My trailer is a 2-3 horse straight load with a ramp.  The horses basically poop on the hinge area while they ride along.  When we get to our destination, the horses have no choice but to back out of the trailer over their own pile.  The ramp is slicker than snot.  The horses basically slide out the back. What can I do to make the ramp less slippery, aside from telling them not to poop in the trailer?  I don't want one of them to fall on that stinkin' ramp.  It already has a rubber mat on it. Even after you scoop the poo, the residual is still slick enough to cause an accident.  I thought about some shavings, but I've heard you should not use bedding in the trailer.  Do you guys use any?  If so what do you use?  I don't know that it would help the ramp situation any unless I sprinkled it on the ramp after I opened it up....

Amanda

Wet poop + rubber mat = skinned knees

Use the shavings, just dampen them first, seems to hold the dust down.

We always use a bedding in our trailers; used to be shavings, now it is shredded paper. No dust, more absorbancy, endless supply. As was stated, clean the ramp before you use it, and apply some kind of bedding. It should help somewhat.

Gard

We bought an industrial shredder that does a whole paper in one shot. (They demonstrate it by running nickels through the cutters) The bedding is disposed of as regular manure, gardens, fields etc. The urine and manure start to break it down in a few days. If you compost it for a few months, it works well as a potting compound, as there are no acids as found in the wood products.

Gard

Most all of the news print now days use soy based ink.
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So is that good?  Or bad?  This might be an good way to get rid of all the bills and such that you don't want theives to get hold of.  Who wants to pick through a mucky, poopy mess?

These will solve your slippery ramp problems...

http://www.doversaddlery.com/product.asp?pn=X1-27079&bhcd2=1209784072

We use paper every so often when we do not have enough shavings - Im lucky in that I own a Timber Frame construction company so there is normally an abundance of it. Every 3 months we get a load of shreaded money from the reserve bank... it breaks my heart when I see all the millions shreaded... you goto see the grooms - they are horrified...

I do find that it is not that absorbent and is a bit more unsightly than shavings....

Talk about a million dollar bed...

South Africa

Have you considered a different type of rubber or covering for your ramp? Is the rubber smooth or ribbed? I have a 2-horse with a ramp that has sort of like an indoor/outdoor carpeting on it. At least, that's the best way I can describe it. My other trailer has ribbed matting on it which can be slippery if it is wet. I have also seen people add some slats across the ramp in a few places to give the horses a toehold. I haven't had too much slippage problem with my 2 horse and I attempt to push the poop over before I unload. One horse makes nice poops that are easy to move and one makes huge cow pies which are not so easy to get out of the way. Anyhow, good luck with your trailer.