schmism
Super Member
here is the info I have accumulated over the years when i was CL shopping for a livestock trailer. (not a horse trailer)
Horse trailer. Usually slant load, does not generally contain a floor-celing division in the middle of the trailer (front half to rear half) on trailers 14-16' long. Instead they generally have slant load partitions
these sorta nest out of the way when not in use, but hardly fold "nicely" IMHO
horse trailer generally has provision for a tack area or room, and many of the large (long) versions feature living quarters for shows/rodeos etc. A note on those, they can be a plus if you like to RV with your "toys" so instead of a toy hauler, you can double up your horse trailer to haul your dirt bikes/ATV/UTV when going on outtings.
Horse trailers dont have sliding doors in the gates as youll never get a horse to walk through it so whats the point.
Horse trailers are often entirely enclosed, and in the case of the above, the axles are shifted toward the rear to account for the large horses in the rear and light weight tack compartment in the front. (uneven loading)
IMHO
A live stock trailer will have at least one divider (front/rear) and the rear swing away gate also has a sliding door (good for chute loading). I use the sliding door on mine all the time as its easier to wrangle just one alpaca/llama or goat out of the back at a time. EG i can fill up the door way with my body to block others i dont want out while i pick the animal i want to pull out.
My livestock trailer also features a sliding door on the center divider.
Again i use this to separate animals while they are in the trailer. Because the center door swings to the back of the trailer, you generally cant get it open to get an animal around it into the front compartment while inside (again wrangling goats or alpacas etc)
Ive also used the middle divider with door to contain animals while i set up a pen around the rear of the trailer. (think petting zoo or show type setup) were i want the livestock to have access to the pen and back of the trailer, but i want to segregate one or several animals it makes it easy to move them through the sliding door instead of the large swing door. ( animal does not like it when the wall in front of them starts swinging toward them)
Live stock trailers often have open sides but will generally always have the last 3-4' next to the floor enclosed.
My livestock trailer has a forward walk through door on the drivers side. (not just a small escape door) I prefer driverside door although "high end" livestock trailer may have a forward door on both sides.
TLDR
Horse trailers, individual stalls for each horse, either side by side for a small 2 horse, or slant load for larger ones. always feature a tack area, will likely be entirely enclosed and really large ones will feature living quarters.
livestock trailers have one large open trailer space but may be split in 2 or 3 with floor to ceiling dividers depending on the size of the trailer. Almost always have open sides at the midway point to the top.
Horse trailer. Usually slant load, does not generally contain a floor-celing division in the middle of the trailer (front half to rear half) on trailers 14-16' long. Instead they generally have slant load partitions
these sorta nest out of the way when not in use, but hardly fold "nicely" IMHO
horse trailer generally has provision for a tack area or room, and many of the large (long) versions feature living quarters for shows/rodeos etc. A note on those, they can be a plus if you like to RV with your "toys" so instead of a toy hauler, you can double up your horse trailer to haul your dirt bikes/ATV/UTV when going on outtings.
Horse trailers dont have sliding doors in the gates as youll never get a horse to walk through it so whats the point.
Horse trailers are often entirely enclosed, and in the case of the above, the axles are shifted toward the rear to account for the large horses in the rear and light weight tack compartment in the front. (uneven loading)
IMHO
A live stock trailer will have at least one divider (front/rear) and the rear swing away gate also has a sliding door (good for chute loading). I use the sliding door on mine all the time as its easier to wrangle just one alpaca/llama or goat out of the back at a time. EG i can fill up the door way with my body to block others i dont want out while i pick the animal i want to pull out.
My livestock trailer also features a sliding door on the center divider.
Again i use this to separate animals while they are in the trailer. Because the center door swings to the back of the trailer, you generally cant get it open to get an animal around it into the front compartment while inside (again wrangling goats or alpacas etc)
Ive also used the middle divider with door to contain animals while i set up a pen around the rear of the trailer. (think petting zoo or show type setup) were i want the livestock to have access to the pen and back of the trailer, but i want to segregate one or several animals it makes it easy to move them through the sliding door instead of the large swing door. ( animal does not like it when the wall in front of them starts swinging toward them)
Live stock trailers often have open sides but will generally always have the last 3-4' next to the floor enclosed.
My livestock trailer has a forward walk through door on the drivers side. (not just a small escape door) I prefer driverside door although "high end" livestock trailer may have a forward door on both sides.
TLDR
Horse trailers, individual stalls for each horse, either side by side for a small 2 horse, or slant load for larger ones. always feature a tack area, will likely be entirely enclosed and really large ones will feature living quarters.
livestock trailers have one large open trailer space but may be split in 2 or 3 with floor to ceiling dividers depending on the size of the trailer. Almost always have open sides at the midway point to the top.
