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Story and Photos

By Tom Scheve

Horses First, Horse Trailer Second, Tow Vehicle Third.

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But

what do you do if you have different size horses?

Perhaps your daughter or son has a pony and you have a big old warmblood. Or your spouse has a Morgan and your Oldenburg is so tall you can’t see over the withers. You certainly won’t find a trailer to oblige you on a dealer’s lot. But you can have it custom-built.

However, it’s not as easy as it may sound. You can order a trailer from most all manufacturers (through a dealer) and piece together certain available op�ons to try and make it fit your horses’ needs but to do so, you need to know what a manufacturer has in the way of op�ons and how to u�lize them for your situa�on. For example, you can add adjustable bu� and breast bars that can be lowered and raised for different size horses. However, in the raised posi�on they may fit your horses from sixteen to eighteen hands, but in the lower posi�on, they most likely will only accommodate horses from fourteen hands to sixteen hands. That’s certainly won’t work for that pony. So what do you do?

This is where the dealer’s understanding of horses, knowledge of trailer designs, and willingness to work in your interest come into play. Perhaps the manufacturer the dealer represents offers a lower center patrician under the center divider to keep your smaller horse or pony from ge�ng under the divider. But is it padded, sized correctly (pony can’t get a hoof stuck under it), removable…? For these ques�ons, you depend on your dealer to take you in the right direc�on.

For example. The stall for the pony, which should be on the ditch side (passenger side), has to confine the space without harming the pony while in transit. At EquiSpirit, we would install a removable lower rubber center par��on that is safe for both the Warmblood and the pony. (see above photo) It hangs down and wedges on the floor, which holds it in place but allows it to move if kicked. This prevents the pony from get�ng under the center divider while protec�ng the horse and the pony. It has to be removable otherwise it will restrict the needed lateral stall space when hauling standard-size horses making it difficult for them to balance. The same type of lower rubber divider can be installed under the breast bar (or a mesh gate) preven�ng the pony from entering the horsehead area. Full doors in the rear (preferably with a ramp over the doors) make it safer to unload and load the pony into the stall.

The ability to add or remove features is also ideal for those who have different riding disciplines. A rear ramp is a hindrance to an endurance rider when loading and unloading horses in rough terrain. A dressage rider with horses approaching 18 hands or more, may want to take a friend who has smaller horses, solved by adding adjustable bu� and breast bars to the ditch side stall. Nineteen-plus hand dra� horses need extra floor strength, eight feet of interior height, and twelve feet of stall length. Experienced dealers will know to recommend this but they are really worth their “salt” if they suggest installing addi�onal brackets, dividers, and post placements to convert the trailer to fit conven�onal-size horses, giving it a be�er future resale value when it’s �me to sell or trade it.