Make the Trailer a Good Place

Park your trailer in a paddock where he can live with it by himself.  It needs to be attached to your truck or blocked up well. Tie the doors open.  Put his feed, hay and water at the back of the trailer so he has to go up to the trailer to get everything.  Be sure he has no other water source.  A horse will do without feed but will not do without water.  Every second day push all the feed, hay and water up into the trailer about 6 inches.  After a couple of weeks you should have gradually inched the feed, hay and water all the way up to the front of the trailer.  By then he should have become comfortable with getting into and out of the trailer multiple times every day.  It becomes his stall or barn.  If you see him standing all the way in the trailer comfortably then you could walk up and close the door for a few minutes, leaving it closed a little longer each day.  Once he has been standing calmly in the trailer with the door shut for a few minutes over several days, then while he is in the trailer with the door shut begin to knock around on the trailer making noise and rocking the trailer to create movement.  Keep doing short sessions of this desensitizing activity for a few days until he stands calmly while you are making noise and movement.  When he is good with this, then take him for a very short ride, a mile or two.  After that he should load with no problem.  Always have some of his grain up in the trailer every time you load him so there is a reward for him to find every time he gets in.

Ed Dabney is an internationally acclaimed clinician, presenting horsemanship and riding clinics all over the US and in Europe.  In 2007, Ed was named Champion of the East Coast Trainer Challenge Series by Equine Extravaganza.  Ed was honored to have been selected by the University of Georgia to teach their senior level Young Horse Training course.

His training articles have appeared in many major national magazines.  Ed produces instructional videos and the “Gentle Horsemanship” TV program which has been seen on RFD-TV.

Ed's blending of natural horsemanship and classical equitation has made an indelible mark with students all across the United States and now also in Europe, drawing the attention of serious riders searching for the lightest touch and the deepest connection with their horses irrespective of breed or discipline.