> I wasn't very clear in my request for advice. I would like ideas concerning
> how to encourage a horse to eat hay when in the trailor.
> Thanks - Doug
Does your horse experience increased heartrate or sweats? Does he load
difficultly? If this is the case when accompanied with refusal to munch
it's just a matter of desensitizing him to the fear of the trailer.
Several ways to accomplish this. Some farmers are known to back a trailer
into the horse's pasture and feed in the thing. My Grandfather used to do
this, but I've never liked it. Best way is a lot of short trips. Making
the loading experience an easy one. Dr. Robert Miller would suggest it
has to be done repeatively 30 times in a row. Might not need to be so.
In retraining racehorses I've occassionally run across a horse that
probably had been forced into a starting gate and found a smaller trailer
terrifying. A larger van or slant load usually cures this.
t
Tommy Crockett <tomydore@goblin.punk.net>
Los Osos, California 93402-2715
"it won't matter what you're saying when
the damage has all been done"
Mary Chapin Carpenter