Trailering Alone

For some of you, trailering solo is old news, but for me this last week – it was a first.  A scary first.  Typically I have my friend to help me, and her horse is coming along to keep Gav company. 

I really value how chill and agreeable Gav is day-in-day-out, but I didn’t know how he’d react to loading first, to loading on the left side, to backing out of the trailer first (and alone), and to being in a new place without his safety blanket (aka big silver gelding named Sterling).

He’s a good boy, but he has his quirks.  One of which is trying to back out of the trailer at light speed.  This bad habit has only recently started (about 6 months back) and we’ve worked on it every trailering experience since he pushed under the butt chain of the old trailer and removed all fur/skin up his spine (yep… he was able to somehow get his butt under the chain and extricate himself from that trailer.  It was horrifying to watch, but he seemed okay with the whole thing. Ponies…).  The “hold up speed racer” training involves a dressage whip (for when he starts shoving his big ole badunk against the butt bar) and a person at his head with carrots (literally the carrot/stick training method).  I knew I wouldn’t have my handy-dandy carrot-briber for this trip, so I had to be smart and patient about how to load/unload.  For anyone curious about this behavior – Gavin isn’t particularly herd-bound or buddy-bound; he isn’t trailer sour or nervous in the trailer.  I think he knows he’s supposed to back out and he just goes too far in his efforts.

To ease my own worries, I decided to create a list of steps to follow for loading, unloading and I thought I’d share.  It won’t work for everyone (since we all have different trailer/trailer set-ups), but it could be helpful, or maybe you can share another tip with me!



Moooore cookies pleeeeease

Trailering alone - loading

1.       Hook up trailer

a.       Electric

b.       Chains

c.       Emergency brake

d.       Lock in tow ball

2.       Remove chocks and put in dressing room

3.       Pull to front of barn

4.       Load trailer

a.       Saddle/girth/bridle/saddle pad/half pad

b.       Grooming supplies

c.       Tie stuffed hay net into hay bag

                                                               i.      Add carrots to top of hay to keep him interested while butt bar comes back

5.       Open trailer up

a.       Windows

b.       Emergency door on left side

c.       Ramp

d.       Lock back window doors in open position (my trailer has a ramp and two upper doors with windows in back that open before the ramp comes down – these doors lock against the trailer)

e.       Lock in divider with right butt-bar (my trailer’s divider can’t latch to the sides to stay open at an angle.  I find it best to just lock it into place ahead of loading.)

6.       Load Gavin

a.       Load in left side of trailer (he will walk into trailer alone, but I’ve had to lead him in before, and when I do this I leave via the emergency exit door)

b.       Tie and give him treats

c.       Lock butt bar (calmly, slowly)

d.       Close ramp (calmly, slowly)

e.       Close emergency door and give him treats

                                                               i.      Untie (I leave him loose in trailer w/ his halter on.  I realize some people tie, and some people leave loose.  I prefer leaving his head loose in case of an emergency and also so that he can’t get caught up in the lead.  Let me know if you disagree with this!  I’m always open to opinions on safety for trailering)

f.        Close back window doors

7.       Recheck all connections to trailer are correct. 

8.       Confirm lights are working.



Short horse, tall trailer

Trailering alone – unloading

1.       Pull up to location and park

2.       Get dressage whip/treats handy

3.       Open back windows and lock into place

4.       Open emergency door

a.       Re-tie Gavin

b.       Give him treats and check his mood

c.       Wait for him to settle before going back to ramp

5.       Lower ramp

a.       Stand and wait for him to relax

6.       Once standing calmly unhook butt bar

a.       Wait for him to settle before going back to untie him. 

b.       If he starts back, make sure to correct him.  He only backs when told it’s okay to back (typical backing cue from head)

7.       Go to his head, give him a cookie – untie him and stand calmly

8.       Cue him to back

9.       While he’s backing, walk to the back of the trailer (in theory, I’d love to teach him to back by giving him a gentle tug on the tail that way I can already be there when he’s backing)

10.   Pull hay from trailer and tie him and hay together

11.   Clean trailer

Ultimately, I needn’t have worried.  He loaded/unloaded like a total pro and we had a wonderful first solo experience, but I definitely think it was worthwhile for me to think through the process step-by-step ahead of time, and I’ll definitely be using these procedures again when trailering alone.

Tired after his lesson :)