Re: Trailer Loading

["Glenda R. Snodgrass" <grs@theneteffect.com>]

> Need help! I have an 8 yr old mare that really, really hates to load. She
> is smart, canny, uses brute force if she has to; becomes an immovable
> object also. Has successfully learned how not to deal with a flag, dressage
> whip, etc. As one trainer once put it...boy can she dance!

I'm no training expert, but this sounds just like a stage Lakota went 
through, so perhaps my experience will help you.  He was just like your 
mare, absolutely not afraid, just very, very stubborn about not wanting 
to go in.  My barn owner told me that the problem was not the trailer, 
but rather Lakota's refusal to move forward on my command.  He said that 
loading is nothing more than the horse walking when you say "walk."

So he suggested I do some groundwork with him on the leadrope.  I spent
about 15-20 minutes every day for a week walking Lakota around the
barnyard, hand on the leadrope, making him "walk" "trot" "whoa" and "back"
on voice command.  I held the lead rope in my right hand, just under his
chin, and a lunge whip in the left hand, down at my side but pointing
straight back, basically not visible to Lakota, and when he wouldn't walk,
I would flick the tip of the whip at his hindquarters, without moving my
left arm at all, so it seemed like it was coming out of nowhere to him,
know what I mean?  After only a few times getting flicked with the whip,
he began responding instantly.  We kept practicing for a couple of days,
even after he was responding perfectly every time, then tried loading, and
it worked like a charm.  He went right in.  I've loaded him about half a
dozen times since then, and every time he has just walked right in.  What
I do, though, is walk him to the back of the trailer, let him see and
sniff it, then I walk him all the way around the rig once, doing "walk"
and "whoa" every few feet, in a rhythm, walk back around to the trailer
door, make him "whoa", then put the leadrope over his back, tell him to
"walk" and he walks right in. 

I have continued to do a few minutes of practice groundwork about once a
week, to keep it fresh in his memory. It has also helped with the
trot-outs at the VC. 

Hope this helps.

Glenda & Lakota