For those of you who have 2+1 horse trailers, I have several questions: What make do you have? What options do you think are essential, and which ones can you live without? What do you pull your trailer with?
What is a 2+1 horse trailer??
I’m considering getting a 2 + 1 without a dressing room to keep the length under control (I’ve never had a BP with a dressing room in 30 years of trailer ownership, so it’ll be fine). I will be pulling it with my Chevy Silverado 2500HD. I will need to get a gooseneck hitch installed first.
2+1:
For the OP:
You s/b able to pull with a 3/4 ton truck as long as transmission & cooling are beefed up.
I have a 3/4 ton F250 but it’s a V10 so could handle the load of a 2+1.
Personally I do not like ramps, but the sideloading option could make one needed - especially if you are hauling a cart/carriage.
I don’t have a 2+1 now, but have seen several Elite brand trailers that look very nice - semi-stock.
My G/N trailer is listed as a 2 horse combo - no dressing room. It has 2 regular stalls in the back, plut the ability to turn it into 2 box stalls to haul 2 mares and foals. I also used it to haul 2 in the back, and my stallion sideways/angled in the front. I have ramps back and side/front, plus a people side door. I LOVE it. I haul with my Dodge Ram 1500 2WD, as it is 4000 lbs, and the truck can haul 7500. That gives me 3500 lbs of horses and tack.
That said, the less “driver” you have, the more truck you need for safety. Make sure you have a truck that can say, “NO” to a trailer that wants to sway.
I haul my 2+1 GN with a 2013 F150 with an 11,000# tow rating, a beefed up tow package, and a heavy duty payload package. The trailer is about 4300#, and I only ship two horses at a time, though three would be well within the truck’s parameters.
I’m under the impression that there is a maxim when hauling horses: one is not to exceed 80% of the truck’s tow capacity, in order to accommodate for the [doubly] live weight.
If I were in your shoes, I’d be checking the specs of the trailer, and the specs of the truck, and going from there.
Thanks for your comments. My current truck is more than adequate to pull the 2+1 from the sounds of it. Unfortunately, I recently discovered it’s not adequate pulling my car transporter when there are two cars in it, so I’ll have to solve that problem first. Still interested to hear what trailer manufacturers build the best 2+1.
Those of you pulling these with half tons - are you sure you’re not exceeding your max payload? I could see the f150 with an 11k rating being okay with the pin weight of a gooseneck but I would think that a 7500 pound tow rating you would be at absolute max on the pin before putting horses in the trailer.
5 Likes
I have hauled a LOT with my half-ton 2 w/d, but not heavy mountain areas much. It has been a great truck, but I have been hauling for a LONG time. I do not exceed the tow rating.
@soloudinhere, that’s a metric I took into consideration when buying my truck, the half ton mentioned above, and got the ‘heavy duty payload package’ included, which gives me a max payload of 2300#.
Your point is an excellent one - I think we often get sucked into just looking at the tow capacity, and not all of the other specs that should be considered, like wheelbase, payload, RAR, etc.
1 Like
I have a 4 star 2+1. They are pricy, but worth every penny. Love it. Pull it with a Chevy 3500 dually. More truck than I need, but left over from a previous 4 horse gooseneck.
3 Likes
None finer: http://www.equispirit.com/products/3horse.htm
I went three years before buying from EquiSpirit (I have a 2-horse GN EquiBreeze… XT/XW) because I did heavy research. The late Mr. ChocoMare and I crawled thru trailer after trailer, talked with builders, inspected welds, etc. The EquiSpirit had us sold.
Everyone treasures and hangs onto their Hawk or Trail-Et trailer for good reason-- they were designed by Tom & Neva Scheve – they are the owners of EquiSpirit and every safety feature from their days at Hawk were incorporated plus many more.
2 Likes
@ChocoMare , I really like the looks of the Equispirit safe load. The only thing that makes me cringe is the telescoping divider. Being open it seems like a creative troublemaker could get a leg hung? Granted you could put a troublemaker in another stall but still. Thoughts? Also it seems you could fit a small horse in the space created by closing the slant divider? It does defeat the “every horse has an easy exit” thought but in an emergency maybe? Hard to tell by the video in the website. I’m intrigued!! Its about 10 k cheaper than a new adams! How do you like the saddle racks? They are the only other thing that made me cringe. They look cheap and like your saddles would slip off? TY!!
Have NO fear of their safety features. Truly, after two years of research before we bought, I can tell you that the EquiSpirit is THE safest on the road. Trust me, call Tom. Talk turkey. He is patient, uber smart and will hold your hand.
I have a 2017 Four Star 2+1 and I LOVE it. I pull it with a F350 SRW Long bed crew cab. My must haves were 7’ 6" minimum height,WERM flooring, Quiet ride system, cameras, fans and the hydraulic jack with remote. I also had an air ride hitch installed. The trailer has excellent ground clearance and has been amazing. I am so glad I went with Four Star. They had reasonable pricing and I have been so satisfied with the transaction I would do it again tomorrow. Most importantly my trailer GVWR comes in at 9,900 pounds. If I go over 10k I need a Class A non commercial license and I did not want to do that right now.
I have the Hawk version of this trailer (much cheaper and still had all the features I wanted), and specifically customized it so that I could put a pony in between the straight loads and the slant load, so it becomes a 4-horse trailer (as long as one of them is smallish). Added 6" of length, places to tie, chest bar across the man door, and extra horse-proof latch on the outside. Pony could probably exit out the man door in an emergency, but normally he just turns around and heads out the back through the straight load. He loves his pony compartment!
I would not haul with the telescoping divider flopping loose, at least the way mine is built – it needs to be tied in place or removed altogether if you want it open. (And then add the chest bar and outside latch on the man door so horsey can’t open it from the inside).
We haul with a Chevy 2500 Duramax (long bed, 2015 model), and with 3 horses + pony, it is positively dreamy to haul, even over big Colorado mountain passes. I would not be comfortable hauling it with a 1/2 ton here.
We are looking at the 2+1 trailers. So far, we’ve only seen the 4-Star versions. Very impressive build specs, but price tags are really high. Problem is trying to see trailers first hand. Dealers may have 1 or 2…wondering if some of the horse shows might have more.Does anybody have any experience buying their trailers at a horse show?
1 have the 4 Star 2+1. I love it. I have the 8’, WERM floor, hydraulic jack, quiet ride with fans, dual camera system, and a awesome air ride hitch. The trailer has a GVWR of 9,800lbs which keeps me below the 10,000lb limit for the class A non-commercial license. My tow vehicle is a diesel F350 crew cab, long bed, SRW. I have a Banks IQ with Ram Air Induction, and a Banks exhaust brake and air bags. It has plenty of power, payload and a great big safe footprint on the ground if sh*t goes wrong! I cannot imagine towing this trailer with a 1/2 ton. That would be pretty irresponsible in my book. What I love about the 4 Star is the flexibility it gives me. I have a loading dock at my farm for the horses and I pull my right side right up to the dock and drop the ramp and it is a straight walk out and into the barn. I thought I would never use a loading dock, but now I have the side ramp I am so glad that I have it! The quality of the trailer is great. I had a great dealer who worked with me to customize exactly what I wanted. I get compliments on the trailer wherever I go. I really wanted to stay compliant with all of the laws and this 4 Star trailer was the only one at the time in this configuration that came in with the GVWR under the 10k rule. We are in a very heavily enforced area and I did not want to be over weight. I am surprised that there are still so many rigs out there not licensed properly. EDITED to note: I bought mine over the internet. The dealership knew what they had coming off the assembly line and I then finished the customization as it came thru the assembly process. It was very easy!
I have a 4 Star 2+1 without a dressing room. I lover the trailer - bought it used from a friend 2 years ago, and it came into my life at the perfect time. There are some days that I miss a dressing room, but overall it has all of the functionality I need. I only usually haul one, sometimes 2 horses. My truck is a 2004 Dodge Ram 3500 HD.
I briefly considered a Hawk gooseneck with a side ramp (not a full 2+1) and was going to pull it with my 2013 Tundra with the max tow configuration. I would have been at the max limit with my two horses.
I wound up with a 4 Star 2+1 with the standard dressing room and a 2015 Ford F250 SD diesel. I have had this configuration for about a year and I haven’t regretted it for a nanosecond.
