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RE: [RC] [RC] trailer loading/unloading - Jim Holland

Hmmm?.did he have a bad experience (injury maybe?)unloading?  I haven?t seen
that problem happen for any other reason.

Try the part below about getting on with him and backing to the stepdown and
waiting for 15-20 seconds, then say "DOWN!" then ask him to back off. It's
hard for them.  Think about it. Find a stairway and stand with your back to
it at the top about 4 feet away.  Now close your eyes and find the first
step by backing up and "feeling" for it.  That's how the horse feels.

I have 3-horse slant and a 2 horse slant.  Therefore the front horse(s)
always have to back further than the back ones....and since they can't SEE
where the stepoff is, I cue them. Since I have plenty of room and can swing
the partitions out of the way, I go get the front horses, back them to the
edge of the stepdown and ask them to "WAIT!", which is my verbal cue to
"park your feet". Then I say "DOWN" which cues them to "feel" for the
stepoff with a toe. After a while, they figure it out and will back rapidly
until I say "Wait"....then when I say "Down" they will stick out a toe and
feel for the drop. I alternate them riding front and back so they all learn
the cue. The back horse just gets a tug on the tail and a "Down". 

My Sundowner LQ has a much higher stepdown than my small slant. The first
time Sunny backed out of that, he felt for the ground about where he thought
it should be, put is foot back in, then felt again, then looked around at me
with this confused look on his face! :)  But they all figured it out after a
few trips.

Jim, Sun of Dimanche+, and Mahada Magic

Richard T. "Jim" Holland
Three Creeks Farm
175 Hells Hollow Drive
Blue Ridge, Ga 30513
(706) 258-2830
www.threecreeksarabians.com
Callsign KI4BEN
________________________________________
From: Rae Callaway [mailto:tallcarabians@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Wednesday, December 06, 2006 3:50 PM
To: Jim Holland; ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [RC] [RC] trailer loading/unloading

So what do you do when the horse loads just fine, never tries to turn
around, but is getting more and more afraid to back out.? I've been hauling
him 2-3 times a week for the past few weeks and he was tippy toeing
backwards, shaking like he had palsey, but would come out.? He's slowly
gotten worse until last night, he wouldn't back out on his own at all.? If I
stepped in and pushed him, he'd do it, but I need him to get out on his own.
?
Rae
----- Original Message ----
From: Jim Holland <lanconn@xxxxxxx>
To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wednesday, December 6, 2006 2:19:23 PM
Subject: RE: [RC] [RC] trailer loading/unloading
This problem is because you (or whoever trained him to load) allowed him to
do that in the first place.??If you remember in an earlier post I mentioned
that with a "green" loader, I want him to put each foot in the trailer and
take it out a number of times before I will actually let him get on.??This
is because he also needs to learn how to unload.??By the time he has stepped
forward and backed up several hundred times, he is comfortable with doing
that and with the step down. You should "teach your horse to load", not "put
him on the trailer".??There is a huge difference. 

Horses are creatures of routine and "turning around" has been established
for unloading.??Combine that with the fact that horses don't normally like
to back up anyway, and I positively guarantee that he going to have to "get
upset".but he can learn to deal with it. Every horse is different, and how
you solve this depends on the personality of the horse and how good his
ground manners are. You may need to get a trainer to help you if don't feel
comfortable doing it yourself. 

I have used two different methods.??The first one is to start all over again
as though he has never been on a trailer.??Bring him to the trailer door and
ask him to load, but stop him with the lead line when he has one foot in the
trailer.??Repeat this however long it takes until he understands and will
stop with one foot in, then step back on his own.??It may take 100
repetitions or more.??When he is comfortable with this, ask for two feet,
then three, again not progressing to the next foot until he understands.??By
this time he should be anticipating you asking him to stop and back out.
When you get to the fourth foot, anticipate and as soon as he lifts it off
the ground, ask him to step back.??Do this several times, then work on
putting four feet in and immediately stepping back out. The first few times
you fully load him, you may have to be in front of him to prevent him from
turning around when it's time to unload him.

The other method is basically a variation of respect training...teaching a
horse to back out of your space using a dressage whip.??To do this you will
need an "open" trailer.??A two horse with the partition removed or a slant
load where you can tie the partitions back or remove them.??You need to be
in front of the horse.??The objective is to teach him to move backwards out
of your space when you tap him on the cannon bones with a dressage whip.
Rather than write all that again, go here:

http://www.threecreeksarabians.com/Training%20Articles.htm?? 

and read Article 2

Work on this away from the trailer until you can just "think" you want him
to back up and he will take a step backwards. Load him on the trailer and
walk up front with your dressage whip. Tap him as aggressively as necessary
to get him to step back, but stop before he reaches the step off and ask him
to stand there quietly.??When he does, move forward again.??If he tries to
move forward without being asked, rap him sharply and repeat until he will
stand just in front of the stepoff. Repeat until he will do this
consistently.??Once this is established, move him backwards to the stepoff.
Say "DOWN! DOWN! several times and move at him quickly and aggressively
while tapping him with the whip. When his back feet go off, try to get him
to stop there for a second or two, then let him step off with his front
feet.??This is to prevent him from learning to rush off the trailer.
Take him for a walk and do it all over again, but repeat the
forward/backward routine a few times before asking for a "down" so he won't
anticipate. You may find that with the training in Article 2, he will just
go ahead and back off.

Once he learns to back off, never let him turn around in a trailer again.??I
assure you that even when he learns this, he will still turn around if given
a choice. 

Jim, Sun of Dimanche+, and Mahada Magic


Richard T. "Jim" Holland
Three Creeks Farm
175 Hells Hollow Drive
Blue Ridge, Ga 30513
(706) 258-2830
www.threecreeksarabians.com
Callsign KI4BEN

??
Subject: [RC] trailer loading/unloading

I have a question about the opposite problem being discussed.??I have a
gelding that will load just fine but will not back out of my three horse
slant load step up/down trailer.?? He'll??wait and then turn very gently, no
rushing, but flat out refuses to move if I ask him to back out.??I've had
the trailer parked in such a way that the drop was only 4 or 5 five inches
yet when the one hind hoof steps down he acts like I'm try to drop him off a
cliff.??He leaps back in and gets very upset.??It is easier and less
traumatic for both of us to turn him and let him walk quietly forward out.
Any suggestions for retraining here? 

Becky


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Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

Ride Long and Ride Safe!!

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