I learned from John Lyon's training methods.
1. Never go into the trailer with the horse. Part of learning to load
and unload is teaching the horse "cues" for forward movement (from the
ground) and also to respect your space so they do not try to avoid the
trailer by stepping over you sideways.
2. Reward the horse for going forward, sniffing the entrance, one foot
up, loading, backing out, loading again.... the repetition of going in
and backing out teaches the horse to calmly unload. Reward is by
praise. Any backward resistance gets taps on the rump until the horse
steps forward again, then reward is no taps. The horse learns not to
feel trapped by being allowed to back out again.
3. Allowing the horse to circle and avoid going to his spot can be
dangerous (I found out this weekend). Any time the horse lowers his
head in a trailer he is asking for trouble. Mystery scraped his face
by doing this. Now I put a long rope up and out the side where he
stands so lead him into his spot (it helps if there is another person
who can stand outside and encourage him to step up and not turn.
4. To unload, he doesn't get unsnapped and the divider doesn't get
undone until he is calm and not kicking, etc. Teaching him to stand in
the trailer at a stop for a lenght of time encourages this calm
behavior. I do allow him to turn around but he turns and stops and
doesn't run me over. Once again, this was based on ground work
teaching him to respect my presence. Of course, I am always beside the
entrance, not infront of the entrance just in case.
I believe John Lyons' methods are safe and explore the way the horses
think. His philosophy is the horse should be easier to load the next
time by training him correctly. It really worked for me.
Happy & safe riding to all...
Kimberly (& Mystery the Morab)
Petaluma, ca