A horse’s refusal to load is a highly undesirable behavior that needs to be resolved. Horses are taught to refuse to load in the same way that they are taught to engage in many other unwanted behaviors. They perceive the undesirable behavior to be easier and more rewarding than alternative (desirable) behaviors.

Owners may attribute a horse's unwillingness to load to a past accident or bad experience. This may have been the original cause, but fear of a past experience can be overcome with consistent and correct handling. Occasionally a horse cannot physically load because of injury, but this is rare.

If your horse is hard to load into a trailer, please review and practice the related skill "Teach Horse to Trailer Load" before an emergency arises. Contact your vet, who can recommend trainers in the area that may be able to help you solve specific problems.

If however, you are faced with an emergency and you cannot catch your horse, call your vet who may be able to make a farm call to help you load the horse. If the horse requires transport to a hospital, ideally your vet is an experienced horse person and they can help load the horse. In rare cases, they may choose to use sedation to facilitate the experience but this is not any sort of long-term solution.