A short ridge waveguide load is described which absorbs and cancels non-radiated electromagnetic energy in continuous slot or discrete slotted antennas. The load achieves a small physical size by using a resonant structure which includes an absorbing ferrite front section positioned within the interior of the waveguide antenna below the slot and a back section of ferrite material also positioned in the interior of the waveguide antenna. This allows for energy to be radiated from the slot while absorbing and canceling the non-radiated energy using a relatively small size load. In a rectangular ridge waveguide configuration, the front section consists of a pair of posts having a trapezoidal, rectangular or triangular shape.