09/12/2024
How to Teach a Horse NOT to Load
Hi folks! If you’re like me, you want to make sure loading is as stressful as possible; leaving you cussing out your four legged friend and late for a show. It’s very important to me not to be self sufficient, and to continue giving the local cowboy good business. When ive finished schooling my horse again, again and again for the upcoming dressage show, i want to make very sure I’ve neglected any kind of horsemanship.
Ive gotten a bit of a reputation for being very good at not loading, so I thought I’d share some of my hard earned tips with you!
It’s essential you follow ALL these tips in order to help make sure your horse does NOT get in the trailer come hell or high water! That way you always leave work for your local trainers to continue fixing your mess again and again!
Step 1 - pull on your horse’s lead rope well and often. Make sure when you’re leading to pay zero attention to where your horse is in space until you want him to do something, and then give a quick and sudden tug. When you get really good at this, you can get your horse to consistently drag, so when you pull forward he sucks back or eventually just stops. Do not miss this step! It’s very important you develop the habit of tuning your horse out regularly until you want something, and teaching him to disregard you completely.
Step 2- school in the arena only. Everyone knows that nothing outside the arena matters! So drag your horse to the arena, call four friends to hold him while you get on, then ride your test and all the movements in it repeatedly. This step is crucial : your horse should learn that nothing outside the arena matters, and inside the arena he can memorize the pattern you ride, making no real connection to the aids or you. That’s how you win ribbons!
Step 3- don’t leave the property because it stresses your horse. If you really love him, you will ensure you give up immediately if he’s stressed and just stay home! That is until the veterinary emergency or show is coming up! That leads us to step 4-
Step 4- don’t make an effort to load until 10 minutes before you have to leave. I can’t stress this part enough: be as frazzled as possible! Begin loading just before you need to go to ensure your horse will drag, become emotionally escalated, and be unwilling to get in the box of doom. For added success, make sure you argue with your husband and have at least two unhelpful and uneducated friends nearby shouting advice at you and giving poorly timed aids. It’s super helpful if they’re all in disagreement about the plan and can contradict each other in ex*****on. Make sure nobody in the group rewards any attempts, instead everyone should punish any curiosity, be impatient, and pull often.
And the last, most important part -
Step 5- keep poor awareness of where the horse is planning to go, drive in excess when he’s headed the wrong direction; and give up when he’s completely emotionally disregulated. This ensures that he becomes fractious quicker each time and eventually bolts the minute he even sees the trailer.
Following these simple tips will ensure your local trainer keeps a healthy business, contributes to the economy, and keeps vets in business with injuries too! It’s so easy, anyone can do it, from amateurs to FEI level trainers!
Stay tuned for more tips!
