# Thoughts on trailer?



## hrsrdr (Jul 12, 2008)

If your horse is 16hh, it's a good idea to get a trailer that's at least 7' tall, so he doesn't bang his head. Taller also usually goes with longer, so he will have plenty of room to stretch out and balance like he needs to. I would also ask to make sure the floors are good...sometimes they start to rot under the mats. If you go to see it, measure the inside at make sure it's tall enough, and check under the mats that the floors don't look splintered, rotting, or overly stained. Also a saddle rack in the tack room is always useful. Looks like a decent trailer though.


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## goneriding (Jun 6, 2011)

I had one similar in size. It has a really short wheel base which causes a rougher ride. It is narrow and shorter in height as well. My horses were difficult to load in mine. I switched to an open stock and they loaded almost immediately. Me personally, I would keep looking. Sorry, just my two cents.


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## zurmdahl (Feb 25, 2009)

No need to apologize! I appreciate hearing both good and bad things, better to find out now than after we buy it. I think a stock trailer would be a better option too, I can't seem to find any though :/ me and my mom are gonna go to a place that sells used trailers this week, hopefully we'll find something nice there!


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## hrsrdr (Jul 12, 2008)

Good luck.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

You rarely have problems loading & hauling horses in a stock trailer. Keep looking until you find one. Those old straight hauls are bad news for the most part. One good thing I can say about them - dang easy to back up & park on a dime.


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## Poco1220 (Apr 6, 2010)

The other great thing about those dark, small, 2 horse straight loads? If your horse will load in those they will load into ANYTHING! we have a small 2H straight load (although I usually just take the center divider out) but my horses will load into it like champs which means I never have to worry about them not loading.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

I agree with the stock trailer comments...you can't beat them. Be patient looking for a trailer. Around here, people tend to really hold on to their trailers and when they do wind up in the used lot, they go very fast. I've known many people that would call the used trailer places every few days to see what has come in.


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## AlexS (Aug 9, 2010)

waresbear said:


> Those old straight hauls are bad news for the most part.



Can you please explain this comment? 

Obviously if the trailer is not well maintained with floor in good shape etc. then that would be a problem. 
But there is nothing wrong with a well maintained older straight load trailer, nothing at all.


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## Alwaysbehind (Jul 10, 2009)

waresbear said:


> You rarely have problems loading & hauling horses in a stock trailer. Keep looking until you find one. Those old straight hauls are bad news for the most part. One good thing I can say about them - dang easy to back up & park on a dime.


Not sure where to start.

Stock trailers are great, I have one. But you can not just buy a stock trailer. You have to make sure it is tall enough for a horse. Lots of stock trailers are not tall enough for a horse. So simply saying stock trailers rock is not totally accurate.

Not sure what is wrong with straight load trailers, old or new. 

A trailer being easy to back up has nothing to do with it being a straight load or a slant load or a stock trailer. It has to do with length and wheel location.


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## HowClever (Feb 16, 2010)

Sheesh, I knew we were behind the times in Australia, but wow didn't know that all the trailers we use were considered "bad news". 

Majority of trailers in my area are plain old 2 horse straight loads. Might come across a 3 or 4 horse angle load from time to time. I am yet to see a stock trailer.

Can't comment on the trailer in question because the ad is gone.


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

I just purchased a 1992 'awful' 'horrible' 'bad news' straight load trailer from a friend of mine. Works just fine, is structurally sound, and the reason I bought it was because I needed a bigger trailer for my TB. It hauled her 17 h horse, so I know my 15.2 h guy will be very comfortable in it.

My previous trailer (another straight load) was simply just too small for my TB, which makes sense because it was originally bought for a 14.1 h Arabian. I gave it to my farrier for his horses and he's pleased as punch, even though it's a 1972 straight load bumper pull. I'm pretty sure he doesn't think I gave him a death trap. :?

I like stock combination trailers, but there's not a darned thing wrong with straight loaders. If you want the most stable ride possible, buy a gooseneck or 5th wheel hitch. The _interior_ of a trailer has little to do with how they ride.


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## zurmdahl (Feb 25, 2009)

thanks for all the advice guys!! It's really helpful, are there any brands of trailers that you would recommend? Or recommend against?


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

What's wrong with straight loads all comes down to personal opinion.

-I don't think they are as safe for me to load a horse in. I'm a big guy and if things go bad it's a whee bit harder for me to scoot then it is in a slant.

-I don't like backing horses out of a trailer like you have to in a straight load.

-Last of all, the storage area is really is difficult for to get things in and out of but I'm 6'3" without my riding boots.

My first trailer was a 4 horse straight. After just a couple uses I gutted it and turned it into a slant load. The escape door became the tack room door, worked much better for me after that.


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## Alwaysbehind (Jul 10, 2009)

I have always found a good straight load is easier for the person loading. Most have a full size escape door now. A good many of the slant loads do not have any escape door.

Even on a slant load you have to back the last horse off.


I guess I am confused about what is better about the tack room in a slant load versus the tack room in a straight load.


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

Alwaysbehind said:


> I have always found a good straight load is easier for the person loading. Most have a full size escape door now. A good many of the slant loads do not have any escape door.
> 
> Even on a slant load you have to back the last horse off.
> 
> ...


You'll find a lot of my objections come down to my size coupled with personal preference. 

-Lots of the escape doors are really a half door, not something I can shoot through in a hurry. Some do have a full size door that is useable by me.

-I still turn the last horse in my slant load and my boys are 16.2hh.

-The storage area for most straight loads are under the feeder area. Basically I almost have to get down on my knees to put things in/out and I hate doing that.


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## Alwaysbehind (Jul 10, 2009)

Darrin, your blanket statements on straight loads are based on a specific style of trailer that is not equal to all or even the majority of straight loads.

Yes, there are straight loads with mangers (with tack compartments under them). There are even slant loads with mangers. 

I find far more straight loads with out mangers than I do with them. I also find far more trailers with full size escape doors than partial height escape doors.


I think you would have been better off saying that you do not like trailers with mangers and partial height escape doors than saying that straight loads are bad.


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## themacpack (Jul 16, 2009)

Alwaysbehind said:


> Darrin, your blanket statements on straight loads are based on a specific style of trailer that is not equal to all or even the majority of straight loads.
> 
> Yes, there are straight loads with mangers (with tack compartments under them). There are even slant loads with mangers.
> 
> ...


Well said, Always -- this is the problem with blanket style generalizations.


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

Alwaysbehind said:


> Darrin, your blanket statements on straight loads are based on a specific style of trailer that is not equal to all or even the majority of straight loads.
> 
> Yes, there are straight loads with mangers (with tack compartments under them). There are even slant loads with mangers.
> 
> ...


First of all, the majority of straight loads I've run into fall into this category. Second of all I was giving my opinion, stated it was my opinion and listed the why's so people can take it or dismiss as they want. Thirdly, why go after someone for posting their opinion?


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

The older straight loads were cave like dungeons. I think the newer ones are better, however I prefer a stock trailer or slant loads. I have fewer loading problems, than with a straight haul. Best thing about straight hauls, way, way easier to back up, I was an expert, now I have the brand new 3 horse slant, I suck!


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## AlexS (Aug 9, 2010)

waresbear said:


> The older straight loads were cave like dungeons. I think the newer ones are better, however I prefer a stock trailer or slant loads. I have fewer loading problems, than with a straight haul. Best thing about straight hauls, way, way easier to back up, I was an expert, now I have the brand new 3 horse slant, I suck!


I don't understand how the age of the trailer makes it a cave like dungeon - and what on earth does that mean? I would argue that a straight load is more open than a slant when the dividers are in place as all of the trailer can be seen. 

My horse loads into anything, because I expect him to and he is well mannered. I don't think there is a horse who does not load well, who would just walk into a slant load just because, or indeed into a stock trailer. It's about the loading, not the direction they are standing in, or the 'cave like dungeon'. 

If I haul in a stock I make sure that there are dividers, as I like my horse to have the support of the walls. As a child, I had my father drive me around the farm while I was in the back of the trailer and I could barely stand up. My dad insisted I was making it up, so I had my mother drive him around while he was in the back. After that he agreed with me, and we bought a trailer with dividers. 

The one thing that I do prefer that was common in England and not so much in the US, is a side ramp as well as the rear ramp.


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## Alwaysbehind (Jul 10, 2009)

I think it is a valid point that older horse trailers are more prone to being cave like than more modern trailers, at least here in the US.

Older trailers were small in all directions (in general). It was not common for people to have extra tall and extra wides where now days almost no one buys anything but what was considered extra tall and extra wide back then.




Darrin, I commented to you because your comment was the one I had an issue with. You made a blanket statement about straight loads that did not include any qualifiers so it required questioning. It appears most of your straight load trailer contact is with much older models with no tack room and mangers and a 3/4 escape door. I can see how those are not preferred.


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## AlexS (Aug 9, 2010)

Alwaysbehind said:


> Older trailers were small in all directions (in general). It was not common for people to have extra tall and extra wides where now days almost no one buys anything but what was considered extra tall and extra wide back then.


Oh fair enough, I was forgetting that aspect.


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