Kat said,
Since trailers with hay mangers come in step up as well as ramp load, the adequacy of a trailer's ramp is independent of whether the trailer has a hay manger or not.
The straight load manger-style trailers that have ramps are usually bad ramps. The straight-load with step-ups have the horse stepping out blindly backward and down. You better always use shipping boots with those, because sliding a leg too close and under the trailer can cause a career-ending injury. If you have never had a horse slip while backing out, you have just been lucky.
Not all trailers with hay mangers have "upper doors" (like the step up variety), and some of those that do (like mine that has a ramp) has hooks on the upper doors so they can be secured open
The trailer we had was a Logan with a ramp and the doors hooked open. The horse that we had at the time was refusing to load, so the local farrier/horse trainer decided to winch the lead rope through the front manger window little by little. However, the horse reared while on the ramp and not only got his legs over top or the door, he was moving his head back and forth in resistance to the pulling on the lead roap, and there was a metal lip at the top of the door opening that sliced his face down into his nasal passages. He had to be stitched in two layers from the inside out. His legs were torn up, and the trailer door was ruined. The vet bill was over $1,000 and the trailer door had to be replaced. I came to the scene just as it was happening, and the farrier/horse trainer walked away from my horse that was pouring blood from nose and leg, and said he had to get to another appointment. Mario Santana may still be practicing in So. Cal.
If a horse can get its feet up into a hay manger, it can get its feet up over a chest bar as well.
Not the same thing. The reason a horse climbs into the hay manger is because their feet hit that front wall, and they panic. However, the chest bar is right up against thier body, and their feet are free to surf for balance and they can stretch and lower their neck. And any trailer that has a chest bar has a way to unbolt it from the outside of the trailer.
I have seen them try to get under a chest bar...and get their heads caught under a chest bar when they put their head down reaching for some hay
If the trailer floor is kept clean before loading, this would not happen. Also, if the horse for any reason lowers its head while loading, just back them out and start over. If the horse is loaded, and their head is tied, there is no way they can turn their head back far enough to come around under the chest bar.
Yes, it is an extra tall, extra wide trailer That would help a lot. But the ones referred to are the regular-sized ones that are seen everywhere. And I think most people have seen big QHs and TBs crammed into them with their tails flying down the freeway.
They are also usually older trailers, therefore, the suspension is leaf spring rather than torsion, the metal doors rattle loudly and the horses internalize all that stress. By the time they arrive, they are not happy inside even if they haven't reached panic mode.
