Posted 2017-02-16 1:30 PM (#169355 - in reply to #169352) Subject: RE: Mangers or No Mangers
Expert
Posts: 1989 Location: South Central OK
Depends on: 1. Loading: straight or slant 2. Width of trailer 3. Size and type of horses 4. How long will the horses be riding in trailer 5. Do you have horses with airway issues
Posted 2017-02-16 2:19 PM (#169357 - in reply to #169352) Subject: RE: Mangers or No Mangers
Regular
Posts: 88 Location: Washington
Pros: LOTS of added storage for odds and ends (think blankets and other tack) if outside access doors are added to the trailer. Cons: All the excess weight of the odds and ends that collect in the added storage.
Some believe that horses feel confined but we never saw any evidence of that with a slant load. They end up with the same amount of standing room any way you look at it. If you want to feed in your trailer, a hay bag is cheaper (but no added storage). I think it really comes down to personal preference, not what's better or worse. You could choose a side and argue it either way.
Posted 2017-02-16 8:04 PM (#169359 - in reply to #169352) Subject: RE: Mangers or No Mangers
Veteran
Posts: 100 Location: Waaaaay back Slaughter Hollow
I have had slant load trailers with mangers and without. I have never had an issue with them and do prefer them. I use the under manger storage for the things I don't need as frequently. I store my spare tack and medical supplies down there in rolling vertical tool boxes, that fit quite nicely under there. I also the horse's sheets, blankets and coolers there too, as well as the trailer's sewage hose, plus my feed pans, water tubs and water buckets.
When I had a living quarters without the mangers, all those things got store in the first slant of the trailer, as well as hay, feed, cooler, chairs, etc. Since we usually use the back of the trailer for our dogs and our mudroom once we are set up to camp, the mangers mean less moving stuff around.
It seems most people have an opinion about mangers, but I think it is more personal preference than anything else.
Posted 2017-02-16 10:59 PM (#169360 - in reply to #169352) Subject: RE: Mangers or No Mangers
Regular
Posts: 74 Location: NW
I too, have had trailers with & w/o mangers & prefer mangers. The one I have now has stalls that are longer than the one that did not have them - not including the manger room. They can back up & drop their heads to blow their nose, etc if they so choose. It is just very open & roomy & LOVE the storage area under the mangers. (Trailer is 8' wide)
Posted 2017-02-18 12:50 AM (#169366 - in reply to #169352) Subject: RE: Mangers or No Mangers
Veteran
Posts: 124 Location: Calgary, Canada
Pros: Good storage space
Cons: Does not allow your horse to drop their head when traveling
Our 3H LQ trailer is 8 ft wide. We notice on long trips, when making rest stops (for us and the horses), that our larger horse (who we put in the back stall), will back up and lower his head to rest, which is an unnatural resting position for him. After travelling for a few hours, he finds the need to drop his head when we are stopped. Due to space limits, the horse in the middle stall does not have that luxury. We believe that the mangers do not allow a horse to easily drop their heads when the trailer is moving.
We believe that mangers are uncomfortable for horses and if we had to choose, we would NOT purchase a trailer with mangers. We feels that the comfort of the horse is more important than added storage space.
Posted 2017-02-23 4:49 PM (#169390 - in reply to #169352) Subject: RE: Mangers or No Mangers
Expert
Posts: 1989 Location: South Central OK
I like mangers in short trip straightload trailers but for long hauls it can cause problems. Allowing a horse to lower their head and blow the snot out of their nose and clear their lungs is very important. I've had both but for long hauls or times when you just can't take horses off the trailer for long periods of time I pick without mangers everytime. Young horses and ponies don't tend to do well with mangers. I've had a few that thought they would crawl into the manger and out the window (thank God for jail bars in today's trailers, back then we didn't have them.) Horses will naturally stand with their topline level or head slightly below, most mangers will not allow this. Get the storage in the dressing room or tack room. I've cleaned nasty messes out from under manger storage and I still have flashbacks from the gallon of Red Cell (cooked in by an entire Texas summer) that I had to scrape out with a putty knife...one of the nastiest farm chores ever and that wasn't even my trailer!
Mangers or No Mangers
