Training Tip: Horse Bolts Out of the Trailer

Question: I have a gelding who will load onto the trailer—not confidently but he will go in. When it’s time to unload, he pulls back really hard to get out as quickly as he can. It’s really unsafe and I’m wondering if you have any advice on how best to approach this issue? – Meegan

Answer: The answer to your problem is in the very first sentence of your question. Just because a horse gets on a trailer, it doesn’t mean that he’s comfortable or confident about being on it. Your horse bolting out of the trailer backwards as soon as he has the opportunity to is his way of letting you know that he doesn’t like being in the trailer.

You have to teach him to crave the trailer—thinking that it’s the best place in the world to be. In order to do that, work his feet outside of the trailer and let him rest inside the trailer.

To work the horse outside of the trailer, you can send him between you and the trailer from one side of your body to the other or you can lunge him in a circle around you, asking him to change directions every so often. It doesn’t really matter what you do with the horse outside of the trailer as long as you make his feet hustle and change directions as often as possible.

After several minutes of working the horse’s feet outside of the trailer, let him rest inside of the trailer. If he starts to back out, let him. When he’s outside the trailer, immediately put his feet to work again.

If you’re consistent, it won’t take long for him to realize that standing still and being in the trailer is a good thing because there’s nothing but hard work waiting for him outside of the trailer. With repetition, he’ll learn to stand still and relax.

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