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Grace67

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I'm in the market for a new full sized horse trailer and plan on hauling my two minis along with a show cart or two as well. Looking for bumper pull with a walk in tack room and must be able to haul my full size horse around occasionally too or I would consider other options if I only had minis. Since I haul alone I need something that's easy to hitch, back up, probably step up vs. ramp, as rust proof as I can get it.

What brand/style do you have and do you feel it suits your needs well or would you change something about it?
 
I got rid of my 1 year old custom built aluminum mini trailer and got a Titan brand two horse straight load, with a full size tack room. Their straight load does NOT have a center post down the back, so you can easily load your cart inside the trailer without taking the wheels off. There is a walk between door between the tack room and horse box, I am having diamond mesh steel added to the bottom of my divider like a stud divider so I can haul my riding horse with my mini without worrying about my mini going under the divider. You can also very easily fit 2 minis or a decent sized shetland pony in front of the chest dividers, but before the wall the tack room door is in. The tack room on my trailer is HUGE, I could very easily put 2, possibly 3 minis up there if I ever absolutely needed to (evacuation, etc) as the tack room has screened window. The stalls are huge, my trailer is considered warmblood sized, and short of a huge draft, I wouldnt have an issue putting a very large horse in it. It has drop down feed windows at the head, sliders at the butt, both screened. Loading lights, lights in the dressing room, rumber walls, obviously floor mats.

Their trailers are galvanneal, the best of both worlds between steel and aluminum. If youve seen an aluminum horse trailer in a wreck, you know they crush like a tin can. Same goes with a horse that doesnt haul well, Ive seen horses literally pull tie rings straight through the aluminum, or kick dents 3" out. Actually, my trailer roof had tiny dents on it from a light hail storm. Never had that with a steel trailer. Sure, they dont rust and are light to pull, but honestly, Im glad I sold the aluminum trailer, after seeing a wreck in one. Its simply not as strong as steel. Then with steel, you obviously have more weight, and rust, but a much safer stronger trailer in an accident. Theres also the fact that more people can work on steel, and if your handy you can usually do a lot of repairs yourself. Some aluminum trailers have aluminum floors. In a steel trailer, you can replace a wooden floor yourself (with proper care they last a LONG time though) in an aluminum trailer, you need a trailer repair shop to replace an aluminum floor, and its very expencive.

My trailer is galvvaneal with baked on paint. Its 10 years old, and has two spots of surface rust that are slightly bigger than a quarter on it. People look at it and thinks its less than 5 years old and aluminum. Its a large trailer, only weighs 3600lbs. Its a two horse straight load with an XL tack room, so the actual trailer in all is about the same size of most 3 horse slant loads with tack rooms. An aluminum trailer of similar size isnt much lighter, and you certainly wouldnt pull an aluminum trailer of the same size with any smaller of a truck, so no difference there.

Some people like ramps, after having a few trailers with them, I hate them. If the ground isnt level where you have to park, your ramp isnt going to be steady, freaks a lot of horses out. If its a steel trailer, they can be heavy, and they are harder to get closed quick if you have a horse that wants to come back out. They are usually the first thing to rust too.

That said, of the 6 horse trailers Ive had, both steel aluminum and galvvaneal, gooseneck and bumper pull, my favorite has been my titan. You can get them used about 10 years old between $5,500 and $6,000 depending on the condition. Can get them used cheaper without all the options (instead of drop down feed windows some have the slat stock sides, etc)
 
I have been happy with my 3-horse slant Calico bumper pull. Mine came with removable dividers, mats, escape door, lights in the inside. Slant walk in tack room with saddle racks and bridle hooks. It has been very nice to haul to shows with for my minis, but mine is starting to get too small to be used for a show trailer so I'm dreaming one day I can own a Featherlite goose neck trailer. However I still would need a small horse trailer and my current trailer is too big for that use so would definantly go back to a Calico but a mini trailer.
 
We are very limited in the amount of money we could put into a trailer and wanted something that was safe so bought a 12ft, bumperpull, stock trailer with a divider at the 6ft mark. We then made 2 gates in the back section to allow for two minis to be together in each of the first two sections and one in the back section. That allows for comfortable transport of 5 minis. Of course, the two that are together, have to get along and this is ok for mares and geldings. Since we have been taking an occasional stallion or more than 5 minis, we have also made a divider in the front to allow for a couple in the tack area by dividing the tack from the horses. We also have a couple of ponies that are about 43" or less and they ride well, individually, in the spaces. We can pack all tack in the front 3ft of our trailer when we divide it, but can only put a cart in there if we use the full 6ft tack area. We have a full size truck with 8ft bed and campershell to put the cart in when we do get crazy and take more than 4 or 5 to a show.
 
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I have a 3 horse slant Sundowner aluminum trailer that I think will last forever. They are well made, nice trailers. When I bought it, I had a brand new trailer picked out, another brand I can't think of at the moment, was a beautiful trailer and fit my needs but the dealer called and told me this one had just come in on a trade. It was a year or so old and the same price, but they told me at the time it was a better made trailer and I've never regretted it. It does have a steel frame, most of the aluminum do.

As to a ramp I guess it's an individual thing.
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I love having a ramp! The ramp on my Sundowner is so balanced, I can pick it up with one hand. If the ramp is an integral part of the rear door it will be heavier, but the kind that close up over the door can be relatively light. I've just seen enough minis who feared jumping into trailers, esp youngsters, misjudged their distance and dragged their hind legs/stifles coming in.

The ramp on my Hart is considerably heavier, just test them out.

Jan
 
I have an 8 pony/mini Wrangler Slant Load trailer, and I love it. It is fully matted and kick wall. It does not have a tack area, however, I use the front two dividers for hay/totes/bedding ext. I looked for years for the right trailer for what we needed to use for shows ext, we also have a smaller 2 horse straight load trailer that makes a box stall for hauling mares/foals or just one pony. I want to convert that into a 3 slant load. I know everyone who owns a wrangler trailer (made in Arkansas) just love them.

These photos were taken just after we bought it, back in the fall, so I still need to change the farm name on the front...

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