Re: Re: Re: Trailer Loading

["Susan Garlinghouse" <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

> > And also be prepared for the horse to load brilliantly, get bad,
> > get better, get horrendously bad, *then* learn to load like a grownup.
>
> That's almost exactly how John Lyons describes the process.  And that's
the
> reason why he says to practice so many times -- that

I think the only hole in John Lyons methods is that I think he developed it
with the quarter horse disposition in mind, forgetting that anything with
Arab blood is a reincarnated lunatic serial murderer with a penchant for
melodrama.  Which seems to nicely sum up Lucy's experiences.

When I wanted to teach Dakota (formerly known as Spudnuts) to load and
wanted to demonstrate it for a friend, I went through all these histrionics
of explaining about the tight little circles and only asking for tiny little
forward steps and so on before I brought Dakota out.  I showed him the
trailer, he said, "hey, look there's hay in the manger!" and walked right on
in.  Uh huh.  So we unloaded and loaded up again about a dozen times and
Dakota figured as long as there's hay in there, he'll play this game all
day.  The friend was *very* impressed at how easy it was to teach horses to
load.

Friend left, the next day I figured as long as Dakota was so wonderful about
loading, he could come along and be ponied.  And of course he promptly
gasped in horror at the rolling Horse Trap and refused to get within 50
yards of it.<sigh>  Mind you, this is also the horse that will gladly follow
you into the tack room if you let him.

Amazing he ever survived his first two years, let alone the three after
that.  Oh well, ya gotta love 'em.

susan g