Danger in the trailer

After reading “Butt-Bar Hazard” (Hands On, EQUUS 489), I wanted to share our butt-bar horror story. We had just returned from a show with our two-horse trailer, and we had unloaded one horse and were just in the processing of releasing the other when someone let off a gunshot nearby. The horse panicked and came out under the butt bar.

He skinned all of the hair off his spine all the way up to his withers. I thought he had broken his back. Thank God he hadn’t, but it took months to heal. Fortunately, he did recover completely.

Your suggestion to attach a chain to prevent accidents like this is a good idea. Thank you for publishing this very important reminder of how something that is supposed to be helpful can also be dangerous. Rae Cooke Oceana, West Virginia