One of our latest training horses in is a big impressive 17hh+ show jumping “Warmblood“(Germanic bloodlines) gelding called Maverik. He is supposed to be a very talented jumping horse and his whole career has been centred round that particular sport. However talented a competition horse may be and in whatever sphere that talent may lie, they are worthless if the owner cannot load them up in the wagon and take them to a show.

Most professional Show-jumping yards will take a minimum of 3 or 4 horses at a time to a show and the loading /travelling must work like clockwork. Apparently Maverik has never loaded easily in his entire life and he has never accepted a towed horse trailer. His whole transit life has had to be in wagons. I guessed that the confines of a trailer had always been too claustrophobic for him or he had been panicked inside. Even in a wagon he would instantly turn round and leap back out before the partition could be closed on him. This is a huge towering horse weighing 700 kg….

He was on loan to a top class junior rider down in Suffolk from his owners in North Yorkshire. Their yard was one of perfect facilities with a huge 70m by 70m ménage, hot water horse showers and heat lamp drying rooms for their residents! (More than my lot get! “Nowt” wrong with a cold hose! J)

However, for all the aesthetic charms of a yard, their inability to load him up to go to a show was proving far too time consuming and incredibly frustrating. I heard how it was always 2 hours there and at least 3 to get home. They tried loading with an old pony alongside, tempting him with his favourite food, cajoling, shouting, pleading! …..however they did promise that they had never hurt him. It took 3 ½ hours to load him to come to me! I think that they were, understandably, very glad to see the back of him despite his jumping talent.

When I start to work with any new horse, there are certain things I do which will give me a good idea of what has happened in its past and why they do what they do. One thing is for sure, HORSES NEVER LIE.

This was one seriously, dangerously, angry horse who’s issues were brought to the fore by attempting to load. His general attitude to Humans was one of dominance. His height and his weight gave him a power to move us about and out of his way at will. He had perfected his set of nasty tricks over years and years. He spat his dummy out with me massively the very first time I went to work him. Without any warning whatsoever he went in to attack me the very second I lead him into my school to start his ground training. He leapt at me with all his force and ears laid back and fury in his eyes. This forced me to instantly back off in order to avoid his attack. This perfected move on his part then gave him the power to rear up to full height, spin on the spot and let drive with both hind legs straight at my head. Nice! It worked because I moved! J

More by luck than good judgement I managed to avoid being touched, it would have broken me in two. The trigger for this horrendous violence I later realised was because I had picked up the lunge whip on my way in to the school.

There can be only one conclusion to this reaction to the whip, he knew all about the feel and pain of its bite when used in temper in a human’s hands. I don’t blame the owners, the loaners or any other past owner. He must have learned to fight the loading by fear in a trailer a very long time ago. His first owners had a trailer but he was sold on with the rules of a wagon only….that in its own right poses the question why? Each and every person in his life since had failed to realise that force will simply never work long term and that horses with a predilection to aggression will learn anger so deep, it will consume them and will then appear in so many other directions. Resentment builds into hate… Self protection builds into defence…..a violent downward spiral develops.

Maverik had learned to control people on the ground when something did not suit him. My method of training him was to reclaim control of his feet…forward, backward, left , right and to ground tie (to stay where I put him through my body language command.) I had an interesting few days! I use a whip as an essential extension of my arm for control and drive…not for punishment. The whip needed to give him pleasure from scratching motion. By reverse pressure training I now have him relaxing while I throw the whip all over him, he moves forward, backward, left and right by certain subtle moves of my body and the whip. He has learned to trust it in my hands and no longer shies away or gets angry when I ask him to yield his body and go where I ask. It has been hairy 2 weeks to say the least.

When we first reintroduced the trailer he immediately reverted back to anger.  He came at me, he reared , he spun round , he lashed out with those hugely long hind legs but because I did not get cross with him and rewarded every tiny correct move on his part, he calmed down. He slowly started to follow me in but could not bear to stay inside for any length of time. Again through reward he started to stay in it and relax for slightly longer periods of time. When we first tried to fix the bar behind him he instantly panicked and collapsed to the floor while reversing in pure panic. That was so horrible. It upset me greatly to witness his complete instant fear. I at least had my answer as to why he had never been travelled in a trailer. He was terrified of being shut in. It also answered as to why he always tries to turn round and leap back out of the wagon the instant anyone actually got him in.

My next aim was to give him the confidence to load himself inside. If I could get him to want to go in all by himself then this would change everything. Following me in was a really fantastic result but not good enough for him to accept staying in it through his own calm acceptance. This is done through drive….by working him in trot left, right, left, right…..always moving and controlling his feet and direction. He finds that the trailer is where he gets to rest. He reverted back to fury as he fought my control over him and I had 2 near misses again. However the desired change happened. He found rest if he took himself up at ramp. He found relaxation and praise and reward every time he entered that space…..to the point of not even wanting to walk out of the front. All his anger disappeared. His ears pricked and he started to enjoy that space.

He is relaxed, happy, calm, enjoying praise and has let go of all that fear. We can now just show him the trailer and he puts himself in before we are that fear…..a lifetimes worth. We can shut him in from behind now and he is allowed out of the front door…where I might add, he is no longer in a hurry to walk out. He stood on that open ramp yesterday and decide that the hay inside was too nice to leave so he stepped back inside for another few mouthfuls! We all had the biggest smiles on our faces! What a result and what a huge change in this angry horse. His life in everyday terms now will be such a nice life. To no longer feel the need to fight and fear will be heaven on earth for this horse.

He goes home this weekend. The real test will be a short journey first. Fingers crossed he will be able to cope. He has taken such a huge leap forward in trust of humans. His acceptance of that claustrophobic space where there was fear is now soft and willing.  Stationary is one thing but motion in transit is another.

WATCH THIS SPACE!!!!!

I want to add something here for all the car drivers who think that we horse trailer drivers are going slow to simply annoy you in your hurry to get from A to B. Horses find it very hard to balance in transit so we have to drive slowly and carefully especially when the horse inside is a baby learning or a damaged one like Maverik. Please don’t hassle us or be cross and impatient. Simply understand that we ask a big ask from the occupant when we travel horses and we want them to learn to cope and relax. When you cut us up, blast on the horn while passing or stuck behind and worst of all force us to brake hard, you cause collateral damage to the horse and frighten us owners to death. We cannot be in a hurry and apologise to you for any inconvenience caused to temporarily hinder your progress. It’s our world too.

This is a poem written by several of my clients as a present for me: