That’s what I thought!
I grew up at a boarding barn and several boarders over the years had the OLD style 1 horse trailers. This style (I stole this pic through Google and the Next Tech classifieds, not mine):
Obviously they weren’t all in such rough condition back then. Some of them had enclosed walls or ramps, others didn’t.
Anyway, horses DID NOT load into those things. They hated them. I have spent hours of my life I will never get back helping boarders try to load their horses onto those types of trailers.
The modern 1 horse trailers are such a huge improvement. I’ve been intrigued by them, especially the ones that have living quarters in a small BP footprint. But, I worry because many of the straight load designs still have a very narrow horse compartment, like the 2nd one you posted.
The slant prevents the narrow opening problem. But I would still worry about loading difficulties. I have a small 2H slant bumper pull and it can be really tricky to get a 2nd horse into the back stall and get the door shut. There just isn’t much room. Even with a bar or gate they can just step a few inches and get their leg out of the trailer.
even older
we often made our two horse a single horse by taking out the divider which we left at home
My first horse wouldn’t load in a two-horse side by side; a one-horse would be a decorative piece in the yard.
Even if you only ever plan on hauling one - I’m a fan of more space. I’ve had to haul emergencies collapsing in the trailer to the vet/hospital; I’d be afraid to do that in a one horse.
I have a two horse slant stock combo with a small dressing room. I took the divider out and use it as a one-horse trailer primarily. I could haul two (or, in a dire emergency, all three of my small Arabians) if I wanted to easily. My riding horse is a great loader, but the combination of a step-up and a wide open space makes it a snap to teach my babies to load, and it would be easy to load a difficult horse if necessary. The only thing I’d change if I could is that I wish it had two small doors instead of one large one, because it’s kind of a pain to deal with that big, heavy door in windy conditions or on uneven ground.
My trailer probably cost less than 1/4 of what one of those one-horse models do, and it will hold its value pretty much forever. I paid nearly as much for it in 2020 as it cost new (it’s a 2011), and I could probably sell it tomorrow for even more than that. It’s also handy if I need to haul hay or other bulky items. It probably doesn’t weight much more than a one-horse trailer, either.
So, just to answer the initial question, I hauled two different horses over 10+ years in a one-horse Brenderup. No issues, loved the trailer, so easy to haul, and the horse had plenty of room in the 4-foot wide interior to get comfy and position their bodies and feet as they wanted. One horse always liked to rest a hip against either wall (no preference) for balance, and the other just rested his [rotund] rib cage against the wall – I could tell by the dirt smudges. Everyone always arrived cool and calm, mildly looking out the windows with hay in their mouth. I didn’t have any storage in the trailer, but I could fit everything in the tow vehicle so I didn’t care.
I did miss being able to offer rides to others, though I know that this can have its own issues.
Something like this would be my choice over a 1 horse slant.
https://www.exiss.com/horse-trailers/bumper-pull-horse-trailers/express-cx-edition/trailer
That’s exactly what I have. Heck, we probably bought them at the same place.
My horses are larger, so for all intents and purposes, my trailer is a one horse trailer. I mostly keep the divider out. But I could cram 2-3 horses in there in an emergency.
Add my trailer to the list of two-horse, step-up slant stock combos without a divider, and with a small dressing/tack. Mine’s a gooseneck instead of a bumper pull, but I’ve also owned the same type in a BP configuration, as well as a 3H divider-less stock combo GN.
Versatile, easy-loading trailer style. Have much preferred this type to the other trailers I’ve owned, both BP and GN.
I wouldn’t get a one-horse trailer – what if the horse ever had difficulty loading (could normally be a great loader, but things happen – what if the horse was lame or ill?), what if a horse went down (what if there was a road accident?), etc.
I also think that the width of a two-horse (side by side or slant) would make it more stable on the road. Anybody else remember when two horse inline trailers had a moment? Sure don’t see those around anymore.
Thanks for all the good conversation! I was just curious as I had never seen anything like those before.
We’re going tomorrow to one of the local dealers that has two 4 Star 2024 2 Horse Slant Load Bumper Pulls on their lot and will probably come home with one. Something like that seems like the best bang for the buck and it should last me for decades.
Unless you plan to haul 2 big horses at the same time, this seems like a great plan. My 17h Oldenburg does not fit length wise in a single slant stall in a regular or warmblood size slant (only in those giant extra-wide styles that have wheel well bumps).
Just a wide load Fjord
I have a Brenderup Solo (1 horse). The stall is much wider than the width of the stall in a straight load 2 horse - it’s more than 50" (52", or 54") - so over 4’, like another poster with a Solo stated. It’s very easy to get a horse in - plenty of room to walk beside. My first horse liked it - she was quite content to stay in the trailer at horse shows, with a butt chair behind her. I never regretted buying this trailer. It is easy to haul, since it’s narrower than the tow vehicle.
For just hauling one horse, is taking out the divider a nicer ride for them in the larger space?
This is trailer to be! The only difference between the two is the decals. The guy is out of town through Monday but invited us to go have a look also we did last night and have our appt Tuesday.
SO upon inspecting, “these are really well constructed.”
Oh and one other question.
With new trailer sales, is it similar to cars in any way with mark ups and trying to haggle them down?
Oh wow, love it!
It depends in my opinion.
Some horses like to lean on the divider and would rather be in a smaller space. Some horses are claustrophobic and would rather have the whole box.
In my trailer, the divider makes some noise when tied back against the wall. The metal on metal clanks when you hit a bump. The horses seem to get a bit irritated by that. With as high as the matting is on your trailer, that may be a non issue with yours.
If you take the divider out you are back to having nothing acting as a butt bar for your horse that is tied in there.
It does have a padded chain that goes across the back, it’s just not up. It’s on the left side of the photo looking into the trailer.
A friend got a rocking deal on her dream trailer on the last day of a local horse expo. The company did not want to drive it back home.
My solution to this is that I load my horse, close the back door, then go around to the front escape door to tie her - unless we’re going on a short/local/slow speed trip, in which case I just take the lead rope off and let her ride loose. If I had a larger truck and a gooseneck, I’d probably never tie a horse that was being hauled alone. She really likes riding loose/backwards, and it makes loading and unloading super easy on us both.
But it looks like the OP’s new trailer does come with a butt chain.
Congratulations, OP! That’s a really nice looking trailer and much fancier than mine. To avoid the bouncing, noisy divider issue, I just take mine out entirely. It lives in my garage, in case I ever want to use it.