# What kind of trailer should I be looking for?



## beau159 (Oct 4, 2010)

I also personally agree that gooseneck trailers just offer a better ride for the horses. I will never own a bumper pull. 

I pulled my 3-horse Exiss horse trailer with my hubby's GMC 1500 for a couple years, until I could afford to buy a 3/4 ton pickup. It wasn't ideal, and it really struggled with big hills and strong winds, but I made do with the situation. 











If you truly don't think you will haul more than 2 horses, I would try to find a 2-horse gooseneck with SMALL dressing room, in an* aluminum *trailer. You can find slant ones or straight or stock, whichever you prefer. They are harder to find, but they are out there. 

My trailer pictured above is about 5,500 pounds empty. Add 2 horses, tack, etc and the weight gets to be 10,000 pretty quickly. So when you are trailer shopping, make sure you look at trailer weights. Granted, my trailer has a very large dressing room, so that adds to the weight as well.


----------



## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

If you're considering a gooseneck, be sure to take into account the payload capacity of your truck as well. They are heavier trailers than an equivalent bumper pull and put more of that weight on the truck, so often overload a truck's payload capacity before getting close to the towing capacity.

When selecting a trailer, also consider the size of the horse(s) you'll be hauling. If you have a horse that is very long, you may have trouble finding a slant load that's comfortable for longer trips. If your horse has a low set neck, it may not be comfortable in a manger style straight load. If the horse is tall you may need an extra-tall trailer.


----------



## jgnmoose (May 27, 2015)

Thanks for the replies. This is going to be quite a search it seems lol.


----------



## windsong (Aug 9, 2015)

I have a used 2000 Brender-up... two horse with a small tack area. It's a bumper pull and I LOVE it. One reason I bought it was because of light weight of the European design.... yet sturdy build. I pull it with my VW Diesel Touareg. 

The horses do well in it... the one thing I would change is I'd make more air flow. I have installed a fan that really helps on hot days. The furtherest we've traveled with it is about 90 miles, so I've not done really long distance trips. 

For the short ride to the trails from the barn, it's been a very good purchase.


----------



## Reiningcatsanddogs (Oct 9, 2014)

Consider how well your horses travel. I have one that is a bit longer bodied and more than a little Claustrophobic. If he doesn't have adequate vision to the outside, he becomes a scrambler and will injure himself in the panic. He prefers a stock trailer or being hauled backwards. 

He also loads better with a step up. None of these things we realized until AFTER we bought a straightload, enclosed two horse with two small windows, in the front, one fixed, one 1/2 slid open and a ramp! I wanted the ramp to make it easier on my old guy, but found some of the other horses didn't like it (Tough bananas, they still have to load). 

The scrambling part though was a problem as no amount of training seemed to be able to calm him and getting to your destination finding that the shipping boots have been destroyed and your horse has injured his legs really stinks. Think back to the other times you have trailered your horses and how they did with each type of trailer. 

Also in North Texas (from the central hill country here) consider the weather. If you are primarily hauling in the summer, consider a more open trailer as the fully enclosed ones, especially with a horse in it, become an oven in minutes even with all of the vents and windows open. If you will be hauling more in the late fall, winter and early spring when it is more rainy, you might want to consider an enclosed one or end up with possibly wet, cold horses (the proverbial horsicle). A good compromise might be one of the fully enclosed ones, which also have horizontal half doors, look for the kind that allow the upper ones to be easily removed in the summer and put back on in the winter.


----------



## jgnmoose (May 27, 2015)

I am more concerned with heat than cold. I think if it is pretty cold a horse blanket could help that. Harder to do anything about heat. Maybe I am being naive about that.

I don't mind throwing the tack in the back seat of the truck so a tack room isn't a priority for me. Optimistic but if I can haul a horse that feels good around might win something better someday 

It sort of makes sense that you wouldn't find a 1 horse stock type trailer, but I'd give one a look if I came across something like that. 

@windsong, thanks for the tip on brenderup. I hadn't heard anything about them.


----------



## beau159 (Oct 4, 2010)

jgnmoose said:


> I am more concerned with heat than cold. I think if it is pretty cold a horse blanket could help that. Harder to do anything about heat. Maybe I am being naive about that.


Yes, you've got to have good airflow. 

Cold really isn't much of a problem either, so long as your horses are healthy and develop good winter coats. 

With my trailer I posted above, I open EVERYTHING completely all the time, until it gets to be less than 30*F. Then I'll be selective about what I open. But the horses are fine and the airflow is definately important for their respiratory system. 

My only complaint with my trailer is I wish I had a drop down window on the front escape door, for even more air flow.


----------



## jenkat86 (May 20, 2014)

I have both a gooseneck and a bumper pull. My gooseneck is a 2 horse aluminum slant load with a small dressing room in the nose. It is much easier to pull than the bumper pull. It feels a lot more stable especially when going down winding roads. The bumper pull is a steel slant/stock trailer. It doesn't pull as nice, but it does get much better air flow, and for me it's a lot easier to hook up to when I'm by myself. It has also come in handy for hauling several goats, 4 wheelers, hay...you get the picture. 

In a perfect world, I would like to have a GN stock combo with the removable sliders in the "windows." Sundowner makes a nice one that I am in love with.


----------



## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

I prefer stock/combo trailers because they have a lot of ventilation and can be used to haul just about anything in addition to horses.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## Sharpie (May 24, 2009)

You're going to hear everything from the idea that you shouldn't pull horses with anything less than almost a semi truck to people hauling a three horse with their Honda Civic (slight exaggeration to make a point). How much experience do you have towing things? Live animals or cargo? Your driving plays into the safety factor. If you tend to tailgate, it doesn't matter how big and bad your truck is, you're going to give the horses a rough ride at best, and end up in someone's back seat at not-so-best.









I tow a 2H BP Slant (empty weight 2100lbs) with my 2011 Tacoma (factory tow package 6500lbs) with a weight distribution hitch and a brake controller. I usually haul just my quarter horse about an hour away to a park once or twice a month. Occasionally, I drive my horse and all our stuff 2000 miles cross country when the military moves me, or I take myself, my horse, a friend, her arabian and all our junk a few hours to go camp and do an endurance ride for the weekend. I MUST pay attention to what I'm putting in truck and trailer, and have never gone over what I estimated to be 5000lbs because I want a safety margin.

My gas mileage is nearly cut in half when I am pulling heavy. But I can go up whatever I need to (tested up to 7% grade) and more importantly, STOP! when I need to. I also drive conservatively even when I'm not towing, so it's really no change when I am towing. I have actually lost count of the number of people who have told me (after riding with me or traveling in front/behind) how surprised they were at how well my truck does. I get a lot of crap for it.

Your truck *looks* big, but a 1500 isn't all that much truck either, relatively speaking. Make sure you look for a lighter trailer- some two horse BP trailers can run 4K lbs empty and GN are even heavier! Which your truck SHOULD be able to handle it (check payload capacity, which is going to be eaten up by everything else in the truck, humans included, as well). Be smart, and if you don't have much experience towing, get with someone who does to help teach you how to do so safety. It's not rocket science, but if you do it wrong, you're not just risking your life and your horse's life, but the lives of everyone who shares the road with you.

I bought my trailer outside of San Antonio- the "stock style" windows are great for ventilation and fairly easy to find. I also believe that while blanketing him is doable if it's too cold, the heat in the South can be much harder to manage, so more air is more better.


----------



## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

I'm not familiar with the Hemi. I just know that I destroyed the engine of my 1984 Full Ton Dodge by hauling 4-5 horses for several years, in a 4 horse, steel, bumper hitch. It had 142K miles on it. My 1993 3/4 ton Dodge Cummins has 118K on it, and the engine still backs me up at 20mhp empty and has no problem hauling 35+ bales of 65 pound hay at 65mhp on the interstate. Yes, Virginia, I've mad the wrong turn and travelled one mile on I-74 on the way home. oops!
I'm not against bumper hitches when there is a tow package and sway bars or a sway bar setup, which is newer.
For my part, I will not haul now unless it's with a diesel engine and a gooseneck. 600 miles is a signifigant distance.
Please window shop the weights of any trailers that you are interested in buying and then add your horse's weights and make SURE that you haul less than the 10K pounds that you say your truck can haul.


----------



## ChitChatChet (Sep 9, 2013)

From my experience it depends on the type of roads you will be traveling as to what type of a trailer you'll want.

I personally wouldn't have a goose neck as it wouldn't follow on the narrow roads I drive on. I prefer a bumper pull as they actually follow the track of the vehicle pulling them.

We use to have a 1500 pickup. Then we got a Dodge Durango with the tow pkg and the largest of everything. It left the 1500 in the dust.

We recently started to look for a pickup now as I have upgraded our trailer to a larger one. I want diesel as they maintain a better mpg and are more of a work horse.


----------



## jgnmoose (May 27, 2015)

I could stay pretty busy within 150 miles of home. The 600 mile range was a ballpark figure on something like Denver. If I had to go that far though I'd probably try to find someone else from N. Texas with a serious rig that is also going and share expenses. 

Great replies, appreciate the input. I think I'll be looking for the lightest GN 2H stock trailer I can find with a good ride for my horse and shop around for 1H trailers with a lot of air flow as a backup plan.

@chitchatchet Good point. Roads here in Texas, especially those outside of county maintenance can be pretty rough. Usually would only be on them for a couple miles at most though. Something to think about, thanks for mentioning it.


----------



## windsong (Aug 9, 2015)

I agree with ChitChatChet.... My BP Brenderup follows the car.. and on the very narrow winding roads we have here in the Shenandoah Mountains I feel like I can pretty much go anywhere.... Two of the gals I ride with have a two horse gooseneck, and on occasion we've had to alter the route so they are comfortable driving.... 

My VW has a factory tow package at 7,700 pounds. I have pulled with the F250 we have, but honestly, the ride in the VW is so much smoother... with the shorter wheel base the car gives a "hug-the-road" sort of feeling to the ride... 

Like Sharpie, I like to keep the load to an estimated 5000 lbs. 

I like having a window in the front of the trailer. I can look in my mirrors and see the horses. Might be something to think about. I imagine they like the view too.


----------



## Sheri Williams (Jan 14, 2015)

I have studied horse trailering for two years to certify for trailering. 
My recommendations are just suggestions. 
Never tow over 80% of towing capacity. Total. 
Aluminums are noisy and loud but light. 
Aluminum over steel are great trailers. 
steel just heavy for you unless small. 

add up all your numbers including you your gear trailer weight and horses and see o
if that fits about a 8,000 lb towing capacity. 
Much better to underload than overload
hope this helps


----------



## RedHorseRidge (Nov 3, 2012)

ChitChatChet said:


> From my experience it depends on the type of roads you will be traveling as to what type of a trailer you'll want.
> 
> I personally wouldn't have a goose neck as it wouldn't follow on the narrow roads I drive on. I prefer a bumper pull as they actually follow the track of the vehicle pulling them.


^^^^^This. My sister can't come and visit with her horses because our driveway is narrow and her goose neck won't make the 90degree turn. There are lots of places I can go with the 2H slant aluminum that she can't get get to.

When pulling the horses (I have two large mountain horses), I always drive like I have an open cup of hot coffee sitting on the dash that I can spill or let slide around.


----------



## PrivatePilot (Dec 7, 2009)

ChitChatChet said:


> I personally wouldn't have a goose neck as it wouldn't follow on the narrow roads I drive on..


This does have a *little* to do with the fact that the front of a tag trailer swings out during turns vs a GN/5th, but it usually has far more to do with the axle placement on a 5th/GN vs tag. GN horse trailers in particular tend to have the axles further back - right AT the back on some trailers. This is a weight distribution thing - the further back the axles, the more weight the trailer applies to the tow vehicle, but the further back they are the wider they turn, as well.

It's the same reason that GN horse trailers and half ton trucks don't mix. They are *designed* to put more weight on the back of the tow vehicle, and 1/2 tons can rarely handle the weight a GN horse trailer applies.


----------

