put your hand on their hip and
gently ask them to step across
softly. Their shoulders should
respond similarly.
4) Send your horse past your
shoulder-This is very similar to
sending a horse out to lunge. If
you ask your horse to step past
your shoulder and go out in front
of you, your horse should calmly
walk past you on your cue. If your
horse feels rushed or nervous,
then you should repeat this until
they have calm energy and show
no sign of stress.
5) Happy to move forward to
Loading
Now that you have assessed that
your horse has some degree of the
above foundations, you are ready
to start loading.
6) Approaching the float
I always park the float in an area
where I can walk around both
the float and the vehicle and
where there is plenty of space
to work. Firstly, if my horse
is still frightened of the float’s
presence, I start from a distance
and weave my way across from
one side to the other, exposing
each eye progressively and then
two as you as you turn. I let my
horse get closer without making
an issue or forcing it – weaving
my way in simply lets my horse
get accustomed to a new object.
Whilst I do this, I constantly test
how they feel on the lead rope,
taking out any little blocks that
I find. This is the most crucial
part – where I confidently lead
and educate. At this point, your
horse can learn to understand
and follow your cues or block and
ignore them.
7) At the ramp, reward any tries
38
at Image Yourwithout fear. be well
a time and horse should
breaching bars -Make sure your
handled from the top of its tail
horse is calm with butt pressure
and used to things touching them.
down to its back feet
Your horse has to be well handled
from the top of its tail down to its
back feet. Once your horse feels
safe to a stick and to your hands I
like to put a breaching rope on. It
is simply just a looped rope which
I use to apply controlled pressure
to their butt. Once they are calm
with the rope I like to back them a
few steps and then gently pull the
butt rope until they step forward.
Repeat this until your horse is
happy with the butt rope anywhere
between the tail and the hocks and
will calmly step forward, one step
Once I am close to the float, I may
just walk past the ramp and let
my horse stand to the side. I do
this on each eye separately, then
with both eyes simultaneously.
Once my horse is beside the
ramp, they may give it a sniff or
a stomp. All curiosity should
be allowed. When I am able to
walk my horse around the float
and around the vehicle and I feel
that my horse is comfortable with
being close to the
float, I walk up inside
the float a little bit,
giving my horse some
room and apply gentle
pressure through the
lead. I hold this gentle
pressure and then
give a vocal forward
energy cue (I use a
click). Maintaining the
same pressure and the
rhythmic click I give
a tap with a dressage
stick on its shoulder.
If there are any tries in
my horse, i.e. if they
lean forward, tap the ramp or take
a step, I stop all cues, giving my
horse a release of pressure and let
them rest. From this point on, I
reward any tries in the same way.
8) Bracing
If my horse decides to brace and
pulls back, I ask What happened?
Why? What’s needed? & How
can I help? Generally a brace in
a horse in this situation is due to
fright or lack of foundation. If
your horse has been leading softly
up until this point, it is likely to
be fright. Either way, you need to
go back to leading lessons. Your
horse may also need more time
adjusting to the float.
To soften in the lead, I apply direct
pressure through the lead to the
halter and ask my horse to go past
me. I can use a dressage stick or
the lead rope on the shoulder to
help encourage forward energy.
Once my horse feels like they can
send forward to the lead I test
them by leading out in front to see
if they brace. I also test my back
up to make sure that backwards
too is soft. Once my horse is
responding and soft to all the cues,
I just go back to the float and ask
to see if they will come forward
again.
Remember, it is not a lesson to
make your horse uncomfortable
away and comfortable at the float.
You are only working on the areas
where you feel resistance and
as soon as you feel a try, and a
softening in your horse, you need
to reward with a softening in your
education, no matter whe re you
are in relation to the float. It is
not good when we encourage our
horses to seek refuge from us and
our education.
9) Teach your horse to back off as
soon as they step on
Once my horse is stepping up on
the ramp, I like to teach them to
back off before I teach them to
load. Once my horse puts one foot
on, I might back them up and
repeat it a few times until it is easy
for my horse. Then I might get
my horse to go on 3 steps and get
them to back off again, then on
again and stand for a bit. I repeat
this until eventually my horse is
all the way in the float. By doing
the lesson like this, my horse can
not only take nice forward steps
doing one step at a time as I ask
for them, but they can also take
the same soft backward steps, one
at a time. In between, when I stop
cue’s, I have made sure that I have
stood my horse until they are calm
and relaxed. At the start some
horses need more time than others
to adjust between tries.
Just remember, if a horse has
grown up around buildings,
stables or cars, floating may seem
less of a threat than a horse that
has only grown up with bush and
open spaces. Acknowledge your
First loading lesson for this young
gelding. Standing both inside and
outside and anywhere in between
of float is very important. Exiting
forwards was necessitated by the
ramp steepness.
Take the pressure
off when your horse
makes a try
Everything Horse UK Magazine • February 2014 • Issue 5
Issue 5 • February 2014 • Everything Horse UK Magazine
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