Yeah - Caisson is usually pretty good about loading, but the other day, something really, really spooked him. He had actually gotten in the trailer, but then started snorting, stamping, and backed out again. My mistake - I got out the long rope and tried using it. Nope. Even snubbed, he yanked it out of my hands. (This was the hesitate, then I applied pressure at the wrong time, and got a big "hell no" reaction part.)
Half an hour later, I decided to try trust. Opened the escape door, walked up the ramp and into the trailer, made a big show of checking everything out, then standing in the trailer, asked him to load. He came in - worried - but he came in and stood waiting for me to close him in. I had to do the same thing the next weekend, and after that he was fine.
About the sedation ... that depends on the horse. I've seen horses that got worse. Seemed as if they knew they weren't up to par, so they *really* didn't want to put themselves into a dicey situation. They would go into "plant 'em and grow roots" mode.
On Oct 20, 2008, at 1:54 PM, Sharon Hahn wrote:
I agree with the comment about trying to figure out why the horse won't load. My old, very reliable-loading mare once refused to load because I tried to save time by loading her while I was filling the water tank in the truck bed. The running water noise freaked her out. After I turned the hose off, she still wouldn't get in. I had to move the trailer to a different spot in the yard so it wasn't "possessed" anymore. Then she got right in.
I worry about using the "increase the pressure" techniques mentioned here on an unreliable loader. I don't like getting into fights with "I don't wanna - make me" horses, because even if they learn YOU can make them, they usually start the battle all over with the next person. I prefer the "OK, you don't want to get in? That's fine. Just stand there and look at the trailer for the rest of your life" method where you DON'T increase the pressure, just keep asking gently and bore the horse to death. If THEY decide on their own to get in, it seems to stick with them better for the next lesson and pretty soon you don't have any trouble at all. If I find myself switching techniques ("will you get in if I do this? how about this?), I know I'm in trouble.
If truly desperate to get a horse somewhere, light sedation works nicely if you have a vet handy :)
