Feature Article with Charles Wilhelm by Allison Houston

Trailering has several aspects that tend to make most horses nervous. First off, we are asking them to go into a small confined area. This is counter-intuitive to their natural flight instinct. Second we are asking them to “cross” an object, either stepping up into a trailer or walking up a ramp. Again – the footing issue in both of these makes most horses naturally nervous. Third we are asking them to stand and ride in small, enclosed (often loud) area while they are being moved somewhere over which they have no control. Lastly, after they have asked remain upright and steady in a moving container, we then ask them to back out into the unknown.

Let’s face it – trailering really does ask a horse to go against its natural grain in a lot of ways. Do some horses seem to take to it very easily? Sure. There are those horses that are naturally compliant, with very low fear levels, if you have one of those chances are teaching them to trailer was not a hardship. But... even with one of those horses, it does not hurt to school a horse to be comfortable with trailering, whether they are fearful or accepting. The more confident and comfortable your horse is in trailering – the freer you will be to trail ride, show, and get your horse to the vet for an emergency…. Having a horse that reliably loads under any condition is one of the best investments in training time you can make.

So where to start? We start with the go-forward cue! The go-forward cue is the critical foundation stone for so many different exercises; this is especially true for trailer-loading. Please do not start working on asking your horse to load until you have a rock solid go forward cue developed, at the hips using the same spot every time. Depending on how trained your horse is, this can mean going back to the round pen, but more commonly, going back to line work. The change of direction exercises is a great place to start. And by the way – do not do these near the trailer to begin with. Do not even think of adding the trailer into the training program until that go forward cue is 100%. Once you can ask your horse to go forward with good energy, consistently, stop its feet and change direction, then you have completed the first exercise for trailer loading. For these exercises I use a 12 foot leadline, a string (also called cowboy) halter and a dressage whip.

The twelve-foot lead line gives a fairly safe working distance, while allowing for a high level of control. The shorter the line, the more control you have (pressure and release 101). However, with a horse that is extremely emotional, out of control or just plain aggressive, I may start out with a twenty-two foot line, and then work back to the twelve-foot line as the training progresses.

Your initial goals for the line work are pretty simple. You want him to move forward in the direction you ask, when you ask. You want him to stop his feet when asked. You want his eyes and overall focus on you. You want him to start seeing you as the center of his life; to be looking for you to give him direction rather than to anticipate. When these are accomplished, you will have gained his respect. Also, this line work exercise is a true cornerstone of foundation training.

So step one - I ask him to move out clockwise around me. Depending on the training and emotional level of the horse, you can use whatever “pressure” is required (a verbal cue, rope, lunge whip, etc). The trick is to use as little pressure as possible, but as much as you need to get his feet moving in the direction you ask. And no matter what, stay with it and follow through until the feet are moving. And then the instant the feet are moving release that pressure to reward him. Only reapply it if he stops again before you have asked for a “whoa” or halt.

I have the horse circle around me several times (anywhere from four to twelve rotations), then I ask for the stop. To teach a horse to stop his feet, you remove the slack from the line and maintain the pressure until he stops. Now of course when you are just beginning to teach this, (especially to a horse with no manners and no regard for pressure) you will/may have to do more than just take up the slack. You will likely need to start with twenty, thirty or more pounds of pressure to get that horse to stop his feet. Just like when asking the horse to go forward, the key is to use only as much as you need, and never more than that…along with the immediate release of the pressure as soon as they stop (give). Your eventual goal is to have the horse stop his feet as soon as you simply remove a bit of slack from the line… lighter and lighter. This takes time and lots of practice. We don’t expect success up front, and even this initial lesson could take up to three or four hours.

Once the horse has stopped his feet, I pause for a moment. The pause is very important for several reasons. First, it is a reward in itself – a respite from pressure, and as horses are by nature lazy animals, no movement is a reward in itself. Second, it helps teach them to look to you for what to do next – not to anticipate. Third, you are training another fundamental building block lesson: the “stand.” Your horse needs to learn to stand well to be mounted, at the wash rack, for the farrier, to be groomed, for lots of every day activities, and this is where it begins.

So after a five-second pause or so, I asked the horse to do it all over again. Clockwise go forward several circles, ask for the stop, pause, (praise as needed), and all over it again. Do not go on to something else or change direction until the horse is moving out and stopping his feet well, along with keeping his attention focused on you. Once those are happening consistently and the emotional level has come down, then you can change direction and start all over again, but going counter-clockwise this time.

For correct change-of-direction line work, which is a gymnastic as well as mental exercise, you should be attentive to the following indicators to measure your success.

 Pay attention to the nose. The nose should always be in toward you (even if just slightly). This means your horse is paying attention and focused on you. If/when the nose goes away, pick up lightly on the line - just enough to get the nose back in – and then immediately release the pressure. You may have to keep doing this, but do not give up until the nose is in and stays in consistently.  Balance. Always look for a slight arc through the body as your primary physical goal. For example, you do not want the shoulders either in or out; during line work the horse must be balanced at all times. For the proper physical development of your horse, it is critical to be aware of how your horse is using his body while moving. If your horse is balanced he will neither be pulling on you, nor dropping his shoulder inward. Balance typically begins once his is relaxed during the exercises.  Relaxation. A key sign that your horse is looking to you for respect and leadership is when your horse is conducting the exercises well in a relaxed posture. Common signs that your horse is relaxed include a consistent gait that is not frantic, lowered head, licking and chewing, tail swinging.

Now the real beauty of this exercise, once well-established where your horse truly understands the cues, is that you will be able to use this as a fundamental tool to calm him down and get his attention any time and place you have that need. Whether for trailering, shows, anything new or spooky; this will become a reliable way to calm your horse and center his mind back on you.

Remember as you are working your horse with the go-forward cue, that a horse can go six different directions: forward, backward, left, right, up and down. If they are nervous about loading they will likely try to find any escape route they can – in other words every direction except forward! Your job with these foundation exercises is to close every door except the one you want them to go through – and for loading that’s forward. We do this by making it easy for them to take the door we want, and difficult for them to move in any other direction.

The next phase is to add crossing objects into the exercise. Grab a tarp, poles… whatever is handy and start the change of direction work asking the horse to go over objects as well. Make sure the horse is completely comfortable crossing objects, stopping, reversing and also standing on the object. Once your horse is consistent at this exercise, you can start incorporating the trailer into the picture.

Now if you have not done so already, you need to make sure that you have taught your horse solid ground manners as well. Your horse needs to respond well when asked to move his shoulders and hips over, and that he has a very healthy respect for space – doesn’t crowd you at all. This is important prior to asking them to load because horses understand respect and leadership through controlling space and direction. If they look to us for that direction, they naturally become more willing.

This next step is an important area for your skills in evaluating your horse. You need to determine where your horse is comfortable around the trailer. There are some horses that get nervous with a trailer 100 feet away, some 5 feet or not at all. You need to start doing the change of direction exercise (preferably with the objects) with the trailer in sight, at the point where your horse is comfortable. So if it’s 100 feet – so be it. If it’s right next to the trailer, that’s fine. But please really take the time to watch your horse’s body language and let him tell you where he is truly relaxed and confident. Again – this is not a timed event! Our goal is to school your horse for a lifetime and happy trailering. Let’s take it slow and do it right now. So if your horse is 100 footer – that’s fine! And if you are not sure… then err on the side of caution and put more space between you and the trailer.

Once you have your starting point, begin your linework. Just like you would with any scary object, when you begin the exercise ask the horse for the whoa when he is at the furthest point away from the object to allow him to be the most comfortable. As you continue the exercises and he relaxes, you can ask him to stop and stand closer and closer to the object.

When he is solid at 100 feet, then you can move to 90 feet, or 80 feet – again – let your horse tell you where is comfortable! Some people may stop for the day at 100 feet if the horse has made significant progress, and move closer the next day. You should only stop when you have seen your horse has made significant improvement – but depending on how fearful of the trailer your horse is, that will vary.

The goal is to progress right up until you are doing the change of direction linework right next to the back of the open trailer. Once you are doing that consistently and your horse is relaxed, you can start asking the horse to enter the trailer. Now a few tips here….

No matter what type of trailer you have, make sure it looks as open and inviting as possible. Ensure any dividers are out of the way and windows are open. Anything to make it appear less confined. Now as you begin your linework, position yourself such that as you ask the horse to go forward, he would need to go into the trailer to do so. If he only steps toward the trailer, reward him by releasing the pressure. Let him relax a moment and ask again. Your goal is that he makes baby steps (if needed – some may walk right in), but baby steps are fine. One leg up, reward him. One leg up again, reward him again. Maybe the third time or so you ask him to stand there for a couple of seconds before rewarding him. Just keep asking for him to go forward a little more incrementally, and let him know he is doing well by releasing (letting him back down) as soon as he gives you a little more try. If he gets antsy, go back to the linework just outside the trailer again for a few minutes, and then return to asking him for those few steps in. If his forward cue has been established, and you have been releasing the pressure at the right time to reward him, you should see him progress to both feet in, and then four feet in. Once he is solid with that, you can start to ask him to stand for longer periods of time. If he has been turning himself around to walk out of the trailer, you can then make the next exercise teaching him to back out of the trailer. And we do this the same way as going in. Reward for little steps, releasing the pressure as he makes incremental tries. One thing to keep in mind as you do all the work is that you are also trying to teach the horse that the trailer is a good place to be. One way to do this is to make sure that in general, he gets rewarded for standing quietly in the trailer. Ask him to work outside the trailer, and then once he is, let him just hang out (once he is okay standing there). Not asking a horse to move is a reward in itself for them. He will come to know that the trailer means he gets to rest.

In terms of teaching them to relax while being trailered, the best thing is to start with quiet, short trips, and whenever possible, on road conditions that are favorable to the horse. So not a lot of steep hills, curves, stopping and going. Just like teaching them to load, ideally you take the time and incrementally allow them to build their comfort zone of being moved around. And of course the type of trailer you have can greatly increase or lessen their anxiety.

I understand that many times, people are going to pick-up a horse they have bought, or take a horse to a show or such, and the horse just won’t load. And so you may be thinking, well I don’t have the time to do all this. Two things. First off, no matter how trailer-broke your hors is, by going through the exercises you are helping to guarantee that he never has one of those *bad* days where out of the blue he just refuses to load. And those can happen a lot otherwise! Second – even for those impromptu situations – these concepts are still effective. This is what I do for that “load in 5 minutes problem horse.”

Yes, I can do it in 5 minutes because I have truly come to understand the nature of the horse, and because I have developed the timing and feel that horses really understand. This is my full-time job, I have learned when to release and when to push to get the best results quickly for the times I need a horse to load very fast. But even then, I still go back and take the few extra days later to go through all these exercises in more detail. And even if I only have 5-10 minutes, I still do line work, cross objects if possible, move closer to the trailer and then have the horse load from the forward cue. There is always time to do it right!

So the method is the same for the “emergency load” versus schooling them to trailer well. The only difference is in the application. I just won’t take as much time to maker sure they are truly comfortable at each stage before moving on to the next but as I said before… I sure will go back and do it right once I have time!

Now to wrap up, let me mention some of the aggressive behaviors that we see around teaching horses to trailer load. Rearing, cowkicking, shoulder in to push you, striking, bolting and biting are not uncommon. Any of these behaviors needs to be corrected within two seconds of its occurrence. If you miss that window, don’t bother, but if the behavior is likely, have your dressage whip ready and correct by a single quick strike as follows:

If your horse rears, strike it below the front knee while the leg is still in the air. For a cowkick, strike below the hock. If your horse bolts, stop their feet and bring them back around with quick, decisive action. If the horse strikes at you or bites, also strike it once below the knee. Please note these are corrections – not punishments! They should never be done in anger – and they must be done right away if the horse is to understand cause and effect. Continue with the correction for each behavior until the horse desists. Continue also to do change of direction linework as needed to allow the horse to be using its energy productively and to stay focused.

So whether you have a problem-loader, a sometimes won’t load, or even a horse that walks right into the trailer, by taking the time to do these exercises with your horse as I outlined (and you can find the step-by-step details on how to do the change of direction linework and crossing objects in several prior issues of Ride!), you are ensuring that your horse will load easily any time you ask. And that opens up a whole world of activities you can do with your horse.