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Hauling open in slant w/o dividers

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Last activity 2010-08-29 11:41 PM
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mstraebel
Reg. Jul 2010
Posted 2010-08-29 9:18 PM (#124183)
Subject: Hauling open in slant w/o dividers


New User


Posts: 1

Location: MI
Looking to haul 2 horses. Like the open air feel of stock trailers with top air slats, and want to haul "open" (but tied) without dividers, chest bars, etc. Also, though, want a small tack area up front. Limited to under 3,000# due to tow vehicle (Toyota Tundra 4x4 V-8). Want no longer than maybe 15'-16' end to nose. Is it safe/feasible to purchase a slant combo and just remove dividers and haul open? We find the 2-horse slants too small for our 2 horses, so we would most likely order a length between a 2- and 3-horse slant. Would like true stall length (not corner to corner) to be 10' min. Then it seems we could haul with a shorter trailer if we went with a straight load, but then we'd be dealing with chest bars, butt bars, center dividers, etc. Or is there a true stock with dressing room up front that might meet our needs? Somewhat confused with all the options!Thanks for any help.
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tr0y
Reg. Mar 2009
Posted 2010-08-29 10:46 PM (#124187 - in reply to #124183)
Subject: RE: Hauling open in slant w/o dividers


Veteran


Posts: 114
100
Location: Home of the WNFR at Christmas
We haul all the time in just a simple pipe / stock trailer and quite a bit of the time with the horses fully tacked up and loose in the trailer. We go over some pretty rough country and the horses do fine and they almost always seem to ride head to the rear of the trailer, their choice.
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Cowgirl-h
Reg. Feb 2010
Posted 2010-08-29 11:41 PM (#124189 - in reply to #124183)
Subject: RE: Hauling open in slant w/o dividers


Regular


Posts: 85
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Location: Galahad, AB, Canada

You definetely can buy a stock trailer with a seperate, enclosed dressing room in the front. Some stock trailers are called "combos", meaning they can be used as either a horse trailer or stock trailer. I would check out those before going further.

I've used stock trailers for many years, and they have their pros and cons compared to horse trailers. I'm just curious - and not trying to change your minds - on why you want a stock trailer for horses compared to a horse trailer. I've used both, and to my surprise, my horses seem to ride more relaxed and comfortable in my Featherlite horse trailer as compared to how they rode in my stock trailers. I think the main difference is - my horse trailer is quite a bit quieter, and has better shocks so it rides smoother. So if you decide to get a stock trailer, make sure that you check to see how noisy it is compared to a horse trailer. For example, even the Featherlite sales person told me that Featherlite's stock trailers tend to be noisy, at least compared to the horse trailers.

Another feature I'd want is the ability to close the "open slats" that a stock trailer has. Without this feature you're stuck when it's raining, snowing, really windy, too cold, or even just down-right dusty. I've hauled horses to 4-h and other activities in the winter, and no matter how heavily I blanketed them, I think the trip must have been less than ideal in the stock trailer! Some stocks have good quality slider windows, I would insist on that if I went that route.

Having grown up with stock trailers, I always thought that horses would ride more comfortably in them compared to the confined spaces in a horse trailer, but that hasn't been the case. My horses seldom would put their heads down and eat when hauling in the stock trailer. I don't know why. As I mentioned, maybe it was the noise (from the trailer itself banging more than the outside road noise) or maybe it was something else. But if I put hay on the floor of the stock trailer, often I would arrive at my destination to find they'd hardly eaten anything. In the horse trailer I feed of the floor (I have a slant load, and I let each horse ride loose in their slant) and they eat the entire way. To me that indicates they're more relaxed and comfortable, even though they didn't get to choose the exact position they stand in.

I think stock trailers can be great - they allow flexible positions and riding options. But I think you need to try out ones first and see how they work in real life, and how comfortable your horse seems in one compared to the other options out there. Happy shopping.

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