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I have something similar, but yours sounds better.  I don't suppose  
you have any pictures of how the rope goes into the figure 8 and the  
carabeeners?

All I did with my setup was to thread the rope up through the manger,  
then *outside* the trailer and through the tie ring to the back of the  
trailer.  I used this on Caisson when I first got him, as he was not  
familiar with straight loads.  It worked fine, as he just needed some  
encouragement, and any pulling back was very mild.    However, if a  
horse really pulls back, there isn't enough drag on the rope, and you  
can still get it yanked through your hands.


On Sep 9, 2008, at 11:12 AM, Lynn White wrote:

> I just don’t feel very comfortable going in any trailer with any  
> horse (except perhaps a mini)  Things can go wrong so fast.  If you  
> are alone you can get yourself squished like a bug and nobody will  
> be there to help you.   It's always a good idea to be able to do  
> everything ALONE because one never knows who is going to be around  
> during an emergency.
>
> My mare would not load in my straight load.  It took three people  
> and 45 minutes to get her in there.  Then one day I was watching  
> some adventure show about technical rock climbing.  The light went  
> on.  I’ll just belay my mare into and out of the trailer!  I got on  
> the REI website and ordered a figure eight and some high strength  
> carabeeners.  The 25-feet of nylon rope was purchased at the local  
> farm store.  I had some rock climbing guru show me how to loop the  
> rope through the trailer tie and around the figure eight so that I  
> could stop the rope from sliding.  This way if my mare panicked half  
> way through the loading/unloading I could give it slack  and she  
> could get herself in a safe place WITHOUT getting totally away from  
> the trailer.  One could use the same device to SLOW down a horse by  
> having tension on the rope.  Anyway, it worked with me and it’s  
> relatively safe for us both.  Most the time my mare just hops right  
> in the straight load although
> sometimes she’ll test me (she’s a Morab so go figure).  All I have  
> to do is pull out the bucket with the belaying equipment and she’ll  
> go right in.  I don’t even need to use the figure eight any more.  
> Always use the high strength carabeeners…never use the ones that you  
> can get for $2 at the check-out lines.  It cost me about $26 for the  
> nylon rope, figure eight, and high strength carabeeners.    That was  
> six years ago so expect to pay more.  But it’s still way less  
> expensive than another trailer or a session with a trainer or a  
> hospital bill.  If and when I do get a nice slant load, I might get  
> rid of the belaying gear;  but I have kids in college now so it will  
> be a while yet.
>
> The bottom line is to learn your horse and be creative on how to get  
> something done effectively and safely.
>
> Lynn
>
> "Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on  
> people"
>
> -W.C. Fields
>
>
>
>
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Ride Long and Ride Safe!!

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