14 • NATURAL HORSE Magazine – VOLUME 16 ISSUE 3 www.naturalhorse.com

In TRaInIngPhoto: w

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At Home in the

TrailerA horse who reliably loads in any trailer, anywhere gives a human

partner confidence and peace of mind. A long road trip to ride the national park system can really happen. Attending competitions, play days, and lessons is easy. In a veterinary emergency or evacuation situation, the horse will get in the trailer. Developing a horse who is an extreme trailer loader, rather than an extreme trailer avoider, means getting a horse to see the trailer as a place of comfort, a familiar and stable retreat in an unfamiliar environment. This is especially important when taking a multi-day trip with horses. Travel involves change, which is inherently stressful. Mechanical breakdowns, traffic knots, fuel issues, detour delays, weather extremes, illness or injury, social compatibility issues in the vehicle and the trailer, and long hours behind the wheel or in the trailer are some of the expected stressors of extended travel. The last thing a travel pair needs is yet another stressor, so make trailer loading a non-issue.

Trailer loading techniques are fully covered in the Parelli system. Pat Parelli’s Seven Games© create a language that builds trust, responsiveness and respect in the horse. This is foundational to all activities, especially trailer loading. The horse must understand what you are asking him to do and trust your judgment enough to “go there” for you. The seventh game, the Squeeze Game©, is the culmination of the first six. For this we ask the horse to pass between, through, over and under things.

The more inventive we get, the more trust we’ll earn.

Here are a few tips we’ve learned from Pat:Don’t keep encouraging a horse who is already making an effort. Let her make the effort and back off to try again. If you encourage while she’s trying, it will likely be too much pressure. No one likes to be rushed – not even your horse.

Don’t be in a hurry to close the door – take your time and only start moving the door when the horse can stay inside comfortably with the door open.

Think of the trailer as the open door, and close all the other “doors.” Allow the horse to go into the open door (the trailer) and discourage her from going through any of the closed “doors” (on either side of the trailer, over or through you, and at a certain distance behind the trailer).

Above: Tova and Bunny play with squeezing between, through, over, under and on top of.

Photos: Nancy Lichman

by David Lichman and Meredith Reinhart

www.naturalhorse.com NATURAL HORSE Magazine – VOLUME 16 ISSUE 3 • 15

Make a very large area to start. Then as the horse gains confidence, bring those closed “doors” closer to the trailer.

By letting the horse rest by the open door, a tiny bit of encouragement will engage curiosity about going in... allow that – the phrase is: “First the nose, then the neck, and maybe the feet.” Don’t be in a hurry. The phrase might just as well be, “Nose, neck, and maybe next week!”

The last tip is to set up a rhythm as the horse is starting to go in and out. As the horse is exiting, shorten up the rope and prepare to send her right back in again, until she stays in and you can ask her out. Most people let the rope stay long and the horse finds herself outside the trailer with a long rope and no guidance while the handler re-gathers herself or worse, walks a circle around to try again. Too much time outside the trailer at this point makes the outside more comfortable than the inside. The longer

she is wrong, the more she thinks she’s right. We don’t want her spending too much time practicing the wrong behavior.

Anxiety levels vary widely from horse to horse. Plus, any given horse’s anxiety level varies from day to day. The basic concept is to prac-tice making the trailer a fun place to be – more times than you would think. Create context shifts by moving the trailer to different loca-tions on your property before going to different

Trailer

Trailer

Above: Some good “starting” boundary lines for the closed “doors”…

Above: Gradually move the closed “doors” closer to the trailer.

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16 • NATURAL HORSE Magazine – VOLUME 16 ISSUE 3 www.naturalhorse.com

places to practice. Practice loading in different trailers. Get your friends to come over for a trailer loading marathon: each of you loads in as many different trailers as you can. This can be a life saver on the road, especially in the case where there is a breakdown and your horse needs to get into a strange trailer, often by the side of a busy road.

Get creative – practice at night, in the rain (or simulate rain with a sprinkler), while the other horses are being fed, with and without a buddy horse, or load from a chair at various distances and speeds.

A successful road trip requires that horses find comfort in the trailer. Make it their home away from home. If we are empathetic to their troubles, we will invest the time without resentment. Turn the trailer into a horsey smorgasbord – a cornucopia of edible delights.

a Case of the Nerves…When Tova, David’s daughter, was young, she asked a very pertinent question about her mare. “Daddy, why does Bunny poop when we put her into the trailer?” David explained to her that when horses get nervous, it’s a natural reaction for them to poop. It “lightens the load” in case they have to run to survive. She fol-lowed up with, “Why is Bunny nervous in the trailer?” David further explained that it’s a bit confining to be in there, and we don’t spend a lot of time getting her used to being in there. When she asked how to help her

be less nervous, David told Tova to practice loading Bunny into the trailer a few times a day and feeding her favorite foods and treats whenever she’s in there. David was gone teaching for a couple of weeks, and when he returned home Tova couldn’t wait to show him. “Look, Daddy. Watch me load Bunny!” Sure enough, the mare hopped into the trailer like it was her favorite spot on the ranch, and no pooping!

With diligent, imaginative practice, you and your horse can light out for the territories or anywhere else that calls, with confidence she’ll load no matter the circumstance.

About the authors:David Lichman is a 5-Star Parelli Professional who travels all over the world helping students achieve excellence with horses. www.DavidLichman.com,

David@DavidLichman.com, www.parelli.com

Meredith Reinhart teaches reading and writing to eighth graders and Parelli Natural Horsemanship to her equine companions.

Phot

os: M

ark

McL

ean

Above: As Django exits, Meredith already has the rope shortened to direct him back in. Above: Why wouldn’t I go in here? It’s delicious!

Photos: Coco