2 Trailer ride

A few days ago was Bents second trailer ride. His first was when he came to my place. I wasn't there to see him load. But I did see him unload. He came flying out of that trailer to say the least. But in his defense he had just been weaned from him mom not too long before. Plus he wasn't halter broke either. Well halter broke yes...but couldn't lead. He ran straight into his stall.

Well, in short, we had to move so the horses had to go to a boarding facility. It crossed my mind just before we found the facility that...well I don't have a trailer and well...nothing to practice with. I had to rely on what ground work I had done and hope that when we introduced him to the trailer, for the second time, he would be ok with it. That and the ride itself.

Because of the issues with my pregnancy. The lady hauling my two horses was kind enough to bring one of her hands to help. We both agreed that we would take Tecate, the experienced hauler, and bent out at the same time. The whole idea was to keep the energy level as mellow as possible. Which...it worked great. Both horses were content that the other was near. We also decided that Tecate would load first and Bent would follow.

Tecate head to the trailer to load first. Of course...she has to be a pill. Nothing major but I wasnt the one leading her. She never seems to do well when I'm there and not the one directing her. Especially when it comes to loading. Partly due to the wild fires we had here. She had a bad experience when I was there and one when I wasn't. She had to be evacuated twice. Second evac left her with scars. So she can some anxiety. She loaded ok..lil ancy...but ok. Until they went to shut the divider. She start hollering and stomping. Such a butt. Nothing bad just being seriously impatient and attached to bent.

Next came Mr. Bent man. Again I wasn't leading him so I was crossing my fingers he would do well for the loader. He was a little confused by the mans need to hold the clip of the lead right under his chin. Pretty much holding Bents halter. When he is use to a loose lead and body pressure telling him where to go. But he was a good boy and did what was asked. Even though he was being man handled a bit. Nothing mean...in the mans defence...just more pushy.

I might have let a little bit of a face go when I was watching. Because the lady took Bent from the man and left him on a loose lead. She was in the trailer and asked Bent to step up into the trailer. She wasn't yanking pulling. Just a nice loose lead and asking him gently to step forward. Light little tugs (not even tugs really). Bent looked so cute trying to figure out where the heck the first step was. He was lifting his lil leg be came up a bit short each try. Finally he found the step and took the first step up. Then added his second foot. He was calm this whole time. Even with Tecate stomping and making a ruckus.

Next came the butt. The lady asked him again to come forward and he did. He looked like a dog with shoes on his feet. Haha He was trying to find that step again and just ended up lifting his legs really high and straight up. Not forward. Took him a couple of times to realize he needed to step more forward. Once he did his hind end was up. He stood like a champ. She put a break away tie on him and took his lead off. She stepped out and they shut the door. He tried to follow her once and all it took was an "EH" and he stood still. Such a good boy.

The unloading was even better. Just as calm as a cucumber he waited to be told to unload. You could tell he wasn't expecting the drop out of the trailer to be so much. But he didn't let it bug him. He even stood nice and quiet while Tecate, again being a butt, made it more work than it needed to be to unload. She came out of the trailer pretty darn fast. Almost a little hop out of the trailer straight at bent. He didn't flinch. He just nickered at her.

Through everything not once did the whites of his eyes show, snort, blow, flair his nostrils...nothing. He acted as if this was something he has done a million times over. He did so much better than Tecate. I couldn't be more pleased with him.