Last Weeks REINS Horse Owner Ed Workshop

Last Thursday (Feb. 17) we held our first in a series of four REINS Horse Owner Education Workshops entitled, "Is Your Truck & Trailer Roadworthy?" We had a small group of only 10 participants and our presenters were Sgt. Conrad, Sgt. Lanier, & Lt. Penley from the NC State Highway Patrol. It was a very informal, but highly educational question and answer session that went on for over an hour. Some of the highlights that the participants learned include:

• A weighted tag includes the weight of the truck, trailer and what you are hauling (i.e. horses)
• If you have a 4-horse trailer (or larger), you are required by state law to stop at the weigh stations
• If you GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating) is over 26,001, you will need a class A regular drivers license
• If the gross weight of your trailer is over 4000 lb, you need to have it inspected yearly (just like yearly car inspections)
• DO NOT use red die diesel! If you do and get caught, it is an automatic $10,000 fine!
• Safety chains are required on horse trailers (state law)

Our next REINS training will be March 17th at 7 p.m. at the Gaston Citizens Resouce Center. The title of that workshop is "Myth-ology in Horse Nutrition - Debunking Feeding Myths." This session is free to the public, but pre-reistration is required. To register, call 704-9222112.