hugs
Junior Member
Posts: 2,647 
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Post by hugs on Jul 28, 2014 11:29:03 GMT
Two weeks ago Gerad tried trailer training again with Peaches. She got in but then he left by the side door and when it shut it banged which scared the Peach and she bailed. So last weekend I walked her around the trailer and she actually reared, which is pretty upset for her. We left and did some work closer to the corral with the other horses, that calmed her down and all was good. This past weekend we went back to the trailer and she was much better. I opened up the back door she'd go in and banged on the floor and the walls. Then I opened up that exit door and she was good there too. We practiced standing patiently by the back door as if we were "waiting our turn", not her strong suit, so we'll need to do more with that.
And then... we walked right in! Then I realized, we can't simply turn around and walk out, if she freaks I'll get squished! So I tossed the rope over her neck and went out the side door. Of course she wanted to follow me so I directed her out the back. She went out the back, not too leisurely but then waited for me once she got out. It wasn't exactly how I would of planned but it was okay. We walked around a little bit to make sure she was calm and all was good.
Now I don't know if the tryptophan Quietex I gave her 3 hours earlier helped but that in an of itself was good training. She was more upset oral-plunger thing into her mouth than the trailer! I kept the plunger so we could keep practicing with that. I'm proud of Peaches and I'm proud of me. That was a lot of trust for her and long time earning it. If we had a ramp on the trailer we wou;d pf backed out. We will have to figure that out.
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Post by horselover4life on Jul 28, 2014 14:25:48 GMT
Have any curbs near the house? They work wonders with the word of "BACK" and "DOWN" used at the appropriate time and sequence.... Just her learning "BACK" command will help. Her getting used to your voice issuing that same sound {word} and the connection of it to the action should help too. Lots of praise for a good effort. That plunger thing...applesauce in it so it is known as a enjoyable experience I found worked with my pig-headed last horse... I got dirty looks when it was paste wormer, but now they make apple flavored wormer...no idea of flavored anti-anxiety stuff though. Sounds like progress being made, trust being given... Win-Win situation in the making.  |
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redzip
Junior Member
Posts: 1,701
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Post by redzip on Jul 28, 2014 18:08:10 GMT
Yay Peaches! Yay  !  Practice will eventually make perfect  |
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Post by horselady on Jul 28, 2014 19:18:20 GMT
Progress is always a good thing. with patience and quiet and one word commands so they understand that. and yes it is a good idea to always practice those words when working with them with out the trailer. i have tie stalls and just putting them in there and snapping a butt bar and feeding them in there works wonders for a horse that does not, or has never been into a trailer before or hated the trailer. also practice up a ramp and down either forward or backing always helps. |
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Terry
Junior Member
Central Illinois, USA
Posts: 1,466
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Post by Terry on Jul 28, 2014 20:36:39 GMT
Way to go, Peaches & ! smileys-party-370729 That is definitely progress, and as far as I'm concerned, any progress when training a horse, no matter how small the progress may seem, is still a very good accomplishment! Now if you and Peaches can just keep building on what you've done so far she'll be loading and unloading like a champ in no time! Well done!! 
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hugs
Junior Member
Posts: 2,647
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Post by hugs on Jul 28, 2014 23:46:14 GMT
A curb, HL? we don't even have paved roads I do have a pattern for a platform, got it years ago, have I even attempted to make it yet? Nope! wag finger some day I re-read my post and I didn't mean Peaches banged on the trailer, I did it for her benefit... I need an editor  Given all of Peach's "phobias" I was shocked that it went to easily. I guess I'll have to update my evaluation. Its just that every so often, for reasons I dont' always understand, her eyes get large and unblinking. I found that walking around helps her release her tension much better than moving fast or many twists and turns. Thank goodness or she'd wear me out!  She does back very well but I don't think I've ever tried it with just a word command, we'll have to learn that, thanks for suggestion |
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Terry
Junior Member
Central Illinois, USA
Posts: 1,466
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Post by Terry on Jul 29, 2014 0:26:22 GMT
Oh, definitely work on that! It makes life so much easier when you can just say "Back" and they back up! Both of my girls do it. It took me a while to teach them, and at first I had to say "Back" in combination with using my body or the stick or the lead rope, but now the majority of the time all I have to do is say the word. I practice it with them almost daily, but it's a verbal command that is definitely worth the time to teach.
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hugs
Junior Member
Posts: 2,647
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Post by hugs on Jul 29, 2014 0:29:38 GMT
Back
Vacuum the inside of my car
Clean the litter box
Pay my bills
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hugs
Junior Member
Posts: 2,647
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Post by hugs on Aug 1, 2014 11:46:41 GMT
Got another question, which isn't getting the response I need at HT, hopefully we can have a discussion here.
We have a stock trailer, not a horse trailer. So Peaches, or whomsoever, will be loose inside the box. Now if I want to go somewhere by myself. I'll have to open the horse's exit door first. Well, then the horse could just leave. What do you suggest for getting the horse out under controlled conditions?
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mingiz
Junior Member
Los Lunas, NM
Posts: 3,320
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Post by mingiz on Aug 1, 2014 12:29:28 GMT
Teach the horse to tie. Most horses ride facing backwards in a stock trailer. Tie loose enough that they can move but yet not to allow them to get out. We have one that doesn't want to back out of the trailer. So we are going to have to work on that...  |
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Post by horselover4life on Aug 1, 2014 14:04:51 GMT
I would suggest using a barrier so you can get in, yet they must wait for you to drop it to get out. Think a stall guard but larger. Attaches the same way. I've seen them but don't know where to find/get one. I have one on my semi-stock by the front emergency door. That door is right at the horses shoulder and the door wide enough to easily walk out on me. My rear door is a slide one...there is a name for it.. although the door fully opens on hinges, I am also able to slide it as much as half-way open on the roller track and step inside to tie/untie my horses and then open the door by myself the rest of the way when I am ready. My hubby is working on something so we also have a "butt bar" thing so my horses don't "lounge" on that rear door while traveling. Innovative he is... he will figure out something for the animals safety while riding. {last I saw he was working with pieces of square steel tubing that had slip pins on either end... so a "conventional looking" hard butt bar. Only need to weld on small sleeves to the walls to tie the pieces together by pin, cover that bar with padding and of course some paint.}
Hey Mingiz....ask Lint if the bar used inside a trailer to secure a partial load would work?
Know it goes by pressure applied... load binder or something like that my trucking neighbor made mention of... he made a suggestion of that for my trailer when he saw how wide the opening is and how fast a horse can exit when you're not ready...{my neighbors friends horse came off her trailer like a rocket,...not mine!} 
Do you think something like that would work and be safe Ming...you have more experience with a stock trailer set-up than I do... ?
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hugs
Junior Member
Posts: 2,647
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Post by hugs on Aug 4, 2014 3:03:36 GMT
Thanks for ideas. It will take retrofitting the stock trailer, maybe Gerald would go for it. Maybe I'll win the lottery and buy a horse trailer... um... maybe not. The stock trailer does have a partition in the center. So training for being okay with enclosure/claustrophobia will be a two step approach I guess. I'm not all that thrilled to be in the trailer with the horse is the thing, that has disaster written all over it, but where there's a will, there's a way. Thanks again.
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mingiz
Junior Member
Los Lunas, NM
Posts: 3,320
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Post by mingiz on Aug 4, 2014 14:43:13 GMT
Ok Hl4L that door that is at the rear and slides is called a cattle gate. Used for loading cattle. My stock has it and it also has the door up front. Mine is a 4 horse. Which has a center partition to straight load 4 horses. If I have 2 up front and tied, there is no way that they can't get out the side door if I need to open it As far as 2 on the rear of the trailer. The rear door on it is made heavy duty enough that if the horses lean against it. It's not going to hurt it as it would a regular rear door on most trailers. Stock trailer were designed to haul cattle. So they can take a beating more so than your usual horse trailer. I really wouldn't worry about them leaning on the rear door. Mine do it all the time. My trailer has hauled many miles without issues with the back door. Before I got my first GN I moved my center gate up 2 feet. That way I could haul 2 horses in the back straight loaded and all my gear up front. I tried it without moving the gate and it put to much weight on the back and caused the trailer to fish tail. Now the horses are over the axels and it rides normally. If I have to load 4 in it I just open the center gate and load them slanted. Before I leave the driveway they all have turned and face backwards.
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hugs
Junior Member
Posts: 2,647
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Post by hugs on Aug 5, 2014 1:42:29 GMT
I guess horses are like sunflowers then. I'd get car sick if I rode facing backwards.
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