I think these pointy bits will need some work before you try to haul loose horses with the divider open, but where there’s a will there’s a way! Some foam padding duct taped on and you’re good to go.
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Beautiful trailer. But yes … knowing horses so many places to do damage. My first thought was a pool noodle. To cover sharp bits and gaps. There must be a better easier option though.
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As to the rear door: I have a similar trailer in some respects (although mine is a stock combo, don’t have the gates, etc.). I’m going to describe my door latch and hold-back to give you an idea of what works well for my trailer’s rear door.
Mine is held open by a pin with a handle that is on a cable attached to the hinge side of the door, low down on the frame, which stays in a steel tube welded there when not in use. When the door is to be opened, the pin is pulled out of the tube, the door swung open, and then the pin is dropped into a another tube on the door itself (also low down). This holds the door completely open.
After the horses are loaded, the pin is removed from that tube, the door is swung closed, and the pin is dropped back into its resting place tube. Simple system, works great. I’ve had various door hold-backs on my trailers, and what I’ve got now works as well as any of them, and better than a couple. But there are other choices out there.
My trailer has a rear door latch similar to yours; I keep a large, heavy duty cotter pin with an attached D-ring (a locking pin, can see them on Home Depot website) in the hole in the piece that supports the horizontal bar of the latch. The big latch on my trailer has to be pushed in with some force, then up, then swung over to unlock, and seems unlikely to unlatch on its own, but I still feel better with the large locking cotter pin making it impossible. A lock could fit through this hole, too, if wanted.
Also, my trailer has a secondary backup latch under this one, down below the tail light, consisting of a spring pin with handle. Before opening the door, this pin is raised by its handle, then rotated to the side, where the handle can rest on a catch, thereby holding the pin up and the door can be opened.
When the door is being latched (after first fastening the big latch higher up), this pin is released by rotating the handle back, which allows the pin to spring down into a sleeve (another metal tube welded to the frame), latching it in place.
Hope this gives you some ideas.
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They are working on my punchlist. I had about 25 items. These two things are the pins that secure the center gate. My big question regarding the redundant closure system on this middle gate is the lever and the large-enough-space for a horse to spring the bolts. There is a second latch that would hold it but, still, i am making them find a solution to busy horse mouths.
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As it turns out, there is a snap latch also on this back door. And also a 3x5 opening, a slat, just in case the door slams on me in there. I’m now pretty relaxed about all the doors’ security. Ramp, interior gate and rear door all have a double system.
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Great! I didn’t see those in the pics. Perhaps they look just enough different from those on my trailer that I didn’t recognize them.
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Middle gate has been my biggest problem. Those wing panels being so obtrusive, and the bolts, and the bottom square butt end make it such that the gate must always be closed. Whether one horse or two. No roaming the whole trailer. Each horse can have half. But not two free in the whole thing together.
they are putting a matting on both sides of that middle gate (because: wallbangers 
)
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me neither! i had to freak out first and then calm down and ask…lol
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Will that dividing gate come out completely? I’ve removed the dividers on a couple of my trailers (slant dividers). Done it when I’ve needed more space (mare and foal, for example).
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i seriously doubt it. Each ‘stall’ is 7 1/2 x 7 1/2 so, i think it will work fine for me.
I was thinking if you wanted to have four sharing the entire space. Only if there wouldn’t be some obtrusive hardware left, of course.
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I DID want that. But…i cannot have it. Not with the wheel wells bumped. In retrospect, i’m not sure it was worth the 12 inches of width, (where the wheel wells aren’t)
THe trailer was delivered last week. I hitched it and have taken a couple of test drives. Now i’m allllmost ready to haul two horses to my lesson tomorrow. BUT>>>>> i can’t figure out how to open the roof vents.
Can anyone help me figure them out?
Here is what they look like (they’re two way)
Push that silver bar to the front or back. It’s sitting in a dip, so it’s almost like you have to roll it over the lip of the hole it’s sitting in. It will open to the front or the back depending on which way you push.
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do i pull it down toward me first? I’ve tried pushing and pulling and tried all three vents and not one budged. I almost got a rubber mallet… And i may do that in the morning.
If all you have to do is move it then it just realllllly stiff.
Yeah, they can be stiff, especially when new. You probably can’t pull it towards you much. Try both hands. I’ll check out my technique on mine tomorrow and report back.
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I just want to point out that the horse would have that same width for standing either way, either with a narrower trailer or with a wider trailer with wheel wells. With the wider trailer, there’s more room for the barrel of a big horse and to spread either the front or rear legs (depending where the wheel wells fall.)
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the axel is the same width on all their trailers…regardless of where you place the walls. So, either the entire interior is six inches less wall-to-wall/floor-to-ceiling, or only the wheel wells are six inches into the interior and all the walls are popped out six more inches on each side. It gives floor space in the front stall all the way across, though floor in rear stall has the wheel wells intruding into the floor space by six inches on each side.
But really, overall, there is a lot more horse-space gained this way.
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here’s an inside view of my new trailer, featuring Quigley, just turned 4 and learning to load so we can begin riding training w/my coach. (today he goes for a little ride to the end of our road and right back home).
There is a problematic squared off vertical column that i’m going to have to drill a rubber something or other into. So far it’s not hurt anyone, but it’s an accident waiting to happen…
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What a good boy! “Keep feeding me carrots and I’ll do anything you want!”
Rebecca
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