Major Loading Problems!! Please help!

[loverofminis]

Ya I am going to haul my 6 horse slant (with the slants taken out)
out there and try to gradually get him relaxed around it.
its about 6 foot wide and 7 foot tall so that would be better then what we had to use the other day.
He is a very pretty colt and I wish they would just let me keep him, all he did his whole life was eat and STILL suckle his mother which I thought was a little much. If anyone still has any suggestions I am surely open to them,

[proudmomma]

*sticks fingers in ears*
lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala

You did NOT just say that that moron let a 2 year old still nurse his mother. Good luck with that. I imagine that poor colt is so terrified and confused that it is going to take quite some time to get him over all that. I mean, it'd be like trying to wean a teenager still breastfeeding. Absolutely rediculous.

Anyway, the approach and retreat method works best. We had to load a wild filly in a two horse one time and she damn near died on the way home (no, we didn't have a choice really.. she wasnt' even halter broke) but with some nice slow work and approach and retreat she loaded like a champion.

[My Ladyhawke]

How traumatic for this colt. It will probably take a ton of patience and training to get over this and he will. First, see if you can find the DVD on e-bay by Clinten Anderson trailering. It is amazing. The end results is the only time he gets to rest is in the trailer. I just back my trailer up to the round pen and keep it closed. I start round penning the horse just like the trailer is not there. Once I have his focus on me the only time I let him stop is by the trailer. Do this several times and he will relate rest with being close to the trailer. The open the door and continue round penning. Let him stop by the trailer and check it out. As soon as he is disinterested move his feet again around the pen a few times and "only" stop by the trailer. Eventually he will sniff it and start checking it out. It's nose, neck and feet. Everytime he will go further and discover when he's near the trailer he gets to rest and when he's in the trailer, he really gets to rest. Eventually, as long as you are consistent, when you open a trailer door he will be more than happy to do. We had a two year that had only been trailered once when he was delivered to us as a foal. It took us 45 minutes and he loved the trailer. Just have tons of patience and you will turn him around. Good Luck.

[loverofminis]

I always liked Clinten Andersons methods,has anyone heard of Marty Martin? I like his training too.
Yeah and at first we thought he would load, he walked up to it and sniffed the floor and then put one foot in. His owner is obviously very impatient so when the colt was taken his time he got to jerkin him around. His mother, yes, was having a fit since she has never had him taken away like that. I do hope she calmed down after a while...

[BUDDYSGIRL]

Why in the world would anyone let a horse nurse so long?!!!

[joygurl92]

Wow, this sounds a lot like one of the horses we got last year. She's a three year old, never been away from her mom (and still nursing) and only halter broke. Her owners were nice people but they didn't know any training methods. Their horses were more like pets. Anyways, this horse's mom loaded into the trailer fine but "the baby" didn't see any point in going inside. She wasn't scared of the trailer, she just didn't want to go in it. It took us three hours of walking her up to it, us stepping inside and tugging on the rope a little, and that didn't work. Finally we had to rig up an alley with gate panels and chase her into the trailer (not my idea of getting her in but it was the only thing that worked, plus it was like after 9 pm. and all of us were tired and hungry). We got the 3 yr. old to quit nursing and started ground work with both of them, but we didn't try doing any trailering with the "baby" at first. Anyways... 2 months ago, I got Chantilly, the 3 yr. old, out and did a lot of ground work: circling, backing up, circling and going over things, ect. for a while. Then, because the trailer was in the paddock we were in, I decided to try it and see if she would go in. She paused for a minute or two in the door, while I walked all the way in to the front of the open stock/horse styled trailer, I tugged on the lead a little bit and she hopped right in. There was a little bit of hay in there and she started eating it and I took off her halter and walked out, making the trailer a reward for all the work she had done. She stayed in there for over an hour and I saw her go in it several times later that day. Now we have a hard time keeping her OUT of the trailer!!!

I would also recommend, keeping the trailer in the pasture so he can get familiarized with it and check it out on his own. And if you feed him hay or whatever, put it in or close to the trailer so he will associate that with something good. Hope everything works out for your guy.

I get really mad when I see people try to force/beat/push a horse to do something, like that's really going to work? It's asking for trouble then and going to make a lot more problems later on. Anyways, hopefully you can get your horse turned around. Good luck and keep us posted on his progress.

[loverofminis]

Yeah, I started working with him like 3 days ago and at first he broke a leadrope of mine cause he got the 'idea' (from his owners, who tied him up and he kept breaking leadropes and running off to mommy) on how to pull back then the leadrope would break. Its not that he wasnt trained to being tied up its just he got a bad habit. So now I am wondering on how to go about getting him to stand tied while not pulling back, so I started tieing him up with a leadrope that didnt have a shank. He pulled back once then released pressure and stood for a little bit. He is one smart colt, toke him 3 times of trying to break the leadrope then he quit. Today I tied him up and he never once tested it. Stood for an half of hour like a pro. I want to take him slow since that bad trailer experience. He is a nice colt, I dont know why someone would let him rott for 2 years in a pasture suckling his mom still.