Trailer loading is a significant welfare challenge for horses, with fear of loading causing injury to horses and handlers and predicting transport stress throughout the journey.
Trailer loading fear creates a cascade of welfare harms: the loading process itself causes acute stress and injury risk, the horse arrives at the destination in an elevated stress state, and owners who struggle with loading often defer necessary veterinary and competition transport, compromising care. The good news is that loading problems are almost always preventable and treatable. Systematic approach-retreat training that allows the horse to choose approach at its own pace, combined with positive reinforcement, resolves most loading problems within days to weeks. This approach also creates a horse that loads calmly under any circumstances, removing a major source of welfare stress from its life permanently.