Re: trucks & trailers

[Lynne Glazer <lglazer@cyberg8t.com>]

Deb and others,

My mare always arrives with a big black spot on her RIGHT  butt/hip from
leaning/bracing herself into the corner towards the front of the rig.  My
trailer is an older oversized slant gn, and she has a lot of room despite
being a size 78 in blankets.  She'll get this no matter which stall,
whether she's wearing an antisweat sheet, etc.  The trailer has black vinyl
padded dividers and black mats that come way up the wall.

It's always funny when she's getting her ride number applied.

I think she balances easier, can get her head down if she wants, has room
to go up and back within her stall because it's very long, and seems to
handle long (7+) hour rides with no stiffness or sweat, just that big black
spot.

And for the person who is considering the immense leap from back o' the
pickup to LQ trailer, there are lots of steps inbetween.  A combo-stock
gooseneck with a dressing room is one of them, and yeah, it's cold in the
morning if it's uninsulated like mine, but camp setup is a breeze, and
having a queen-sized bed in the overhang is wonderful.  I wish I could sit
up in mine without brushing the ceiling, especially when it's wet with
condensation.

And I prefer double doors because of the wind, also.  Those single doors
scare me to death, at least in our climate.  Most critical to me was stall
width and length when selecting a trailer.  Sometimes I use my first stall
as a feed site, and the escape door is what allows me to do it, but more
often I use the foldaway feed room.  And I preferred the aluminum after
borrowing this trailer for a few trips before buying it.  The one thing I
did do, after having the few holes in the floor repaired due to the
reluctance of the former owner to pull mats and clean, was to have the
entire floor and a little ways up the wall epoxied.  No more sweat over pee
damage, etc.

Lynne
and Rem-member Me, injured AGAIN <groan>
SoCal


>This is strictly one anecdotal report, but maybe will help someone else!
>I know that most endurance horses probably go to rides in slant loads
>just fine. But I do have a question. Were slant loads begun as a result
>of studies saying horses actually rode better or more as a space saver
>to get more horses on? That has really never been clear to me. And what
>does "ride better" actually mean when people say they ride better- that
>they can just balance better and are happier. Or does "ride better" also
>mean "should arrive better" taking into consideration possible
>musculo-skeletal consequences?
>Deb LaBerge