Mag prefers horse trailers from the UK

I was a the barn at 8 am (til 2:30!) and Christina said she'd be there at 9 to help me start Mag's trailer loading training. I had a bucket of grain (donated by Christina) and a mug of tea because I thought this would take half a day. As I've mentioned, I've never had a horse that didn't jump right into a trailer, so this is unknown territory for me. Obviously I understand the basics - pressure on the line when the horse is thinking backwards, and praise and a loose line when the horse is thinking forwards. That's all I've got.

I had my gloves on, my 3 meter long rope and rope halter, and best of all, an ingenious trailer design made for problem horses. It has a FRONT DOOR.

Cheating, I know. I'm a cheater.

But Mag arrived here in January in a trailer that was shaking after a 4 hour drive, and arrived in Wuppertal standing in a puddle of his own sweat. Gabi's trailer was also shaking with his trembling. Horses don't fake that kind of stress.

TEN MINUTES later Mag was standing calmly in the trailer, not thinking about leaving, just hanging out having a snack. When I asked him to leave through the front door, he did slowly and steadily, in no hurry at all.

TEN MINUTES! Yes, at first he tried to resist, pulling to the side, but Christina stood there and held up her hand by his face, and the carrot stick too at times, to say, "This is not an escape route."

Since I did not have that cursed chest bar in my way, stressing me out about where do I go if the horse suddenly jumps in!?!? I was completely at ease. In fact, I walked all the way onto the front door ramp and Mag saw that and said, "You just went quite THROUGH this box!" (In the UK they call them boxes.)

I swear that was the turning point, he decided "Well there seems to be actually enough room for me, so..."

I led him out and around and back in and out and around and back in and then Christina said, "Send him in without you, see if he'll go." That might not have worked except that Mag and I have been doing so much ground work and he really understands going where I point. I pointed into the trailer, waggled the end of the lead, and then threw the lead on the ground as he walked in by himself.

And he stood in there until I asked him to leave, even though he could have easily walked right out the front.

And then backwards out, also no problem.

Afterwards, Christina told me how to shut all the doors and that it's OK if we leave the trailer there for as long as I need. Oh, I forgot, how we got the trailer there.

I said "Where's your car" and she said, "We can move it ourselves." !!!!!!!!!

Like, with our HANDS?

Yes.

This American wanted to say "No freakin' way." But how does that translate.

But we did! Two of us just moved the trailer, I pushed, and she "steered" (I didn't get to see how, exactly cuz I was in back.) Can you believe it?

I blocked the tires even though she said that's not necessary. Not necessary, a trailer that two wimpy women move with their hands? Absolutely necessary, I think! The wind could take it down to the Wupper!

The special thing about this trailer is it has two "legs" on the back that keep it from tipping if a horse loads while not hitched to a vehicle. That is what makes it so  great to train with.

I love this trailer. She said it's a 1985 model from Ireland. I just did some research and found it's called a Rice Beaufort, and in my Internet search, I found that most of these that still exist have been converted into travelling bars or coffee stands. So cute.

But the best thing about the trailer is its obvious stability in comparison to the plastic and canvas models most people around here use. Those ones shatter and kill horses on impact. This one is steel and could probably keep a horse safe in a roll over. Like the trailers I'm used to from home.

It also has, I noticed, insulation. She hadn't noticed that. I had a 79 model trailer with similar insulation, that kept the horses cool, cooler than I was in my first truck that had no AC.

So! Tomorrow I repeat today and then I'll start to make it more difficult, and more similar to reality in Germany - shutting that front door. First just the ramp, then the top half. Christina said eventually we'll take a 10 minute drive around. That's so nice of her. I hope she lets me ride in the trailer but probably not, Germans and their rules-adherence.

But I really, really can't believe my horse went in and so calmly and easily, I am just beside myself.

Some photos of that model. Yay for old sturdy trailers! (And front doors for problem horses!) I wish I had a photo of Mag, chillin' in the trailer, not even thinking about leaving!