Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

> I guess I'm in the minority here, but I stop at LEAST every 3 hours and
> take my horses off. Trailer loading and unloading should not be
> "stressful".  If it is, IMHO you should practice it more.
Well, sure, Jim.  But "practice" is something that comes with life
experience.  I don't think it is "stressful" for any of our old
campaigners to offload and reload, precisely because they DO know how to
do it.

But what many of us are talking about here is when you have to get a bunch
of broodmares or younguns from Point A to Point B, and it is 1500 miles,
and they just flat don't have any life experience.  This is not the time
to "practice"--it's the time to just load up and go.  It is FAR more
stressful to "practice" in strange places in the midst of such a haul than
it is to just get in and get there.

I've also found that horses are much more relaxed about loading and
unloading, even at home "practicing," after they've been hauled a few
times.  I personally think that my younguns that have had a long haul to
or from somewhere are already a leg up on their compatriots who have never
left home, even without "practicing" getting in and out.  None of mine
have ever been tough to load, and it has been my experience that the
"practice" of how relaxed they are about it just comes with living a life
where they have to go places.  By the time they reach the "campaigning"
stage, it is as natural as anything else one does with them.

I do think that those of us with horse numbers well up in the double
digits make less of this than do those who have the luxury of only having
a few horses, and in some cases, I think having this many leaves gaps in
some parts of the educations of some.  But this particular issue has never
been one where I've felt that any of mine have suffered from lack of
practice.  Even my green ones will readily load and unload with a minimum
of fuss, and it just isn't something I worry about spending much time
with.  But then again, the trip to their first ride is never their first
trip in the trailer, either--most of my horses have been moved, taken to
town for something, taken to a symposium, etc., before they've ever been
started under saddle, and we also do occasional conditioning rides away
from home, so by the time they are headed to competition, the trailer is
just one more thing in their day-to-day life.  I've also found that the
ones who have done long cross-country trips as youngsters don't have any
problem eating and drinking in the trailer when they grow up and head to
rides, and it really counts.  (Additionally, I make note of those
youngsters who do so readily--those are the ones I want to reproduce!)

Heidi



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