Training for travel

I want Sky to be able to travel so we can enjoy the amazing rides locally, and to have experiences at clinics and horsey holidays further afield so the work to prepare her to be a calm horse to load began at aged 3.

She arrived on a 3.5 ton box when I bought her as rising 3 year old, but she had little training specifically to prepare her (other than standing on tarps which was helpful). Fortunately she loaded well as she trusted her handler (and had a mild sedative) in preparation for her first long journey (3 hours).

Since then, I worked to build her confidence around trailers. I started to invite her to put her feet up on ramps, then walked her up to stand on the ramp before backing off. She's naturally curious so this didn't seem to worry her at all. I had a short loading session with Joe Midgley one day and worked with her on a 511 trailer and a 7.5 ton lorry. After about 10 minutes of practice she was self-loading into the lorry and turning to look out calmly, and standing in the trailer for a few moments. We didn't push it further than that, or secure her in, but just allowed her to relax for a few minutes before bringing her off. This sowed seeds so it could be built on another time.

To weave loading into groudwork practice, I set up a simulated trailer in the arena inspired by a post by Yvet Blokesch of Featherlight Horsemanship. I created a narrow area bounded by the fence on one side and a jump on the other, with a marked 'chute' (aka 'ramp') outlined by a pole leading into it. Using our groundwork skills of leading with lightness, halting on a body cue, and backing, Sky began to 'self-load' into the space and relax when halted.

Loading practice continued over the winter of her 3rd year and it came in very handy for a trip to the vets as she loaded and travelled well with a buddy. This was a great testament to the power of preparation!

In spring (Sky was just 4, and backed by then) we got a last minute place on a clinic about 25 minutes away so Sky travelled solo in a trailer there (she was quite sweaty on arrival) and with a buddy coming home (she seemed much happier). There was clearly still work to do, as I want a calm self-loading horse who is capable of travelling in a variety of boxes, trailers and lorries both solo and in company. 

One day she self-loaded into a friend's 3.5 ton van conversion while we were chatting so she could munch the hay net inside, so she clearly felt happy with that vehicle!

Later that spring, we did our first trailer out to hack (with a trailer buddy) -a 25 minute trailer ride each way and loading/unloading in a horse-specific parking area. Sky loaded and travelled well. She needed to see the other horse when tied to the trailer so some work on independence is still needed. She still sweated up, so my plan was to keep chipping away at short trips over the summer (Sky was now 4). 

We put the training to the test when we attended a cow camp in August- a 2.5 hour trailer ride away. To make this as easy and smooth as possible, we travelled with a buddy horse (with whom she promptly fell in love), and she managed it all really well and got much less warm than on the short haul solo trips we'd taken. This felt like a huge training success.

In her 4th winter, I bought a 3.5 van conversion inspired somewhat by how comfortable Sky seemed in my friend's. In the first week or so, we practiced loading and standing in there, with her having a snack, and having the partition swung in. People recommend a decent first ride out so they get to balance and settle, so her first ride in it was a 40-minute local, smooth loop finishing at home. She was a little stompy and first, but by the end she was munching her hay. She was a bit warm coming off, but learning to balance while moving away from her home is going to add some level of stress. I practiced short round trips weekly for a month, and each trip she munched hay sooner (until it was at 1 minute in!). The stress levels were reducing, but I could tell we weren't quite there yet. I took her to my friend's yard to just walk her around a grassy field and have a snack, before returning home. I was hoping she might associate trips out with nice things.

But... She became a little sticky at loading, so we spent 10 minutes working with that with Joe in a lesson, and she was back to self-loading. I needed this to be really good for solo travel, so over Easter we spent a week doing loading practice daily, clipping her in, but not travelling, until the van became a place to hang out and snack. On the 5th day. I took her out for a 25- minute drive, rode with a friend for half an hour, loaded and came home. The self loading stuck,  she was much less sweaty when she unloaded and stayed calm. The more intensive chunking of progressive practice had paid off. It was our first successful ridden adventure from the van, a month away from her 5th birthday.