This is How We Do It

Unfortunately, Sonny wasn't nearly as excited as my dog, Nellie, when I asked "Wanna go bye bye?".

When we bought our new trailer, I didn't realize just how small it was. Because of it's size and the fact the Sonny hadn't been loaded in 2 years, he was not interested in getting on the trailer.

I worked with him a couple days before the move to the new barn, but it took me forever to get him in. I got him in good enough to take him to the new barn, but knew that we had some serious practicing ahead.

I moved Sonny to the new barn on August 5th, the same day Linda Parelli posted on her blog about trailer loading. Was that a crazy coincidence or what?

Using that blog and a little advise from some fellow Parelli students, I got back to work on the trailer.

Starting last week, I got Sonny to be confident and comfortable with the trailer. I could get him to go on, but he didn't want to since there was nothing in it for him. To make it more appealing, I worked at making the trailer a 'sweet spot'. Sonny doesn't like moving; he likes being lazy and eating. So what I did was made him move, move, move. Cantering, trotting over ground poles, jumping, etc. Then I would take him to the trailer and ask if he wanted to get on. If he said no, I said "That's fine, you don't have to go on. But now you have to trot, canter, jump, and so on". If he answered yes and went on, he got to relax and eat treats.

I really didn't know if it was going to work or not. I was never expecting the results I got. I used the above theory and then the very next day (day 5 of trailer loading) I was walking him by the trailer and he walked on without me even asking!

I was so amazed by this, I had to take a video (day 7 of trailer loading). Since we both were so confident, I took his lead rope off to show just how good he is at trailer loading!


I am so very proud of him! I can't wait to see what we can accomplish next!