I have a small, older 2-horse trailer that I use to trailer my horses
the five miles up to the training trails (the big trailer is too hard to
drag out every day). The trailer is small and narrow, but
size-wise seemed sufficient for my Arab and half-Arab (no one ducking
their head or sitting on the door). However, I've noticed that going
around corners (yes, very slowly and smoothly and turning wide), there
is an awful lot of scrambling going on back there which never occurs in
the big slant rig and never occurred in the two previous trailers, one a
stock trailer and the other a warmblood size 2-horse. Both horses are
experienced and calm travelers, but they're both coming out nervous and
unhappy from this trailer.
I tried taking out the center divider, loading only one horse, who
promptly angles his butt diagonally and rides like silk. So I assumed
with the center divider, it was just too narrow for the horses to spread
their legs sufficiently and therefore the scrambling. Comments? Any
other ideas?
The problem is that now I'm limited to taking only one horse at a time.
So if this IS the problem, I need to sell this trailer and buy a bigger
one (eek, more money). I know of a well-built stock trailer (which is
what I had before with no problems), and the price is right but the
floor needs to be replaced. Which leads me to question #2...
What kind of wood is acceptable/sufficient/best for replacing the
flooring (under rubber mats)? Please understand safety is absolutely
paramount, but my money right now is extremely tight and I simply cannot
afford solid oak plated with titanium. Are pressure-treated pine 2 x
4's OK? Any other suggestions? I really need some help on this one.
Thanks!
Susan Evans