Advise on loading horses in a slant load horse trailer?

Question

All my life I've had basic stock trailers for my horses, which have worked well in good weather, but aren't ideal at other times. This week I bought my first trailer - a used Featherlight aluminum 3 horse gooseneck. But I have a few questions now that I have it home.
My Paint mare is just under 15.3 hh and about 1100 pounds. She isn't a big horse, but she is long bodied with a long neck, built a bit like a husky Thoroughbred. We practiced loading at home yesterday, and it seems to me that she is quite short for the slant load stalls. She can fit, but she has to keep her head more upright than normal. She is a horse that naturally holds her head long and low, in the slant load she is going to have to keep it raised. My trailer has the normal sized stalls, not the really small stalls that the cheaper trailers have, but also not the big "warmblood" type stalls. Without measuring I'm not positive of stall size, but the trailer is 7 ft high, 7 ft wide and 18 feet long (its a gooseneck with a 4' shortwall tack room in the front, but I don't know where they calculate length, from the neck or from the base of the trailer)
It seems as though the back stall would work best because she can stand straighter in it, and therefore has more length.
Here are my questions. How do you determine if your horse has enough length in the stall? If I choose to keep her in the back stall, will the trailer be properly balanced when I travel? At times I'd have my gelding with us, so he could be in the middle stall, but often she will travel alone. Does anyone have experience with loading average weight and height horses that are slightly long in a slant load trailer? I'm hopeful that it will work as I have alot of money invested. And I might be worrying for nothing - after all thousands of horses travel in slant loads all the time and manage well. Maybe the problem is more my perspective - maybe I just don't know what normal is in a slant load, and with practice my mare and I will become experts. What do you think?

Answer 1

I have what sounds like your exact trailer. I have had my 16h gelding in the middle stall and the back stall with no problems. I have also put my 15h long bodied mare into any of the stalls without a problem. They are confined more than in a stock trailer, so do not move about, but I have traveled up to 200 miles at a time without unloading and they say they are fine.

I usually use the front stall for hay and spare water, etc. I have the stud wall to keep things from rolling back into the horses. I think once you get used to it, you will love the trailer.

If hauling just one horse, I use the middle stall as it is over the tires and it pulls very easily.

Answer 2

Personally i like a head to head load because it seems to give the horses more room and space from each other. Your mare might not like the style of the trailer for a certain reason, maybe she had a bad experience in a slant load. I have a gelding who hates loading on trailers with a ramp...but if its a step up he is perfectly fine. Some horses just dont like certain things and make a huge fit about it. I would try working with her more before going out and buying a different trailer...maybe try feeding her in the trailer for a week during meal time (works wonders) but if that doesnt help and you have the money you could invest in a different trailer. Also, I know you said she use to load fine on your two horse trailer, but i would make sure she still will before changing trailers because she could just be putting up a fight for all trailers. Sometimes things happen in a horse trailer when us horse owners dont know its happening. The horse can get kicked by another horse, stung by a bee, fall or slip on the floor, hit its head off something, or any other unpleasant experience that would make them not want to load again. The trick is to regain that trust of being inside the trailer and showing them that its ok to be in there. Easier than it sounds but worth it when you succeed!! Good luck hope this helped =)

Answer 3

The measurements that you have given for your trailer sound fine for your horse. The length of a gooseneck is measured on the floor,. what ever is above the goosneck is not included in the length. (if that was one of your questions)

I have loaded one of my large horses in slant loads for long hauls, (10 hours or more sometimes) and he rode fine in 71/2 foot widths as well as the 8 ft widths. The horses adjust to what ever mode of travel that they are put in. I think that you are stressing out over nothing. The horse should be fine once it figures out how to stand and travel.