Originally written by ladyarwin on 2015-04-23 12:01 AM

Hello! I hope this works...never used a forum like this before.We're in the process of buying our first horse trailer and I'm looking for opinions and advice.>>>OK, here goes something I've learned over the years...It's got to be a BP trailer, would like to be able to haul 3 horses tops, but usually will be only moving 1 or 2.>>>Can you haul this kind of weight with your current truck? Most half tons can't handle the larger 3+ horse bumper pulls at highway speeds without a weight distributing hitch. You don't want the tail to wag the dog!I like the stock type trailers best, currently looking at a 16' Circle J with a center gate...hoping to fit 2 horses comfortably in there and use a part of it for tack, with the option of setting it up for sleeping on overnights. >>>16' stock trailers aren't big enough to fit three full size (1100 lb.) horses in them unless you stuff them in like cattle. Not to mention they aren't tall enough for full size horses either.Ideas for closing some of the slats in winter or rain, hoping for something easy to put in and remove?>>>Most newer stock types can have plexiglass type material places inside grooves in the slat openings. Don't skip on this option, it's an option that worth every penny.Where do i store my tack??? >>> In an open stock type trailer there aren't usually any tack storage areas. Unless you look for a horse/stock combo and then you'll find tack storage rooms, again worth every penny. Invest in a good lock for the tack room, as these are commonly broken into and with a small amount of luck it's not hard to find a generic key that will open the lock. I was at a horse show once and used my set of keys to open the trailer of another competitor after they locked their keys inside. (I re-keyed my trailer the next week.)Back--center gate closed is ~7ft (one horse loose/slant, 2 horses straight???)>>> One loose only if it's small, two only if they are medium ponies or smaller.Center gate closed---front is 9ft BUT that includes up to the pointed nose, guessing there's ~7ft of actual horse-useable floor space there>>> Best bet is to measure the square space, but again two horses are not going to fix comfortably.possible to move the center gate farther forward, making more space in the back for horess...?>>> Anything is possible with money, just watch the tongue weight. You really want to keep most of the weight over the axles, not ahead of them.Also wanting to put in a way to get horses from behind the center gate out the escape door, either a door in the center gate, or rigging it up so that it can swing towards the front of the trailer...it currently swings toward the back, which wouldn't work with a horse back there...>>> Again, anything is possible with money. Most stock trailers are not designed for horse size animals to exit the trailer using the "escape door" which is mainly designed for human entry/exit or an emergency second escape route. In my old stock trailer I couldn't fit any of my adult horses out the escape door.Looking forward to hopefully hearing back from some of you!!!Thanks for reading!

Originally written by ladyarwin on 2015-04-23 12:01 AM

Hello! I hope this works...never used a forum like this before.We're in the process of buying our first horse trailer and I'm looking for opinions and advice.

>>>OK, here goes something I've learned over the years...

It's got to be a BP trailer, would like to be able to haul 3 horses tops, but usually will be only moving 1 or 2.

>>>Can you haul this kind of weight with your current truck? Most half tons can't handle the larger 3+ horse bumper pulls at highway speeds without a weight distributing hitch. You don't want the tail to wag the dog!

I like the stock type trailers best, currently looking at a 16' Circle J with a center gate...hoping to fit 2 horses comfortably in there and use a part of it for tack, with the option of setting it up for sleeping on overnights.

>>>16' stock trailers aren't big enough to fit three full size (1100 lb.) horses in them unless you stuff them in like cattle. Not to mention they aren't tall enough for full size horses either.

Ideas for closing some of the slats in winter or rain, hoping for something easy to put in and remove?

>>>Most newer stock types can have plexiglass type material places inside grooves in the slat openings. Don't skip on this option, it's an option that worth every penny.

Where do i store my tack???

>>> In an open stock type trailer there aren't usually any tack storage areas. Unless you look for a horse/stock combo and then you'll find tack storage rooms, again worth every penny. Invest in a good lock for the tack room, as these are commonly broken into and with a small amount of luck it's not hard to find a generic key that will open the lock. I was at a horse show once and used my set of keys to open the trailer of another competitor after they locked their keys inside. (I re-keyed my trailer the next week.)

Back--center gate closed is ~7ft (one horse loose/slant, 2 horses straight???)

>>> One loose only if it's small, two only if they are medium ponies or smaller.

Center gate closed---front is 9ft BUT that includes up to the pointed nose, guessing there's ~7ft of actual horse-useable floor space there

>>> Best bet is to measure the square space, but again two horses are not going to fix comfortably.

possible to move the center gate farther forward, making more space in the back for horess...?

>>> Anything is possible with money, just watch the tongue weight. You really want to keep most of the weight over the axles, not ahead of them.

Also wanting to put in a way to get horses from behind the center gate out the escape door, either a door in the center gate, or rigging it up so that it can swing towards the front of the trailer...it currently swings toward the back, which wouldn't work with a horse back there...

>>> Again, anything is possible with money. Most stock trailers are not designed for horse size animals to exit the trailer using the "escape door" which is mainly designed for human entry/exit or an emergency second escape route. In my old stock trailer I couldn't fit any of my adult horses out the escape door.

Looking forward to hopefully hearing back from some of you!!!

Thanks for reading!