| I think most horse trainers would agree, one of the | | | | box." |
| most common problems horse owners have is trailer | | | | It was a simple box built with 2" x 8" boards and |
| loading. There is nothing more aggravating than having | | | | plywood. First you build a frame with the 1 x 8s to fit |
| your friends pull up to pick you up for a nice, relaxing | | | | squarely under a 4' x 8' piece of plywood. You will also |
| trail-ride outing and having your horse refuse to get on | | | | need two additional support boards across the middle, |
| board. Ideally, the way to avoid this scene altogether, is | | | | one in each direction. This is important, because you |
| to work on this problem way before the day of the | | | | don't want the board to break from the weight of the |
| trip. But this is not always safe. If your horse has a | | | | horse, creating more trauma. So, at this point, you have |
| very dramatic reaction to this task, you may not want | | | | a frame with a "plus" in it. Simply nail the plywood to |
| to be practicing this with this big hard metal object with | | | | the top of the frame, and you have your box. |
| sharp edges and bolts, et cetera. This may be what | | | | Now you are ready to start training. You will introduce |
| has caused her fear of loading in the first place. Injuries | | | | your horse to the box. Get her confidently stepping |
| can easily happen in a trailer, which could be a | | | | onto the box and backing off of the box. The loud |
| traumatic experience that will be engrained in your | | | | hollow sound the box will make an excellent |
| horse's brain forever. Or maybe you don't own a trailer | | | | desensitizer. It does not feel natural to the horse to be |
| at all. How could you practice trailer loading without | | | | standing on this odd object, much like the trailer does |
| actually using a trailer? I will explain here a solution I | | | | not feel natural. |
| came up with for that problem. | | | | Of course there are numerous methods taught by |
| Not only have I myself been in the situations mentioned | | | | various trainers on how to trailer load. You can apply |
| above, but once I was called to give a presentation on | | | | any of these methods to "loading" on the box. Practice |
| trailer loading in a small area INSIDE a building. That is | | | | here until she is totally at ease and loading with great |
| what prompted me to come up with a better solution | | | | confidence then you will be able to safely transfer |
| than using an actual trailer. I decide I needed to build | | | | these results to the real trailer and never miss a |
| something that would still make the horse a little | | | | trail-ride outing again. |
| apprehensive, but be safe. Thus, the creation of "the | | | | |