by Sheri Pederson, Organizer

A small but enthusiastic group gathered at High Hope Farm in Monticello MN  for the CSDEA trailering clinic the morning of Sunday, April 22. Owner Jennie Hakes started out by inviting everyone to hop in her trailer while she drove them around in the arena so they could consider why trailering might be scary from the horse’s perspective. Following that, she demonstrated three methods for teaching a horse to load without being forced, using four very different horses. Emphasis was placed on this being a training process, so that loading becomes an ingrained habit for the horse. The training should take place well in advance of any need to haul and should be part of any horse’s basic education, just as leading is; this way, in the event of an emergency, your horse will happily get on the trailer. In fact, even a mare that was expected to be a handful practically self-loaded after she gave the trailer a little evaluation! Driving techniques and what to keep in the trailer were also discussed.

After the loading demonstration, Shawn McLane (owner/operator of AllMac Inc) used his years of experience servicing horse trailers to explain what might go wrong on your trailer and how to prevent it. Shawn brought a brake setup in to show everyone exactly how brakes work and what parts wear out. He then started at the front of Jennie’s trailer and worked towards the back, covering each item that should have preventive maintenance and explaining why. He said most trailers are fine with being checked every other year unless you are putting on a lot of miles and/or carrying a very heavy load. He emphasized the importance of getting the tires up off the ground during storage to extend their lives. Even parking the trailer on a 6’ 2x10 board is preferable to having the tires stand in mud for extended periods. Everything was so interesting that attendees stayed a little past the planned timeframe, ensuring they didn’t miss anything! At the end, handouts were provided that described the loading and tying techniques, equine transport and import laws (for MN and neighboring states) and general information on hauling.

Many thanks to High Hope Farm for hosting and providing a great demo and to Shawn for coming over to provide his expertise!