Teach Your Horse to Self Load

Have you ever had to ship your horse somewhere and suddenly found yourself alone to load him on the trailer? For a horse that loads the traditional way (that is, you lead him on the trailer while someone else hooks up the butt bar and raises the ramp), finding yourself solo can put a real damper on your plans.

What to do in this situation?

Well, you could look around to find someone who might be able to help you out or you could lead your horse in and then run back and quickly put up the butt bar and hoist up the ramp, all the time hoping your horse stays put. But why risk it? You know that with horses Murphy’s Law always applies, so why not prepare in advance for this situation and teach your horse how to self load.

Teaching your horse to walk on the trailer by himself is not as difficult as you might think. I know, because I taught my horse how to do it. And I’m no horse whisperer so if I can, I bet you can too.

Here’s how my method worked.

For starters, I made sure that my horse would stay at my shoulder when I led him and not dawdle along behind me. If he hangs out behind you like that, he’ll be able to sidestep and avoid the ramp as you approach the trailer. So make sure your horse stays at your side while leading him. Also, use a long lead rope so you can drape it over his neck. When he gets inside the trailer, you have to let go of it, and you don’t want him stepping on it and scaring himself.

In addition, I carried a whip. My choice was a dressage whip because it’s long and I could reach him easily.

So with my horse at my shoulder and the whip in my hand, I briskly walked towards the ramp.

When we reached the ramp, I walked to the side of it. Naturally, my horse stopped and fussed. He was confused because I wasn’t walking in ahead of him. A few times, he got pretty silly, so I just turned around and started over.

My goal was to get him to step up on the ramp by himself and keep moving forward. Any time I saw him start to lose the forward momentum, I would tap him on his fanny with the whip and tell him to walk. When he finally went inside, I hooked up the butt bar and ran to the front of the trailer to make a big fuss over him. (Be sure to have lots of treats on hand during your training sessions!)

Once your horse gets it, loading this way becomes easier. My horse got really confused when I didn’t walk into the trailer like I’d always done. But I stayed patient and just kept asking until he understood. Eventually, I no longer needed the whip because he knew what to do.

So there’s my simple method. And I bet it’ll work for you.

Good luck!

During the 50’s, the first two horse bumper pull that was built was only 5’ wide, 9’ in length and 6’ in height. Compared to day’s widths of up to 8’, heights of 8’ and lengths of stalls up to 12’ for larger draft breeds. The first horse trailer was towed with a ¾ ton GMC truck more than likely with a 6 cylinder engine. Horses have been a part of the lives of mankind since time began but not until the advance of vehicles, improvements in the countries road system and the influx of higher paying jobs did the need arise to begin to haul the horse. Folks started traveling more, spending more time vacationing and of course, the favorite past time of trail riding began.

As trail riding became more popular, the demand to haul the horse increased as well. Several horse trailer companies began in the 1960’s to supply the demand of the two horse bumper pull trailer to cater to the horse trailer industry. In the 1970’s, demand for horses continued to grow and with the invention of the gooseneck horse trailer, versatility increased with being able to trailer many horses at one time. Horse trailer configurations changed from straight load to slant load to box stalls to fit the growing needs. By the mid 1990’s, the horse and horse trailer industry had grown to a multi billion dollar market. Manufacturing companies all across the country continued to improve on materials, quality went up and pricing became more affordable with assembly line production.

One of the most recent trends in horse trailers is the living quarters. Living quarter horse trailers allow a person to actually camp and sleep inside the trailer. Today’s trailers are equipped with appliances including refrigerators, microwaves, televisions, and many more features. Full bathrooms with room slide outs are available in most any layout one can imagine. Many horse trailer manufacturers build the trailer and then send it to a living quarter conversion company where the interior is installed. Afterwards, the trailer is shipped to a dealer and then retailed to the customer.

Today, horse trailer prices range from $7,000 for a small bumper pull up to $100,000 or over for the larger living quarter trailer. Banks offer financing terms up to 15 years which allows for an attractive low monthly payment. Combined with today’s low interest rates, booming horse population, long term financing availability as well as the pick up truck craze in America, the horse trailer industry is on target to hold strong for years to come.

Click for Details