Last program I talked about recommendations for loading your horse and today we are going to talk about what happens once the horse is loaded.  First of all, if your horse was not easy to load, give a treat to eat once loaded.  Dr. Sharon Crowell Davis recommends during loading training to then unload the horse after only a minute or two.  After a few days, increase the time inside the trailer.  You need to be very patient in letting them come out of the trailer because stepping backwards and down is not natural for a horse.  After exiting the trailer, the horse should be rewarded with another treat. 

After the horse gets comfortable loading, the first ride should only be a few minutes because long first rides tend to scare horses and make loading more difficult.  Again, after the first short ride, unload and reward with another treat.  Horses have to learn how to stand in the moving trailer and like any other skill it takes practice.  There are some horses that are extremely afraid of trailers.  Some of them have been in accidents or may have been whipped to get in a trailer.  The same techniques of giving treats and being patient will work with these horses but it will take a lot of work and time.  Some of these horses that are afraid of trailers may need medication for the anxiety.  In these cases, Prozac has been used and seems to help some of them. However, Prozac and other similar drugs usually take 4 to 6 weeks to be effective.  Drugs like acepromazine are commonly used to sedate horses but because these drugs do not help with the anxiety, they are not recommended.  In my opinion, training is the best method and drug therapy is a last resort.