Here for the Long Haul: A Guide to Traveling with Horses Part 1

Traveling of any sort can be stressful.  Factor in the additional pressure of bringing along your 1000 pound best friend, and the stakes go even higher.  Unknowns such as traffic, detours, delays, fuel stops, and overnight accommodations are more complex when hauling a horse trailer and animals.

Prior & Proper Preparation

How can you set yourself up for success when there are so many factors to consider?  

As Pat Parelli likes to say, “Prior and Proper Preparation Prevents P-Poor Performance.”  

Prior and Proper Preparation applies to more than just you as the driver and your truck and trailer (although we will talk about all of these things in coming articles).  Preparation starts with your horse and how he feels, thinks and acts in and even around the trailer.  That’s what this article is all about: building a language, playing with the trailer, knowing what NOT to do, and setting goals and objectives for trailer loading with excellence.

Building a Language 

In the Parelli Program, you often hear us talking about playing with our horses.  That’s because there are 7 different types of games that horses play with each other to naturally establish dominance and the pecking order in a herd.  Here at Parelli Natural Horsemanship, we play these 7 Games with our horses to help them see us as both their friend and their leader.  In fact, one of the primary reasons we play Game #7, the Squeeze Game, is to prepare horses for the trailer, or as Pat likes to call it, the Metal Cave on wheels. 

When you look at life from the horse’s point of view, you see how a clean, shiny, brand new horse trailer is not that important to a horse.  But do you know what is important to all prey animals?  Feeling safe and comfortable.  Our goal is first to establish a language with our horse, and then to build their confidence and trust in us as a leader.  Then, after these first 2 steps, we can start to successfully talk about trailer loading.  

This is learning to think like a horse, and this is what true horsemanship is all about.  To learn more about this philosophy and to start playing the 7 Games with your horse today, please join our global Community, the Parelli Network.  Starting in Level 1 you will learn how to build a language that transforms your relationship into a solid partnership.  It all starts at Level 1!

The Trailer as an Obstacle

Once you’ve learned the A-B-C’s of playing with a horse’s nature on the ground, then you’re ready to proceed into prior and proper preparation for trailering.  Notice I didn’t say trailer loading.  While it's partly about loading them in the trailer, it’s also about teaching you horse to stand calmly and confidently for long periods of time.  And it’s also about the preparation needed to back out of the trailer, unloading calmly and confidently.  

By introducing the trailer as an obstacle first and as a conveyance second, you develop your lateral thinking skills while allowing your horse to gain confidence near the trailer. Even if you never plan on taking your horse anywhere, the horse trailer is a great obstacle to play with that will help your horse mentally, emotionally and physically. Plus, your horse may one day actually need to go on a trailer ride, so the more you prepare him now, the less stress he will have if or when that happens. 

The reason many horses give humans so much trouble before getting in or while inside a trailer is because they are mentally and emotionally convinced that it is a dangerous place to be. You cannot change this perception by forcing a horse to go in, yet this is what normally happens. Every day, all over the world, horses are forced into trailers with ropes, whips, and butt-ropes; carried in; winched in; beaten to go in; run up a chute; trapped; drugged; and doped. Is it any wonder that trailer loading remains one of the primary reasons for accidents and injuries in the horse world?

You can avoid all this trauma if you just teach your horse to go in of his own free will when offered the chance. Trailer loading is one of the most important parts of a horse’s development. Even foals can learn it within the first days of birth. Horses that have successfully completed the Level 1 and Level 2 On Line Parelli Program often walk right into the trailer with the slightest suggestion. In fact, it gets so good, you’ll have to be careful when just walking past a trailer with an open door; your horse may jump in! This is how confident your horse can become.

Learn what NOT to do

The next step in preparation for trailer loading is making sure that you know the four things you should never do when trailer loading:

1. Don’t wait until you are late for the show. This means prior and proper preparation for the days, weeks, and months before the day you need your horse to load.
2. Don’t just lead your horse to the trailer and see if he won’t get in. Play the Seven Games, squeeze across the ramp, etc. to get him thinking and in the mood for trailer loading.
3. Don’t ask a trying horse to try harder. Recognize when a horse is trying and release at that point. When he’s not trying is when should you ask more.
4. Don’t yell “Shut the gate!” as soon as your horse gets in. Load him in and out several times and know that he’s mentally, emotionally, as well as physically settled before you shut him in.

Objective for Trailer loading

Trouble-free trailer loading is the result of respect, trust, confidence, and your ability to manage your horse’s energy through time and space. The more respect and trust your horse has in you, the more willing he is to trust your decision to ask him to go into the trailer. Start here by playing with the trailer just like you would any other obstacle without having the thought of even getting your horse in the trailer!

Here are some objectives designed to help you achieve your goals with trailer loading and hauling horses. 

• I know that for safety reasons it is imperative that when playing with the trailer as an obstacle it is hitched to a truck or chocked and blocked up appropriately. 
• I know the four things not to do when trailer loading.

• I know how to use retreat and re-approach to build my horse’s confidence approaching the trailer.
• I can use the trailer as an obstacle, allowing him to approach it with confidence then sniff it.
• I can have my horse sniff different parts of the trailer with confidence: the tires; the outer walls; the outside of the closed doors; open doors; floor and ramp.
• I can squeeze my horse between the sides of the trailer and me as well as between me and the door (both open and closed) of the trailer and he walks through the gap with confidence.
• I can have my horse rest next to the horse trailer.

To learn how to trailer load and travel successfully with horses, start with Level One and play all 7 Games On Line.  Then build from there to this first set of objectives for trailer loading.  If you follow the program, you’re well on your way to excellence in both communication and trailer loading.  

Stay tuned for the next part in this series entitled Here for the Long Haul:  A Guide To Traveling with Horses.  Until then, stay savvy and safe.  Happy Trails and Happy Trailering!