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[RC] Trailers - Dana B.
Boy, can I vouch for this! Being very much *not* a professional hauler but having to haul a mare for breeding over 800 miles, I came across this recommendation while researching ideas for the long trip. The last time that I hauled horses on this same trip they lost a huge amount of weight and arrived sad and dehydrated, and I was determined not to let that happen again. I did bed thickly with the orchard grass hay that I normally feed, and tied a bucket of water in with her with a fair amount of the hay in the bucket to keep it from slopping. I also pre-fed my mare like I was preparing for a ride, namely lots of very sloppy beet pulp. She rode loose in the front half of an open stock trailer (facing backwards the whole way). We stopped about every two hours and while I didn't let her out, I did offer her more beet pulp mush which she sometimes ate, sometimes didn't. She arrived looking great! I don't think she lost any weight at all, her hydration was great, and her attitude was good (a great thing considering she'd been in the trailer 17 hours). This is a mare that was petrified of trailers when I bought her 3 years ago, and is still not a great traveller. I was *very* pleased. Here's hoping the return trip next week is as successful. Dana ddbpaso@xxxxxxxxx ************************************ Do you Yahoo!? Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now
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