How do I load a horse correctly?
At least once in its life, a horse has to be transported in a trailer, for example to the vet, a new stable, a training course or a competition. For this, it must be possible to load it without any problems. But for many horses and their owners, loading can be a nightmare, and it can sometimes take hours and a lot of nerves until the horse is finally in the trailer. However, with routine training and a few basic rules, loading the horse can become a relaxed affair.
Transporting horses safely – preparing the horse trailer
Before fetching the horse for loading, you should prepare the trailer or ask yourself a few important questions: Is the towing vehicle allowed to pull the horse trailer at all? Do the trailer’s tyres have sufficient tread and air pressure? Is the trailer floor stable? Can the trailer door be closed correctly? Are all the lights in working order?
If you were able to answer yes to all the questions, it is time to hitch up. After hitching up, make sure that the breakaway cable is hooked into a separate eye or lug on the vehicle. If this is not present, it is permitted in the UK to slip the cable over the trailer coupling. In other countries, such as the Netherlands, Austria or Switzerland, the trailer must be attached to the vehicle with a steel cable or chain. Observe these regulations if you plan to drive your horse across national borders.
To load the horse, place the trailer on level ground so that the trailer ramp does not tilt after opening. Parking the trailer against a wall as a lateral boundary is advantageous for horses that swerve.
When the trailer ramp is open, the angle levers must not protrude from under the ramp, otherwise the horse may step on them during loading and injure itself. Therefore, fold them down completely.
Use straw or shavings to make the floor less slippery and to prevent urine or manure from leaking onto the road.
To keep the horse occupied, hang a hay net. The hay net must not hang too low that the horse get its hooves caught in it or hangs itself.
Furthermore, a trailer camera is recommended so that you can keep an eye on your horse during the entire journey.
To relieve the horse’s fear of confined space, open the front door or the front exit, which you close again before leaving. The extra light makes the trailer look more open and inviting. You can also lever out the partition in the backend and slant it to give the horse more room to get in. Young, inexperienced horses in particular welcome this.
Finally, all you need is a helper to mark off your side in case of a swerving horse and, after the horse is standing quietly in the trailer, to close and secure the butt bar.
How can you prepare the horse for loading?
Safety comes first when transporting horses. For the horse as a flight animal, travelling in a trailer can mean stress – and not only psychological stress. After all, a winding route, a traffic jam with lots of braking and restarting make the horse have to balance itself again and again. The horse will not keep its legs in place during the entire journey, but will move back and forth.
To prevent injuries, well-padded travel boots provide sufficient protection for the sensitive tendons and ligaments. They extend from the knee or hock to the ground and thus cover the fetlock and the bulb of the heel. Travel boots make the horse feel strange at first; in order not to irritate horses inexperienced in transport even more, tendon boots and bell boots can be used at the beginning.
Put a sturdy, padded headcollar on the horse. Under no circumstances should a bridle, a headcollar with a lead rein, a chifney bit or a rope halter be used! These can either constrict too much or injure the horse’s mouth. For leading and tying up in the trailer, a lead rope or trailer tie with panic snap only may be used.
For balancing, the horse uses the butt bar as a support. There is a risk however, that the horse may rub its tail bloody. Therefore, put a tail guard on the horse, but do not bandage it too tightly so that circulation is not cut off. If you are going to the show and have cleaned the horse’s tail beforehand, you can braid it so that it does not get dirty again during the ride.
Finally, it is a good idea to put a wicking rug on the horse to protect it from drafts. In very hot weather, a fly rug is sufficient.
Loading the horse correctly
To prevent the horse from swerving to either side of the ramp, it is advisable to place the trailer against a wall or other solid boundary. Alternatively, have one or two helpers at the side to visually limit the ramp. If you only want to transport one horse in the trailer, it is best to load it on the right side of the trailer. The reason for this is that the roads in the UK usually slope to the left and the trailer is better balanced if the weight of the horse is on the right side.
Before loading, lift out the partition at the back and place it at an angle so that the horse has more space to enter.
Now there are three variants of loading:
- The human walks in front of the horse
- The human walks next to the horse on the other side of the partition wall
- The human stays outside next to the trailer and the horse walks in alone
The last variant is particularly suitable for experienced and trained horses. In this guide we will concentrate on variant one: the human guides the horse into the trailer. The human should set a good example, without fear or hesitation. Lead the horse to the trailer straight on and make sure that it does not swerve to the side or divert its attention from the trailer.
If the horse hesitates and sniffs at the ramp instead, give it as much time as it needs. Do not encourage the horse to take the next step until it has become familiar with the ramp section. Immediately release the pressure as soon as the horse has taken the first step. Never become frantic or try to get the horse into the trailer as quickly as possible. This unsettles the horse, puts it under too much pressure and thus builds up its distrust of the horse trailer even more.
The fact that a horse goes into the trailer is a great sign of trust from the horse towards the human. Loading a horse under pressure and lack of time damages the bond of trust.
If your horse repeatedly swerves next to the ramp, it can help to border the sides with two lunge lines. The visual border alone can work wonders for horses. Furthermore, there is a loading aid that gently „pulls“ the horse into the trailer. This is not an aid to actually drag the horse into the trailer with its full weight. However, the lateral and rear boundary can also have a very persuasive effect on the horse here.
If the horse stands quietly and calmly in the trailer, praise it for its courage. Create an atmosphere in which the horse feels comfortable even in the confined space of the trailer.
As soon as the horse is completely in the trailer, the helper quickly but calmly moves the partition back and closes or secures the butt bar. Only then may the horse be tied up.
Do not tie up the horse until the butt bar is closed – no matter how experienced or inexperienced your horse is with transportation. If the butt bar is still open and the horse gets frightened and jolts backwards while it is already tied up, this can lead to serious injuries in the neck area. Therefore, always keep to the order: first close the butt bar, then tie up the horse.
When tying up, make sure that the rope is long enough so that the horse can balance itself. However, the rope must not sag too much, otherwise the horse can get caught in it or get the idea to turn around in the tight trailer.
Unloading the horse correctly
When unloading the horse, also keep to a precise sequence that is contrasted with loading. This way you give the horse routine and security and avoid injuries:
- Open the trailer door
- Enter through the front/side door at the horse’s head
- Untie the horse
- A helper opens the butt bar
- Direct the horse backwards down the ramp
Direct the horse slowly, controlled and directly backwards and only turn him around when the front legs have left the ramp. Many horses want to turn around as quickly as possible to inspect their surroundings. However, they can slip off the ramp and get deep cuts on their legs. Therefore, have your helper mark the side and gently remind the horse to leave the ramp straight.
10 tips for loading young horses
1. Create a relaxed, familiar environment
Transport is a stressful situation for the horse, as it is not part of its natural behaviour (as a flight animal) to be in a confined space, where it cannot turn around and has no all-round visibility. In addition, everything is in motion. To ease the fear and stress for your inexperienced young horse, it is best to start loading training in a quiet place in a familiar environment. Avoid the highly crowded places at the stable. Plan the loading training well in advance so that you have a guideline to follow. This will take pressure off the situation and radiate more relaxation, which will be transferred to your horse.
2. Create a routine through practice
Practice loading your inexperienced horse 2 to 3 times a week so that loading becomes the norm. It is best to couple loading training with your usual ground work so that you teach the horse that the trailer is nothing out of the ordinary.
As a preparatory exercise for loading, it is advisable to include lead training with rein back in the ground work. If the horse can be led and reversed well by the human, this same exercise, in and out of the trailer will be quicker and less stressful.
3. Start loading or unloading training without time pressure
Internal (time) pressure builds up external pressure which can spook the horse. Horses are very sensitive to humans‘ moods: If the human feels rushed, this is transferred to the horse and what should have been a positive experience quickly turns into a negative one!
Give your horse enough time to „experience“ the trailer. Horses, unlike humans, learn exclusively through experience and repetition. Therefore, not only is the routine important, but also that you give your horse the time to explore the trailer actively on its own. This is because inner motivation is a major factor in the horse’s learning behaviour. If it engages with the trailer itself and has time to process the information, it quickly learns that the trailer is not an enemy from which it must flee.
4. Get an experienced horse to support you
A calm, experienced horse can also pass on its calm charisma to a nervous horse that is inexperienced in transport. It can either stand next to the trailer as a calming influence or go ahead into the trailer. However, the second option could be difficult at the unloading destination if both horses are separated from each other at the show, for example, and therefore constantly call out to each other. Therefore, weigh up beforehand whether an escort in the form of a second horse makes sense.
5. Position the horse facing the trailer
Where the horse looks, the horse walks. Make sure that the horse always has the trailer in view. He does not have to look at it during the entire loading training – every now and then the horse needs a break to think. Nevertheless, his attention should not be distracted by other things. If the horse stands sideways and swerves to the side, correct it gently and promptly into a straight position.
6. Divide the trailer into sections
Set small goals for yourself and your horse that you can achieve gradually. It is a good idea to divide the trailer into the areas „in front of the ramp“, „on the ramp“, “ half way in the trailer“ and „all the way in the trailer“. This takes a lot of pressure off the loading training because the objective is achievable. Only move on to the next goal when the horse is calm and relaxed in the current one and no longer fears it.
7. Combine loading training with normal ground work
Place the horse trailer in its usual training environment (e.g. arena) with the door open. Send the horse in a circle over the ramp without loading it. This way you gently introduce the horse to the unfamiliar sounds and feelings that hooves on the trailer ramp can cause. Make this exercise a routine.
If the horse is initially skittish and even wants to jump the ramp, stay relaxed. Be your horse’s calming influence in these stressful situations. In this way, rapid progress in loading training is guaranteed.
8. Finish the loading training with something positive
Never stop loading training when the horse is still anxious and nervous, but only end the training when it stands calmly and does not resist. By doing this, you are giving positive signals that the horse will remember. This does not mean that the loading training has to end only when the horse stands fully in the trailer. As long as the experience was positive, you can end the training at any time.
9. Treats help with food-motivated horses
Practicing loading with feed reward is not useful for all horses. However, it can be a great support for horses that are rewarded with treats in ground work anyway. Give your food-motivated horse a small handful of feed every time he takes a step in the right direction. Mixes or oats are best for this: the crumbly feed means the horse has to stand in position longer to collect it from the human’s hand. A hand-sized treat or carrots would be a quick snack that does not do its job of keeping the horse on the ramp or in the trailer.
Over time, reduce the frequency of giving food until you only need to give it to your horse once when it is successfully loaded.
10. Stick to a precise sequence
Horses are creatures of habit who remember certain sequences and feel comfortable and secure within these guidelines. Get the horse used to a fixed sequence when loading so that it knows the procedures and is not unsettled by something unexpected.