Last month I described the ten-step process by which I'm teaching my very reluctant mustang to load into the horse trailer. For Odin, it's one thing to get into the trailer and quite another to go anywhere. He gets into the trailer and allows me to shut the divider, shut the door but he doesn't like it. My goal is to teach him to relax in the trailer.
At this point, the props I described in that post are unnecessary. Odin has graduated to getting in and standing on the spot where the mat would be. He is rewarded for standing nicely, putting his head forward, and waiting quietly, no target needed. Because these exercises are difficult for him, I use special treats, i.e. sugar cubes, so that he knows he is doing the right thing. For ordinary target exercises, I give him a handful of alfalfa pellets, which are part of his dinner, or regular treats I buy from the feed store.
The eleventh and twelfth steps are going somewhere and relaxing in the trailer, not necessarily in that order. I'll explain:
It's been ages since I had a riding lesson and there's a barn 10 minutes away with a trainer who specializes in retraining off-the-track Thoroughbreds (OTTB) for other jobs, such as jumping. She is also a vet tech, which is where I met her the first time when she assisted my veterinarian with routine vaccinations, dental float, deworming, and sheath cleaning of my late OTTB. I scheduled a lesson with her, knowing I'd have to consistently but gently train Odin to load in the trailer for the next two weeks.
My ten-step process worked for loading quickly but I knew he wouldn't like the 10-minute journey to the stable. We arrived early enough that I was able to off-load him nicely then show him around a bit, let him take the new place in and relax before saddling and riding. Odin is wiggly when it comes to saddling so we are working on that too — standing still and relaxing for saddling. It's harder with the western saddle because it's heavy with a lot of things hanging off each side: front and back cinches, the breast collar, heavy stirrups. I chose the western saddle because I'm more likely to sit on him, rather than default to two-point position. I need to be able to sit on him during this stage of training.
Lhanze, the trainer, set up a few ground poles and had me start working him from the ground since he's fairly green and we want him to be comfortable with the obstacles and the questions they posed without having to balance a rider too. One gentle step at a time. Odin is willing enough with obstacles but in all of his mustang life, he has found it more convenient to simply go around an obstacle than over it. He really does not understand why we do what we do in domestic life but he's curious and finds easy challenges fun. Once I was on his back and we tackled the same obstacles with ease, Lhanze raised the poles off the ground but not too high because actual jumping in a western saddle is awkward. Next time I will ride him in my English saddle. It was a fun lesson with a little homework for me to practice: straight and forward.
Loading back in the trailer was ok but he didn't want to stay in. Lhanze shut the divider and I was able to duck under it, get him tied and the door shut. She said it was harder to train to load by yourself, which eased my mind considerably. Since then I have been less expectant of myself and of Odin. Also, I wasn't surprised when Odin was a sweaty mess from the 10-minute ride back home.
The reason why going somewhere is the eleventh step and relaxing in the trailer is the twelfth is because it could take many more months for Odin to relax. We've been working on trailer loading for nearly two years and sometimes we just have to go somewhere. We've moved twice and gone trailer riding. I appreciate his willingness to trust me and get in the trailer even though he doesn't like it. We still work on trailer loading several times each week. It has become part of our training sessions. If the weather is nice, I saddle him and we practice straight and forward from the barn to the front and back again. There's a big dip with a creek between the house and barn so we get hill work in too. The other part of the session is getting in the trailer and just hanging out.
At first Odin ignored the hay bag as he was too nervous to eat. He just wanted me to give him the signal to back out. Just today he was willing to eat hay, even when I closed the divider. That earned a click, open the divider, a sugar cube then back out. Like special treats, he gets the extra yummy hay while in the trailer.
Progress is miniscule but I'm so proud of him for working through what must be against every instinct. Horses are truly magical creatures who simply want to cooperate and please in exchange for kindness and good living.