Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

> Five minutes?????  ROFL!!!  Ain't been MY experience!  Or anyone else
> that I know for that matter. In addition to that, "Teaching a Horse to
> Load" and "Putting Him on the Trailer" are two different things
> entirely.
Nope, I'm not talking about "putting him in the trailer."  I'm talking
about him going in voluntarily and happily, and in such a way that he will
do it consistently when asked.  Too many folks make it way more
complicated than it really is.  And yes, my experience with green horses
who are at least reasonably halterbroke IS that that is about all it
takes.  Now RE-training one that has been jammed around by somebody is a
whole nuther story--and that DOES take time.

And it isn't just my own green horses--I've hauled a fairly large number
for other people as well, and those who have never been hauled and are a
"fresh slate" are often by far the easiest, provided they have some
measure of respect for humans and half a brain.  I've had to "put" some
pretty spoiled horses in the trailer under duress, and believe me, I'd FAR
rather have five minutes with a green one that has never had a bad
experience.  Most are sufficiently inquisitive that they will go up to
investigate, and from there, it is a matter of "reading" them, and knowing
when to ask and when to wait and when to praise.  A few take longer than
five minutes, but most do not, in my experience.  (If they DO take longer,
though, and their minds are "forward", I will take all the time they need.
A good first experience sticks with them forever and will save you a LOT
of grief!)

Nor is it just my own experience.  I learned about teaching horses to load
from old-timey horsemen who had far more finesse than I'll ever muster...

Heidi

PS:  I was about ready to break my farrier's knuckles the other day with a
green one--I had hauled the greenie along with another horse to the
farrier's to trim, as he had a hectic schedule.  I loaded the more
experienced one first, and when I led the green one up, he immediately
dropped his head and started the "investigative" process.  It was about
his third trailer trip ever, and he had the "investigative" process down
to about 30 seconds at home when we loaded up to go.  As soon as I pointed
him at the door, my farrier IMMEDIATELY got behind him and started that
"hup hup" business.  Fortunately he was just about to get in anyway, so it
didn't disrupt the process--but the biggest mistake in loading green
horses is "asking" (or worse, forcing) before that all-important
"investigative process" is finished.  Shoot, I've got long-time reliable
haulers who still want 5 or 10 seconds to "investigate" first--and I
respect them enough to let them take it.  I'D sure want to look first
getting into a box...



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