Horse Trailer Purchase

[MikePA]

Slant loads have been around for a while. Generally, the more room you have to load, i.e., the wider the door, the bigger the area inside the trailer appears, the brighter it is, the better. Some (most?) horses don't like being led into what appears to be a small, dark tunnel which is what small, straight load trailers can look like. This is why we bought a stock trailer with a single door in the back (plus 2 doors for humans at the front, just behind the gooseneck). The stock trailer is open and airy and bright and we have not had any trouble loading horses. Well, we had trouble with our TB/QH mare, but she's just obstinate at times. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>Is that the 'thing' sitting on top of the tongue</font color=blue>

Yep, that's what I was talking about. I don't know how many trailers use surge brakes, but I'm accustomed to only seeing them on boat trailers (because the rear axles are going into the water) and rental trailers (because the renters probably won't have a brake controller on their vehicle).

 

[MikePA]

<font color=blue>I'm accustomed to only seeing them on boat trailers (because the rear axles are going into the water) and rental trailers (because the renters probably won't have a brake controller on their vehicle). </font color=blue>
That's where I am used to seeing them as well.

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

Mike:
I was interested to see the emphasis on your objection to surge brakes. I have had some interesting discussions with an automotive engineer whose PhD is in trailer dynamics. He is a strong proponent of surge brakes rather than electric. They do not have the adjustment problems with varying loads, and do not have nearly as high jackknife risk in a downhill slowdown situation with wet or other poor traction. In that situation, with only engine drag, electric brakes aren't activated, but surge are, and the trailer is less likely to pass the truck.
I have generally had electric brakes on a number of horse tailers. I built a multi-boat light sailboat hauler, however, with surge brakes and have really liked it. It is all up probably only 2000 lb, however.

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

Brian:
You already have gotten good inquiries and good advice. I have one caution, particularly if you go with a light rig and your current pickup. Beware of trailers designed for light vehicles. We have had two Rice trailers, English designs to be towed behind small vehicles. In their determination to reduce tongue weight, the designers put the wheels so far forward that the trailers were very unstable if even one horse sat back, which some do. One of those trailers with two horses aboard, took a late 70's Cadillac deVille and two startled horsewomen on a 360 degree ride without leaving the pavement of the Baltimore Beltway. Bent the tongue, tweaked the frame, but didn't roll and no one was hurt.
We were able to make the trailer a lot safer, and have it consistently trail quietly by moving the axles back 18".
Look for a triailer with well over 10 percent of its weight on the tongue, loaded, and make sure the truck- and its rear tires- are rated for the resulting load.
There are thousands of trailers around in the price range you are looking, but inspect carefully. That is a range in which a lot will have structural issues, rust underneath and rotten floors, but you can find good solid ones, as well, which will do the job nicely - and safely.
Good luck,

 

[cowboydoc]

Ok here goes.

First that is a combine in that one pic. Second there is no way I would even think about hauling a horse in a trailer without brakes. I have never even seen or had a trailer that didn't have brakes on it.

Brian,
Ok with the Toyota pickup you are going to be limited with what you can pull. Thinking of safety if I was you and had a toyota pickup to pull my trailer I would go with the Brenderup trailers. They are made for lightweight vehicles and engineered to be very safe. But they are about double what you want to pay used. A good steel trailer new is going to be about $3-5k. I would look at going this route. You aren't going to find a very good newer used trailer for less than probably around $3k. They are a hot item and sell rather quickly.

Now when you are buying a trailer it's really important to buy one that has good brakes and good axles. The axles will help prevent sway which makes two horse trailers very susceptible to turning over. Also with your size pickup you are probably going to want to stay in a straight load two horse to keep the weight down. A slant load with a dressing room would be best but you are going to be pushing that with the Toyota. Where you are only going to be going 150 miles and not staying overnight you aren't going to need extra storage for feed and supplies so you should be fine there.

To find one look on the internet to get an idea of what's out there.

As far as your pickup goes you are going to need to get a hitch installed. Get one that bolts to the frame. Don't even try and tow it with your pickup bumper, even though it says you can. I have seen alot of bumpers torn off even with two horse trailers. Get a Class III at least. Next you will need to get a brake controller installed. Don't even try and haul a trailer with a pickup that size without trailer brakes. Make sure also that your tires are rated for the extra tongue weight as well.

Now with regard to driving you need to plan on taking at least five times as long to stop. Your stops need to be very controlled and soft. If you stop suddenly you will throw your horse around in the trailer. Same goes with turning corners. A good rule of thumb is to go about 5-10 miles under what the corner is rated at. The turns really are hard on horses and you can even make them fall if you turn too fast. Slow slowing and slow turning is the key.

I would also get a trailer that has feed mangers. It's alot less stressful on horses if they can eat while they are riding. It helps them to not dislike the trailer.

As far as slant vs. straight load slant load is definitely the best. The reason being is that it puts the horse in a better position to be able to adapt to the trailering. Numerous studies have been done and they all show that the horse, when given the option, will almost always ride in a slanted position. EMG and blood studies showed that the muscles were more relaxed and the horse was less stressed in a slanted position. In your case though the slant load is usually a bigger trailer which you don't have the luxury of being able to do as you need to be concerned about the weight issue with the toyota.

That should help get you started. Let me know what other questions I can help you with.

 

[MikePA]

Charlie, interesting observations. My objection was centered primarily around the weight of the trailer plus the horses and tack and the ability of surge brakes to handle it. Although my experience has been with GN trailers. Are surge brakes even available on GN/5th wheel trailers?

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

Mike:
I haven't researched surge rigs for GN. I guess it could be done, but I haven't seen one. All my trailers have been and are tagalongs, and I've only had the one hydraulic surge rig. (Two old Rice trailers had mechanical surge brakes. They worked OK, but if anything got out of adjustment, they didn't work at all. We put electric brakes on one and sold the other. )
Hydraulic surge brake capacity is dictated by the master cylinder on the tongue, the wheel cylinders, and, of course, the shoes and drums. The latter are generally the same size as electric, and can keep the trailer from ever applying significant forward pressure on the truck, all the way to panic stop. Electric brakes, of course, often lock up one or more trailer wheels. My expert, Chris Shapley, says that good surge brakes can actually lock up the tailer wheels in a panic stop, but I've never seen it.
Interestingly, Maryland is reportedly about to outlaw surge brakes for commercial operation, the only stated reason being that they can not be manually engaged from the cab. I'm sure a lot of bureaucratic meetings went into that one. I don't think many people anticipate using their trailer to stop the rig when the truck brakes fail, but you can't be too safe, can you?

 

[MikePA]

doc, thanks for your reply. I always learn from them. When we went looking for a trailer, I spent a lot of time reading the rec.equestrian group on the Internet and talking to people who owned horse farms or showed horses. Almost to a person, they recommended GN and slant load. While our stock trailer is not a slant load, because of its size, unless we are hauling more than 2 horses (not often), the horses can stand sideways. In fact, since the ties are along the side of the trailer, it almost 'forces' them to stand that way. I think the best way to look for a horse trailer (actually, anything related to horses) is to, initially, forget about the cost and first determine what is best for the horse, then build a solution around that. While this almost always results in a higher cost it's the right way to do it.

Regarding braking and turning...I always drive as if I had an open glass of water on the seat beside me and the goal is to not spill a drop. Slow, sweeping turns; early, very early braking; look way ahead to to anticipate problems.

BrianC - do a search of 'horse' on TBN and the common theme is;

"To care for horses right ain't cheap and to do it cheap ain't right."

 

[cowboydoc]

You're right on all counts Mike. The biggest mistake people make is buying something to get by with. I see more serious accidents because of that.

Perfect case in point. Last year I knew this one lady that had a big tb horse. She had too small of a trailer and wondered why her horse always fought it. I told her the horse was way too confined and was claustrophobic, all horses are. Well she didn't get a bigger trailer and said she could just "get by" with this one. Well one day the horse got really upset and and kicked out the back door, broke the lead rope and fell out the back of the trailer doing 60 down the road. The horse lived but was hurt too bad and had to be put down. I always tell people if they can't afford to do it right don't do it at all. You can get by with alot, but it usually comes back to bite you in the you know what!!!