Ridecamp: [RC] won't eat hay in trailer

Got another question.  My 13 year -old gelding is just great with
trailering and Ihaul him around to places to ride up to 3-4 times a week &
he goes regularly to compete on weekends.  He is really good at loading and
stands calmly to load and unload.  Unfortuantely he just won't eat hay in
the trailer.  Fresh or old, it makes no difference.  Its the same hay he
eats just fine in the field.  I tried gettig a bale w/lots more alfalfa,
just to see if he would eat it in the trasiler......no, but he'll polish it
of out of the trailer.  He even seems to refuse to eat any treats in the
trailer when I stop for gas or mother nature stops.  Hes about 50/50 on
taking a bit of apple, carrot or Nicker Maker.  After unlaoding he seems
great and anxious to go.  He'll eat grass or hay.  I try to combat the
problem by arriving early and giving him a bit of a sloppy mix of soaked
beet pulp w/some of his beet pulp-based feed (Race Ready).  Hes anxious to
eat that and get back to grass/hay.  He seems very regular on rides with at
least one pee stop and regular pooping throught the rides.

Because of his lack of eating in the trailer I try to schedule training and
competitions w/in no more than 2-3 hours because I fear the toll of too
many hourse w/out roughage.  Also, I am a slow cautious driver when pulling
a trailer, so I don't think I am giving him a rough trip.  I have a nice
truck in good working order so I doubt I am affecting him with exhaust
either.

Any thoughts on getting him to eat his hay?

Jon K. Linderman, Ph.D., FACSM
Assistant Professor of Health and Sport Science
University of Dayton
300 College Park
Dayton, OH 45469-1210
Voice:(937) 229-4207
FAX: (937) 229-4244
jonlinderman@xxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.udayton.edu/~linderma




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