I would not advise extending a divider down lower.
The only trailer I ever had any problems hauling horses in
was a Miley two horse straight load with a solid divider all the way to the
floor. One of my horses developed a scrambling problem. We modified
the divider by taking off the wood that hung down from the center bar making it
a bar divider with a large grate between the horses above the bar from the
shoulder area forward. We hauled the mare by herself to make sure she
would not scramble and hurt a horse in the other stall and she was fine.
She never scrambled again; we assumed taking out the full divider allowed her
to spread her back feet more and feel more balanced and secure. We never
had any problems with horses stepping on each other (we did use shipping boots
however).
Kathleen Ferguson
BTW, I don’t need a bunch of lectures on driving causing
her to scramble—I am an ultra careful, conservative driver and drive for
the horses when pulling a trailer. The only time the mare scrambled again
was being hauled in a friend’s horse 4-H straight load trailer with full
dividers…we put her in the back stall by herself and swung the divider to
one side and she quit scrambling.
I have hauled in 2 and 4 H straight and 2 and 3 H diagonal loads
and not noticed any difference in the condition the horses arrive at the destination.
I think the DRIVER is the most critical link in the horse’s condition at
the end of a long haul.
