How We Got to Where We Are
When we could finally afford a trailer of our own, it wasn't a very nice one. It was legal and it worked. I had seen horses hauled in much worse, so I didn't think it would be a problem. However, it didn't take long to tell that Zeke didn't want to get on the trailer or even be near the trailer! Our tow vehicle at the time didn't have a good brake controller and Zeke was subjected to some very jerky rides. There were even times when the extra dividers came unlatched and swung/banged around. The poor guy! He is always on edge around the trailer. |
After LOTS of "Practice"
The Plan to Overcome
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- Use positive reinforcement to make the experience more pleasant
- I use positive reinforcement in my training, but like to "up the ante" with higher level treats (carrots and peppermints) to help encourage trailer loading and civil trailer tying.
- SmartPak's Lavender Utility Balm
- This is a brilliant little thing like a deodorant stick to apply lavender easily
- Lavender is scientifically proven to calm horses
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- Do endotapping near the trailer
- Shortly after sharing her tapping findings, Charlotte Cannon posted about the power of the location where the tapping takes place. Even last year I started tapping near the trailer and got great results. Zeke took on more postures of relaxation and even rolled near the trailer! This was huge and I plan to continue this powerful practice.
- Trailer with a buddy
- A lot of the time I tried to get Zeke to trailer on his own. He would ride AWFUL with lots of pawing and the fairly frequent whole-body freak-out. The few times he had a friend he rode much better. I didn't really think much about it since he is a very independent horse, and often he is the only one that needs to go anywhere. However, Lindsey Partridge explained that a buddy is an important aspect for building confidence in the trailer. She usually doesn't use another horse to build confidence so that the horse learns confidence from just the human's presence and leadership. We can't ride in the trailer with our horse though, so it helps to have a buddy instead. For quite some time we will have them both in the trailer together until there is a trip that Zeke needs to make alone.
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