Feeding him on it is a good solution for now... I agree... hang his water bucket there too?
I was very uncomfortable doing it when I first started competeing. I sleep in the trailer so I would feel any thing the horse did. But the hardest thing to get use to was they wanted you to tie them long enough so the horse could lay down at night. The snap on the lead rope is suppose to just touch the ground.
I will practice this alot before the ride too.
But in 5 years of competing I never saw a horse get in trouble doing this.
BEcky