This is my favourite expression... NOT!! Not just brooms, but the idea that a horse has to have a person, a lunge line or the dreaded sweeping brush at the back of a horse to push them in.
Theres an old cowboy saying, originally from Ray Hunt or Tom Dorrance (I’m not certain who). “If you spend more time it takes less time“, loading is perfectly depicted in this! By using the ‘just get them on method’, all that you achieve is that the horse feels bad about being on there. which can often cause trouble travelling.
I do my best to always make the trailer or wagon the best place for the horse, so that they want to be there.
But that’s the key, the horse needs to see that the trailer is the good place, rather than outside being the bad place. Its only a very thin line between these two and it takes some practice to get it right, so that it’s the horses choice.
Take a look at some of the loading videos here on the channel. You will see that the horse is never forced into the box. There is a steady amount of pressure rather than a bump or a whack, and it will be small enough not to be scary or threatening to a horse. Take a look on the groundwork channel now!
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