I have a persnickety mare. She loads and rides in a trailer like a champ–until she doesn’t. I’m about to give you quite a bit of backstory, but I think it is necessary if you’re to be able to advise.
Our first trailer was a 1979 Circle J–straight load with mangers and a center divider. She self-loaded, and would ride in that trailer for hours over the most horrible forest roads imaginable–craters and boulders the whole way–then get out and ride into the mountains for hours like the trailer ride had been nothing. She also willingly and happily rode in other people’s two horse straight loads.
Back in 2016 I came into a little money and was able to get a new two-horse slant with a dressing room with a swing out saddle rack. Much nicer for me, and maresy seemed fine with it, too. We continued heading down horrible forest roads to get into the mountains, then doing demanding rides, and she was all for it.
Then, one day, a couple of years after buying the slant, she decided the slant stall was too short for her and she started fighting the divider–literally putting all four hooves against the front wall to try to push her way out of the stall. She was scrambling and falling and thrashing.
All on her own, she started turning around in the trailer, after self-loading, so that she was facing backwards. I closed the divider with her facing backwards, so that her head and neck hung over the divider. This seemed to make her very happy. For a while.
Then she decided that she didn’t like this either. So I latched the divider open and gave her a fully open trailer, with nothing to lean on, and nothing holding her inside. She was happy as a clam riding backwards with no restraints. Liked looking out the back door, which was open at the very top. This was even working with her mini companion back there with her. They each assumed the same positions they had taken when the divider was in use–her facing backwards, and him facing sideways. Together they happily traveled down horrible forest service roads like this, and got out and hit the trail, none the worse for wear.
Problem was, the two horse slant was really a cheep trailer with leaf springs–no independent suspension–and it was getting rattled to pieces—stuff was falling off, the dressing room door was hard to unlock because the door was getting knocked out of plumb, the fenders were falling off… you get the idea. Plus my horse was getting arthritic by now and I felt the slant trailer wasn’t doing her any favors with all its jouncing. I wanted something with a smoother ride. And, I felt that riding loose in an open stock, as they were, was asking for trouble in an accident.
She’d always ridden great in a straight load, so I started looking for a quality used straight load–and I found one. A 2005 Hawk in like-new condition–warmblood size, breast and chest bars, removable divider, nice dressing/tack room. I had the ditch side stall customized for the mini–a lower breast bar, and a divider to the floor between the two stalls. I had the ramp removed, since she refused to load in a ramp trailer in the past, and had full height doors put on. This was all done at the factory. They did a lovely job.
I took delivery about a month ago, had better tires for forest roads put on, got it all checked out for our first camping trip with it, and everything looked great. Once she got used to loading in it, she actually refused to come out! She seemed to really like it. Backing out didn’t bother her, and she’d self-load, jumping right on, and no danger to me putting up the butt bar because she stayed on of her own free will. Everything seemed great.
Until it wasn’t.
She leaned so hard on the center divider that she actually loosened the screw holding the divider padding in place. The screw and washer ground into her hip. She got off the trailer after two hours with huge, bleeding gouges in her hip.
I removed the screw and glued on a piece of lambskin rug in its place, so she couldn’t cut herself again. Then, while she healed, I practiced trailer loading with her again–no problem. She self loaded and stayed on of her own volition.
With her wounds mostly healed, I felt it was ok to haul her today. Just as a precaution, I put a light raincoat on her, to protect her hip, in case she resumed leaning.
When we got home it was clear from the impression on the center divider pad that she’d been leaning very hard again. She couldn’t cut herself, and the blanket was unmarred, but the pressure she put on her hip split open her wounds again.
I really like this trailer–the configuration is perfect for what I do–but I am wondering if I really need to sell it instead of my old slant load.
Why is she leaning on the center divider now when she never did this in straight loads in the past? Does it mean she has some other issue that would cause her to have difficulty balancing?
What remedies could I try to make the Hawk work? Any ingenious ideas?
I won’t be able to get back what I spent on it because of all the custom modifications. And I still think the slant load is not going to hold up much longer and is would be dangerous in an accident. Do I go to a stock trailer?
Does anyone here have experience like this with a straight load, and did you find a solution?
Thanks, if you’ve read this far. Sometimes I have to type it all out just to get my own head around what I am dealing with.
