Matt Feerick
Aug 2
A Detailed Look at Loading Pt.3
Over this 4-part blog series, Matt takes a detailed look at loading — helping you break down your training and troubleshoot common loading problems step by step.
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Building to Independence
Once the horse is able to go in and out of the box, you can start to ask for more. They get to the top of the ramp or step into the trailer, and now you’re beginning to communicate with them in a more refined way. You’re asking them to pause, to stand, to breathe.
You don’t want to rely on bars or physical restrictions to hold them in place. Ideally, the horse is able to stand in the box on their own, and you can mark that with food — simply reinforcing the idea that this is a place where they can rest and regulate.
A lot of the time, I’m looking for the horse to start eating — maybe from a haynet, or from food I’m offering by hand in a way that feels soft, not rushed or grabby. If I feel tension starting to build, I take them back out, revisit the somatics, and then go back in.
The goal is that the horse can truly mentally park inside the box or trailer — not just stand there physically, but actually settle and stay soft.
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Adding Environmental Challenges
At that point, I begin to introduce the kinds of things that might happen around the horse when you’re actually loading up.
I might move around in the box, wiggle some bars, or knock gently on a window. Nothing too sharp or sudden at first — I’m always reading the horse. But as we go, I begin to layer in more of the kinds of noises, movement, and unpredictability that the horse might encounter in a real-life travel situation.
Once I feel that the horse is okay with me moving around, making noise, and disconnecting a little inside the box, then I begin to introduce a new level of challenge: the partitions.
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Working with Partitions
I’ll start with approach and retreat. I close the partition towards the horse — slowly — and feel for the moment when they brace. I pause there.
Then I ask the question: Can you breathe?
If I see them take a breath — even a small one — I open the partition again. If I feel a really big release, I might step out of the box completely, give them a moment, and then reward with food.
There are times when a horse might only be able to get his front feet on the ramp — and that’s the whole session. That’s enough.
There are other times when a horse might go all the way in, stand calmly, eat, have the partition closed, take a breath — and that becomes the whole session. It totally depends on the horse.
There’s no fixed expectation. The goal isn’t to get them on — the goal is to build a horse that can stay soft and thinking, no matter what stage they’re in.
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Creating Distance and Independence
The next step is to work on distance and independence.
What I want to be able to do is stand inside the box with the horse — partition closed, still connected by the rope, dropping food — but ideally, I’m standing a little further away. Maybe I’m further down the ramp. Maybe I’m behind them, near the hind end. Maybe I’m outside the ramp, while a second person stands in front.
There are lots of ways to test different responses, but the aim is always the same: to gradually disconnect, adding the complication of distance, and see if the horse can stay in the box on their own — calm, settled, and thinking.
At this point, I’ll also begin to introduce tying. I add the physical connection to the box itself. Sometimes I keep the rope attached too — especially if it’s early days and I want the option to step in and help. Other times, I’ll take the rope away entirely. I might just hang out, sit on the ramp, and let the horse eat its hay — no big deal, no pressure.
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Sending into the Box
Once you’ve built distance and confidence with your horse standing independently in the box, the next stage is transitioning from leading to sending them in.
I usually begin this by standing at the bottom corner of the ramp, with the horse on it's line in the middle of the bottom of the ramp. I then send them forwards in to the box, I stay where I am. As their nose reaches the corner of the box, I push the hindleg across to turn them into the box and ask them to park. This movement should feel fluid and purposeful — not rushed or reactive.
If I’m loading into a trailer, I might have a second person at the front ready to meet the horse with a treat, reinforcing the position. We’re lucky in our own box, as we’ve got a small tack locker in front of the horse area — it acts like a convenient little tabletop. I mark the position with my bridge and then place the treat so they can eat calmly on their table and encouraging them to remain parked.
Once the horse understands this, I begin to add layers:
• Ask them to go up without me, park, and stand while I play with the partitions.
• Then I open everything and check if they’ll stay parked.
• Finally, I walk out of the box and call them to me — still calm, still connected.
This is where the fun really starts. When your horse begins to seek the place — rather than tolerate it or need strong boundaries.
If you’re working at liberty, this is also where that begins. Start by looping the rope over the neck as they go in, then remove the rope altogether. Set it up in an arena or enclosed area. Worst case? They leave — and you either try again or go back a step. No drama, just information.
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Making the Box a Positive Place
This phase can be a really useful way to help the horse see the box as a friendly place.
Maybe now and then you bring them in to have their feed there. Maybe you tie them up with a haynet and let them rest for a while after being out in the field — so the box just becomes another spot where they relax and recover.
Because at the end of the day, that’s exactly what we want: for the trailer or lorry to feel like another stable.
And when you think about it, the box isn’t really so different from a stable — it’s just that we’ve often taught it to mean something else. Our job is to reverse that association, so the horse feels as safe in the box as they do anywhere else.
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Part 4 of the blog will be released next week...

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Welcome to the platform!
To help you get used to the programme we have made this little guide to walk you through each element of it.
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Welcome to the platform!
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To help you get used to the programme we have made this little guide to walk you through each element of it.
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The Core of the Platform
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This platform is built on my foundation programme. All horses I work with go through this programme. It is split in to 3 levels and any problem can be traced back to an element in this programme.
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WHY 3 Levels?
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It's how I structure all of my training sessions and plans.
Level 1 - Focuses on the mind
Level 1 - Focuses on the mind
Level 2 - Focuses on the body
Level 3 - Focuses on the activities you want to do together
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Level 1: Connection
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The first level focuses on connecting with and understanding your horse. Working through this will deepen your relationship and create important boundaries for you and your partner.
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Level 1: Connection
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Split in to lectures and exercises. The Lectures help you understand horse psychology and the ‘why’ of what we do. The exercises focus on the basics of safety and connecting to a horse of any age or level.
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Level 2: Fundamentals
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This level focuses on all of the key movements that combined make up the goals for level 3. Without them the goals and activities we want to do will be harder for you and your horse.
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Level 2: Fundamentals
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You can work through these movements in preparation for a specific goal or as part of helping your horse better connect with it’s body and your aids; building suppleness and softening the nervous system.
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Level 3: Goals
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The 20 activities that create a well rounded horse. You can work through these in order (particularly good with young horses), or pick a goal and work on it. Either to learn a new skill or refine existing ones.
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ONE OFF AUDIOS
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A collection of recorded training guides for you to listen to as you work your horse. This can be great for ideas and quick plans. Ride with me to coach you through confidence building, or, specific riding & ground work training.
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ONE OFF AUDIOS
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Simply chose the audio you want to listen to. Click it and push play on the pop up that appears. If you are on your phone, you can still listen when you close the screen and put the phone in your pocket.
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Transformations
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The foundation is about preparing and training your horse to understand the activities that make up their lives. The transformations are about having fun and doing the things you bought your horse for in the first place!
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Transformations
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You can work through existing transformations alone and join live programmes with other members. A great way to build community and accountability. Challenge yourself to work to a timeline!
PROBLEM SOLVING KIT
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Examine your horses behaviour and a series of questions to find out:
1. Is the problem pain, behaviour, or, rider or horse missing skills?
2. What part of the foundation is needed to resolve the problem.
1. Is the problem pain, behaviour, or, rider or horse missing skills?
2. What part of the foundation is needed to resolve the problem.
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The horses staying with us, in our barn, are not only interesting cases to follow and watch. But, they provide great training opportunities to learn from unusual issues, complex behaviours and training at all levels
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Join me and other members on zoom where I will cover specific topics, answer questions and help you with training issues. Webinars run on zoom and 2024 is already scheduled.
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Lessons reduced from £75 to £65
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That's Everything!
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If you have more questions, you might find it in the member Resources & FAQ's Section. Otherwise please just reach out to us with an email and we will be happy to help!
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Confident & Connected
Our first transformation will take you through the most important aspect of training horses - helping them become Confident & Connected.
This three week guided transformation will help you to assess who your horse really is, how best to communicate with them and the way to structure and approach your training sessions.
A perfect start to your journey through the Confident & Connected Programme!
This three week guided transformation will help you to assess who your horse really is, how best to communicate with them and the way to structure and approach your training sessions.
A perfect start to your journey through the Confident & Connected Programme!
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