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The tales of an adult ammy hunter/jumper rider and her ponies
Thursday, June 13, 2019
This or That
I'm slowly starting to look for a new horse trailer. Mine is 11 years old and in fairly good shape but Cinder is I'm starting to outgrow it. It's a standard 7' inside height, 2 horse slant load bumper pull with a decent sized tack room. At just over 2, Cinder is almost hitting her head, and once she fills out, squeezing both her and Peebs in it will be a challenge.
I know kinda what I want in my next trailer but I'm not 100%. It'll be a two horse extra tall, extra wide with a ramp for sure, but do I want a straight load or slant load? If it's a slant, no rear tack rooms. I think those are recipes for disaster. Bumper pull or goose neck? My truck can pull a smaller goose neck, I just have to have a hitch installed. I'm leaning towards goose neck because I feel they're more stable and less likely to flip if you get involved in an accident. But they're also more $$$, especially when you have to have the hitch put in. I'm also thinking of a straight load but those tend to be rarer up here. Ideally my next trailer would come with a water tank, but I can add that later if needed. So blogosphere, what's your preferences?
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I'm going to go with a 2 horse slant with drop down windows, preferably with a tack room wall in front that can also swing open so the trailer can be completely open if needed. Around here we are often on ferries/in lineups for ferries, so having the drop down windows to provide feed and water easily makes sense. I'm not going with gooseneck because I use my truck for other things and like having the tailgate.
ReplyDeleteYou can keep the tailgate and haul with a gooseneck, you just open it up to hook up, then you can close it. There's plenty of space. You can also get a ball that flips over, so it doesn't impede using the bed for other things when you're not hauling. My new truck has a ball that comes out completely (and easily, but scarily easily). So if you're preference is for a gooseneck, don't let those things dissuade you!
DeleteI am coveting a two horse straight load gooseneck... but the husband would need a bigger truck for that. I just think straight loads are more comfortable for horses. When you accelerate, the horse's weight it shifted to the two back feet, when you brake, it's the horse's two front feet. With a slant load, the balance is really shifted between the right front foot and the back left foot.
ReplyDeleteA two horse straight load bumper pull is practical, easy to find, and easy to sell.
I just happened across your blog and I'm working through this trailer thing myself so I figured to drop a comment!
ReplyDeleteIf you've got a bigger horse, a straight load is always going to provide them more room. I'm downsizing from a HUGE gooseneck to a bumper pull. I've never driven a bumper pull, but one thing I didn't think of is that in the event of an emergency it's way easier to find someone on the fly capable of towing a BP than finding someone to haul a gooseneck. If you do decide to go with a gooseneck, make sure you make the turns MUCH WIDER than you're used to: it'll shave a lot off your turns!!
I hadn't thought of who else can haul a gooseneck in an emergency thing. It's def something to think about.
DeleteI prefer a gooseneck myself. They're easier to haul and definitely give you a sturdier feel. No swaying.
ReplyDeleteI also very much prefer a straight load. Rio never fit comfortably in a slant, as he's kind of long. And this is less of an issue with a two horse, but if you have a problem with the horse in front in a slant load, you have to move all the other horses to get to that one horse in trouble. That scares me. I like having access to them all equally.
I don't haul but I really like my friend Ellie's 2 horse hawk, it fits 2 warmbloods in it, its a ramp, straight load with a small front tack room.
ReplyDeleteHawk's are on the top of my list as far as brands.
DeleteHaving owned both, I much prefer the straight load, especially with bigger horses. They seem to haul much more comfortably, and I like being able to easily access each horse. With the front escape doors I can do just about anything with both horses in the trailer, including refill hay nets and remove blankets. That setup is pretty rare around here in cowboy country but I did find one and LOVE it.
ReplyDelete