Loading has got to be the biggest trauma for horse-owners. A horse that's difficult to load creates stress for all concerned and frequently ends in tears! Sometimes the situation deteriorates to the point that outings become completely impossible. Horse behaviourist Richard Maxwell tells us where we go wrong and how he successfully overcomes the problem. The photographs are taken from a video Richard recently made with Horse Hero, which illustrates this article superbly. You'll find it on the Home Page of the site (or click here). Richard invites you to post your comments and questions below the article and he will do his best to answer!
A horse's perspective
"Everything about a horse's instinct tells him NOT to go in!"
When we humans think about loading we think about a destination and what we are going to do when we get there. A horse views loading in a totally different way; everything about his instinct tells him NOT to go under things, down dead ends or be shut in, as they are all places that a predator can kill him. Every time we ask a horse to load, we are asking him to do all these things! Now that doesn’t mean that I don’t think horses should be loaded, but some horses are much closer to their natural instincts so we need to show them that all will be well and that there isn’t some big cat waiting to get them!
Where do we go wrong?
"Waiting until the day of the show to tackle the loading problem is a recipe for disaster!"
It amazes me how many people take their horses out knowing they are going to have a problem at the end of the day at the venue. I arrived at a show recently and walked past a lorry where the competitor was having a conversation with someone about the horse they had brought and the fact it didn't load...."oh well" they said, "we’ll just have to beat it into the lorry at the end of the day".
The worst case scenario for someone with a problem loader is to park next to me at a show! I can usually see that are really conscious of the fact, but I would never interfere. If they ask for help then I will respond but I never presume that they want my help. You may think that’s mean of me but when I’m out jumping and there are top riders competing - if I’m having a crap day, I don’t expect them to come over and help me.
So where do people go wrong? First and foremost, waiting until the day of the show to tackle the loading problem is a recipe for disaster! When you present the horse to the ramp and the horse says no, most people turn the horse away and try again; when that doesn’t work they take the horse further away and try and run at the ramp - this is normally the point that the horse begins to stop further and further away from the ramp. You are now on the road to nowhere!
If, by miracle, you get the horse in the box, the ramp is quickly shut in sheer relief and the horse is driven to the venue, the rider knowing that at the end of the day there is going to be a problem and the cycle continues.
Is the pressure halter cruel?
"Pressure halters come in for stick!"
There was a comment (innocently made, I'm sure) about the abuse that can be caused by pressure halters. Ironically, I have had a couple of horses in my yard that have had unbelievable scarring in their mouths from double bridles! This doesn't mean I won’t use one myself, I do from time to time. Neither does it lead me to say to a rider every time I see a horse wearing one, "please be careful as these can be misused and abused". Yet pressure halters seem to create this reaction.
In one of the videos I made with Horse Hero, there was nothing to suggest that the halter is an abusive piece of equipment, yet it prompted someone to make a comment to this effect. If anything, people are ultra careful when using pressure halters and those that aren’t would probably misuse any equipment they believed could give them the upper hand. Handlers need to take responsibility for how they use all equipment, as so much can cause discomfort if used incorrectly or with insufficient sensitivity!
Personally, I prefer the term "training halter" as the point of the halter is to train through pressure and release, whereas the term "pressure halter" conjures up images of pressure with NO release
This will, no doubt, cause debate; with a standard head-collar there is zero discomfort for the horse, so when he decides not to load (no matter how much you pull on the head-collar), he can switch off and become ‘passive resistant’. There are no consequences to his actions. I’ve read on a number of forums that some people with bad loaders wouldn’t ask me to help because I use a pressure halter, and that by doing so I don’t give the horse a choice; they think it is about force.
My response is that, in the real world, once we domesticate a horse we take away a number of choices, even if you don’t want to go to shows or travel to the beach to ride. I believe, that from a safety point of view, loading should be approached as an essential discipline. A month ago I received a call at 4am from a distressed lady who had a horse with colic that wouldn’t load. Consequently, she was unable to get it to the vet. I don’t think there should be a choice in the matter for the horse. It was too late to do anything and the colic might have been life threatening!
That said, there are choices about how you approach the problem. I have seen all sorts of things (many you wouldn’t believe) such as horses being picked up, winched, food being laid in a trail up the ramp. I got a phone call one day form a friend in hysterics, she was in her lorry at a show watching someone with a bad loader; they dispatched the groom to buy a number of bags of crisps and on their return, laid them in a line to the back of the lorry......mmm yum, yum, the horse ate all the crisps right to the bottom of the ramp, then said a big fat F**k off!! Food can work but what happens if you are stuck without any and it certainly doesn’t work in all cases, not even many! Your horse will also feel cheated as you move the goal posts when you trick him with food.
Why do I use the halter?
"On average, horses take 6-12 repetitions before a change in their behaviour is noticeable"
Contrary to popular belief halters are not designed to drag horses about but to speed up the lines of communication. If, for example you have a pressure halter and you put it on your horse and wait for him to do his party trick, then take up a contact of pressure, your horse will not respond in the way you are hoping as he will be confused as he won’t know what it is you are asking. You need to explain what you want, then most horses will pick it up really quickly as they understand pressure and release. In fact, they use it amongst themselves in their natural behaviour all the time. In a herd situation, for example, it’s visual pressure they use mostly and they only increase this to physical contact if a warning is unheeded. I would look silly if I started making visual gestures at a horse and I don’t think it would be very effective, which is why I use the halter as a form of pressure instead. My aim is to start with obvious gestures and move to the very subtle.
Once I have taken up pressure, I don’t increase the level. I wait for the horse to yield and the release becomes a reward. Also, when I take up pressure, if the horse starts to go backwards I maintain the level of pressure but walk with them. I have been known, on occasions, to move rather quickly! It’s not about increasing the pressure, only holding the pressure the horse exerts.
Most horses take between 6-12 repetitions before a change in their behaviour is noticeable. Then with repetition they start to change very quickly indeed.
So how do I load a problem horse?
"I encountered one horse that would have rather died than load"
I start my work with the horse, away from the lorry or trailer, usually in an arena or field, until they understand what I am asking them to do in terms of pressure and release and how they stand. Only then do I approach the ramp. I face the horse from the top of the ramp and ask them to come forward. The work in the school means I know what evasions they use to move away from pressure, so I can the counter them. I don’t concentrate on getting them on the lorry at this stage, I just focus on countering the evasions and by doing this, I achieve the goal more efficiently anyway.
Once they have loaded I take them off and reload them. Quite often, the second time can take longer than the first as the horse is checking that I am committed to the cause!
Once he is loading, I take him on and off at least 50 times on the first day of the training. I am a massive believer in positive repetitions as it's necessary to counter the number of negative repetitions they have built up, over time. I have to get the horse to think that loading is normal. From the next day, I would load at least 20 times per day for ten days, then even if I wasn’t planning on going anywhere I would load as a matter of course at least once a week.
Furthermore, with a problem loader, I recommend that when they arrive at their destination they unload and reload at least half dozen times so they realise that they go on and off regardless of where they are.
I am making all of this sound easy, of course, and with 98 out of 100 horses it is, but I do get the odd horse that’s committed to not loading, and these fall into two categories. Those that throw a major tantrum but come round eventually, and those that are so committed to saying ‘no’ that they have no regard for their or anyone else’s safety - with the latter, I do not continue.
...
I encountered one horse that I honestly believe would have rather died than load, and I quit. About 6 months later a lady spoke to me at a demo’ and said ‘I was there when you failed with that loading problem’. My answer was I would have failed if the horse had been hurt or worse still killed itself! I don’t view saying 'I won’t continue' in such as situation, as failure!
I have had horses lie down on the ramp, paddle the floor and exhibit many other odd behaviours, but what is interesting in most cases is that these horses have had submission issues in every area of their lives, whether in hand or under saddle. Many of the comments I receive after working with a loading problem, are that other areas improve without the owner even addressing them!
Submission is vital!
So that brings me to clarify what I mean by submission. In my book, submission isn’t a ‘yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir’, it means the lines of communication are open and that the horse can analyse what is right and wrong, positive and negative. It doesn’t matter how you dress it up, everyone that owns a horse has to have submission sussed, even if the only time you want it is in an emergency!
And finally...
"I have to weigh up whether 20-30 minutes of discomfort is worth the horse having a normal existence thereafter"
My business is partly about dealing with problem horses (though by no means entirely). I have on occasions been sent horses as a last resort and quite often they are aggressive and dangerous. With these cases, I have to up the levels of pressure but it is for short periods only, and I have to weigh up whether 20-30 minutes of discomfort is worth the horse having a normal existence thereafter. If, after 20-30 minutes I am not making headway, then I quit. If I start to see a difference in behaviour, I would expect the period of discomfort to lesson over the next few days. However, if by the end of a week, I am still getting an adverse ,I would reassess whether to continue. I have to draw the line somewhere. I also have to take into account whether the owner will be able to make the changes that are necessary in continuing my work, once I am gone.
At a personal level, I have to say that I have changed in the last 15 years, A LOT!! I now work with most problems in a much more subtle way than I did even 5 or 6 years ago. When I started out, it was all much more crude but as I have developed, I have realised that ‘less is definitely more’ and that as long as I am clear about what I ask, the horse will understand.
Note: The horse in the pictures and our guinea pig in the video on lunging is Eric, who is owned by Sarah. You can read Sarah's life-changing story in Fiona Price's blog 2nd December '09.
SAFETY POINTS
A few important pointers to remember:
1. Where possible never load a problem horse on a hard surface. I normally load on grass or in a manage but if I have no choice, I have done enough horses to read what they are likely to do and how they might react. You may not and could get into trouble.
2. Never apply pressure to the horse from a halter when he is inside the lorry or trailer. If he decides to leave by going backwards, allow him to and ONLY once his head is clear of the vehicle should you reapply pressure. He has to think that whenever he is inside the vehicle, it’s a safe place to be.
3. NEVER EVER tie your horse up in any kind of training halter. Make sure you have your normal head collar on underneath the training halter to use for tying.
Over to you! Post your questions below and I will do my best to answer them. Don't forget you can watch the video I made with Horse Hero on loading, which illustrates all the points I have made.