First Trailer Ride

Mystery was waiting for us in the roundpen. The pen was a circle of 10 foot tall plywood with two big doors. He could not see out and was circling back and forth, yelling to the herd. The cowboy I hired, a calm, soft spoken gentleman somewhere in his 50s, arrived with an old heavy duty truck and a two horse straight load. "How are we ever going to get him in there" I asked, watching thru a hole in the plywood from the outside as my horse galloped round and round. "Don't worry Miss, I have my methods" the cowboy muttered as he turned the truck and started backing the trailer toward the gates. "Now when I get close enough, you open those gates so I can back my trailer in and DON'T you let that horse ESCAPE" he said.

I opened the gates as he slowly back the trailer in. The entrance to the trailer was flush with the gate so where there was once an escape now there was a trailer. "You can try leading him in first Miss and when you get to the front you need to quickly tie him off and jump out of the escape door". Well that sounds easy enough... By this time I could halter Mystery and lead him around the ranch; he was learning he could trust me so I brought him staight up to the trailer and stepped in. He followed, smelling the hay and the sweet feed in the manger but as soon as I got to the front and opened the escape door he panicked, backing out as fast as he could go. I tried again, but this time he refused to enter the trailer and had a panicked look in his eye.

"well, lets try a different method then Miss" said the cowboy and asked me to step outside. Soon he had Mystery running in circles, round and round, changing direction. Soon he was lathered in sweat and the cowboy let him rest by the open trailer. As soon as Mystery moved from the area he would work him again, then invite him to rest by door. Soon, Mystery would just stop by the entrance and then it was like a light bulb went off in his brain, he looked at the entrance and stepped inside and up to the manger, grabbing a mouthful of sweet fed. The cowboy attached the butt chain and I attached his halter to the trailer tie...we were in business and ready to go home. I was thrilled and excited...Mystery would be about 40 minutes away from me instead of 2 hours and I would be able to work with him. Our new life awaited us...