"The most important thing here is to take some time to work with the horse and work to resolve his resistance habit before you are actually in a position where you have to load him. This puts less pressure on you and the horse. When you are much less tense about the trailer loading process, the horse will respond positively because he senses you are relaxed and calm instead of uptight."This is a quote from the book, Good Horse Bad Habits - Practical Solutions to Problem Behavior in the Barn, Under Saddle and Out in the World, by Heather Smith Thomas.I had an emergency situation recently where I HAD to load my horse for a trip to an equine emergency clinic. I couldn't get him into the trailer.He had a fever, he was bleeding from the right eyelid and the eyelid was swollen shut.  We were trying to load him at night and he hadn't been loaded for 10 years.  I didn't set myself up for success with this. I had to put him back in the stall and hope for the best.Happily, his fever was gone by morning, the swelling disappears in about four days and there was no damage to the eye.  I was lucky.But this was a wake up call that I need to practice trailer loading even if I have no plans to take my horse anywhere!Thanks for listening.  Our website is under construction, but you can visit at Second Half Horsemanship.com.

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