Horse Skills & Tips: The Unloading of the Horse

Frequently, especially if loading the horse was stressful or concerning for both the human and the equine, when folks arrive somewhere they tend to rush during the unloading and "hurry" to get the horse to the stall or pasture.
The point of the prior interactions with a horse is to increase their availability to "hear" and address what the handler is asking of them, irrelevant of the familiarity of a location. 

But in many cases, as there is during other times of the interaction when the human's focus is only on the task, the Quality of specific Communication offered to the horse diminishes.
Especially when arriving somewhere unfamiliar or new, this is a time when the horse needs the human's support and direction the most.
I have witnessed an endless number of folks who unload and let the horse look around at the new location. This isn't an issue IF the horse is receptive to the human's influence. The problem for most people is as soon as the horse starts looking, the equine's mind is "gone," far away from their body. They start dragging the human around, diving towards the grass, etc. with the person either "following along" or water-skiing on the rope trying to stop the movement.
There is a balance between encouraging a curious horse to look, versus interrupting and redirecting mental fixation, so that the equine maintains an availability to address the handler.
Just getting from the unloading area to the pastures at my summer base, there can be a "lot" of new stuff, and stimulation between round pens, hay covered with tarps, chairs, hotwire, other horses, etc. Even on a calm day, it can be a gauntlet for new horses.
This type of scenario is why I'm always reminding folks to focus on refining and break things down into specific, slow, and intentional segments when asking something of their horse before they ever "need" the tools to do so.
During the unloading, there can be pauses during the horse backing up, stopping when his hind end is on the ground and him waiting to step down with his front feet, there can be a quiet mental and physical halt while the trailer door is being closed...
But we don't start these types of Conversations at the trailer- instead, if we begin to recognize all of the everyday Opportunities to refine our awareness, rope handling skills, observation of the horse's patterns, experimenting with mental directability before movement, influencing one hoof at a time (literally,) helping the horse release tension, etc. we are setting the horse up for success when at the trailer.
The quality of the interaction during the catching of the horse influences the leading, affects the trailer loading, which influences the mental emotional state the horse has while in the trailer, which then affects his physical behaviors when asked to unload which trickles down into his availability and softness when being led somewhere new.
Yet for most folks, when experiencing the unfamiliar and feeling an increase in their horse's concern, they rush in hurrying up to "get it over with."
So what does that teach the horse for future scenarios? If unsure, to hurry. How might that affect the horse's behavior during the loading and unloading?
It is very hard for folks to realize that at all times they are teaching our horse something, whether or not they realize it. Even if things don't go as ideal as you'd like, or it takes longer to work through a situation, the more you choose to stay mentally present and emotionally neutral to help the horse work through things in his time of worry, concern or stress, the more he'll turn to you for help when unsure.
It isn't about being somewhere new, unloading, or walking past scary stuff. It is about developing the two-way communication that builds the partnership and trust. Any opportunity you have, planned or not, try to stay present as to what your horse needs in the current moment, and not have a "we'll work on that later" approach.
Photo: Days past hauling my big rig with eight to 10 horses on the semiannual spring and fall Canadian border to the Mexico border migration.