"Look Mom, I'm on the trailer!"SUCCESS!!!
Jack and I headed up to the farm mid-morning today to "discuss" the trailer situation with Legalas. I had planned to spend all day up there working on it with him; I HAVE to be able to load/unload him by myself in case I need to travel alone next weekend to Sand Hills. I got the trailer ready, got a bucket of grain to use for reward treats, grabbed him from the pasture, did some grooming, and headed out.
For the first hour or two, I went at it alone and didn't get very far. He routinely would get up to the point where he just needed to step in, and refused to do it. You could tell he wanted to; he kept stepping his his feet and would rear in frustration, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. He literally had his entire head, neck, shoulders in and was stretching for the grain, but was just worried. I worked between two different methods, using a gentle lead from the front and pressure from the back with flicking the lunge whip. Before you animal lovers out there get too upset, the whip is more of a scare tactic than a physical one. I did give him a few solid smacks to let him know I wasn't kidding, but generally just the motion and the noise of the string is enough to motivate him to move his feet. This is definitely a feat of coordination and I needed to adjust my technique as I got tired, let me tell you! This seemed to work better with him than the other method, which is winching.
Winching is where you loop the rope through the front rungs on the trailer, and when the horse gives closer you tighten all of the slack. The idea is that it gets them into an uncomfortable position, with their neck stretched tight, and eventually the step in of their own accord. Well, this did not work so well. This is the method I used when I got stranded at Sandy Point, and it is when he got caught in his rope and tried to go through the escape door. So he really doesn't like it. It actually works well if you use a heavy boat hook and rope for a lead, because it gives you extra weight and you don't have to use as much muscle. A lot of people like to use a rope behind the butt as well, to help push them from behind. Well, in the past year Legs has managed to break 3 butt ropes in this way, so we know that doesn't work so well for him either. He seriously hates being forced like this, and I could quickly see that it wasn't the way to go.
So I stuck mainly with the first technique, forcing him to back up when he pulled/refused. Then along came Lexie, Joy's young granddaughter. At first, I was hesitant to accept her help. For one thing, I really wanted to get it on my own since will have to do it alone in the future. The other worry is that Lexie is very young, and while Legs would never maliciously hurt another person, I still worried he might step on her. But after a few hours of going no where, I decided to give in. I figured, once we get him on together a few times, then I can do it by myself. I made the right decision. Lexie did a great job using the lunge whip to encour
age him forward, and caught on quickly that he needed to stay out of her personal bubble (training a la Judie Ricci style!). Within 15-20 minutes, we got him on and shut in as if we were going somewhere, happily munching grain as a reward.
We loaded him and backed him off a few more times together, then I started going myself. While he still gave me some refusal, I managed to encourage him on with just a few light flicks of the lunge whip with very little contact. He got better and better each time, and was more and more relaxed while eating his grain.
After loading him by myself 3-4 times, Lexie and I went on a light ride for 1-2 miles to clear our heads and give everybody a chance to relax. Legs was great, very enthusiastic and happy to be out and doing something he knows well. After getting back, I pulled his mane and gave him a bridle path, and cleaned him up a little nicer. Then it was back to the trailer, where he continued to load fairly well for me (still a little refusing).
The one tricky part was unloading. The trailer is just big enough that he can turn around and come off forward. This isn't a terribly horrible thing, except that he can't really do it calmly and managed to skin his hip bones (not too badly, I patched with a little antibiotic ointment dressing and he'll be fine. it's just ugly). By myself, I couldn't find a way to untie him and keep his head forward to go off backwards.
Well then along came Joy! Joy and Michael had just returned from Northern VA and she had some great tips to show me! For one, we figured out a different way to hook up the "butt bar" since it was hanging too low. Normally, it would hook up higher to the divider. But we took the divider out to give him more space, since it was a bit of a claustrophobic squeeze and causing some of his nervousness. But we found a better space for it so it wouldn't hit his legs too low. The other trick was backing him out; Joy showed me to take the lunge rope out the feed door to keep his head forward so he couldn't turn around. Then I could unhook the door, come back to the front, and ask him to back up through the feed door (he's really good with this part), and then catch him as he stepped down. This worked great, and will be key to saving the skin off his hipbones! For now he kind of looks like Frankenstein, but thankfully he's not a show horse!
So while we didn't quite get to my dream trailering scenario, it was a VERY successful day. Someday, when he gets more comfortable, I would love to be able to throw the rope over his neck and just point him on the trailer. Then for backing, just give a little tug on the tail. I have no doubt he will get there someday, but for now loading as he is is great progress.
Thanks Lexie and Joy for all your help today!
Jack and I headed up to the farm mid-morning today to "discuss" the trailer situation with Legalas. I had planned to spend all day up there working on it with him; I HAVE to be able to load/unload him by myself in case I need to travel alone next weekend to Sand Hills. I got the trailer ready, got a bucket of grain to use for reward treats, grabbed him from the pasture, did some grooming, and headed out.
For the first hour or two, I went at it alone and didn't get very far. He routinely would get up to the point where he just needed to step in, and refused to do it. You could tell he wanted to; he kept stepping his his feet and would rear in frustration, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. He literally had his entire head, neck, shoulders in and was stretching for the grain, but was just worried. I worked between two different methods, using a gentle lead from the front and pressure from the back with flicking the lunge whip. Before you animal lovers out there get too upset, the whip is more of a scare tactic than a physical one. I did give him a few solid smacks to let him know I wasn't kidding, but generally just the motion and the noise of the string is enough to motivate him to move his feet. This is definitely a feat of coordination and I needed to adjust my technique as I got tired, let me tell you! This seemed to work better with him than the other method, which is winching.
Winching is where you loop the rope through the front rungs on the trailer, and when the horse gives closer you tighten all of the slack. The idea is that it gets them into an uncomfortable position, with their neck stretched tight, and eventually the step in of their own accord. Well, this did not work so well. This is the method I used when I got stranded at Sandy Point, and it is when he got caught in his rope and tried to go through the escape door. So he really doesn't like it. It actually works well if you use a heavy boat hook and rope for a lead, because it gives you extra weight and you don't have to use as much muscle. A lot of people like to use a rope behind the butt as well, to help push them from behind. Well, in the past year Legs has managed to break 3 butt ropes in this way, so we know that doesn't work so well for him either. He seriously hates being forced like this, and I could quickly see that it wasn't the way to go.
So I stuck mainly with the first technique, forcing him to back up when he pulled/refused. Then along came Lexie, Joy's young granddaughter. At first, I was hesitant to accept her help. For one thing, I really wanted to get it on my own since will have to do it alone in the future. The other worry is that Lexie is very young, and while Legs would never maliciously hurt another person, I still worried he might step on her. But after a few hours of going no where, I decided to give in. I figured, once we get him on together a few times, then I can do it by myself. I made the right decision. Lexie did a great job using the lunge whip to encour
age him forward, and caught on quickly that he needed to stay out of her personal bubble (training a la Judie Ricci style!). Within 15-20 minutes, we got him on and shut in as if we were going somewhere, happily munching grain as a reward.We loaded him and backed him off a few more times together, then I started going myself. While he still gave me some refusal, I managed to encourage him on with just a few light flicks of the lunge whip with very little contact. He got better and better each time, and was more and more relaxed while eating his grain.
After loading him by myself 3-4 times, Lexie and I went on a light ride for 1-2 miles to clear our heads and give everybody a chance to relax. Legs was great, very enthusiastic and happy to be out and doing something he knows well. After getting back, I pulled his mane and gave him a bridle path, and cleaned him up a little nicer. Then it was back to the trailer, where he continued to load fairly well for me (still a little refusing).
The one tricky part was unloading. The trailer is just big enough that he can turn around and come off forward. This isn't a terribly horrible thing, except that he can't really do it calmly and managed to skin his hip bones (not too badly, I patched with a little antibiotic ointment dressing and he'll be fine. it's just ugly). By myself, I couldn't find a way to untie him and keep his head forward to go off backwards.
Well then along came Joy! Joy and Michael had just returned from Northern VA and she had some great tips to show me! For one, we figured out a different way to hook up the "butt bar" since it was hanging too low. Normally, it would hook up higher to the divider. But we took the divider out to give him more space, since it was a bit of a claustrophobic squeeze and causing some of his nervousness. But we found a better space for it so it wouldn't hit his legs too low. The other trick was backing him out; Joy showed me to take the lunge rope out the feed door to keep his head forward so he couldn't turn around. Then I could unhook the door, come back to the front, and ask him to back up through the feed door (he's really good with this part), and then catch him as he stepped down. This worked great, and will be key to saving the skin off his hipbones! For now he kind of looks like Frankenstein, but thankfully he's not a show horse!
So while we didn't quite get to my dream trailering scenario, it was a VERY successful day. Someday, when he gets more comfortable, I would love to be able to throw the rope over his neck and just point him on the trailer. Then for backing, just give a little tug on the tail. I have no doubt he will get there someday, but for now loading as he is is great progress.
Thanks Lexie and Joy for all your help today!
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