Training Tip: Horse Freaks Out When Tied in a Trailer

Question: Do you have any pointers on how to stop a horse from pulling back in the trailer? My horse is perfectly fine to hard tie outside the trailer, but as soon as I tie him up in the trailer and he feels pressure when he pulls back, he freaks out, rears up and throws himself around.

Answer: It’s normal for a horse to get nervous about being tied up in a trailer. Think about it from his perspective. You’re asking him to go into a tight, narrow space and then taking away his ability to move his feet. As prey animals, horses have a fight-or-flight response and prefer to be in a big, open area where they have plenty of room to move their feet. A trailer makes them feel trapped and claustrophobic.

Your first step in correcting your horse’s problem is to get him confident about just being in the trailer. Follow the steps outlined in the Trouble-Free Trailering video series. Work on getting him to confidently load into the trailer, and then focus on getting him to crave being in the trailer, meaning he thinks getting to rest inside the trailer is the best thing in the world.

Once your horse is comfortable being in the trailer, then work on tying him up in the trailer. I always use an Aussie Tie Ring to tie my horses in the trailer because I think it’s the safest option. If the horse panics and pulls back, the tie ring allows the lead rope to move through it, feeding the horse slack. When a horse doesn’t feel restricted, he stops reacting.

As a general rule, I don’t hard tie my horses in the trailer because if they do panic and react, it can turn into a dangerous situation quickly, where they can flip over and harm themselves as well as anyone near them.

Start by using the tie ring on the first setting, where you just thread the lead rope through its tongue. Load the horse on the trailer, tie him up and then leave him be. If he starts to back up or gets fidgety, calmly back him off the trailer and then put his feet to work. Practice Lunging for Respect, the Sending Exercise, back him up—get his feet moving and changing directions.

After a few minutes, when he’s tuned in to you, load him back up on the trailer and tie him up again. As soon as he backs up or starts fussing around, unload him off the trailer and put his feet to work.

Repeat those steps until, as soon as you load him on the trailer and tie him up, he cocks a hind leg and goes to sleep. I’d practice that for several days in a row until it’s second nature for him to relax and stand still when you tie him up in the trailer.

Then, if you’d like, you can use the second setting on the tie ring, which makes it harder for the lead rope to move through the tongue.