This message is from: Marsha Jo Hannah <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Jayne Malueg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I have heard of > people tying horses in stock trailers and of people > leaving the horses loose. Which do you prefer?
There was recently a discussion about this on the Carriage Driving List. The bottom line is that it depends on the individual animals, what else is in there with them, and what makes you comfortable. I started out trying to haul my donkey loose in her little 2-horse trailer. However, there was some semi-exposed wiring at the back that she wanted to play with, and she bit a chunk out of the butt pads, so I took up tying her in. Because she was too short for the mangers, I gave her a fairly long rope---enough that she could ride sideways or slanting to the rear if she wanted to, but not enough to reach the wiring; she never had a problem getting tangled in the rope. (Not sure I'd try that with a horse, tho....) If I'm hauling her cart in the stock trailer with her, I definitely tie her short enough that she can't reach the cart with any part of her body. When I haul my Fjords, I tie them "3' high and 3' long". It is important for an equine to be able to raise and lower its head (at least to its knees) both for balance in a moving trailer, and to cough up any dust, hair, hay crumbs, etc that it might inhale along the way. I've got one gelding that picks on the other one enroute, so he gets put into loose cross-ties (he can still reach the floor, just can't bite his buddy). I know people whose horses get along well who leave them loose in the trailer. Some horses, having learned to "balance" by leaning on their tie rope, feel insecure when they're not tied. OTOH, ones that hate being restrained can panic when tied in a trailer. I suspect you're going to have to try what makes sense to you, and see how your horses react to it. Marsha Jo Hannah Murphy must have been a horseman-- [EMAIL PROTECTED] anything that can go wrong, will! 15 mi SW of Roseburg, Oregon
