A horse, as the ultimate prey and flight animal, is naturally reluctant to enter a confined space... so it's no wonder that difficulty loading onto a trailer is one of the most common problems in horse handling.
For many horse lovers, safe trailer loading is the number 1 reason to start Parelli Natural Horsemanship.
On the website of the Parelli Savvy Club You'll find plenty of educational videos showing Pat Parelli's trailer loading techniques. If you'd like direct feedback, you can also take lessons specifically designed to improve your trailer loading skills from Parelli instructors.
Kim Moeyersoms from the Alea team gives you some useful tips to get started in this Hippo TV report:
What to avoid?
According to Pat Parelli, there are four things you absolutely should not do when loading a trailer:
- wait until you're late for the match or outing and then start
- Walk your horse to the open trailer to see if he'll get on—because he probably won't…
- If your horse makes a good effort, don't force him to do more
- When your horse finally insists, don't react like this: "Quick, quickly close the door!"
What do most people do when they have a trailer loading problem?
- Not practicing, because they are afraid of “losing” to the horse too often when he doesn’t want to go in.
- Get into the trailer yourself and lure your horse in with food.
- Taking advantage of herd mentality and luring their horse into the trailer with another horse already in it.
- Try to “confine” the horse from the outside, e.g. by parking the trailer next to a wall, or by pulling one or two lunges behind the hindquarters.
- Pull the horse by its halter with brute force and tap it from behind with a whip.
- Etc. etc. etc…
People "don't have time" to practice trailer loading, but they do have the time to fight it out every time the horse actually needs to be transported. A good tip: take the time needed upfront, and you'll save time in the long run!
Fjord Orrie on the trailer, ready for the Parelli course in England and therefore not only transported by trailer, but also by trailer onto the boat (Ferry Calais-Dover).
Additional tips
- To practice trailer loading, it is best to use a Parelli rope halter and a 12-foot line (Training rope approximately 4 meters long). The Parelli rope halter allows you to communicate much more clearly and has more control over your horse than a regular stable halter. A Parelli rope fits comfortably in your hand and allows you to remain at the back, outside the trailer, and let your horse board unaided. This method is much safer than using a short rope to walk into the trailer yourself and then duck under the rail.
- A carrot stick and savvy string are essential to make it clear to your horse what to do during trailer loading: go forward, backward, or remain standing.
- Be sure to hang a hay net in the trailer so your horse can nibble on it while you're on the road. It's also a good indicator of whether your horse is stressed or not—if your horse is truly scared, it won't eat, or only when the trailer is stationary, not while you're riding. It's best to use a large hay net. hay net with small meshes so that it takes some effort to pull the hay out or a parachute model hay net to prevent too much hay from ending up on the ground.
- Can your horse stand properly tied? That's a must! If your horse isn't quite as reliable yet and tends to pull, be sure to use a Blocker Tie Ring for extra safety on the road.
- Trailer Loading is a perfect example of Squeeze Game, the latest game of the Parelli 7 Games . Want to know why trailer loading isn't "natural" for a horse at all? You can read all about it in the Horsemanship book by Pat Parelli, the theory book about psychology and horse behavior.
- We have been using a camera for years so that we can keep an eye on our horses from the car.
The trailer loading
You can go to various official Parelli instructors to build good communication with your horse from the ground.
Kim Moeyersoms (3* Parelli instructor) explains: "In a trailer loading lesson, I'm not supposed to get your horse on the trailer within a certain timeframe—I'm not teaching a trailer loading lesson to your horse, I'm teaching YOU. I'll teach you a few techniques so you can get your horse on the trailer safely, and off again, of course. Depending on the situation, I might be able to get your horse on the trailer easily, but the most important thing is that you understand how to do it yourself. So, I'll give you and your horse some homework, and I'll come back for a follow-up lesson if necessary. Trailer loading is an exercise like any other; any horse can learn it if you approach it correctly and take enough time to prepare properly."
For a trailer loading lesson with Kim Moeyersoms, make sure you have a safe trailer large enough for your horse. Attach the trailer to your car and park in a quiet and safe place, preferably fenced.
Cost: €45 per hour + travel allowance of €0.35/km from Merendree.
