Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

I sent a private response to the original poster, but
I'll go ahead and send it to the list since I have not
seen anyone else suggest anything like it...

I had this same issue with my stallion.  In his case,
he was afraid to step off backwards into space.  He'd
load up well, then start to back out and as soon as
one hind foot would go off the edge and he'd realize
oh-my-gawd-I'm-going-to-die he'd rush forward again
and then refuse to back.  I tried for several sessions
to get him out via bribery, coaxing and then "force"
to eventually actually GET him out (couldn't exactly
leave the stallion loose in the trailer in the yard
indefinately) and all it did was reinforce his fear --
and made him reluctant to get IN the trailer which
previously hadn't been an issue.

Then I tried what another poster suggested and stepped
him up and down on railroad ties.  He quickly thought
that was a completely stupid exercise, but when I'd
take him over to the trailer his fear hadn't gone down
one iota (he's plenty smart to know that backing off a
railroad tie out in the open isn't the same as backing
into oblivion where he can't see behind himself).

I also tried the one-step-at-a-time method someone
else suggested.  No go on that as he could do the
front feet in and out without a problem, but once the
hinds were in the trailer it was back to the fear of
stepping off into space.

So, what I did was backed my trailer up to a slope so
that there was only a couple inches of step-up.  I
spent a while loading him in and out until he was
completely comfortable and realized I really wasn't
trying to back him off to his death.... Then I pulled
the trailer forward a bit so the step was a smidge
higher and repeated the entire procedure.  And again
with it a bit higher and then on normal flat ground. 
It only took about four sessions (repeating the last
height & then moving to a bigger step in each lesson).

In his case, it was truly fear.  He wasn't trying to
be stubborn or obnoxious.  When that first hind foot
would dangle off the end of the trailer and find no
solid footing it scared him so he'd leap back forward
to safety.  By teaching him that the ground was really
there he got over his fear and I was able to increase
the step height in increments to a normal step, all
without fear or force.

Oh, and FWIW, my trailer is an old (1974) 4-horse
straight load (seriously needs to be replaced with
something easier on the horses, but we deal with what
we have).  

~Nicole

Zephyr Arabians http://www.zephyrarabians.com 
KattWmn Web Design http://www.kattwmn.com

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