look at it or away from it

The past couple weeks Iron Horse has begun working with Koda on trailer loading. Patty mentioned when they started he was truly scared of being in the trailer. Not a surprise. She carefully explained sometimes horses outsmart methods, and Koda had done just that. The gradual “load/backup/reload” method we used to train him wasn’t going to work anymore. They needed to change methods, and were successful using the end of a crop when he would bolt out without being asked. She said it took about three times, and he opted to stand inside instead of getting thumped on his butt. Wouldn’t be my first choice of methods, and it wasn’t theirs either – but, he has to be loadable - for his own good. She was happy to see he respected the trailer butt strap, and moves forward when he comes in contact with it. Now he waits to be asked to back out. Patty said he will likely always be a two person loading horse that has to get unlatched first, door open second, and then butt strap undone with a person inside holding a lead rope ready to ask him to back out. If that’s the worst of it, I can live with it, and apparently so can Koda.
With our first trail ride coming up fast, I asked Patty a question “when a horse spooks at something on the trail are you a look at it, or look away from it person”? Having observed both, I never really understood why/when do one vs the other. I was curious what she would suggest. I think I hit a nerve, and got a very passionate answer. She prefaced her answer by saying there aren’t many things she feels can’t be handled in various different ways, as everyone has their own style, but it’s safe to say Patty is definitely not a forcible “look at it” person! She feels it is really wrong, and has had to fix horses that experience that mentality. Without re-telling the whole explanation, the reason to not force your horse to stand still, and stare at, whatever they think is going to eat them is that it builds adrenaline, and fuels negative adrenaline-type behavior. She didn’t really agree with looking away from the object and pretending it doesn’t exist either. She favors introducing the scary object while mounted a “little at a time” starting at the horses comfort zone, and working the horse closer. I’ve done this, as I’m sure many of you have, and completely agree with this method. It works well. Of course it goes without saying there are exceptions, like when a human thinks that scary thing might eat them both – um, that might be a good time to leave!
Are you a “look at it” or “look away from it” person??

moving on

Trailer loading plan B didn't work at all, in fact it made Koda more leary of the trailer. The only thing he learned was to stretch, and eat whatever he could reach. That wasn't fun for any of us. We tried it, it didn't work - time to move on. Now I know why our trainer said only two days.

We spent the weekend getting Koda back to where we left off - which was good, but not good enough to close the trailer door and haul him to the trainers. The stock trailer we hoped to borrow wasn't a good option, we didn't even try it. After talking to Patty we agreed and decided to use the butt rope to get him loaded in order to give us that extra time we needed to close the door, and get him up to Iron Horse for the training he deserves. I didn't want to go there, but knew it was in his best interest. She was kind and encouraging.

So where do we load Koda? Everything is covered in snow/ice, he could slip if/when resisting. Good question, everything is so slick. Brad & I agreed clearing the concrete slab near the cows was our best option. Thankfully I had done some previous work with him walking across that slab, and the cows weren't running, so it was a loading change but uneventful. Brad put the shipping boots on him, and...the butt rope worked - we got the door shut! He resisted the rope some, but not a lot - it went much smoother than we anticipated. We had used a butt rope to help load both of them early on. This time we used little to no front pressure, it helped and it worked. We stopped a couple times to check on Koda on the way up to the trainers, altho we hauled him loose with the divider out, he had his head in the manger munchin' away on his side - just like when he was tied :)

Unloading was smooth. He stopped to think when we came up to the stable entry door - saw the other horses whinny'ed and walked right in. He is in the stall next to Nemo, but um, is more interested in Willow - the girl next door. Boys will be boys.

training plan

Based on our “Koda trailer situation” one of the things our trainer suggested was putting Koda and the trailer together in a separate area. Leave the trailer opened up, take out the dividers, block off the walk-through and feed him in it for about two days. If he wants to eat, he has to go in the trailer.
This plan has crossed our minds more than once, it’s basically what our ranch friends out west do with their young horses. So why have we not already tried it? One reason, we don’t want our trailer damaged. It’s pretty new, and has padding inside etc. On the other hand, why hire a trainer, and then not do what they suggest? What means more, the trailer or the horse? What will cost more to fix, the trailer or the horse? Exactly. Trust me, I’m worried about the trailer getting ripped apart by Mr. Playful – but I’m more worried about the horse.
Before I got home from work my fabulous other half moved a lot of snow around the field, backed the trailer up to the round pen, secured it, put food in it & showed Koda where it was. Unfortunately he could have cared less, which is odd since he is pretty food motivated. Since then, I’ve been watching Koda from across the field and it appears as if he’s thinking “trailer, what trailer” or “if I wait long enough, someone will come feed me” consequently he ate nothing for breakfast yesterday – by choice. After work Brad did evening chores and noticed he had still not eaten anything, so he spent more time getting him interested in the trailer/food. Koda is now going into the trailer alone to eat.

Next step is to put the dividers back in, go back to leading him in/out, and figure out what triggers the back-out response and continue de-sensitizing him with "it" (using the opposite side of the trailer) until he stops backing out. This could potentially take a long time, sigh. If leaving Koda & the trailer together doesn’t work, we will try borrowing a stock trailer. We have to get Koda to the trainer’s somehow, without traumatizing him. The consist work they'll do will help him overcome his fears. We'll likely leave our trailer there, so they can continue working with him. Who knew this would be so damn hard?

less than a week

I was surprised to see Harmony get all worked up when we took the boys out of the pasture this morning, so Koda could work on - you guessed it trailer loading. We fed her hay first, but she didn't care - she was less than happy the minute they left the pasture to go...10 feet away (I kid you not). She was a whinny machine, and worked herself into a sweat - is it possible to get so attached in less than a week?? Things are going really well with them all together. We are all loving having her home, she has been a very polite mare - but apparently had a few things to say this morning. Ali came down shortly after to work with her, rode her around a bit and then Harmony got to meet the cows! I think she likes it here.

We continue making progress with the trailer, today Koda loaded on his own repeatedly (maybe he's been watching Nemo?) was more relaxed eating and backed out slowly. It was an unseasonably warm sunny day, enjoyed by all! It's not very often you can say your hot outside in WI in November, hope the weather repeats tomorrow!

making progress

Are you tired of trailer loading? That makes three of us - you, me and Koda. Thursday was warm-ish and dry, we took the trailer down and loaded them up at night - that was a first. Brad recently mounted flood/loading lights on the trailer, which added for a new dimension. They both handled it well, altho the light brings them both to an abrupt "blinding" hault - the lights aren't that big or bright, but still gets that reaction.

Of course Koda took longer to load than Nemo - testing both humor and patience. He is such a two year old. If he wasn't side stepping so his shoulder blocked the divider, he was putting his head on the wrong side, or stretching his neck while turning his head upside down and making goofy faces (if only I had my camera) - really horse? Do you think I am going to buy that? Pretending he was sleeping didn't work either. In the end, Koda willingly loaded, stood, and waited until being asked to back out. We have yet to secure him, latch the strap, and close the door - once all that happens smoothly we will be back to where we left off.
WI continues to get a ton of rain, the local farmers are worried about crops. The wooded patch in the boys pasture has standing water, the round pen and open pasture are muddy. Good thing they have some higher ground to graze around, as well as a dry shelter. Today wasn't as warm, but at least it didn't rain. We fed them a trailer breakfast - Koda did really well and actually finished first, mainly because Brad and Nemo were socializing. Tonight, you guessed it - we took the trailer down and loaded them up again. Same story different night, shorter two year old antics. We successfully loaded, and when asked to back out he did it s-l-o-w-l-y...I am happy to say we are making progress.

sunny sunday

It's been a very wet and busy Fall to date, leaving us with little time to do anything other than chores - hence the lack of blog posts. I'm sure reading "it's raining again" and "we fed and hugged our horses today" would get boring in a hurry. However, this sunny Sunday we were able to spend some quality time with Nemo & Koda!!

Among other things, we hauled the trailer down, put their shipping boots on and fed them breakfast. Sounds easy? Well it is for Nemo, he has no problem with it. Loads up, stands, with or without the door closed - he's a quick learner and gets it. We ended up taking our second mini-road trip to our house with just him. Koda stayed in the pasture, the dogs didn't get to play this time either. Koda & Nemo winney'ed across the fields to each other, so I guess today served as a lesson on seperation as well.

Fuzzy Nemo helping mow our lawn.
Side note; just noticed today, his mane has finally grown a little!

Koda continues to struggle with the trailer. He will load, and stand, but frequently does the panic back out thing... We do get to the point of easy loading, standing long enough to be able to ask him to back out/reload etc - almost long enough to even be able to put the butt strap on and close the door...but what we have now is different opinions. I'm the reason he didn't get to go on the mini-road trip. I don't think he is ready, any resistance and he panics. I think he needs extra time, and deserves it considering "we" helped create the situation that set him back.

He was sweet when we returned, and very willing to do whatever I asked - so, we spent more time in the trailer. Guess it wasn't much fun being left behind in the pasture. Maybe I'm wrong not to take the next step, but I much rather he do it semi-relaxed than force the situation. It's not fun watching your horse freak out. What would you do, any suggestions on our trailer loading predicament?

covered in dirt

Apparently the boys decided to switch roles today. Nemo did great trailer loading (both sides) however Koda was out of sorts from the get go. He did fine, but wasn't his easy going self. He didn't like loading on the right side, or with Nemo on board/him loading while he's eating - or any other excuse he could find. We made it through, then had a little help adding a new experience to what has become our weekend trailer loading session's, a down pour. That was loud, so we didn't hang out in the trailer too long. Both boys got back on once it slowed down. I am still being reminded that someone else's horse did better loading this time - whatever, he's got alot of catching-up to do. We'll show-em up next time ;)

Tonight we gave them their first baths, it went pretty well. Koda was back to himself, and seemed to like it. He was really dirty, so I'm sure it felt good. We swear he was parading around afterwards, Colten said it's because he's a lady's man lol. Nemo on the other hand got back in the pasture and instantly looked for a dirt area - to roll - what a booger! I've never seen him roll, that's usually Koda. He wasn't very dirty before we gave him a bath, we just wanted him to have the experience, but he is now - he's completely covered in dirt!!

and then there was silence

Our trailer loading improved over the weekend. I led Koda right on first try, it was sweet. Nice to be the successful one for a change. We finally got Nemo to load and relax. Butt ropes on, Brad closed the doors, it got darker - and then there was silence....boy was that a weird feeling. No wonder horses find trailers so scarey. There we were, the three of us enclosed...thinking like a horse. None of us panicked, not even me ;) Of course I had an out if needed, they on the other hand had to trust that they would get one. Then I got the bright idea to try loading them on opposite sides, cuz it's good for them. Did you know one side of the trailer is completely different then the other - and where did that scary divider come from?! Switching sides turned out to be a bit of a struggle for Nemo - he bonked his head. He is just fine, but we felt bad. We ended with a full relaxed load. Mission accomplished. We'll work more on switching sides another time. Are your horses trailer side specific? After two mornings of trailer loading, I thought the boys deserved a break - so the four of us opted for an evening walk.