Getting back out there (part 1 - there and back again)

With one thing and another, Belle and I really haven't been anywhere for over 3 years (and Belle has been with me for four years). Our last trip out was one of those "other" things, as she had sarcoid treatment last year and went in to the vets in my sister step-up slant trailer along with a HiPo pal. Trailer loading hasn't really been a problem, though she did sometimes get a bit sweated up.

So I was maybe a little *too* complacent about the travel aspect when I signed up for a 2 day clinic about an hour (in a trailer) away. I did some basic trailer and car checks, but didn't do any loading practice.

I'm guessing you can predict what happened next......

Belle, having spent the last 3 years being either in the company of another horse, or not far away from one, thought that the idea of getting in a "tin can" by herself was unreasonable and objected.

Luckily for me, I have a sister - who more than stepped up to the mark by 

- initially coming down to help

- and then going and getting her trailer (the step-up slant one) complete with HiPo pal, and taking Belle to the clinic venue for me

Belle was in that trailer within seconds (hmmmmm).

Also luckily, I had booked a stable as someone Belle could chill outside of her sessions, which meant that rather than bringing her home at the end of day 1 and having the same (or worse) issues on day 2, she could overnight and end of day 2 - either she came home in my trailer (I took it down empty) or I could ask for another really big favour from my sister to come get us.

 I'll cover the actual clinic in another post, but the clinic trainer (Joe Midgley ) was kind enough to spend some time at lunchtime day 2 to work on loading. While the ground work from day 1 had definitely helped, Joe's approach soon got Belle loading calmly. 

At the end of day 2 second session, Joe suggested I double check I could load ok, then let Belle chill in her stable. This also went ok.

However it's worth noting here that Joe talked about the different challenge of needing to load by yourself. You can't be both at the front of the horse, and also at the back putting up the bar and ramp.

Cue my first mistake - as I attempted to have Belle stand in the trailer when I went around to the back. She wasn't comfortable with that, and backed out.

She loaded again ok, and one of the other attendees helped by putting bar and ramp up while I stayed at the front. Phew..... (not quite)

I then went to shut things up to leave (e.g. jockey door) and Belle had another panic - doing little bucks/rears and kicking out at the ramp. I opened the door and she stopped, with people already running over to check we were ok. Upshot was that we got the door shut again and got moving without another panic. I kept an ear out for any sign of panic from behind and called my sister to see if she could meet us at the farm to help unload (she could and did).

Unloading was managed as a result (but might have been a problem without someone else to help).

Work to do here clearly !! (as well as getting the trailer checked out. It gets regularly serviced but also hasn't been anywhere for a while).