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Nicco wrote:
>
>The study I saw used a stock trailer and video and 20 horses. There was
>no statistical preference to direction faced during travel.
>
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1. Unfortunately, I believe that whoever pays for the studies gets
the results that they are looking for. I have heard, however, more often
than not that horses do ride better facing backward. Their heart rates are
lower and the tendons, ligaments and muscles are less stressed because they
are able to balance better. I may be wrong, but I've read that when you
turn the horse from facing straight to slant, their overall condition
improves approximately 45% (less stress on everything). If you turn them
from slant to facing backwards, though, I've not heard any statistics as to
how much more the horse improves. Does anyone know?
2. I'm assuming that when a horse rests in a slant load, he's
putting his weight on the left rear to balance, (unless the slant is
reversed) so wouldn't there be sort of a "tender spot" in the hindquarter
area just like if we rested on one portion of our body for a while? Or, if
he's bracing, isn't he mostly using his left side against the slant divider?
Does this effect performance at all?
3. If the horse were facing backward, he would use both front feet
as stopping power, right?
4. If you have to slam on the brakes, the slant divider helps hold
the horse in place. What does he do if he's facing backward?
Kim
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