so she can lower her head.

I think that's what Cmemory was meaning, that as soon as the horse comes back out, the work begins.   If you're consistent and persistent, the trailer will become the horse's sanctuary.  

If you have a slant load, and if the trailer is wide enough, maybe load her in and turn so she faces the rear.   A lot will prefer this direction.

Cowgirl -

If you would like to provide me with your email address, I'd be happy to give you the specifics on the method Linda Parelli used with my horse. 

Thought I would give you all an update....

My mare is now loading and staying much better. I have done several of the things mentioned and it is all eventually paying off. I have been working her in the round pen - trotting and cantering - until I know she's a little tired, We then go straight to the trailer (it's about 20 feet from the round pen) and she gets to rest if she puts any part of her body in the trailer. However. she has learned that all she has to do is put 2 feet in and then she'll stand there for 5 minutes. Whenever she backs out, off we go for some more work. She is beginning to associate the trailer with something good.....food and rest.....which is helping her get over the anxiety of being in there. She is also gaining confidence by going in there and is less hesitant to get out. I have also been doing a lot of ground work asking her to back between trees, back into an open shed with all sorts of tractors, boards, etc. in there, and working a lot on "whoa" when she's backing. I have her to the point where she will stop with her leg still in the air when I say "whoa". She will now walk all the way into the trailer when I ask and if she starts to back out, I tell her "whoa" and she will stop once her back feet are out of the trailer. I even got her to the point I can load her, put the butt bar up, and let her turn around in there to see that everything is OK. Once she was turned around, she let me close the divider and it never bothered her.

On Saturday, I rode her in a Christmas Parade so I had to load her both going and coming. I loaded her on Saturday and she went right in there and I put the butt bar up. She never once tried to back out. I clipped a trailer tie on her (with quick release snap). When I ask her to move over to shut the divider, she moved right over and was great. It was WAY too easy. On the way home, she was a little more hesitant to load with all the comotion going on in the parking lot, but she eventually walked in, we put the butt bar up, I clipped the trailer tie on her, and she started to back up but immediately stopped when she felt the pressure on her halter. Two months ago, she was backing up so quickly that a trailer tie wouldn't hold her - it would have released almost immediately. Anyway, when we got home, I unloaded my other horse, unclipped the trailer tie, and opened the divider. She stood there and didn't move. I asked her to back up a few steps and decided to try "whoa" before she got out of the trailer. She stopped immediately and just looked at me. I think she might FINALLY be getting it !!! It has been a long road but I think I actually see the light. PATIENCE, PATIENCE, PATIENCE.

Hi Montana - my email address is

dandj98034@yahoo.com

Thanks!