Someone ask that I touch on the training of teaching a foal to load in a trailer. We love to watch Larry work with the little ones. He is very patient and animated in his training. He walks them around and talks with them and sympathizes with them. He says they (Larry and the foal) are constantly looking for the foal's mother, and he is helping them. He takes them over the bridge and over the logs, around the barn and through it. All the time he is asking them, is momma in here, or is momma over there?" What he really is doing is making a game out of it. By talking to them he is constantly reassuring them that if they keep looking they will eventually "find" momma, and they always do. So, up on the trailers they go, looking around in different places. Why would a trailer be any different than looking in a stall, or crossing the logs? After they have gotten comfortable with being on the trailer, he will take them for a short ride and then always back to momma. Never tie your foal up in a trailer. Allow them to find their balance in the trailer without having to deal with ropes/cross ties. This even goes for yearlings. We never tie our horses in the trailer until they are totally comfortable with crosstieing, and being away from the mother and other horses.
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