First off, let me say that my husband is a auto body repairman, so we have knowledge of welding, bondo, etc. But we are both new to horse trailers and need to know what is acceptable & safe.

The trailer we purchased was cheap. It needs some work. Has some rust, but the frame itself is good.

What I need to know is if it would be okay to remove the divider in the rear of the trailer where the horses enter. I'm not talking about the part that divides the trailer into two stalls - that comes out. I am talking about a piece that runs from the roof to the floor. I don't want to conpromise the structure or rigidity of the trailer, but my mom's horse has a wide rear end and we are having to shoehorn him in right now.

If we did remove that piece, would we need to reinforce the trailer anywhere else? Also, the doors currently latch to this bar, so how could we change that once the bar is removed?

I think it would be too expensive to modify it to get the doors to latch at the top and bottom like the cam latches on other trainers. You would need to rework it to latch at the top and bottom and it may make the roof not as structually sound. I would think that money would be better spent towards a bigger trailer.

If the trailer manufacturer was still in business I would aske them about altering it