Horses rest in the trailer after arriving at their destination. Teaching your horse to unload carefully will make all of your travels safer and easier. Photo: Bugeater/flickr.com.
Many people think that once they’ve taught their horses to load, their trailering worries are over.
Unloading is as much a part of trailering as getting the horse into the trailer in the first place.
Horses are creatures of habit and tend to repeat what they learn in their first trailering episode. If you let a horse rush backward or leap out of the trailer in the beginning, he’s going to think this is the way to unload every time. Hurried or sloppy unloading can lead to accidents and injuries. Your horse can bang into the sides of the trailer, hit his head or even slip off the trailer or ramp and injure himself.
“The key is to teach your horse to unload slowly and quietly from the very first time he gets into a trailer. The way he unloads in the beginning is how he will always try to do it in the future, so your goal is to have him relaxed and listening to you,” explains horseman and clinician Chris Cox.
Some trainers walk a horse out of the trailer, but Cox prefers to back the horse out because it is safer for both horse and handler. Make sure your horse is well-versed in backing up before you ever load him.
To back the horse out of the trailer, you want to walk into the trailer beside him, making sure he sees you and knows you are there. Standing at the horse’s shoulder, cue him to move backward. Encourage him to step all the way out and not jump back into the trailer.
If he unloads quietly and slowly, stand still for a moment and reward him with a rub and kind words once he’s out of the trailer. If he rushes, don’t jerk or scold him. Just repeat the loading and unloading process until he gets the idea that you want him to go slowly. Maintain a relaxed and calm attitude, as the horse can easily pick up on your emotions.
If your horse bolts out of the trailer, it will take time and patience to reform him. The main thing is to practice loading and unloading when you don’t have to go anywhere. If you’re in a hurry, your high energy or anxiety will transfer to the horse.
Load the horse and let him stand in the trailer for a few minutes. Then ask him to back out, concentrating on slow and steady. Ideally, you shouldn’t “bribe” your horse with feed when loading or unloading. However, if hanging a hay net in front of him helps him relax and unload more easily, there’s nothing wrong with this tactic.
Sometimes horses unload quickly because they don’t want to be left behind. If this is the case and you or a friend have another quiet horse, load that horse first. Unload the horse who wants to hurry first, so he realizes his buddy is still in the trailer and everything is fine.
Load and unload several times and make sure the last unloading is positive because this will stick in the horse’s mind. Instead of immediately walking the horse away from the trailer, stand outside after unloading and let him relax for a few minutes. With practice and patience, your horse will get on and off the trailer like a pro.
Liked this article? Here’s more on trailering:
Horse Trailering Guide
Many people need to see an article like this. It would save some people a lot of trouble
I have a 19 year old Morgan who thinks unloading should be at a run. I am going to work with him with your method and get him to DO IT RIGHT!!!! Glad I caught your article online. Fantastic!! Thank you.
This article was exactly what I needed right now! Thanks!
i agree with this article completly
I love Chris!
I’ve been looking for this article!! I have an older horse who loads great but rushes backing out; I worked with him last year w/ Monty Roberts’ halter and it did teach him to back out slower but he traded it for taking 5-10 min. to load – but I accepted the switch and it all eventually balanced out. Now to see what happens in 2009! Will work w/ Cox’s method in the spring. Thanks!
Good practical and common sense tips- a great reminder before trail riding season!
I wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy perfer Monty Roberts easy advice, instead of taking common sense and making it glitz and glamoury like Mr. Cox, he gets down to buisness with a proven method!
I understand what your saying. My problems is the horse in question does not want to leave the trailer forward or backwards. Any suggestions?
Thanks for the advice. My mare tends to tip toe out of our trailer. Maybe I’ll practice more often with her.
My horse does not like to back, and she ends up backing sideways. I do not have a trailer to practice with. I do set up a little stall type deal, where she has to set up, and then back out.
Help !!! Our gelding has always unloaded quietly until one day when for no reason that we can figure out he flew out of our stock trailer (backwards) and hit his head. We now have a head bumper for him, but he wants to fly backwards or run back into the trailer. He is hauled with an older gelding who loads first and unloads last. We don’t know what to do so that we don’t make this a bigger problem.
We have just brought a new 12yr mare and she is very quiet she loads great but she bolts out of the float. I will try your tips, do you have anyothers?
Wow! Alot to know! Thanks HC!
My show horse always loaded and unloaded great, until a trainer hauled him to a show for me. After that I started to have problems. He walks into the trailer fine and backs out fine. The problem is, after walking in he will not stay there long enough for me to shut the gate and starts backing out and will not stop. If I try to hold him he will then speed up. I parked my rig in the pasture and started feeding him in it. At first he would walk in get a bite, back out and chew, the walk back in for another. This continued until he finished his feed. After a few days he started staying and finishing his feed, then would back out. He always walked in and backed out calmly. I then tried to walk him in and brush him while he was standing, but he will not stay for a full brushing. The only way I can load him and get him to stand long enough to shut the gate is to have a helper to shut the back door while I finish and then let me out. This is not always possible. I do not know what happened, but I do know he was the last horse they put in their 3 horse slant load, and I did hear a comotion at their trailer when they were loading. I suspect they tied him and he stepped off the back of the trailer and panicked.
Any suggestions would be helpful.