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RE: [RC] [RC] trailer loading/unloading - Jim HollandThis problem is because you (or whoever trained him to load) allowed him to do that in the first place. If you remember in an earlier post I mentioned that with a "green" loader, I want him to put each foot in the trailer and take it out a number of times before I will actually let him get on. This is because he also needs to learn how to unload. By the time he has stepped forward and backed up several hundred times, he is comfortable with doing that and with the step down. You should "teach your horse to load", not "put him on the trailer". There is a huge difference. Horses are creatures of routine and "turning around" has been established for unloading. Combine that with the fact that horses don't normally like to back up anyway, and I positively guarantee that he going to have to "get upset".but he can learn to deal with it. Every horse is different, and how you solve this depends on the personality of the horse and how good his ground manners are. You may need to get a trainer to help you if don't feel comfortable doing it yourself. I have used two different methods. The first one is to start all over again as though he has never been on a trailer. Bring him to the trailer door and ask him to load, but stop him with the lead line when he has one foot in the trailer. Repeat this however long it takes until he understands and will stop with one foot in, then step back on his own. It may take 100 repetitions or more. When he is comfortable with this, ask for two feet, then three, again not progressing to the next foot until he understands. By this time he should be anticipating you asking him to stop and back out. When you get to the fourth foot, anticipate and as soon as he lifts it off the ground, ask him to step back. Do this several times, then work on putting four feet in and immediately stepping back out. The first few times you fully load him, you may have to be in front of him to prevent him from turning around when it's time to unload him. The other method is basically a variation of respect training...teaching a horse to back out of your space using a dressage whip. To do this you will need an "open" trailer. A two horse with the partition removed or a slant load where you can tie the partitions back or remove them. You need to be in front of the horse. The objective is to teach him to move backwards out of your space when you tap him on the cannon bones with a dressage whip. Rather than write all that again, go here: http://www.threecreeksarabians.com/Training%20Articles.htm and read Article 2 Work on this away from the trailer until you can just "think" you want him to back up and he will take a step backwards. Load him on the trailer and walk up front with your dressage whip. Tap him as aggressively as necessary to get him to step back, but stop before he reaches the step off and ask him to stand there quietly. When he does, move forward again. If he tries to move forward without being asked, rap him sharply and repeat until he will stand just in front of the stepoff. Repeat until he will do this consistently. Once this is established, move him backwards to the stepoff. Say "DOWN! DOWN! several times and move at him quickly and aggressively while tapping him with the whip. When his back feet go off, try to get him to stop there for a second or two, then let him step off with his front feet. This is to prevent him from learning to rush off the trailer. Take him for a walk and do it all over again, but repeat the forward/backward routine a few times before asking for a "down" so he won't anticipate. You may find that with the training in Article 2, he will just go ahead and back off. Once he learns to back off, never let him turn around in a trailer again. I assure you that even when he learns this, he will still turn around if given a choice. Jim, Sun of Dimanche+, and Mahada Magic Richard T. "Jim" Holland Three Creeks Farm 175 Hells Hollow Drive Blue Ridge, Ga 30513 (706) 258-2830 www.threecreeksarabians.com Callsign KI4BEN Subject: [RC] trailer loading/unloading I have a question about the opposite problem being discussed. I have a gelding that will load just fine but will not back out of my three horse slant load step up/down trailer. He'll wait and then turn very gently, no rushing, but flat out refuses to move if I ask him to back out. I've had the trailer parked in such a way that the drop was only 4 or 5 five inches yet when the one hind hoof steps down he acts like I'm try to drop him off a cliff. He leaps back in and gets very upset. It is easier and less traumatic for both of us to turn him and let him walk quietly forward out. Any suggestions for retraining here? 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