Transporting your horse can be a source of stress, but you can easily learn how to load your horse without stress. Taking a few simple steps will make this job much more pleasant for both you and your animal.
Before you load your horse, remember that they are animals that like to graze, therefore, they like open spaces. A trailer is anything but wide open. Horses have a natural fear of enclosed and small places and instinct can make trailering difficult.
One to the simplest things you can do is have the trailer near your corral or pasture. The horse will become familiar with it because they will be seeing it regularly. Lead your horse to the trailer, tether her to it, and let her see you open the gates on the trailer and go in. After she becomes accustomed to the trailer from the outside, start taking her near the gate and ramp. If she is hesitant to go near, you can coax her with a little grain or one of her favorite treats. If she tends to startle easily you can give more frequent reward treats as she makes progress in her relationship with the trailer.
If you absolutely cannot get her to go near the gates and ramp, again, use the grain and treats trick. You can consider pulling the trailer into the corral or pasture and feeding her on the ramp. You can also put her feed container with fresh grain, some apples or carrots on the ramp. After a while she will begin to associate good things with the trailer and will be more accepting of your leading her in.
Any horse owner can tell you that a stressed horse is at a minimum, difficult, and at its worst inconsolable and unpredictable. They will also tell you that they take their cues from you. If you approach the animal with confidence, the horse will see it. She will know that you are ready to complete a job and that will encourage her to do the same. Lead her to the trailer at a regular pace, stand tall, speak in a confident and comforting voice and that may be all it takes to help your horse take the last step in entering the trailer. If you are stressed, your horse will be too.
Remember that when you are loading, you are asking your horse to do something unnatural. You are taking her out of her comfort zone. But, taking that into consideration can help you in loading your horse without stress.
