Shipping safety?

My mare is absolutely TERRIFIED of trailers. She%26#039;s had some bad experiences (my fault, I%26#039;ll admit.) I%26#039;m trying to think of ways that I can make riding in the trailer less stressful for her. I%26#039;ve got a two horse and I usually leave her loose on one side, with the barricade up. Obviously that doesn%26#039;t give her much room to move around, but she%26#039;s fallen when I%26#039;ve not had the barrier.


I%26#039;m planning on buying her a head bumper and shipping boots and covers for the butt bars.


I%26#039;m also thinking of covering the front of the trailer/ edge of the hay area but I%26#039;m not sure with what. Any ideas?


Also any other ideas of things I can do to help prevent trailering from being stressful?

Shipping safety?
You definitely need to work with her in the trailer. When you have time on some days after riding, load her into the trailer (it doesn%26#039;t need to be hitched) and feed her meals in there. She can%26#039;t be afraid of what she is used to, so just get her familiar with pleasant trailer experiences.
Reply:you should practice loading her, having her stand and getting off. do this a few times until she doesn%26#039;t seem as nervous. let her sniff around and have a little hay.





perhaps try doing short trailer rides, just to have her relax, and she gets used to them?
Reply:To get my horse used to the trailer, I fed him his meals in it for about 2 weeks. Then he learned to associate a good thing with the trailer and now he loads like a dream.
Reply:Ah. I%26#039;ve had trailer problems similar to this as well. The safty boots and head bumpers are a good idea, just be sure that she%26#039;s gotten used to them before you try and put her on the trailer. I also suggest that you try feeding her on the trailer. I actually had to do this with my horse for about a month to get him to go on the trailer at all. After that, try to load her with a bucket of grain so that you can reward her everytime she gets on the trailer. You should also keep the divider bar closed, because she can seriously hurt herself if she falls down, or i%26#039;ve even herd of horses flipping over too.
Reply:load with a bucket of grain, feed her in the trailer and try just loading and unloading the shorter time in the trailer and the grain should get her used to the %26quot;good thing%26quot; in the trailer...



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