need help with size of slant load trailer

[twhs]

Hubby is going out of town tomorrow morning to check out and possibly buy a 3-horse slant load trailer as a Christmas present for me. Very nice Santa. Problem is tho – I am concerned the trailer stalls won’t be big enough and I can’t find info online to help me with this. We have a featherlite 2 horse straight load which has been fine for my pony and 15-2 horse. We anticipate getting a warmblood not too far down the line so want a trailer that would fit a larger horse.

The slant load he’s looking at is also a featherlite that is 7’ wide with stalls that are 40" wide.

Can anybody provide any info?

Thank you.

[crosscreeksh]

Our trailer - custom designed by me - is a 5 horse slant, 7’ wide, 8’ tall, used in a generous 2+1 configuration. In the slant mode it has 5 stalls, 48" wide. I still see a problem with big horses rubbing one hip in the slant mode. I would have doubts if a WB would fit comfortably unless you gave him the rear stall without a saddle compartment.

[CrowneDragon]

If you plan on hauling a larger horse on a semi-regular basis I would get a straight load. Even the biggest slants aren’t big enough for a large horse to stand comfortably and stretch their head and neck forward and down. You can only slant them so much. Making the stalls wider is nice, but don’t be fooled by a longer measurement across the diagonal of the stall, because the horse stands with it’s head in the middle of the headwall and tail on the middle of the back wall, so they don’t get the benefit of all of those inches.

I watched a Friesian come off a large slant after an 8 hour haul a couple of years ago with absolute noodle legs from being cramped. It was sad.

[Quelah]

[QUOTE=CrowneDragon;7886368]
If you plan on hauling a larger horse on a semi-regular basis I would get a straight load. Even the biggest slants aren’t big enough for a large horse to stand comfortably and stretch their head and neck forward and down. You can only slant them so much. Making the stalls wider is nice, but don’t be fooled by a longer measurement across the diagonal of the stall, because the horse stands with it’s head in the middle of the headwall and tail on the middle of the back wall, so they don’t get the benefit of all of those inches.

I watched a Friesian come off a large slant after an 8 hour haul a couple of years ago with absolute noodle legs from being cramped. It was sad.[/QUOTE]

What she said. There are some manufacturers that make a bigger slant load, but they will not accommodate a BIG horse unless you take a divider out. Unless the Featherlite specifically is a WB model (this is easy enough to find out) I would assume it will NOT fit a WB.

[twhs]

Thank you very very much for your quick and detailed replies. My husband has cancelled his trip. Whew! Thanks again. You guys were the greatest!!!

[arlosmine]

I have a very large three horse slant that I ONY use as a two horse. The front horse gets two slots.
Used this way it’s a great two horse trailer.
I’d only haul three teeny horses in it.

The next one will be a straight load.

[crosscreeksh]

[QUOTE=CrowneDragon;7886368]
If you plan on hauling a larger horse on a semi-regular basis I would get a straight load. Even the biggest slants aren’t big enough for a large horse to stand comfortably and stretch their head and neck forward and down. You can only slant them so much. Making the stalls wider is nice, but don’t be fooled by a longer measurement across the diagonal of the stall, because the horse stands with it’s head in the middle of the headwall and tail on the middle of the back wall, so they don’t get the benefit of all of those inches.

I watched a Friesian come off a large slant after an 8 hour haul a couple of years ago with absolute noodle legs from being cramped. It was sad.[/QUOTE]

Very good info. As a side story. DH hauled three big horses, 12 hours to Va. a few years ago. Two horses were in straight stalls, smallest horse was in the forward, slant stall. The two came off the trailer and into a paddock bucking and playing. The horse hauled slant went into the stable and laid down in a box stall exhausted!!! It took a whole day for that one to recover from the trip. I thought that was interesting!!