This is one I have had experience with! I helped a girl with a young, big and very pushy gelding float her gelding earlier this year. He had refused to go on her float the previous evening and she had eventually walked him to a friends place after hours of trying. The dually really helped and I managed to put him onto an angled float which he could turn in and walk out of frontwards with little difficulty. After that she asked me to help her put him on her own very old fairly light float. This was a huge challenge as her gelding had no ground manners what so ever. He seemed to have had very little training on the ground but was broken to ride. He eventually went into the float for us - the dually was a great help - and we made him feel nice and comfortable with a some feed so that he was happy to stay there. However when we went to back him out he had the same problem you have experienced - he would not budge backwards but tried to swing around as your horse did and go out frontwards. Not desirable - they must learn to back out! I was told that his previous owner had said that he would not go backwards. This was a huge challenge as the float is meant to be a friendly, happy place and you do not wish to make it unpleasant for them. I must admit I wondered whether we should just walk away and let him sort it out himself but I was worried that he may injure humself in the process. We did finally get him out admittedly with some force but then of course he refused to go back in!! I spent some time trying to teach him basic ground manners with the dually so that he wouldn't just walk over us and that he would learn to back up. Fortunately for the girl concerned I am pretty stubborn and determined when working with a horse and will not let them "win" in such a situation. Hours later we managed to load him and back him out but the float had no divider at that stage. I asked his owner to put the divider in for our next session so that he would be confined and unable swing around. Then a week later we did it all again for about 3 hours with the divider in until he would walk in and out quietly. I believe that he learnt his float lesson well as he is still good to load and unload but it takes time and a lot of patience. Good luck with it - you do have to insist that your filly backs out and a divider in the float will aid this. If she does back with the dually outside of the float then it shouldn't take too long to teach her to back out. Also teach her to back with the pressure of your hand on her chest prior to the floating lessonm Make sure you have your divider in so that she cannot turn around as previously. Put some pressure on her chest with one hand as you ask her to back out with the dually in the other. If she rushes out then you may need to attach a lunge rope to one side of the float behind her and have a friend hold the other side so it is just against her rump to steady her and have your friend slowly move with the rope as she backs. You may need to circle it through the keeper on the side your friend is on to give him/her more control if she tries to back to quickly. Try to keep her straight -if your friend is on the side of the float nearest to her then she may put her hand on her rump with a bit of pressure to stop her stepping off the side of the tail gate and injuring herself Others may have better suggestions. The dually is your most important aid, patience and minimum stress is important and not too many helpers - just one to help if required. Ultimately you need to do it all by yourself.

MiMi
A couple of things to consider when loading and unloading your horse. Horses cannot see directly behind them so when they back out they have to have a lot of trust in you and the situation. The way I would approach this problem would be to only load your filly part way. Have her put he front feet in the trailer only then stand for a minute and give her a rub. Then ask her to back out. Walk her in a large circle and as you come around towards the trailer again line her up so she walks straight to the trailer and load her front again but have her go into the trailer a little more. Repeat the process and have her load to where she just puts one rear foot in let her stand then back her out. You will need to move slow doing this. If you go too fast into the trailer she will get both rear feet in.

Repeat the circle again and have her put all four feet in with the rear feet just inside the trailer and let her stand give her a rub then back her out. What you will be doing is building up her confidence as well as letting her muscles know what to do when she backs out. Finally load her all the way in let her stand for a moment and give her a good rub, back her out and quit for the day. Don't repeat the full load just quit on the success of the first time.
Next day start the process all over again from the start but shorten the time. By the third day she should be just walking in on command on a loose line and backing out the same. One thing that does help is to make sure that the distance from the floor of the trailer to the ground is no more than 8 inches. Less if possible. You may have to buildup the ground around the trailer. After a time you can just load and unload with out difficulty.

Cheers

Thank you very much, Dennnis and MagieF. I will try out your suggestions as soon as i can.
Thanks again,
Mimi

Hi Mimi,
Teaching a horse to accept a trailer situation is one of the hardest for the horse to do.
As Dennis mentioned they cannot see directly behind them and therefore have to really trust you.
Dennis describes a perfect way to get the horse to learn to do this for itself.
Slowly and steadily will help the horse to trust itself to do this on its own.
One thing I have done with Star is previous training, before the trailer is introduced I give her a mock situation with tarps. It has gotten her ready for the actual loading.
One thing here in North America we have a problem with is our trailers being accommadating for our horses.
Most back doors open to the side, leaving the back of the trailer about a foot of the ground.
We are asking our horses to step into space !! Think about that, they are concerned with their safety and we are asking them to go against this.
The perfect design is the door lowering to the ground. Once the horse has learned to back up this is a breeze for them.
By putting their feet on the ramp a little at a time and walking them in circles, takes the pressure off them and they are ready to learn.
I love the video where Monty says to Shy Boy, "do you want to go for a ride, etc..." and Shy Boy runs to his trailer and loads himself, now that horse has trust, right?
You can do this!!!
Ronda

OK- so i have got her to the point where she will easily put both front feet in the trailer. but each time i try to ask her to come completely in, she gets cold feet, and backs out. Any ideas?

Yes mimi,
Are you able to go to horseandcountry.tv?
It's a channel available to all and you can access it on your computer.
On there you will find a series of Monty and Kelly doing loading procedures for some of the hardest I have ever seen.
If you go to that channel and type in horseensensials it should come up.
If not type in Monty Roberts and all of his information will come up and then search on this part.
It's very informative and I have learned so much from this series.
Hope this helps,
Ronda

Another thing you will notice that Kelly Marks does, she does not give in to the horse.
She really applies P.I.C.N.I.C and it works. You can hear Monty talking and expalining what is going on and why.
Try this I'm sure it will help.
Ronda
PS: I saved the site in my favourites so I can view it at any time, perhaps you could also.

Hi Mimi,
Did you see the Q and A question; 4/28/2010: I finally got my horse loading on the trailer. Now I can’t back him out.
Maybe it gives you an other option/idea.
May.

Hi mimi, again
I was just watching the site again and if you want to watch it you type in:
horseandcountry.tv then at the top of the page you type in
Monty & Kelly horsemanship essentials
and you can view as many as you like.
Ronda