Looking to perhaps buy my first trailer. Horse is a 17h Thoroughbred, so I have been casually looking online. I am looking at 2 horse bumper pull (I have a Suburban) but what size (height) should I be looking for? What is normal? What is Tb height? What else am I not thinking about 
Thank you in advance
you need a warmblood height trailer which is 7’6" or higher. I have a 7’ trailer which is considered TB and your horse would probably have to ride with his head held down a bit. He’s also probably long, and the better made trailers have longer stall lengths, so you need to consider that as well.
My trailer is a 1980’s Arndt, from back when basically all “tall” horse trailers were 7’. My 16.2hh OTTB fits just fine, and my friend’s 17.2hh OTTB is fine as well. But both of those horses are good travelers and don’t get all giraffe-y when they’re in the trailer, so it’s OK for my needs.
I would avoid slant loads, as the vast majority of them are not good for bigger/taller/longer horses. Also avoid trailers with mangers, for a variety of reasons (less feet space for your horse to balance, risk of horse climbing up into it, etc.)
Many people feel that you can get by with a lower head height in a stock, as opposed to a straight-load or slant-load-- on the premise that Horse has more room to position himself however he wants and is therefore less likely to need to throw his head up in the air.
Also, before you start trailer-shopping in earnest, buy and read this book cover-to-cover; it is THE horse-trailer-owner’s bible: “The Complete Guide to Buying, Maintaining, and Servicing A Horse Trailer,” by Nena Scheve. it’s available for instant download on Amazon, if you’re like me and have no patience whatsoever to wait for shipping. :lol:
Today’s “normal” height is 7’6" and that’s appropriate for your 17h pony. I don’t have issue putting my 16.2h horses or even a 17h horse in my older 7’3" tall trailer but if I were buying new or “recent used”, I’d go bigger for flexibility. BTW, 7’6" used to be called “extra tall”, but no longer. There are 8 footers for that! LOL
My trailer buddy has a 17h TB with a very upright headset. He can ride in the 7’ trailers, but there is some fighting (chain leadrope, person following him with a lunge whip) for him to get on and he does look pretty squished.
He walks on my 7’6" trailer without hesitation. Every time.
Thanks fatappy - my guy is an upright head carriage too and young so I guess why stress him out squishing him in – I will look for 7’6" and up as a starting point.
