I’m currently quite happy with my 2 horse Featherlite slant with extended dressing room (I like to carry a lot of… stuff), but at some point, my half ton truck will die, and I would love to be able to downsize to a smaller vehicle and a lighter trailer.
My big concern with the european-style trailers I’m seeing (Bockmann, Equi-Trek etc) is how tiny the windows are. My current trailer has 6 big windows with sliders and screens in the horse part, and in the heat and humidity of Southwest Ontario, anything less is really concerning to me.
Is there something about how the euro trailers are built, or ??? that makes them cooler/more airy than I would expect from the small windows?
Thanks for any insight people can offer!
The fiberglass/composite construction helps keep it cooler in the trailer (reflecting rather than absorbing the heat), IME. However, it doesn’t make a difference for airflow, and airflow is the best way to cool off a trailer once you hit a certain point of Hot Outside Hot Inside.
You can order more vents and windows, if ordering a new build. You can also add powered fans. If you were going to get a Euro style, you would definitely be wanting the max options.
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I have a St. Georges Imara. It has a window/vent in front, a window on each side and slide down windows in the rear that can drop down 1’ or 2’. On top of that, the material the trailer and roof are made of are much cooler than aluminum trailers. Our farm has 2 big, 4-Star trailers. When I’ve helped load horses for them it is MUCH hotter in those than mine parked side by side. It’s like an oven as the sun heats up the aluminum body and noticeably hotter as soon as you step inside them. And that’s with all windows and doors open.
I’ve never had my horse step off my trailer sweaty, and I live much farther south than OP. I also would not haul if it was above 90F weather in ANY trailer.
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I owned a Brenderup for several years in a very warm climate (with humidity, although not Gulf Coast level).
The fiberglass construction meant that the trailer was much cooler to begin with than a metal trailer (even though I was unable to park it under cover at home).
My Baron had a smallish operable window on each side that could be adjusted all kinds of ways (popped open to the front to scoop cooling air in, popped open at the bottom to keep rain out, etc., various ways to adjust it all the way around the window). In back, the area above the ramp could be left lowered to leave an open air flow space the width of the trailer.
My horses never arrived sweaty, and I’m sure they were hauled in 90+ weather a number of times because that temperature could happen here several months out of the year.
Would I have preferred more (or larger) windows - always in any trailer - but my horses didn’t appear to suffer and the trailer stayed amazingly cool. It wasn’t a sweatbox or sauna.
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I added two roof scoop vents to my EquiTrek and it’s never sweaty even in 100 degree weather.
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Interesting, a friend sold hers after her first summer (FL) because it was too hot (no way to get good airflow). I’m assuming that it wasn’t the same model.
For heat or cold, it’s worth paying extra for an insulated roof. I make multiple trips from Atlanta to Ocala in the winter which usually has a significant swing in temps along the route and the trailer doesn’t change in temp radically until I get to my destination and open it up (2 ramps plus door)
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This is all great information and food for thought! I’m hoping this is years away, but it’s never too soon to start thinking about things. I do like the look of the aluminum walls of some of the Bockmanns I’ve seen… The panels look strong, at least to me.
My major concern now is that because I almost always load/unload by myself, a slant has worked well for me (horse is only 15.1hh), and most Euro trailers are straight loads… And my horse has occasionally had a Thing about ramps. Dream now is something that can go ramp or step up… and a front, stepdown unload!
I admit that I prefer a step-up trailer (with a lowish step) to a ramp.
Small me didn’t really like raising and lowering the ramp, even though it was quite well-balanced. I had to reach up over my head to undo the latches to drop the upper part of the tailgate (necessary first step in lowering the ramp) and catch the panels as they fell forward (it would easily have been possible to bop myself in the head if I wasn’t alert with outstretched arms).
And, after raising the ramp and lifting those panels back into place, it was a big reach for me to tilt them upwards into position, fighting gravity, before fastening the latches.
There were lots of things to like about that trailer – the cool, quiet interior; the outstanding cornering; the great inertia brakes; the ease of hitching (it was possible to move the nose by hand); the wider tow vehicle choice.
But when I went back to a truck, I bought another trailer of my personal fav style, which is a step-up combo stock gooseneck. However, if I ever returned to an SUV and needed a bumper pull, I’d take another look at the European trailers.
For one person operation, a slant or a back-in straight slot (like loading a head to head from the side ramp) is typically the easiest.
I have a traditional rear load straight trailer and I really don’t like the amount of time I spend low behind the horses’ hindquarters. I much prefer to swing a butt over to close the divider from the side like in a slant, or to back them in and close the chest bar. The shorter Sport models by Balanced Ride seem to be an intriguing combination of these features that might be the best of both worlds, actually!
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My St. Georges Imara is a straightload step-up. My current horse would load great in our big trailers (4h or bigger), but I didn’t want to have to lead her in the 2H. I wanted her to self-load because I show alone sometimes, so spent a few months practicing. She is now reliable to self-load and some trainers say it’s easier in a step-up vs ramp. I don’t really know, but either way I have more tow vehicle options with my Euro trailer. It weighs 1450lbs empty and 150lbs tongue weight with 2, 16hh horses. I only have 1 small mare so I love it.
I’m not saying that if I had limitless funds I wouldn’t buy a bigger trailer with a dressing room, huge truck, etc. I just don’t have the $$ for all that.
Equi Trek now makes a front unload trailer, but it has ramp front and back, not step up
I was advised by a Bockmann dealer not to install a powered fan as it would mess with the airflow design through the trailer and could cause noise issues for the horses.
I taught my horse to self load into my straight load euro trailer in an afternoon. I haul alone all the time so it was a necessity. I have a ramp door combo so can do either ramp or step up. My horse seems to like the ramp so that’s what I use. I do find having the door option makes it easier to clean out.
While there are models with a front walk off, I didn’t opt for one because of budget and also I don’t know that I loved the narrower looking front ramp, and it leaves you with a smaller tack area. I did see Fautras has an option for a step down front walk off and I would prefer that to a front walk off with ramp.
So far the only downside of not having the front walk off is it can’t accommodate a friend’s horse who doesn’t like backing out so when we haul together we always take their trailer.
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Weird! I had fans in my (very cool) Jamco. Horses never got hot while travelling but I used the fans when parked at shows and clinics or anywhere I was going to need to stash a horse for a while. Reload horses, turn on fans, grab a lawn chair and join horses in the front of the trailer because those little fans were amazing!
That said, yes, you want to make sure your horse is ok with fan noise in a confined area before you just throw the switch the first time!
The way I understood it’s not the fan noise but rather the disturbance in the airflow through the trailer. Because the back is completely open (well can be closed with the soft cover) the air is designed to flow through the trailer a certain way. If you mess with that airflow it can be like when you drive down the highway with one car window partially open and get that awful pounding noise that bangs the eardrums.
That makes sense. I only ever used my fans when parked for the day. I didn’t need to use them while travelling.
I have an Equi-Trek and it has a Flettner vent in the roof, which is supposed to move air around even while stationary.
I’m afraid I haven’t yet used it in hot weather though, so don’t have any experience with it 
