Horses And Resistance

I'm so proud of my problem filly. I was getting some tack together in preparation for moving my horses to a better barn. My brother, who is afraid of horses was getting the trailer ready. Then, he loaded my Arab, because she is very cooperative. Next, he decided to load problem filly. She hopped on like an old cow and didn't bat an eye even when a piece of Milar plastic that had somehow gotten into my trailer blew up under the feet of both horses. The Arab temporarily checked out for about 3 seconds, but Misty just walked calmly onto the trailer. All my brother did was run the rope through the front and pull lightly. It was amazing how well she did.

I have no doubt that she was so good, because the first time we loaded her we didn't allow for much in the way of resistance. I train all of mine to always go forward with a crack on the ass. So for her first loading, I used a rope halter and long lead. I ran the lead through the front of the trailer and handed it to my brother. He took all the slack out of the rope, and Misty stepped forward. She calmly walked halfway on and stopped. We let her stand with no pressure for about 10 seconds. My brother gently tightened the rope up again. The filly gave her head, but refused to walk forward. Furthermore, she started to sit back on the halter. I gave her a swift one before she could really get going, and she hopped the rest of the way in.

By defeating the initial resistance, we made the second loading go off without a hitch. Now, it is ingrained in her mind that she goes onto the trailer and saying "no" is not an option. This also helped her to realize that any resistance against the halter is futile, and she is now much lighter, She leads anywhere without balking. My experience is teaching me that your first chance to teach a horse something is the only chance to really solidify it in their head without having to deal with major problems. I'll take a wild adult horse over a spoiled one who knows that there is a way out of something other than submission.
The same principle applies to teaching a horse to accept farrier work. My filly had never had her feet trimmed. I am surprised that her feet weren't terrible and her legs weren't more crooked as a result. Here's what I did:
I planned ahead and scheduled the farrier like I normally do for my Arab. This filly would squeal and attempt to strike anyone messing with her front legs. Rather than try and try to pick up and hold her feet, I fitted a front leg strap. This is simply an old stirrup leather wrapped in a figure 8 around her leg so as to hold the front foot off the ground. I had touched all her legs a lot with ropes and a lunge whip, so she wasn't too upset as long as I put it on quickly. I then went out to the end of my long lead rope and waited.