Hi all, I have a new, 2 horse straight load 4 Star (I’ve had several and love the trailers) w a ramp. This ramp has a different type of rubber on it (sort of like rubber Astro turf) than my others have had. My horse slips when he is getting off. A friend who also has a new 4 Star has the same problem. I called my dealer who was wonderful. If I bring it in, they will remove the rubber, weld cleats to the ramp and replace the rubber at no charge. Is anyone familiar w this ramp type? My other trailers had rubber with horizontal raised areas on the rubber itself. Thank you. nh
I was going to suggest adding cleats, so I would take them up on that offer.
But make sure they are spaced correctly… seems like I saw an article or paper by Temple Grandin with some info on this. They shouldn’t be too far apart, or the horse will still slip.
Many people simply add wooden cleats over top of the rubber and replace them as needed.
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Thank you. I’ll look for that article as I wondered about that.
I think I found the paper/article but it didn’t give measurements for spacing. Does anyone know what the industry standard might be for the distances between cleats? I’m assuming 4 Star knows that, but I do not want to take a chance. Thank you.
Mine is a 2015 but I think I have the same surface. The ramp can be quite steep, especially my side ramp, but I haven’t had this issue at all. One reason I chose it over Sundowner was the bad reputation about Sundowner ramps being slippery. You could buy a cocomat and lay that down in the meantime.
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I have had lots of problems with my 4-Star but a slippery ramp isn’t one of them. I’d probably take the dealer up on their offer if I did have the issue though.
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I’m happy to buy a coco mat, but I’m not sure how to use it. When I’ve seen them in use, it’s been on a big van and the mat has gone into the van and the horse walks out forward. How do I keep it from rolling up under his hind feet if he’s “feeling his way” out? Or, am I now just over the top w worry? Thank you!
@NaturallyHappy - what did you end up doing? I just got my new-to-me 4Star this week and my horse slipped going up the side ramp yesterday 
The rubber on the mat needs to be replaced anyway so I’m debating replacing and adding cleats as suggested up thread or just doing the cocomat since the rubber is not in great shape anyway
This is the paper I’m remembering
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Cleat-spacing-for-steel-or-wood-ramps_fig3_43202698
I can’t (easily) get the full paper but the abstract talks about trained vs. untrained animals. I am not sure which section those images come from. Pretty sure the cleats I’ve seen on ramps here and there are not that close together.
Hi! It’s an awful feeling when they slip, isn’t it? I talked to my dealer…he said the only horses he’d had slip are reiners. I wonder if they were the only ones who complained. He picked up my trailer and installed cleats under the rubber, which is what he did for the reiners. He didn’t charge me as it is an option 4 Star offers. It looks great, but I haven’t loaded my beloved pony yet to see how it works. He never slipped on the ramp in my old 4 Star that had a different type of rubber.
Thanks! My pony who slipped is definitely not a reiner, but he is a bit of a uncoordiated klutz 
I made the poor guy be the trailer guinea pig because he’s so agreeable and I’m kinda glad that we did try that out because I think the bigger guy is even more of a klutz and it might have been ugly.
I sincerely doubt that our local 4 Star dealer will do anything for me at no charge charge since I did not buy from them - and I know they are super backed up with other work right now anyway So I think I’ll get a cocomat for the interim and plan to have them work on the ramp later.
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Let us know how the coco may works, would you? I was afraid my pony would catch the edge of the mat. The dealer I bought my trailer from is Altmeiers near Pittsburgh, PA. They are not local to me, but we’re the easiest to work w long distance.
By the way, mine is barefoot behind. I called Hawk and asked for a sample of their rubber as it is supposed to be non-slip. It appears to be the same rubber as the 4-Star.
My trainer has a 4 Star 4 horse head to head. She doesn’t use the coco mat on the rear ramp but does on the side ramp since it’s steeper. It works great. No issues with slipping or the mat rolling under them. Though that is with them coming out forward. She also has two small chunks of 4x4 and puts one under each corner to make it less steep. Our giant QH hunters are still getting used to it but it works well.
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I got my coco mat yesterday - haven’t used it yet but will report back when I do 
Thank you for this information and idea.
Thank you!
This is exactly why I stopped using my coco mat. He would catch it coming out and it would scare him… and because of the way the divider is designed with a floor pin at the back (straight load), I couldnt slip it further into the trailer.
I worked with Bravo to try and get him to come out more slowly, and I clean the manure from behind him before unloading (he was slipping after getting a hoof full of manure on the way out).
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Thank you!
@NaturallyHappy, is it your back ramp that is slippery? I used my back ramp without issue with my klutz. Because he is a klutz I make sure that he backs out verrrrrry slowly. I’m only planning to use the cocomat on the side ramp when a horse will not be backing up onto it.
Also, I put a 4x4 under the side ramp to make it a little less steep.
