OklahomaHorses Magazine January 2022

20 OklahomaHorses • January/February 2022 Got Trailer Woes? Loading Is a Training Process by Dr. Kris Hiney | Equine Extension Specialist, Oklahoma State University D o you dread loading your horse? Have you ever been late or even had to skip an event because your horse wouldn’t get into the trailer? Have you or your horse ever been injured because of your horse’s behavioral issues with trailers? Well, first off, know that you are not alone. A 2016 study found that 39 percent of horse owners have trouble when loading their horses or when they are finally in. So do horses just truly hate riding in horse trailers or are we doing a poor job of training them? First, try to examine when your problems begin to occur. Do your horses get worried when you add shipping boots or other protective equipment associated with the trailer? Do they worry about being separat- ed from their herd mates? Or is it simply the appearance of the trailer that begins their anxiety? What about the loading process itself? Many owners have experienced the frustra- tion of getting horses into a trailer. If you truly think about it, there is a lot going on that can make a horse uncomfortable. The horse not only has to leave its normal envi- ronment but also has to move into a con- fined space that might be dark or have an unstable surface. The trailer design might impact its readiness to load. My experi- ence is that horses are more willing to step up into a trailer than use a ramp, which has been borne out by similar published studies. That doesn’t mean you have to sell your ramp trailer, but you might need to be more patient in the training process. Trailering itself can be stressful for the horse as well. Think of all they have to adapt to — new horses, footing, accel- eration/deceleration, changes in feeding schedule, temperature fluctuations, dust, exhaust fumes, etc. And once you finally get the horses into the trailer, some horses either refuse to unload or fly violently backward in their rush to leave that crazy contraption. RETRAINING YOUR HORSE So if you have trailering issues, should you just stay home and leave your horse in the pasture? Absolutely not, but it is important to think of the process of retraining your horse as exactly that — a