It can be the most fun thing in the world and it can be the most frustrating thing in the world, but whether you’re a complete novice or an experienced person who has seen their fair share of both heavy duty trailer and heavy horse, there is always a struggle and it’s never easy. It’s all about working with your horse’s fear and with your own expectations of what the afternoon’s pushing, shoving and cursing will bring. That’s about how it all boils down in its most simple format, but if you’ve ever had to put any kind of animal in a dump trailer, then you’ll need to read on. I love trailers. Safety Conscious First There are practices that you just don’t do when you’re approaching this particular job: You should desist from ideas that are just unsafe such as putting a blindfold on the horse before you lead him in or use of the whip. Most horses can be coaxed into doing it but if a frightened animal senses that they’re being physically forced to do something they don’t want to do and if they feel like they’re cornered in the end of a car hauler, then they become dangerous animals - both to themselves and to those around them. So, the last thing you want to do is to scare your animal and thus make him a dangerous animal. In other words, what you need to focus on is preparing your horse for the loading. You could try practicing with a flatbed trailer and make sure to use plenty of carrot and no stick. The treats, of course, don’t necessarily have to be carrots, but if you offer reward and encouragement and do some practice runs, then you’ll have no problems. Great Expectations The clarity of the expectations is what is important here. Your horse must know and be trained in what is expected of him. It might be a good idea to have done the dummy runs with a cargo trailer, but if it’s into the enclosed trailer of the horse box that you want him to go, then it makes sense to practice on that too so that the horse knows what’s expected of him. The horse needs to be trained in the basic commands that are necessary for what’s involved. Words such as “Whoa!” and “Walk!” are the obvious ones here. Give the horse plenty of practice in this regard so that when the time comes, he’ll tend to obey the commands without even hesitating. And remember that a calm horse is a horse who will play the game as you want it. So don’t get the horse all flustered and wondering why he’s being led into this equipment trailer with some crazy human shouting things at him that he can’t understand. Be as gentle as you when loading your horse. The Claustrophobic Horse Yes, it’s true. Horse do get claustrophobia just as much as humans. An enclosed trailer is an enclosed space that many horses really don’t want to bother with. But you don’t have to go over-pampering, swapping your heavy duty trailer for a trailer rv or bringing your horse to lie on the couch of a horse psychiatrist. There are more subtle ways of helping your horse get over his fear of enclosed spaces. Try to get the maximum amount of light into the trailer when you’re loading up your animal. This you can do by positioning your trailer the right way. Keep any gates or doors open as wide as they’ll go so that the horse won’t be too frightened of the narrow space he has to go through. Another idea that can also work is to train your horse to the notion of a trailer with sides on it. You could start with a flatbed trailer with slatted sides that you can get him to go into repeatedly, building up the sides gradually and filling them in. Good idea to practice with your horse.