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We had a quarter horse who was 2 when we decided to take him to a show.  He had been trailered alot with his mama and jumped right in.  He would not back out.  He was waaay too big to get out any other way.  This was a straight load two horse trailer.  We worked with him for over an hour.  Finally what worked was putting our trail horse bridge at the back of the trailer and spreading the shavings over both.  Once he back to where he could see the world around him, he backed off the bridge just fine.  We practiced that for a while and then put him back in the trailer and he backed out just fine...............mb

 

 

----- Original Message -----
From: "rnbianchi" <rnbianchi@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "Ridecamp: to post an email" <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2009 7:12:43 AM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific
Subject: [RC] different trailer issue

Now that we are on the subject of trailer issues, I need suggestions on how to teach one of my horses to back out of a step up/down trailer.  He is wonderful at waiting, turning and coming out forward, but absolutely will not back out.  If asked, he will back until all four feet are at the back edge of the trailer, but he will not step out.  This horse is good about getting on and off the trailer quietly as long as it is forward.  How do I teach him it is okay to back out, that I would never let him fall into the abyss?  Oh, and it has nothing to do with how big the step is because I have parked the trailer against a hill to make it much lower and it still didn't help.