Trailer Training a Horse

The first step to trailer training a horse involves no trailer at all. You will first need to get your horse to walk forward on command. This will be done with a long whip or stick. With halter and lead rope on, softly tap your horses hindquarter while making the clucking sound. If he doesn't move apply more pressure on the tapping until he gets the idea. The minute he moves forward stop the tapping and praise him. Keep doing this until he moves forward without much effort on your part.

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It is now time to move on to trailer training your horse. If he absolutely refuses to get anywhere near the trailer, lunge him in small circles until he is relaxed and slowly move him closer to the trailer while lunging. Once you can get him to stand quietly in front of the trailer start tapping his hindquarters asking him to move forward. He will more than likely back up. Try to catch him before he starts this and make him back yourself as you are trying to get him to think it was your idea to start backing up in the first place.

Stay calm and take him back to the point that he is most comfortable with, whether that's back lunging or standing in front of the trailer. Make sure he is relaxed before you ask for more. Remember, any positive movement deserves praise. The video below is an excellent example of this technique.

This may take days to accomplish. If you do not have a couple of hours at a time, do what you can in the time you have and try to make a little progress each time. Always stop on a positive note. Try not to get frustrated and if you do, be sure to quite for the day. Trailer training a horse requires an extreme amount of patience and if you have more than your horse, you will win.

If you are hauling one horse at a time in a straight load two horse trailer, it is best to put the horse on the left side. This puts the weight of the horse on the highest point of the road whereas if you were hauling on the right side the trailer would have a tendency to pull towards the shoulder.

When hauling a single horse in a slant load place the horse in the front stall and lock the remaining dividers. This places the weight over the hitch and vehicle which will give you a more balanced load. If you put the weight in the back it could cause the trailer to sway.

Everybody learns at a different pace in a different way. The secret to learning how to train your horse is to find what works best for you. This may be through books, videos or hands on experience but whatever method is best for you the only way it will work is with doing. Absorb all you can and then implement what you have learned. Your horse will let you know if you are doing it wrong. If they don't understand, find out what you may be doing wrong and learn how to communicate with your horse.

Learn more horse training methods to help you fine tune your skills at training your horse. You can never learn too much and don't ever stop learning about your passion;-)