Trailer training work went well with Sierra today!
When I picked her up from where I bought her, she had absolutely loaded fine for me. And, before that, she loaded fine when she was hauled to her PPE exam, too. But in the months since she came home, I guess she decided she didn't have to get on trailers anymore. Because, to my surprise, she threw a fit when I went to load her for a local event a month or two ago. And the struggle persisted at two subsequent events.
SO... we have added trailer work to her curriculum, because guess she needs a refresher.
Thus, we hooked up a trailer today to work on it. And initially, she balked.
But, funny enough, the trailer was parked over near where the ranch's stud lives. And when he saw her acting up, he came up to the fence to 'supervise' and... man... she took one look at him sniffing over the fence at her and she was NOT having it. She was like... 'Oh no, I don't want anything to do with you!' And quickly decided being in the trailer was the better option. Hopped in so fast it was like she forgot she was supposed to be a brat. It wasn't what we intended, but I won't argue with unintended success. Thanks, bub.
So after that initial fuss (and moving the stud away so he didn't stick his nose where it didn't belong again) she got into the trailer with only minimal hesitation the second time.
Then the third time, she stepped right in. And so we did it once more, having her stay in for just a little longer, then backed her out again. By that fourth time, she was loading like she'd been doing it her whole life (WHICH I KNOW SHE HAS).
So, we're going to set it all up again in a few days to revisit the lesson. Then, repeat these sessions for a while until she's got it back firmly in her brain. And we'll probably do some short hauls around the block, too, because she's a little nervous in motion, too.
And we're also hauling her for real on Saturday, taking her to the last gymkhana of the season to get her more experience with a 'show' environment. So, we'll see how it goes then, too.
All in all, I think it'll be fine. She DOES know how to load and she just needed a little reminder to that effect. Maybe she was worried that a trailer ride meant getting sent to a whole new barn again. After all, she's been hauled a fair amount, but only either to be sold on or taken to the vet. I dunno, but I hesitate to speculate and apply human emotions to a horse like that. Either way, we made fast progress today and I think she'll be better about loading as we work on it more.
