I have a new horse tat I am working with on loading and trailering. He is almost 16 H tall and a big boy. The problem I run into is that he tends to get high headed on unloading and often, when I clip him in, he will start to pull on the tie for 2 - 3 seconds - get all startled then settle down. Yesterday, I tried a new slip release products that allow the horse to pull back and give slack. Long story short - after pulling the 12' lead through the clip, he took about 3 inches of hair / skin off his forehead getting out. I am now beinning to think, after getting him to reload, that maybe I'll run him loose in the trailer (3 H slant with dividers removed). Any ideas or past solutions?
Posted 2007-09-12 1:06 PM (#67754 - in reply to #67753) Subject: RE: Trailering / Loading
Expert
Posts: 1989 Location: South Central OK
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.
Trailering / Loading
