The adventures of Gilly the rescue horse and his side kick and partner in crime, Pokey the donkey.

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Being with a horse is a journey that never ends. What they have to teach us is amazing; but we must quiet our mind to hear them. ~ jca

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Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Trailer Loading

This is Gilly ready to jump into the trailer; we had been working on it for several days and he was getting better at it. We are playing one of Parelli's games called the sending game. I wonder why I didn't think of using it before. Sheri came over and showed Kim and I this and Gilly remembered it and took right to it.

Hop right in there Gilly!!! You can see that we have the divider over. This just helps the horses not feel so confined and when their confidence is up and they are loading this way well then the divider will be fastened in place and we will start again. Gilly has already been in the trailer with it closed but won't stay in. That's OK though, he will build confidence and stay in. Then we will have to work on him loading on the other side. Gilly won't be in that side for the most part, unless there is a bigger horse riding with him. Gilly is bigger than Lacy so he will always ride on the drivers side. Heaviest horse always rides there; but he needs to learn to ride on either side. This will take longer but when finished he will be good to go in any situation.

Oh, good Gilly!!! He will stand in the trailer like this and doesn't care. I have put the stick behind him to simulate the butt bar and he doen'st mind. When I try this with the divider up he wants to back out but with work he will get used to it. He is backing out really well. This is what he had all the problems with before. He didn't like to back out but wanted to turn around and come out head first. Now he is backing out with no problem. Lacy is having more problems, she isn't as confident as Gilly. She will get herself worked into a tizzy and be dripping with sweat then finally load fine. Someday we will get to take them somewhere??? LOL




14 comments:

Paint Girl said...

Good boy Gilly! You are making such good progress with his trailer loading! Way to go Jane!

Jacque. said...

Hey Jane...I love Gilly...he is such a smart and good boy! Cannot wait for Julie to see how well he's doing. Kudos to you for the training!

Katharine Swan said...

I totally need to practice trailer loading. Because of his past Panama is not good with the trailer at all. It was a terrible ordeal to get him to load up last time. I have my trainer's trailer on loan but Panama pulled it off the block by accident and I have to figure out how to fix that before I can practice with him again.

You've inspired me, though -- so perhaps this weekend I'll do something about it!

cowgirljlynn said...

How nice that Gilly loads so easy!

allhorsestuff said...

What a good boy Gilly is and he trusts you soo much!Good job dear!
I always turn my mare around in the trailer..she stands and I unhook her and we walk right on out. When I have others in my trailer..I only have them do this as I have ad too many horses hit thire heads going up when backing.They hate backing off the unseen abyiss! But this too is debatable..two ways of thinking!

Dusty Devoe said...

Isn't fun when they finally get it!!! Had a loading lesson with Dusty a few weeks ago, and it went really good, until the next time!
I don't have a trailer to practice with, I think that would really help.

Fantastyk Voyager said...

That's great!

Trailer loading training was quite an ordeal last summer. We did finally teach Anne to load, however I haven't tried it for some time now.

jane augenstein said...

Paint Girl, yes, Gilly is doing well, he catches on quickly, good for me. He's a pretty laid back boy, I'm lucky!
Jacque, he is a good boy! A good fun boy!
Katharine, oh, poor Panama that's scary. Gilly got a little scared when the trailer came undone on us in the field too. But he's forgotten it now. We still have a lot of work to do.
Cowgirljlynn, Gilly is getting it but we aren't there quite yet, but he is doing very well.
Kacy, yes, I do think he does trust me. Coming out frontward is OK if you have a slant load but since we will be using a straight load he will have to back out. I want him to learn how to get in on either side, back out load with me on either side of him. I want to be prepared for anything.
Dusty Devoe, I don't have a trailer either and with I did. I have to wait until my neighbor hooks her truck up to the trailer so we can practice. So on days when she is busy I can't work with Gilly. I am still looking and hoping that I can get one of my own so I can work with it when I want to.
Fantastyk Voyager, I guess it's something that you have to work on some all the time; just to keep the skills sharp.

Angie @ thejunkranch said...

Hey Jane, haven't been out much lately so I've spent a good while here catching up. Looks like things are moving quickly...the last time I was here you had just cantered Gilly for the first time. I love seeing the countyside there...really beautiful. That big smile says it all...have fun!

dexmangoldens said...

Good Boy Gilly!!! He is so smart.

jane augenstein said...

Angie, Gilly is doing very well and we are having fun! Things are greening up around here and the weeds are ahead of everything! :-(

Julie, Gilly IS a good boy!!!

Desert Rose said...

Love your new look!!! Jesse is terrified of backing up in a trailer. There is not many things that can cause him to panic and this is the worst! So I bought a slant and he can ALWAYS turn to get out. I have had to take him in a straight load a few times...and it was really hard work to keep him (and me) from getting hurt as he starts to scramble!!! Glad you got a ride in!!!

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Way to go Gilly! And good for you Jane that he trusts you so much and you are working so well together. I must find out more about these parelli games someday, I think. I just don't have the money for all their pricey videos and products. sigh.

Maybe you could share a video of how you use that game with Gilly to jump up in the trailer?
He sure is one handsome boy. I bet you are very proud of him :)

~Lisa

jane augenstein said...

Desert Rose,Thanks! Gilly wasn't really scared, just not confident about stepping down. He never seems like he panics over much of anything, I'm lucky he's a pretty laid back horse.

Lisa, I am lucky that I have a good horse and catches on to things quickly, pretty easy training. I will see if Kim will video Gilly hoping into the trailer next week when we are working with them again. Thanks, yes, he did turn out to be quite the handsome boy, I am extremely proud of him!!!

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