Trailer Training Horses: Simple Steps to Loading Your Horse

By Keith Hosman

Begging your horse to enter the trailer is frustrating at best. Forcing your horse into the trailer is dangerous. And, unfortunately, you can't just leave the little bugger there at the fairgrounds, so you're stuck. Who needs the aggravation?

The next time you're running late for a show and the kids are driving you nuts and you need to get your horse boxed up and you're running really late... wouldn't you love to have a pro horse trainer appear and show you what to do?

Well, the bad news is, I'll be twenty states away that day. The good news is... you can bring my book! Trailer training is actually very easy - it's just a matter of knowing what steps to take, how long to do each, and what to emphasize. To that end, I've compiled a simple set of instructions, a guidebook to getting your horse loading smoothly using the proven methods of John Lyons.

Train your horse to:

- Load immediately and willingly
- Unload easily and in a controlled manner
- Lead politely

You'll find the book broken down into five "Days" or segments:

- Day 1: Easy trailer loading begins by solidifying great ground manners
- Day 2: Refine your control over specific body parts, gaining respect along the way, setting yourself up for success
- Day 3: Two different ways to get your horse into the trailer
- Day 4: Exercises for "hard-luck" cases, training tips for everybody
- Day 5: Do's, Don'ts and What-To-Do-Ifs, plus notes on tying, horses that won't unload, horses who "thrash" and more

And... learn to use a round pen to teach your horse to actually look for open trailers! You point, and your horse runs over and hops in!

I call them "days" but you should take this work at your own speed. Each chapter gives you a plan, a goal, theory and homework. Some segments, or "days," will be easier than others. And, while you can breeze through everything in hours, you might want to split it up over days or weeks. It's completely up to you.

Whatcha waiting for? Don't wait till the morning you're leaving to find out if your horse loads!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Keith Hosman
• Release date: Sep 25, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301273041

Keith Hosman

John Lyons Certified Trainer Keith Hosman lives near San Antonio, TX and divides his time between writing how-to training materials and conducting training clinics in most of these United States as well as in Germany and the Czech Republic. Visit horsemanship101.com for more D.I.Y. training and to find a clinic happening near you. Other books from Keith Hosman: - Crow Hopper's Big Guide to Buck Stopping - Get On Your Horse: Curing Mounting Problems - Horse Tricks - How to Start a Horse: Bridling to 1st Ride - Rein In Your Horse's Speed - Round Penning: First Steps to Starting a Horse - Trailer Training - What I'd Teach Your Horse, Training & Re-Training the Basics - What Is Wrong with My Horse? - When Your Horse Rears... How to Stop It - Your Foal: Essential Training

Book preview

Table of Contents

Copyright

Preface

Day One

Day Two

Day Three

Day Four

Day Five

Teach Your Horse to Load Using a Roundpen

Addendum

Books By and From This Author

Meet the Author: Keith Hosman

Trailer Training Horses

Simple Steps to Loading Your Horse

Keith Hosman, John Lyons Certified Trainer

Copyright

Trailer Training Horses: Simple Steps to Loading Your Horse by Keith Hosman

ISBN: 9781301273041, Smashwords Edition

Copyright(C) 2014-2021 Keith Hosman

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Please note: The information appearing in this publication is presented for educational purposes only. In no case shall the publishers or authors be held responsible for any use readers may choose to make, or not to make, of this information.

Keith Hosman

horsemanship101.com

PO Box 31

Utopia, TX 78884 USA

111521

Preface

If you're leaving at 7am, don't wait till 6am to find out whether your horse loads!

Is there anything more aggravating than having to coax a stubborn one thousand pound animal into a box on wheels when you're running late?

The book you're holding, Trailer Training Horses: Simple Steps to Loading Your Horse will get your horse trailer-trained for good. You'll find it broken down into five Days or segments:

- Day 1: Easy trailer loading begins with solidifying good ground manners.

- Day 2: Set yourself up for success; work to gain fine control over your horse's individual body parts

- Day 3: Two different ways to get your horse into the trailer

- Day 4: Exercises for hard-luck cases; training tips for everybody

- Day 5: Do's, Don'ts and What-To-Do-Ifs. Plus, notes on tying. Horses that won't unload. Horses who thrash and more...

And, finally... I've included a chapter explaining how to use a roundpen to teach your horse to actually look for open trailers. With diligence, you can actually train your horse to load into trailers some distance away... when you simply point!

I call the individual segments days but you should take this work at your own speed. Some days will be easier than others. And, while you can breeze through everything in hours, you might want to split it up over days or weeks. It's completely up to you.

Good luck in your training!

Keith Hosman, John Lyons Certified Trainer

Day One

Prep work: Teach the Go Forward Cue

On a good day, Mary's horse will get in the trailer after a few minutes of cajoling. More often than not, it's about fifteen. Today she's headed to a riding club event and the group leaves for their trail ride at 10am sharp. She's running a bit late, but as she leads her horse to the trailer, she figures that she'll make it fine if the horse is having a good-to-medium day. If he loads by 9:15; she can drive the speed limit and stop for coffee. If not, she's gotta do 80, never mind Starbucks. She's happy with her horse at this point and very much looking forward to the day. Unfortunately, her horse has gotten up on the wrong side of the manger and he's thinking I'll die before I climb in that trailer.

Forty minutes later she's thinking thoughts like It's just a stupid trailer, I'll drag your butt in and Your dang mother was the same way.

Horses either get in smoothly or they balk. If your horse balks, he doesn't load. Period. Trained horses simply walk into the trailer. Not after 10 minutes of begging; they just walk in. That's lesson number one and our ultimate goal. If your horse has become a hard-luck case then it's going to take time... consistency... and work from you... to get this straight. But you will. The good news is, horses are actually easier to teach to trailer than you'd think. The bad news is, it takes the patience of an oyster. Not so much time, as patience. Horses that should trailer but don't have had some steps skipped in their trailer training. No big deal. We'll cover A to Z here; you'll take it one step at a time and we'll get that dang horse in the trailer together!

I know we've all seen some of the big-name trainers work with a horse for 10 or 15 minutes and get the most belligerent horse into a trailer - but I've also seen bronc riders win millions by staying on horses called Nightmare. Even so,