The Art of Natural Dressage

Hi all,

I found this interesting research article on rear-facing transport of horses:

http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/8HOdSQh2Is ... ermany.pdf

Any thoughts?? Would love to hear if anyone has a rear facing trailer?? or has redesigned the interior of a conventional or stock trailer for rear transport??

We have a 2 horse oversized stock trailer that might have some redesign options..well that along with a wonderful boyfriend who is a welder!! <G>

In the article, it states that you need to get the girth area of the horse over the axles to keep in balance. That seems doable in ours??

Thanks!

Brenda

_________________
http://www.youtube.com/user/Lucy04574
http://www.youtube.com/user/Jack04574

A little bit of background prompting my interest in rear-facing transport...

Lucy came with quite a bit of trailering baggage, most likely transported with small groups in stock trailers?? So some rehab was in order for me to first get her moved to a better barn, and then after several months on to home.

Plan A. Teach her to load conventionally via c/t. She would go into the nose forward reluctantly for treats, stand for a bit, but she would shoot back out dangerously when you tried to do ANYTHING/move behind her girth, like attach the butt bar, open or close the door, etc.! Worked on that for about a month with enough success to get her moved to a better barn.

Plan B. So after that one trip of loading her thru luck and stealth <G> I took out the divider in our 2 horse stock trailer and shaped her via click and treat to BACK IN, turn around, stand quietly while the door was opened and shut, etc. At the same time I counterconditioned her to the bounciness, noises, visuals, and finally movement. I will be reviewing all that this spring so I will get it on video this time!

I had several months to prepare her for the ride home from the boarding barn. When the day came, all went well for that trip. I had a friend drive ( GREAT driver!!!!) so I could follow and watch from behind. She rode loose so she could choose her own style. She travelled mostly rear facing, and at times would turn around, to come back to rear facing again.

Plan C. She still has a lot of learning to do, one of my many projects for this coming year!! I plan to take short trips to graze around our property, letting he ride loose for now! Also, I am interested to see if we can redesign (within reason) our stock trailer so I can transport 2 horses rear facing.

Brenda

_________________
http://www.youtube.com/user/Lucy04574

http://www.youtube.com/user/Jack04574