To be clear, it is not just learning to drive hauling a trailer. I dont have a truck, or even a large car. So hauling myself would have to include buying a truck or similar vehicle and that puts it way out of budget.
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When insuring, talk to the agent on specific coverage. Some local folks with brand new trailer were delivering an expensive pony they had just sold. They got hit by a drunk driver, right at rear of truck and front of trailer. Killed the pony, totaled the trailer. Turns out insurance on trailer was only covered to protect owners if they hurt someone with it! No replacement money in their coverage!! No money for pony replacement (damage to trailer contents) so they had to return buyerâs purchase money as well.
Trailer owner wrote a long, bitter article in the local horse magazine about getting the correct insurance coverage on horse trailers! They âtrusted their agentâ to give them sufficient coverage, but did not go into detail on their expectations with agent. They got a self-covering, generic trailer package for insurance.
They had to eat the cost of replacing trailer and loss of pony. It was a pretty fancy trailer they had just gotten, so major money.
Have to say we checked and changed our trailer policy to cover âdetailsâ an RV trailer policy does not cover. Get agent to be specific, check with their headquarters on those details for horse trailers, to be sure your insurance policy covers what you expect.
Sure educated our agent in the process!! He âassumedâ things were covered in the policy which were not, per headquarters. And you know what happens when anyone assumes things!! They are almost never correct!
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This. Any used trailer considered for purchase should have a thorough look over by a trailer repair expert. Make sure you are good to go. And yes, to new tires.
And learn to pull. Pull empty to start and go drive and drive and drive. And learn to back up. When I started hauling 25 years I had to back my trailer down a long arse driveway and it took me an hour each time. Made it into a game.
Biggest easy tip is put your hand at the bottom of the steering wheel and whatever direction you want the BACK of the trailer to go is how you move your hand - right or left.
Donât count on the hubby to haul. Learn it for yourselves and you both learn. That way if your friend gets ill or injured you are ready to haul.
Itâs a big responsibility. Drive like an old lady. Slow slow slow to stop and on the turns. Drive like Granny. Your horses will thank you.
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This sounds like a dumb question, but have you ever hauled the horses in question in a 2 horse trailer?
Storytime: When I was 13, my non-horsey dad bought a trailer for us to use to haul my horse various places. Horse was a 17 y/o 15.1hh paint who was a saint of an animal for children and adults of all ages. Never put a toe out of line.
Trailer was an 80s style two horse, straight load bumper pull. The first day we tried to use it was on Thanksgiving morning when we wanted to pick up horse from the boarding barn and trailer a few miles down the road to my cousins - they also had horses and we were going trail riding!
Got to the barn. Opened up the trailer. Got the horse. Went to walk on. Nope. Planted his feet. Trainer came over, sent him forward - nope. Planted his feet. Trailer was open, trailer was airy, trailer had the middle divider removed. We spent over an hour trying to get that horse on the trailer - butt ropes were used, whips, 13 year old tears were shed. It was an ordeal. Horse never did get on the trailer and we needed to get to Thanksgiving.
Come Christmas, the barn was participating in the local Christmas parade. After the Thanksgiving debacle, we werenât enthused about the prospect of trying to load my horse but the trainer was taking her stock trailer of horses over and wouldnât you know? That horse all but jumped on the trailer. No hesitation. No second thoughts. Just up and merrily on our way.
The following year, we were moving. I canât quite remember the circumstances, but we ended up going out and buying a 3H slant. In hindsight, itâs a little odd that my dad spent the money on a second trailer, but I was a kid - whatever. On the day we went to pick up my horse, we took the 3H and - once again - horse all but jumped on the trailer.
That Thanksgiving day is seared into my brain. I never figured out why, but that old saint of a gelding refused to get on that 2H. It clearly wasnât a loading problem, or a forward problem, because with any other trailer - he was happy as a clam in any slot you put him. Horses, like humans, have their own preferences. And for as many times as that old man took care of me as a kid, I never again asked him to get on a 2H.
As an adult, Iâve had horses with other trailer preferences. I still have my 3H - I have a couple of large hunt seat horses that I wonât haul in it because itâs a little cramped for them; they generally are hauled in my taller/wider 4H. I have a couple of horses who donât like being in the first slot, so they donât get loaded there. I figure - I ask my horses to do a lot for me, including climbing in a metal box that I drag down the road solely for my benefit - the least I can do is ensure theyâre comfortable in said metal box.
If you havenât before, make sure these horses are okay with a 2H BP before you go spend money on one. 
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Again itâs all policy/ insurer/ insured dependent. Mine is $20/ month for liability and replacement at an agreed upon amount. We have home and auto (and trailer bundled), no accidents or tickets within 5 years (almost to the ten year mark), autopay set all the jazz. I work in insurance and just 
It can vary so wildly. We have shopped around as recently as 9 months ago and our prices (all around) are in line with similar coverage from other carriers.
One thing to know about a 2H trailer.
If you are hauling a single horse it needs to ride in the stall on the left driver side, not the outside stall, so the trlr is weighted to the inside on the left hand turns. Vs a wide swing with a horse weighted to the outside.
Depending on details (and instructions to broker), that can be a lawsuit. Given the amount involved, they should talk to a lawyer. The drunk driver may also have assets, or insurance, that will cover this loss. A lawyer can help sort it out.
She never got back to tell us how things finished up. Just said the insurance was not paying for anything related to the trailer in her article. I think insurance paid for repair or replacement of the truck. It was some years ago, no chance of finding her now!
I would agee that going after the drunk with your lawyer might net you some money
I was taught that a solo horse on a two horse straight load goes on the driverâs side because most major paved roads are higher in the center, and the weight of the solo horse causes the trailer to sit closer to level side-to-side. Otherwise the horse would be standing on a more pronounced sidehill slope and be less able to balance well.
And when loading two horses the heavier one goes on the driverâs side for the same reason.
In countries where cars drive on the left the opposite loading directions would apply. Iâd never heard the reason being for turning and centrifugal force but that makes sense as well.
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This is actually because of how roads are crowned. You donât want the trailer unevenly heavy on the low side.
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You beat me to it! 
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It SHOULD have been covered by the drunk driverâs insurance.
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While I agree on placing a single horse on the left (in the US), your rationale makes no sense.
Unless you drive a route that ONLY has left hand turns, and NO right hand turns, your horse is going to be on the âoutsideâ of the turn half the time.
LCDRâs comment about the camber of the road is the reason I am mst familiar with. But even that is not an absolute.
At one point I was riding and competing a 14h 3" horse. When I took two horses in the trailer, he rode on the right side. When I took him by himself I put him in the left hand side. He fell down EVERY SINGLE TIME. Once, he fell down before the trailer even started moving. In hindsight, we realized that he was used to bracing his right side against the wall, and placing his feet well to the left, under the divider. When he tried to do that in the left compartment, he was trying to climb the wall with his left feet, and fell down.
The negatives of being on the âlowâ side of the road were far less than the negatives of falling down. Even when travelling alone, he travelled on the right side.
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I noticed that many people haul one horse on the right side (passenger side) in Germany. When I asked about that, they said that it kept the horse further from oncoming traffic. Which isnât wrong, but then when you have 2 in there that doesnât apply.
I told them (was chatting with a group of acquaintances) that I put mine on the left because of road camber and the fact that many roads, especially there, have no shoulder. So I rather not have all of the weight on the right side when/if the trailer goes off the edge of the road. None of them had thought about it, but admitted that it made sense. They were just putting the horse on the left because, âthatâs just the way it is.â
So itâs interesting to hear peopleâs âlogicâ on this topic.
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@brooklyn1, it doesnât take a rocket scientist to figure out you are shilling for Double D trailers, between your posts here and on Horse Trailer World.
Double D trailers are nothing special, and I have seen them denigrate other brands to promote their own products, which is no way to sell trailers.
Honesty goes a long way on COTH, but it does not appear you are really here for discussion or information. There is a Circle Y rep here, who told us who she was from the word go, and her recommendations and comments are appreciated because she was honest up front.
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It was abundantly obvious who @brooklyn1 works for. And 100% agree that one brand openly crapping on all the others is a really bad look. Double D Trailers must not be very confident in their builds if thatâs what it takes to sell them.
Sheâs the ownerâs daughter. From their website:
Horse Trailers for Sale - Nationwide Delivery | Double D Trailers
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LOL wait what did I miss?
Did Brook Norris of Double D Trailers out of Wilmington, North Carolina dirty delete her posts? 
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Looks like she did! Guess she didnât like being found out!
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