How to Load an Agitated Horse Into Your Horse Trailer

As a proud horse owner, you’ll sometimes need to transport your horse in a horse trailer to competitions, riding areas or the vet. But you may be filled with trepidation at the thought because horses don’t always comply with your expectations. They are animals, after all, and animals don’t necessarily understand your intentions. So at times, your horse may balk at the thought of walking into an enclosed space, causing you both frustration and upset and wasting valuable time.

Golden Gait Trailers & RVs, located in Concord, is your North Carolina horse trailer dealer. We’ve been family-owned and -operated for over 30 years, so we’re experienced in assisting our customers with their problems. That’s why we’ve provided this horse trailer loading guide to help you load a frightened horse into your horse trailer so you can get on the road with as little fuss as possible. 

Think About Why Your Horse is Scared

When trying to get your horse to do something, it’s helpful to try to see things from their perspective. Maybe your horse is frightened to be separated from you or other horses, so their anxiety makes it hard for them to enter a dark room by themselves. Some horses could be scared of new or unfamiliar environments. Or perhaps your horse had a bad experience in a trailer at some point and now they associate it with negative events.

Horses are prey animals, so their instinct is to avoid confined spaces where they might be caught by a predator. If you can learn how to empathize with this and to understand your animal’s fears, this should help you to have patience as you try to cajole them into the trailer.

Make Your Horse Comfortable

The area around your horse trailer needs to be comfortable and inviting to help relax your horse and reduce her stress levels. Allow your horse to roam the area and approach the trailer as she feels like it, which will help her to get comfortable with its presence.

Bring a Horse Friend

Because horses are social animals, being alone in an enclosure can make them anxious and depressed. If your horse has another horse he likes to spend time with that responds better to the trailer, try loading that horse into the trailer while your other horse watches. He might understand that nothing bad will happen to him when he sees his horse friend go in and out with no trouble.

Try Rewards

Everyone likes rewards. Your horse can be tempted into the trailer with the right treats, such as apples or carrots. Horses are extremely food-motivated, so allow her to smell the treat and place the treat in the trailer or hold it out in front as you lead your horse slowly to the trailer. If she interacts in any way with the trailer, like setting a hoof inside or sniffing inside, give her a treat. Keep giving treats until she’s fully inside.

Enter & Leave the Trailer Repeatedly 

Sure, this might seem like a waste of time once you’ve gone to all the trouble of getting your horse into the trailer. But you should set aside some time for this the first time you attempt to load your horse because if you show your horse he can leave, then he might begin to understand that the trailer is a temporary environment. This is a good exercise to practice on a weekend when you have no plans, so you can get your horse acclimated to the trailer experience and give him some positive reinforcement until he can remain calm in the trailer.

Browse our website to take a look at our wide selection of new and used horse trailers for sale at our dealership in Concord, NC. Talk to our staff about our financing department if you’d like to make use of this service. Golden Gait Trailers & RVs is your local specialty trailer dealer, proudly serving the cities of Charlotte and Winston-Salem, North Carolina.