I can't figure out why I wanted a slant load trailer!

[BroncoMo]

@beowolf I do see a lot of your points. I guess when I think of straight load impact, I think of the horses head getting smashed in to whatever is in front of them; I would not expect a chest bar to stop that much weight if it gets thrown forward. I guess in the “pick your poison” aspect, I’d take my chances with a horse going sideways, rather than head first. Any and all of this would be a terrible situation regardless.

I will say, since this thread has morphed in to a lot more than just pros and cons… There’s been a lot of discussions lately on various trailer types. I’ve done some shopping and there are some really cool new features and designs (mostly in slant loads, haven’t looked at any straight loads). One thing I wouldn’t ever consider is a trailer in which the only way in and out is through the side. There are some that have a solid rear tack, and side loading ramp. It gives me the hebies to think if the trailer ended up on it’s side, the side that the door is on, I have no way in to the trailer. It takes some creativity to think of a scenario where the trailer will end up on it’s rear end (back doors), so those would likely be accessible, unless you’re rear ended by another vehicle. But something for new trailer shoppers; think of the situations your trailer could end up in, and which doors you will be able to get in. If your only doors are on the side, and the trailer ends up with that side down, you have no choice but to use extraction equipment to get in.

[soloudinhere]

It seems to me that a lot of the new “features” on slants are more creature comforts for humans versus horse-friendly upgrades.

my new trailer has chest and butt bars that can be released from outside the trailer on both sides and the divider swings away from both the head and the butt section in two different pieces. With both ramps, a full size escape door, and a fiberglass roof, you can get out from either side or cut into the roof with standard tools. I did look up accident videos of these before I bought one because I was skeptical. The coupler even has degrees of rotation that prevent the coupler from coming detached or flipping while the vehicle is upright. A lot of thought went into it.

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[clanter]

since we have jumped to accidents, a steel framed trailer can withstand a pretty good hit… ours was broadsided by a SUV that failed to stop at a crossroads… no damage to the trailer but the SUV had to pick up the pieces… daughter’s horse was loaded in the front stall… he just look out the window with a look that he wanted to tap dance on the car

[beowulf]

@soloudinhere

It seems to me that a lot of the new “features” on slants are more creature comforts for humans versus horse-friendly upgrades.

my new trailer has chest and butt bars that can be released from outside the trailer on both sides and the divider swings away from both the head and the butt section in two different pieces. With both ramps, a full size escape door, and a fiberglass roof, you can get out from either side or cut into the roof with standard tools. I did look up accident videos of these before I bought one because I was skeptical. The coupler even has degrees of rotation that prevent the coupler from coming detached or flipping while the vehicle is upright. A lot of thought went into it.

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you cant mention these incredible features without a shoutout to the brand! color me interested!

[soloudinhere]

@beowulf

you cant mention these incredible features without a shoutout to the brand! color me interested!

The trailer is a Bockmann, from Germany. I notice they recently came out with a 3h slant model, I’m sure it’s pricey, but it sure is nice. I have a 2h straight load with front ramp, the Portax K.

[BroncoMo]

@soloudinhere

It seems to me that a lot of the new “features” on slants are more creature comforts for humans versus horse-friendly upgrades.

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I absolutely agree. Some of them look cool at a glance, but not realistic in a bad situation.

[Bluey]

@BroncoMo

I absolutely agree. Some of them look cool at a glance, but not realistic in a bad situation.

Is that not so for ALL trailers?
Starting with shiny paint and stripes.

After all, they are selling them to the human, not the horse.

If everyone would stop to think, not confirm their biases, they would realize that accidents are rare and happen with all kinds of trailers.

Millions of horses haul fine in all kinds of trailers.
Where there are problems, it is because of the horse and situation, not that a trailer is straight or slant.

Look around you at all those horses in all those slant and straight trailers, that do just fine going places, that attest to that.

[soloudinhere]

^ I don’t think that means we should ignore thoughts of safety like skimping on escape doors, using trailers with mangers, or using trailers with fixed rear tack and center posts. Just because it’s mostly okay doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t consider those things and if you’re spending the money, buy what makes sense to you.

[GoodTimes]

I will never again ship my horses in a slant unless it’s an emergency or unless there’s only one horse.
I decided to ship one of mine with a trainer instead of shipping myself for a show one time. On the way home trainers horse decided to be a pain in the a**. We loaded her first so the other horses wouldn’t have to stand on the trailer with her having a meltdown outside. An hour later she finally got on, took two football player sized men to push her into position to get the divider closed.
My horse went on second into the middle slot. Third horse goes on no problem.
Horse in the front then decides to freak out. She somehow contorted herself enough to start cowkicking the divider. By the time we pulled the back horse off my horse was leaning on the divider trying to get away from the kicker so it was all we (myself and two men) to push him off long enough to open the divider. He flew off the trailer just as she broke the divider and began double barreling in all directions.
The mare ended up having to be tranqd just to get home. That was a horse who had been shipping on that trailer for years, no one knows why she lost it.

A trailer where you can’t get to each of the horses quickly is a disaster waiting to happen. And for the love of god don’t let your horse stick their head out of a giant window. I saw one who tried to go through and got stuck. Ended up being euthanized a few days later from internal bleeding.

[clanter]

@soloudinhere

^ I don’t think that means we should ignore thoughts of safety like skimping on escape doors, using trailers with mangers, or using trailers with fixed rear tack and center posts. Just because it’s mostly okay doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t consider those things and if you’re spending the money, buy what makes sense to you.

have you ever had a horse hop over a chest bar in a straight load? our trainer had one do that, we were behind them saw what had happened , got them to pull over… horse had passed out as it could not breath… somehow by grabbing its halter we were able to yank it over the chest bar as it would not release with the horse on it… then the horse just kind of poured out the escape door… still to this day have no idea how we pulled that horse over the chest bar

so straight load with open front are off my list along with having the horse stand on a flat bed trailer

[Bluey]

Like I said above, that a trailer is slant or straight just means you may have a different problem when you have one, not more or less.

I will say, most horses at the tracks decades ago came in straight trailers and some came in in bad shape after things happened in the trailer.
Can’t blame any of that on slants, that were not in use then.

I have hardly ever seen a problem with slants, but pickups and trailers in general and drivers are better today, I think, which makes for less trouble all around.

We used to see some scary two horse straight contraptions hauling horses.
You wondered if they would get in one piece where they were going.

[soloudinhere]

@clanter

have you ever had a horse hop over a chest bar in a straight load? our trainer had one do that, we were behind them saw what had happened , got them to pull over… horse had passed out as it could not breath… somehow by grabbing its halter we were able to yank it over the chest bar as it would not release with the horse on it… then the horse just kind of poured out the escape door… still to this day have no idea how we pulled that horse over the chest bar

so straight load with open front are off my list along with having the horse stand on a flat bed trailer

Would rather have one over the chest bar (been there, done that) than have one trashing around stuck up on a manger. Also been there, done that. One is a substantially more solvable problem than the other.

[Mukluk]

I currently have a two horse slant load but would prefer a straight load. I prefer being able to get one out without having to get the other one out and I think the straight loads tend to offer bigger spaces for the bigger horses. I am currently truckless but most of the time I was only hauling one horse in the trailer with the divider on the side. My mare loves having all that space and she can stand how she wants to (not sure what she does as I don’t have a trailer cam.

[candyappy]

I haul in a stock trailer. The horses are tied to the side and ALWAYS position themselves facing the back of the trailer looking out at the road. Their butt is against the front wall and they stand alongside/ touching each other. Once in that position they DO NOT MOVE for the duration of the trip.

I guess once they find the best spot they get into a " zone" of sorts. Even when we stop for food or fuel or one time to have all 4 tires replaced, they stayed that way even while they put the tires on.

[btswass]

I bought a 2 horse slant specifically because I only have one horse and wanted him to be more comfortable during day shows. I took the divider out so he has the whole thing to himself. He has plenty of room but not enough he could turn around. I love that there is a chest bar on the escape door so I can leave that open on a hot day. Plus the trailer is fully insulated so it stays cooler.

My only issue with it is even though we trailer out for a lesson every week he still can’t figure out how to step up onto the trailer. It takes some coaxing with grain to get his front half on and then a second person to pick his back feet up one at a time and put them on the trailer. He’s only trailered on ramps before but you think after an entire summer of this he would have figured it out? I wanted the slant load so that I could load/unload myself. We’ve got the unloading part figured out now he just needs to learn how to pick his back feet up.

[Bluey]

@Mukluk

I currently have a two horse slant load but would prefer a straight load. I prefer being able to get one out without having to get the other one out and I think the straight loads tend to offer bigger spaces for the bigger horses. I am currently truckless but most of the time I was only hauling one horse in the trailer with the divider on the side. My mare loves having all that space and she can stand how she wants to (not sure what she does as I don’t have a trailer cam.

You can unload from a two horse slant that is a stock trailer, without slant bars between horses, if you stand both horses next to each other, then back the horse you need.

We have one like that.

[soloudinhere]

@Bluey

You can unload from a two horse slant that is a stock trailer, without slant bars between horses, if you stand both horses next to each other, then back the horse you need.

We have one like that.

It’s by definition not a 2h slant trailer if it doesn’t have a slant divider. That would just be a 14’ stock trailer or whatever.

[Bluey]

@soloudinhere

It’s by definition not a 2h slant trailer if it doesn’t have a slant divider. That would just be a 14’ stock trailer or whatever.

Well, it has a little tackroom with a slanted wall in front.

[moving_to_dc]

@soloudinhere

It’s by definition not a 2h slant trailer if it doesn’t have a slant divider. That would just be a 14’ stock trailer or whatever.

By whose definition?

I have seen them listed all over Midwest trailer dealers as slant loads, without dividers, just because of that slanted front wall as Bluey describes.

[soloudinhere]

How could it possibly be a slant load trailer if it has no dividers forcing it to be a slant load trailer? If you can stand two horses side by side, then why not call it a straight load? After all, they’re standing straight? Here, such a trailer, even with a fixed slant wall, is a stock combo.

I don’t usually go by what people advertise things as on Craigslist, but whatever. Semantics. I would never back a horse around another horse on a “slant load” but I also wouldn’t load horses on a trailer with no roof so it’s obvious that Bluey and I do not exactly have the same view on trailers.