hay in the trailer
Diana L. Benson (dbenson@juno.com)
Wed, 20 Nov 1996 06:33:36 PST
I don't feed in a trailer if it has a manger. My sweet little (14-3)
mare nearly choked to death when I was hauling her only 23 miles to a
riding area. There was a hay bag over the manger from the previous
weekend ride. I decided to leave it "just to be nice" to AlJawan. When
I stopped at the parking area to get her out of the trailer, she was
dripping with sweat and choking and nearly couldn't stand up for
weakness. I had to climb into the manger area through the escape door
and shove her backwards, bodily out of the trailer. Once out, she put
her head down and coughed and coughed. After a few minutes, she was
okay. There is no doubt this mare nearly died simply because she
couldn't put her head down and cough something out. Feeding in the
trailer is probably okay IF your horse can put it's head down. Now I
tie with a "bungee" trailer tie - and no longer use a manger-style
trailer.
Diana Benson
Joplin MO
dbenson@juno.com