You can start getting your horses comfortable with aspects of trailer loading – even if you don’t have an actual horse trailer to practice with. In this video, I show you a few ways I co-learn with my horses to support them in exploring this aspect of human crazy stuff! i.e. hurtling at 100 kph down a road in a metal box is kinda crazy 😉
NOTE: One of the easiest ways to get horses comfortable with going in and out of a trailer is to leave it parked in their field – with yummy food inside! Then you walk away and the trailer just sits there – for days/weeks. The horses get totally familiar and comfortable with going in and out of the trailer to get their hay or feed dishes. You just replenish the food source.
Of course, you make sure they also have adequate forage – you don’t want to starve/force your horse. And if you have more than 1 horse, they are going to be jockeying for position/access to the trailer, so the dominant horse may be the only one getting food. And the only one getting trailer experience! If that’s the case, then when you’re there, you remove the dominant horses and let the other horse(s) have a chance to go inside and get their especially yummy food.
Jini Patel Thompson is a natural health writer and Lazer Tapping instructor. She began riding at age 2 in Kenya, and got her first horse at age 8 in Alberta, and so continues a life-long journey and love affair with these amazing creatures.
