Overcoming Loading Issues with Your Horse

The fear of not being able to load your horse can tip travelling a horse in a horsebox or trailer from stressful to scary. Even in the best cases, it can set your departure time back by 10 minutes. Most riders have experienced some level of difficulty when attempting to load their horses at one time or another.

Why is my horse refusing to load?

Key to overcoming loading issues is determining why your horse is refusing to load. There are a number of reasons that a horse might not load smoothly. These include:

• A previous bad experience when travelling in a horsebox or trailer.
• Fear of a dark, enclosed space.
• A lack of space - including head room (in some cases, the only option is to get a bigger mode of transport).
• Stress induced, through rushed or forceful loading.
• Environmental factors, such as a slippery ramp, distractions, or stressors (such as loud noises).

Encouraging a horse into a trailer or horsebox

When it comes to encouraging your horse into a horsebox or trailer, there are two types of fix: short-term and long-term. Naturally, the latter is the best path to take. However, the former is useful when caught off-guard when out eventing.

Short term resolutions

Unsurprisingly, one of the most effective ways to convince your horse to load is to tempt them with a treat - carrot and stick style. This has the added benefit of positive reinforcement, providing everyone remains calm and positive.

Another common approach is to use a lunge line to apply light pressure to your horse’s bum. This method works particularly well if you have an assistant, who can either take charge of the long rein or lead rope. Begin by taking a lunge line and tying one end to the opposite side of the ramp to the side you’re leading in from. With the other side of the line in your hand, start to load your horse as you normally would. However, use the lunge line to apply light pressure to the horse’s bum.

Long term resolutions

A tried and tested approach is to feed your horse in a horsebox or trailer. Remove all breastbars and partitions, and if you’ve got a dual-ramp horsebox open both ramps so your horse can see right through the box. Next, make up your horse’s dinner as usual, but place it in your horsebox. If your horse is particularly scared, you might begin by placing the food inside of the box, but having it accessible with a stretch. Eventually, the goal is to have the horse stand entirely inside of the horsebox/trailer when eating the food.

This approach works particularly well if you’re able to leave your lorry in your horse’s paddock. However, if that’s not possible, you can try withholding their dinner until some progress is made on loading, before immediately giving them their dinner in-situ as a reward.

If you believe your horse is uncomfortable with your horsebox or trailer because it’s dark and confined, and your horse is able to pass through two ramps (such as in an Ifor Williams trailer), then you should try leading them in loops. With all breast bars and partitions removed, try to continuously load and unload them - again, loading and unloading from different ramps. Repeat for at least five days after initial success.

Conclusion

In some cases, issues with loading a horse into a horsebox or trailer can add hours to your trip out, and ruin the day entirely. We’ve outlined some great methods - both long-term and short-term - to overcome this, including: tempting with treats, using a lunge-line, feeding your horse in their horsebox, and “looping” through the trailer with them. However, the key takeaways are to work with your horse rather than against them, and to never increase your horse’s tension via your own stress.

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Disclaimer: This blog post is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute veterinary advice.