Trailer advice

[Matt Simpson]

I have a new horse that is not happy about my trailer. With time and
patience, I can usually load him by myself in 15-20 minutes, and quicker
if I have someone behind him. The balky loading might get better
eventually. A bigger issue is the temper tantrums he throws on the
trailer. Labor Day, he scrambled and got both front legs over the chest
bar. That’s not something I want to deal with again. I’m not sure he’s
going to get over that before he does some major damage to himself
and/or my trailer.

The trailer is a 2-horse reverse-straight-load. The horses load via a
side ramp at the front of the trailer, into a small loading area with
enough room to turn and walk into their stalls, facing straight
backwards. They unload out the back door. There’s a lengthwise divider
between the horses, chest bars a couple feet inside the back door, and
butt bars between the horse’s butts and the front loading area. So it’s
basically a 2-horse straight-load turned around, with extra room behind
the horses at the front.

I’ve considered removing the divider and chest/butt bars. That would
turn the whole trailer, including loading area, into 1 big 14x7 stall
with nothing for him to try to climb over. I’ve hauled horses loose in
a stock trailer before, and I think they’re happy having the freedom to
move around and find their balance. But that was with a center divider
that cut the trailer into 2 8x7 stalls. I never hauled a single horse
with the divider open to give him the whole trailer. 14x7 seems like it
might be a lot of room for a horse to rattle around in.

Any thoughts on this?