Readers: Why is my horse not comfortable while traveling in the trailer? If I am traveling with only one horse where should I put him in a slant-load trailer? How much room should a horse have in the stall of a trailer? What is the loading order, if you load more than one horse? Should a horse learn to go out a trailer escape door? Should you tie your horse or leave them untied?

Charles:
Three things could cause your horse to be uncomfortable riding in a trailer: you are a poor driver, you do not trailer him enough, or he is not used to being tied.
As I mentioned in my last column, if you are a poor trailer driver—turning around corners too quickly or slamming on the brakes—this will create anxiety in your horse and your horse will not want to be in the trailer. Picture trying to stand in the back of a trailer while the driver speeds around a corner (throwing you sideways) or races up to either a stop sign or light and hits the brakes (pitching you forward). You too would soon become anxious anticipating what to expect next!
The other way to get your horse more relaxed in the trailer is to have him spend more trailering time in there. I find most horses will soon be comfortable if you take the time trailering him to different locations. Most people only trailer their horse to places two or three times a year and then expect them to be at ease on the trip. That is not enough. I recommend taking your horse on short trailer trips in between. Load him in the trailer, open the windows up, and take your horse grocery shopping, if it is a relatively cool day. Or just take him for a short drive. Anything to get him used to riding in the trailer.
If your horse is not comfortable being tied up at home how can you expect him to stand still in a trailer? Make sure you do a series of tying exercises with him using a tie-ring (the tie-ring allows a horse to pull some slack in the lead rope when he pulls back) so that your horse learns to relax while being tied for long periods of time. I explain these exercises in detail in my new book, Starting Baby Jaz: A Young Horse’s Journey From Halter to Saddle.
Position for One Horse
In a three-horse slant-load trailer, I will load the one horse in the center compartment over the wheels. This will distribute his weight and balance the trailer. Some people will load the horse in the front but this puts more weight on the tongue or they want to put it in the rear, which lifts up the tongue. If you are loading into a two-horse slant-load trailer, I would load into the front and leave the divider open. This gives the horse plenty of room to maneuver in the trailer. If I am traveling with one horse and feel comfortable tying the horse I will tie the horse and leave the divider open.
Trailer Width and Length
How much room should you allow for your horse inside the trailer? I relate it in terms of this: think of you and three family members (all adults) loading into the front seat of your full-size truck, which like most, can seat four people on the bench seat. All is fine in the beginning but after several miles it starts getting a little too cozy. Everyone starts shifting around trying to get more comfortable because they feel cramped.
However, they are limited in how they can position themselves. It is difficult to lean to the right or the left to shift their weight because they have another shoulder blocking them. Now what if only three family members rode together in the front seat? The group would become more comfortable. If only two rode in the front, it would be even more comfortable. Everyone could relax and stretch out, making the ride more enjoyable.
So what does this mean for your horse? It means you want a trailer stall to have as much width and length as possible. In my new trailer I am designing a slant load that is about eight-feet wide and that is longer than normal so that the stalls are wider and longer. This would allow my horse to step forward or back or lean to the right or left to alleviate pressure.
Loading Order
The only time I worry about what order to load several horses into a trailer is because of weight difference or if one horse is a more difficult loader.
In a slant load, if I have two horses and one is a heavier draft type and the other is a small Quarter Horse, I will put the lighter horse in first and the heavier one over the wheels to disperse its weight.
If I have two horses and one will load easily and the other will not because it has not been trained, I will use the buddy-system to load it in a pinch. I will load the better loader first and the more difficult horse next. This way the more difficult loader will be more inclined to get into the trailer.
I do not recommend you do this all the time; the idea is to do trailer-loading exercises with the horse until it improves. However, if you have to get the horse into the trailer this method will help you. It is just like when I take a new horse out on the trail for the first time. A new horse is not going to be very confident out in a different environment. So, I ask my assistant to join me riding on a babysitter horse—a horse that has been out on the trail many times and is very relaxed and confident—to relax the younger horse.
Escape Doors & Tying
I have only seen a few escape doors large enough to unload a horse in an emergency. Probably 99 percent of these doors are too small, so I would never consider doing this.
To determine whether to tie a horse up in the trailer, I look at the nature of the horse and how emotional it is. If the horse is very emotional and frantic, I may tie it and close the divider to limit its movement. If I have a relaxed horse that has done a lot of traveling, I may leave it untied in a slant load. In a straight load, I will keep the horse tied because he may try to turn around and get himself stuck.
If I have a horse that does not tie well or has a pullback problem, I probably would not tie the horse in the trailer. If I am trailering a long distance with only one horse, I may leave the dividers open and let the horse travel like it is in a big stall. This way if the horse wants to lie down (I am guessing he won’t) or move around, he can.
If you have any questions, please visit me online at www.charleswilhelm.com.

God Bless,

Charles Wilhelm
It’s Never Ever the Horse’s Fault