Does Light Affect the Way Your Horse Loads in a Horse Trailer?

As a horse owner, you know that it’s not unusual to ask your horse to load onto a trailer at odd hours. Maybe you’re leaving for a show in the wee hours before dawn or have a medical emergency late at night. Did you ever wonder if lighting conditions affect your horse’s willingness to load?

A study conducted by the University of Queensland, Australia, investigated this very question.

Eight yearlings that had been previously trained to load quietly were used in the study. A horse trailer was parked in an arena with two, 500 watt lights set up; one inside the trailer and one outside.

Each horse wore a device that monitored heart rate. In addition, researchers observed the horses’ behavior as they walked up the ramp into the trailer.

The results of the test showed that regardless of lighting conditions, all horses experienced an increase in heart rate as they entered the trailer and all loaded in approximately the same amount of time. In addition, lighting or lack thereof didn’t impact the number of steps the horses took before entering the trailer.

Although all of the horses generally took the same amount of time to load, they did display certain signs of unease depending on the lighting conditions.

When asked to load from the well-lit arena, the horses were more apt to turn away from the trailer or lower their heads than when loaded from the unlit arena. And when loading into the dark trailer from the lighted arena the horses tended to sniff the ground more before walking in.

So in the future as you’re loading your horse, remember that he’s not comfortable leaving a bright environment for a dark one. If you’re loading him in these circumstances, give him additional time to adjust and acclimate to the trailer so he feels confident about entering.