On the issue of hauling hay inside of the horse compartment, I do it regularly. I generally only take one horse to overnight shows or clinics (mostly clinics these days). I put the horse on the driver’s side and the hay on the passenger side. I tie or strap the hay bales in place using brackets that fold flat when not in use. They are screwed into the trailer frame. I have done this for years (decades). Never had a problem. I’ve also prepped hay bags for the trip and hung them from the bars over the windows on the off side. That works too. Securing to the headwall is a bit iffy is you have a horse that likes to paw. I had one many years ago that pawed and got a shoe caught in the baling twine. Luckily, he just stood there with his leg on resting on the hay bale. When we found it, we just cut the string and pulled it out of the shoe. He was fine. We retied the bale and off we went. So, I’d probably not do that with shod horses. Or, I’d put the hay in a bale bag and secure it. I use hay bags most of the time anyway, just for neatness. Plus, the wheeled ones are easy to move while loading and unloading.
Another solution I’ve seen is to put brackets on the outside of the trailer, over the wheel well fenders. You can rest your 2 string bales on their sides on the fender and secure them to the brackets, making sure the brackets take the weight of the bale off of the fender. Use bale bags if the weather is ugly, to protect your hay from road grime. I actually haul a set of pvc horse panels that way for my horse that won’t stand tied to the trailer unless there is an enclosure around him.
When we are hauling with our class C motorhome, we will put a small motorcycle on the empty side, my husband made a pallet of sorts that fits securely in the stall and the motorcycle ties down to it. Works like a charm and gives us a little transportation option when we are at the show/clinic grounds.
The other must have for me are cameras. Mine are hardwired through the fans that came with the trailer so they work whenever the trailer is pugged in to the truck. We used a dash cam system from the regular electronics store. The image in the truck is reversed but you can still tell what your horses are doing. Way cheaper than a back up camera or one branded for horses.
