06/26/2026
From a horse, it took five hours to load to only five minutes. Here are three steps that I took to help this horse gain confidence on the trailer.
1. Asking for forward movement and then giving them a release. We’re not here to flood this horse with the information or exhaust them until they get on, we reward with effort and go from there.
2. Using a stick as an extension of the arm. The stick is not here to whip the horse, only to encourage for movement and reach areas like the shoulder or arm that we cannot while loading.
3. Understanding body language/timing. The biggest part of this all is understanding when your horse gives you the tiny bit of effort and and knowing the subtle signs of “I’m mentally finished” or “I’m just being stubborn”. Once we can understand how our horse communicates with us, we can get our horse to understand exactly what we are trying to get them to do.
