Keep Loading Easy

By keeping your basic training solid and respectful, you shouldn’t face problems when it comes time to jump in the trailer

We see a lot about how to resolve trailer-loading problems, but the best method is always to prevent them in the first place. With a little effort on your part, you can keep a good hauler instead of creating and then correcting a bad one.

Maintain Manners/ Training

A horse that’s welltrained, good-mannered, and responsive will almost always load more easily than one that’s less obedient, has holes in his training, and/or has bad manners overall. If you think about when you see a horse that refuses to load, it’s usually one that, even away from loading, is untrained, drags on the lead line, doesn’t pay attention, and/or isn’t responsive to a go-forward cue.

A better-mannered horse—whether that’s standing tied, leading, or loading—will always be easier to handle, even when he’s skittish or bothered by a situation.

Make It Comfortable

In some cases, a welltrained horse has a bad experience that sours him on loading. For the most part, these negative situations can be avoided simply by considering your horse’s comfort in the trailer. Back when I started training horses, we’d haul them loose in a stock trailer. They never stood side-by-side, facing the front; instead, they’d all face toward the back of the trailer. Today’s slant-load trailers allow a horse more comfort and better balance.

Additionally, we keep our trailers bedded with shavings for extra comfort on top of the trailer’s mats, and we keep hay in front of them for every ride—especially long hauls.

Keep It Safe

Haul known barn buddies beside each other, and always separate those that don’t get along. We turn out our horses together, so we can see who’s friendly with another horse and the ones that tend to not get along. This helps us avoid conflicts in the trailer that can cause safety problems.

When tying a horse in the trailer, unless a horse has shown us that he needs to be snubbed pretty tight, we give him room to brace back against the lead rope if he needs to, but not so much that he can turn his head back around or step a leg over the lead.

Full partitions (often called stud panels) are useful for hauling stallions but also for those horses that can be problem haulers and can