Well, take a look at WHY your horse doesn't want to enter the trailer in the first place. Horses don't readily climb into dark, tiny spaces where there is no room for escape! That just goes against their natural self preservation instincts. So, ask yourself these questions: Is it light inside? Does it appear roomy? Has the horse been taught that there are good things in line if he gets on the trailer? If not, WHAT needs to be changed in order to make the trailer more inviting for the horse? A less scarey place to be that it seems right now? Those could be "mini-goals". If your trailer is dark, the horse is not able to adjust its eyesight quickly enough to dispel the darkness. To the horse, the trailer looks like an ominous cave just filled with horse-eating monsters. So? Paint the inside of the trailer a light color. Is the trailer a two horse? Does it have a moveable center divider? Then open the center divider to make the trailer seem roomier.
HOW do you *invite* your horse to get on the trailer? Do you pull and yank on the lead rope from in front of the horse while someone behind is further blocking its escape route? Are you tense and nervous? The horse weighs far more than you do and is much stronger. A tug of war is just not going to work and worse, could become very dangerous. Does your horse know how to move forward for you with a light feel on the lead? If not, then you need to teach your horse to do just that. Is your horse allowed to move its feet and back off the trailer if its scared? You need to do that. Do you "encourage" the horse to step closer and closer to the trailer until finally, the horse is brave enough to get a hoof on the ramp all by himself? If not - you need to set that tiny goal. And so on and so forth.
You see, each big picture is made up of small pieces. Just like a jigsaw puzzle. Each piece has its rightful place where it will easily fit to help form the finished piece. This is the same with Equine goal setting. Regardless of what the goal is, teach yourself to examine each small piece and figure out where in the puzzle it fits. If you're not comfortable with horse "language" then you need to learn it before you can try to communicate your wishes to the horse. What *you* might deem a clear request might be nothing more than muck to the horse. This might be the primary goal right now - to learn more of how horses think and behave and to learn your horse's particular "language".
