We are looking at a new trailer, and debating between a straight load and reverse load. This is a huge decision as we are planning on keeping this trialer for awhile. Any opinions or input would be great.

Thanks

I'm guessing by "reverse load" you mean "slant load"...I know a lot of folks who load their horses in a slant load "butt first".

I've used a bumper pull 2 horse straight load and depending on the horse, had trouble with them scrambling and nicking up their pasterns and fetlocks.  Shipping boots fixed the problem.

Traded that straight up for a 3 horse stock trailer with no dividers, bumper pull, and had better luck with horses having a bit of leg room to keep balance and move around. 

Moved up to a 3 horse slant load with homemade LQ that we used for 2 years. Traded up to a 3 horse Exiss with LQ that we'll probabaly have for years.

The horses will load in what I train them to load in.  I prefer the 3H Exiss with LQ, as that has been our dream to own.  We do a lot of camping and trail riding, and I like taking 3 horses in case we have one go lame on us or I just want an early morning solo ride for the fun of it. 

To be sure we are all talking the same language - with a reverse load, the horses are loaded from the front or side, and face backwards when being hauled, and then are unloaded from the back of the trailer. Right?

Personally, I would prefer a reverse load over a slant and over a straight load. The braking motion - throwing the horse towards the front of the rig - is easier if the horse can use it's butt and hind legs against the motion. I've seen horses fully sideways in stock trailers and facing backwards with their tails against the gate or front wall - when they are not tied.

With a straight load, the horse can use the butt bar. So I prefer a straight load over a slant. Additionally, so long as the chest bar is wide / thick, (no manger to interfere with foot placement) the gives the horse a good place to brace against.

Either will take a great deal of stress off the horse's legs.

If I were not restricted by a weight or dollar consideration, I would take a reverse load over anything else.

In order: reverse straight; reverse slant; straight; slant.

I prefer straight load trailers.  First of all, the stalls are usually wider and longer than slant stalls.  Second, in either a 2 horse straight load, or even a 4, 5, or 6 horse head to head you can access any one of the horses at any time.  If there is a problem, you can get any of the horses out safely without disturbing the others.  Whereas in a slant (either regular or reverse) if there is a problem with the first horse in, then you have to unload everyone else to get to them.  The only problem with the straight loads is that you are limited in the size of the LQ you can have.  The slants fit more horses in a shorter space, so you can have a larger LQ.  

This is a debate that will get lots of mixed results....

I have done thousands of miles transporting horses... had a transport buisness here in SA. I used a 4H straight load, that loaded from the back and off loaded from the front.

I have always had a camera in the trailer so that I can monitor them while driving so have been able to see their reactions in all situations. The straight load trailer (in my opinion) compared to a slant load is a lot harder on the horses. I say this because the acceleration and braking forces (that the horse cannot forsee - it just happens) causes the horse to constantly brace itself. The sideways motion is absorbed by the dividers. And there is more forward and back motion in a trailer than there is left to right.

The reverse loading is suposed to be better for horses if they can see out... if you look out a window facing forward, things flash past you, if you face backwards, things appear to go past much slower.... I do not think it makes much difference if the horse cannot see out.

I did a lot of transporting of mares and foals.... and in these instances I would take the centre partition out of the trailer, thus giving me a dbl birth so that mom and baby had lots of room..... without fail every time the mare would stand at a slant facing forward. I can only assume that this is the horse's prefered position.

I am sure that there will be some people who believe the opposite, all I can do is offer you my honest experience....

I now have a 4H Cherokee slant load, which I imported from you guys in the US at a considerable cost I might add...

Give my horses a slant load any day.

Good luch with your purchase

Nick --- Sunny South Africa

Um... I do... see my post above...

In order: reverse straight; reverse slant; straight; slant.

 The reverse load trailers are great with all the extra storage and your horses will haul better also. I just had a friend buy one from the Bloomer dealer in Kansas and they love it. He also said they had several new and used reverse loads, maybe look them up?

Hey Straight loaders

I dont mean to be funny, but can you guys and Galls please explain to me why you say straight loading is better on the horses..... I gave you my explination - (that's the way they naturally want to stand if left to stand as they want) I am quite keen to see why you all say that straight loading is better for the horses - mayby I am wrong.... who knows. Lets have your explinations ---Please.

Cheers for now

P.s. Dont take this the wrong way - I am just curious. OK

Barfly.... I tend to think that box stalls are the best for our horses. Turn the horse loose and let them stand where and how they want. So far as a straight -vs- slant, we got both and I really can't tell any difference. Some ride slant facing forward, straight forward, straight backwards. 9 times out of 10, if we haul a horse loose in any of these trailers, they tend to stand at a diagonal, facing the rear. The 4 month old filly I picked up last weekend had never been hauled. We hauled her loose, alone, no other horses in the trailer no dividers and she stood at an angle facing the rear.

Barfly... Shoot us some pictures of your dressing room inside that new Cherokee!! We got to inspect your handiwork!! LOL!!

Hey Retento

Glad you got your new baby home safe....

As I said they do prefer to stand diagonally ... but I think it will all come down to personal preference at the end of the day.

I will attach a few pics of the inside, they are not great pics but they will give you an idea of what it looks like.

Must say we are enjoying our new Cherokee....Next 1 will have a full LQ though - already negociating that with a few of You all. Got a buyer for mine...

Check out the pics

Cheers for now ----  Nick

That looks good!! Would never know it was the same trailer!! Do you have a small generator to run small appliances and to charge batteries?

Yebo Yamaha Inverter... works like a treat... also have two 110A/h RV batteries with a solar panel charger and a 2500W Inverter. so there is no shortage of power here.

Cheers for now

Nick

Barfly - to reply to your question.

If horses are in an open space - no bars to support them, I will agree that they will be more comfortable at a slant and it is most likely easier for them to brace using diagonal forces. I cannot imagine a horse choosing to stand straight forward or backward with no support.

However, if you give the horse a chest bar and a butt bar, that gives them the support they need to avoid using only their legs for bracing. In a right-hand turn, I would suspect that the horse will use it's front right leg more; and in a left-hand turn, the horse would use it's left-front leg more. However - for straight line riding - their weight would be on all 4 legs. Stopping would load their chest and both front legs; accelerating would load their butt and hind legs evenly.

In a slant load, with dividers used - the horse has its head wedged into a corner. Making a right-hand turn would load one front foot more than the other plus the shoulder against the divider. With a left-hand turn, again, one front leg would have a greater load than the other. Plus - I suspect there would be uneven diagonal loading and stress to the back of the horse.

During acceleration in a slant, the left-hind is loaded and the butt is against an angled wall - or in the wide trailers - stumbling against a cover over the rear wheels. During braking, the right-front leg is loaded and the right-shoulder. THe entire body is needed to balance as there is nothing else for the horse to brace against. I also don't care for the horse's head in that wedge-shaped area of the slant dividers.

I appreciate that you have seen all this on camera - but I don't think you can compare an open space stock-type trailer and how a horse stands in it -with no support but only its legs- with a stall that provides bracing for the horse. There's no doubt in my mind that when horses have no bars or dividers for support, they will stand in manner that let's them use their entire body - including their head - to balance.

I have a slant load trailer. I've also had a straight load. I hate the slant dividers because they block so much air flow. I've seen FAR more horses with rubbed left hips from slant loads, then I have ever seen from straight loads. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen a horse with rubs from straight load. And I'm not talking about straight loads with built in mangers. I've speaking of the ones that are open at the horse's feet.

One more comment about slants.  The horse at the very front has the least amount of "foot" space due to the front wall; whereas the other places allow the horse to lean on the divider with their feet slightly under the divider between them and the horse next to them.

Your LQ is very nicely done on that Cherokee!! 

I've seen trailer dealers have a person stand straight and then stand at a slant while they move the person front to back. I always chuckle to myself as I feel that there is a HUGE difference in how we (and horses) stand when we are supported versus how we stand with no support in moving vehicles (aka buses and metro trains).  I know I tend to stand fully sideways to the motion of travel as I have only 2 feet. If I had 4, I could shift my weight first onto 2 feet and then onto the other 2 feet. Not onto 1 foot and then onto a different 1 foot.

JMO.

There were several studies 10 to 15 years ago by colleges. Hooked up heart monitors, checked blood, used multiple horses and multiple trailers...the works. I think it was Missouri or Minnesota, but I can't remember for sure. I couldn't find any info to any of the studies directly, but did find a couple of references.

http://www.livestocktrail.uiuc.edu/horsenet/paperDisplay.cfm?ContentID=33

http://esc.rutgers.edu/ask_expert/ate_emo.htm#b2h

Now for my personal opinion...horses ride better in whatever fashion they are used to being hauled. If they have always been hauled in a straight load...then they aren't going to ride as comfortable in a slant load. We all know that our horses react better when routines stay the same. Feed at the same time...usually ride at the same time...usually in the same stall...usually next to the same horse. I have a twenty four year old gelding that has been hauled hundreds of thousands of miles in a slant load and in an open stock. Recently I used him as a buddy horse for a young horse to load into a straight load. We went twenty miles to the vet, and he had himself worked up into a dripping sweat. Kind of threw me for a loop until I thought about it. In the last twenty years, he hasn't been in a straight load more than a dozen times. 

2 of my horses end up all sweated up in the slant if I use the dividers ... One has only been trailered about 8 times. I blame it on lots of things. Too hot for one!!  If they are tied with no divider, they don't get all sweaty. hmmmm... 

Tres - was the straight load enclosed or with slatted sides like your stock trailer?

It was open on the sides just like my stock. My slant load is drops on both sides. The young horse hadn't been in a trailer 10 times. The 24 year old has been in thousands of times. But ninety percent of it has been in a slant load. Yours that are used to a straight load work themselves up in a slant. It's not what they are used to. As far as it being hot...it was relatively cool for Oklahoma in August. Low 80's. He was in the slant a few weeks prior when it was dang sure hot. 20 minute ride = sweaty. At the vet for half hour with him tied outside of the trailer = dry. 20 minute ride home in the trailer = sweaty. With any other horse, I could blame it on a number of things. With this one...nope. No fever. No other sweats. No snotty nose. Got to be the trailer ride.

Hey Gabz

Thanks for you reply - it is always good to get another opinion.... although we might not agree - we could agree to disagree....

Most of the trailers here in SA are all straight load 2H bumper pulls.... and one of the most common problems with all of them is rubbed tails. Everyone here uses tail guards (of which I hav'nt actually found one that works properly). In the slant load - this doesnt happen.

Oh well as they say - different stroke for different folk.

Cheers for now

Slant load -nick

Terri,

I will have to agreee on that one. Our LQ trailer has the dividers that have the jail bar look, so each horse can see that the other one is there. We recently bought a smaller trailer that had the solid dividers and loaded the horses for my son to take back to college and the younger horse was not real happy about not being able to see her friend. I think that she adjusted fine, but it was interesting to see how she was not used to that situation.

Hey guys

I agree with what you are saying - I found the same thing with my horse (Barfly) he likes to see his herd - if you know what I am saying. So much so that he will only load if I load him last - that way he has enough room to back up a bit and get his head over the divider. It is quite funny watching him on the camera - the way he seems to reassure the other horses in the trailer that he is watching over them...

Cheers for now

N

Tres  wrote: Yours that are used to a straight load work themselves up in a slant.

Not true. The B&W, 6 year old had never been trailered before he came to my home. He was tied next to his pasture mate to haul to my house (in a stock) and then ever since then has been hauled in slant loads.

My opinion is that with slant loads or slat-sided trailers, the horses can see. They feel less trapped by being able to see something. I think that is Neva & Tom's thinking behind having the window at the front of the straight loads. HOWEVER, a friend had to cover that window in her straight load because her mare could see into the DR and all the stuff fluffing around in there (curtains, bridles / halters, etc) wigged the mare out.

I think if I could replace my solid dividers with jail bars - my horses would be cooler. I just don't like the uneven loading they have with slant loads.

BARFLY -  Tail rubs. comes from not enough room between the butt bar and the rear doors.  I used a Professional's Choice tail wrap (neoprene) on a large horse in a straight load with upper & lower doors. We left the upper doors open and the horses would flip their tails out the back, over the door (ahh...remember THOSE days?) the neoprene protected the underside of the tail.

So far as letting a horse put their head over the divider to check out their "mate"...  Here's a story for you.

Friend has a mare. I have a gelding. I've hauled that mare several times in a straight load with my gelding. I've hauled that mare several times, alone in the slant. The mare has stayed overnight in the same pasture as the gelding. They have been ridden together.

Friend and I make plans to go on a 3-day camping trip. I pick up the mare and bring her to my house. Get my gelding and load him up. He put his head over the divider and the mare went bezerk. I won't go into all the repeated tries we did and unloading and blah blah blah. And the mare Pis**ng all over and on me, my face, flinging her tail and throwing mare pee all over the ceiling (7'6" trailer; 14.3h horse),

After more than an hour of effort and turn out with the same results - that is, load the mare, she's quiet. Load the gelding and do NOT let him put his head over the divider and as soon as the gelding was on the trailer, she went bezerk and was kicking and squealing and flinging...  EVERY TIME. So. I turn the gelding out in his pasture. Haul the mare home. Wash me, wash the inside of the trailer. Reload the gelding and went without my friend who was very disappointed as she had looked forward to the trip for almost a year.

All "we" (other horse people friends) can figure is that the mare - who was an aged Arab - had probably been placed in stocks for breeding. So when she was in the confined space and my gelding nuzzled her over the divider - she probably went back -mentally - to the breeding days and was obviously NOT INTERESTED.