Can the Horse Train Itself to Trailer Load?

I received this question but am leaving the sender's name off: " Have you heard about backing a trailer up to a horse stall and feeding the horse in the trailer so that the horse has to go into the trailer if it wants to eat? A friend of mine did this and the horse is now comfortable at entering the trailer. I have been told this is a common technique so I was thinking about this safe and painless way to train a horse and would like to know if you have other applications for getting the horse to 'train herself', of course in a safe manner."

Not only I have heard about people, setting things up so a horse has to enter a trailer in order to eat and in effect teaching itself to trailer load, I have seen it several times. I had to shut it down one time when a boarder at a large public stables that I ran, about 15 years ago, tried that very thing and it went for two days without the horse loading itself and eating, so I had to intervene. While I did not see any evidence of it, I suspect other boarders were feeding that horse after hours.

 

I think if you just have to do this, then place the feed at the edge of the trailer and gradually place the feed deeper in the trailer so that the horse becomes more and more comfortable entering the trailer rather than an all of nothing approach, but I would still recommend getting your horse truly broke to lead.    

The concept of pressure and release used to build a relationship and train a horse are common place now, thanks to Tom and Bill Dorrance, Ray Hunt and all the guys and gals that are carrying on that legacy, hands like Buck Brannaman, Bryan Neubert, Martin Black, Craig Cameron, Chris Cox and many others. But pressure and release is much more than that, as it is how the pressure is applied and particularly the timing of the release is critical. That's were all the aforementioned names likely have the greatest value to us, in trying to teach us the nuances and timing of using pressure and release. I'm living proof that you can embrace these concepts and 20 years later still struggle.

 

I can see how backing a trailer up to a stall and offering feed if the horse steps into the trailer would appeal to people thinking that the horse controls his own stress and gets the reward of feed once it overcomes it's fear, or maybe more correctly, once it's hunger is greater than it's fear. But later on, when wanting to load and go someplace, how are you going to ask the horse to load? Just throw a flake of hay upfront and hope he goes for it? As far as trailer loading goes, I think a handler needs to be able to lead or send a horse into the trailer.  In the past, I have used butt ropes and even a crop to tap the horse's butt to get him to load, but it wasn't until I heard someone say words to the effect "that if your horse is truly broke to lead then you should be able to lead or send him into the trailer."    

I think the human needs to be a participant in most everything with the horse. I can think of just a few things, standing tied comes to mind, where I would set it up for the horse to explore and learn on itself, then walk away, but I would never be too far away,....the horse is not staying tied for 8 hours or so......in fact, standing tied would be something I would start with a small amount of time on and build on that gradually, about like anything else you do with horses.

I had a lady whose horse was scared of plastic bags that she was using on the end of a stick as a flag. The horse did not like the flag, so she tied a bunch of plastic bags all around a halter then turned the horse loose in a round pen (thankfully it was a round pen!). All I saw on the short video was about 15 seconds of the horse running full out around the pen and I was told that he did it for about 45 minutes. I think maybe the time was exaggerated - a horse running full out for that long,..well, it ain't good. I don't know any other method other than the pressure has to be controlled by the human in order to have an effective timing of the release so the horse has a chance to think and learn. After all you are wanting the horse to do something based on a cue from a human.

The idea of a horse being exposed to something (gradually) and getting used to it is valid and useful. But when applied to something that can adversely affect the horse's health and safety, like eating and gut movement, or the lack of it and subsequent increase in the chance of colic, kinda seems like throwing a 5 year old in the pond so he can teach himself to swim. There are usually some exceptions and I don't harbor any ill towards for my Pa for throwing me in the pond to learn to swim. The fact that he told me there were alligators in there likely shortened my learning curve to swim, but I wouldn't recommend the swim or die approach for horses.

Bad Habits?

I have had several readers either write comments on my You Tube videos or send me e-mails notifying me of my bad habits. While somewhere I appreciate that, I'm also actually surprised people take the time to address my peculiarities. I don't take offense to these comments, but for a sense of accuracy I'm taking the time to address these bad habits here.

Wearing Spurs. I don't always wear spurs and rarely on a horse I'm riding for the first time, like a young horse. But comments like "you'll never achieve the next level of horsemanship with spurs - get rid of them!" just don't consider the fact that it's not the tool, it's how the tool is used. If you don't know how to use spurs then by all means, don't wear them. Sometimes I even suggest that a particular rider ditch the spurs so they can have some more freedom trying to use their legs as aides without worrying about gouging their horse. Besides I don't know what the levels of horsemanship are,.....I'm just trying to get to be adequate.

Always Wearing Gloves. These comments have ranged from "Why do you always wear gloves" or telling me that "if I had any skills I would not be wearing gloves". Well, my lack of skills has nothing to do with wearing gloves - it may likely be associated with a general lack of intelligence, but my lack of skills certainly ain't because I'm not trying. I pretty much always wear thin pigskin gloves and I don't think I give up any feel by riding in them or working a horse from the ground. I ride, throw a loop (not well but I try), tie knots and practically have gloves on anytime I'm outside the house which is a consider time. Heck, I even tried to eat supper one night with my gloves on, but my wife pitched a fit so I took them off. In my near 60 years I have had many weeks and months of down time with a hand injuries such as rope burned palms, broken fingers, or, cut and badly chapped fingers. Wearing gloves greatly reduces this, in fact, I'd recommended it.

Holding a Lead Rope in a coil. While I never teach people to coil a lead rope when walking or working a horse from the ground, but I pretty much always do myself. Sure, carrying the lead rope in coils, especially small coils, can be dangerous if the horse bolts, and that's why I don't let youngers do it. I'm used to coiled ropes and it's easier for me to manage and feed the rope out of my hand when I am sending a horse or otherwise needing more slack in the rope.

And many ropers every day across America carry a coiled lariat rope when roping and have learned to be safe with it. Bottom line is that if you don't believe something is safe, then please don't do it.

Dismounting. When I dismount, say coming off the left side, my right leg swings over the cantle then plants on the ground then my left foot slides out of the stirrup. I do not lay across the saddle, with both feet out of the stirrups then slide down so that both feet hit the ground at the same time. People who write to tell me there is a better way to dismount,....well, I don't know, maybe if I was riding an 18 HH horse then I may dismount that way - both feet out of the stirrups and sliding down, but I kinda limit myself to horse's I can mount from the ground,....without a ladder. I was at odds with competitive organizations who penalized the way I dismounted with their rules that both feet have to hit the ground at the same time. It's likely more important to have control of the reins, slightly tipping your horse's head to the side of the dismount - to keep him from moving into you as you dismount. And it's likely as or more important to have a horse that stands still during and after the dismount. Some other things also come into consideration for dismounting safety, like how much foot you keep in the stirrup, what material the stirrup surface and the sole of the boot are. I always ride in leather covered stirrups and leather soled boots. This is more slippery than a rubber soled boot and easier to adjust foot position while riding, as well as easier to get your foot out of the stirrup. The weight of my foot in the stirrup pretty much keeps it in place and my riding heel keeps my boot from sliding forward through the stirrup.

While I have many more bad habits I think I'll stop here even those its against my wife's urging to come fully clean. But I told her that leaving the toilet seat up was not necessarily a bad habit nor had much to do with riding horses.

Groundwork - These Basics Are Under Rated

I'm seeing many people riding horses that are not broke to lead effectively. I see riders competing on, or just pleasure riding on horses that are distracted, can't stand still, or are pushy when in hand. Some are doing pretty well in competition on these horses, but in the more severe cases these horses are barely manageable on the ground and when in the saddle the rider is just a passenger averting bad things because the horse may be marginally directional and stopping only because the horse gets tired on someone pulling on his mouth. Some of these horses are older, have grown dead mouthed and usually have seen many different owners, while others are young horses that just have some holes in their education. For sure, some of these handlers are riding horses that I wouldn't ride,....until I got those problems pretty much fixed.

Saying your horse just has a lot energy or saying that he's a natural leader isn't the reason he is taking control. And just because a horse is the lead horse in your herd doesn’t mean he is a brave horse. Horses usually take control because they are fearful. And in a leadership vacuum, the horse will look out for himself, basically assuming that leadership position. You just can't let him be the leader in the two animal herd consisting of him and you.

I learned the lesson, over and over, that just because a horse is rideable doesn't mean he has ground manners. The funny thing is that I am likely not finished re-learning that lesson. One solution is to start new horses over, from the beginning, rather than try to fix holes in their behavior as they crop up and become a problem.

I had a client bring me a horse the other day and as I walked up to the horse and rider, who was in the saddle, I noticed the horse was distracted. The rider was using a snaffle bit and was in contact with the horse, who feet wouldn't stop moving. The horse then pushed through the bit and tried to walk over the top of me. I said to the rider "I was about to ask you what your issues are with him, but he just told me. Can you dismount and lead him in hand to the round pen?"

That horse didn't lead much better. Walking past or into the handler; not stopping when the handler stopped; and when the handler got the horse stopped moving forward, the horse's feet wouldn't stop moving sideways nor would his head. These are what the FBI calls a clue - an indicator that the horse doesn't have ground manners, nor broke to lead.

Some clinicians will say that if a horse is truly broke to lead, you can lead or send him anywhere,....through a gate, down into a hole, or into a trailer. And that horse won't have his head on a swivel nor trying to eat off the ground all the time. Nor will a horse who is really broke to lead be pulling the lead rope through the handler's hands. You can have a safe horse and not be perfect on the ground, but I certainly want a horse to lead correctly and give to pressure of the lead line.

Leading correctly means not running over the handler or even getting into his space; not be distracted but focused on the handler for the most part. The horse should be able to stand still on a loose lead when asked. When leading in hand the horse should maintain his position where the handler wants him, usually just off the right shoulder a couple feet to the side and to the rear, and maintain the handler's pace when being led in hand's, whether that pace is at a crawl, or a fast walk, or even a jog. I'd want any horse that I was fixing to ride to be sound in these things. If they aren't then trouble is just ahead.

When the horse is distracted, like in the picture at left, he should be directed back to the handler. I don't make a federal case out of it, but if a horse is looking somewhere else instead of on me, I'll bump his head back to where he has two eyes on the me.

  Usually after the third or fourth time that you have to correct a horse's lack of attention, the horse will figure this out and as you go to bump his head over, as soon as the weight on the lead line is different, he'll correct himself - then you know you are making progress.

Again, I don’t make federal cases of him getting distracted momentarily, but you just can't allow him to tune you out to check something out whenever he wants to.

When the horse is stopped the handler should be able to move about without the horse leaving until there is a signal on the lead line. He should simply stand still on a loose lead and not move until you direct him using that lead. If he tries to walk up on you, you get his attention then back him off and make an offer to him to stand still again. This is something you likely have to do over and over, but the horse will get it.  The picture, above left, shows a horse standing quiet on a loose lead.  As I change the weight and therefore pressure on the lead, above right, the horse begins to follow that lead moving towards me. 

When you lead he needs to stay in position, some people like that position right at their right elbow, some like it a step or two back, regardless of where you want your horse positioned when you lead him, when you stop, the horse needs to stop and stand still until directed someplace else. If your paces changes, his needs to change as well. As you are walking him out, if he start to move ahead of you, a bump on the lead line downward or to the read should be a signal to him to mind his pace and position.  The picture above left shows the horse leading correctly on a loose lead.  The picture above right shows my hand moving back on the lead to bump him back into position.    

You should be able to pickup the lead in the direction you want the horse to move and the horse should move off and move of quietly. Like if you open a gate and want the horse to move through it by himself , you should be able to pickup on the lead in that direction and he should walk off.   The picture above left shows he horse quietly moving around me a walk following the lead. If his head becomes oriented outside that arc, I will lightly bump his head back into position slightly tipped to the inside.  You should be able to pickup the lead and pull his head towards you to get him stopped and facing up.  This may require a pull (not a jerk) in the beginning, but as you horse gets softer to the feel of that lead, he'll get softer and more responsive to reacting to that pressure and facing up.  If the horse begins to walk towards you without you asking him to, I don't make a big deal out of it, I just correct him, give him chance to think about it, then ask him to approach me. 

Of course these are all very basic things, but I continue to get surprised at people are riding horses who aren't schooled in these basics.  Many of these people ride much better than I ever will, but I think fixing these holes in their horses will make a better horse and save the some problems down the road.    Safe Journey.