Can’t Show? Master the Skills of Loading Your Horse in Its Trailer

Can’t Show? Master the Skills of Loading Your Horse in Its Trailer

 

For competitive equestrians, the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 has left them feeling frustrated and unbalanced. Social distancing requirements and stay-at-home orders have forced competitive venues to shut down. Most of you spent the winter months letting your horses relax a bit, before launching into your usual training routines.

Now that you’ve put in those diligent hours (and considerable funds), you’re left feeling unfulfilled. Competitors have nowhere to take young stock for much-needed exposure, nowhere to school the greenies, and a unusually wide-open calendar for spring.

Now, we’re not horse trainers at Trails West Trailers, but we do sell horse trailers and livestock trailers to plenty of people who are. Competitive equestrians are some of our favorite customers! We know that horse-sports are more than a hobby to you—they’re a lifestyle. So, in this article, we’re going to discuss the value of stepping away from your usual training routine to work on mastering the skills you and your horses need to load safely and quickly for when the time comes hit the competitive circuit yet again.

As that old adage says: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

So, spend these weeks building safe trailering skills!

The Value of Easy-Loading Horses

Most seasoned horses and mules will hop into a trailer without much issue on a good day, but there’s always an exception to the rule. And whoever said you only haul on good days, right?

If you’ve ever faced an emergency hauling situation — like a barn fire, wildfire, weather evacuation, or roadside emergency — you know that it only takes one “bad apple” to ruin the bunch.

Horses are herd animals. One naughty horse putting up a fuss about the trailer makes them all act up! Spend some time during these weeks to practice loading, tying, and unloading with all your horses — regardless of their experience.

  • Beyond your personal safety and the safety of your stock during an emergency, horses that load without a fuss are easier to sell.
  • Loading/unloading is a valuable skill!
  • Don’t forget to use the right halter (no rope halters) and tie the proper knots (quick release style) while you practice.

And for those that sell, in our modern era of online classified ads and sale videos, devoting a few moments of your own sale video to filming your horse load and unload quickly boosts their value to potential buyers.

Trailering & Loading Resources

Again, we don’t claim to be professional trainers. And you already know that horse-sports can be dangerous; so we wouldn’t tell a beginner to head out to the barn and load an unhandled colt without help. But most of our clients have the basics down. We would always advise you to load your animals carefully, and seek professional advice from a real trainer if you run into trouble.

But, we did find a handful of well-respected online sources you can check out while you and your stock are safely socially distancing yourselves. Try these YouTube gems:

Once you watch a few videos, YouTube will offer you more resources too. If you find a great one, feel free to share it in the comments below!

Trails West Trailers – Horse Trailers for Everyone

Here at Trails West, we offer all sorts of horse trailers for every kind of rider! Whether your heart is at home at the rodeo or the dressage test, we have the right horse trailer to suit your needs. Want to talk trailers? So do we! Contact us to learn more about any of our horse and livestock trailers today.