Other Interior Features
Quality interior construction is important for your horse's safety and comfort, and your trailer's durability and resale value. Here's what to look for.
• Overall: Look for padding on any surface your horse touches or might touch - stall dividers, mangers, the front wall, above the rear door, and anywhere he might swing a leg. Be sure the rubber bumper on the rear of the trailer floor covers any dangerous metal.
• Floors: With aluminum trailers, you get aluminum floors. These may be ribbed to keep the rubber mat from slipping, and are usually linked together as plank-and-stringer in an extrusion. Composite and steel trailers may have aluminum, wood, or Rumber floors. Rumber is rebuilt rubber formed in tongue-and-groove planks. It needs extra bracing compared to wood, but can last decades - and you usually don't need rubber mats. Rumber can become slick with urine, but works well with wood shavings. Wood floors are usually made from yellow pine, oak, or fir; they can last decades if you keep them clean and dry.
• Dividers: Stall width varies, so bring your tape measure when you shop. Be aware that in some slant loads, the front and rear stalls may differ in width. If your horse is exceptionally tall or wide, size the trailer to him. Open, barred, and slatted dividers offer ventilation, which is cooler in summer. Solid dividers discourage playing/socializing.
• Walls: Insulated walls are especially important on living-quarter trailers. But look for insulation anywhere there's a double or triple wall; insulation modifies extreme temperatures, humidity, and noise. A spray-on liner will protect the walls from urine, dirt, and debris, but such walls won't absorb the impact of a kick like a thick rubber pad.
• Kick wall: Check the kick wall (behind where your horse will stand) to see where it flexes. Look for reinforcements and padding where hooves may contact it.
• Corners: Good trailers are braced well, like a tank. You can actually jack the trailer up by any corner and it won't flex. Where you can see how the corners are braced, look at the gusset and fish plate reinforcing the corners. Note that the majority of trailers have a unibody, like a car, rather than a body-on-frame, like a truck. Therefore, the floor, walls, and roof are all trussed together to make a frame, not just the floor.
• Latches: Latches can indicate the quality of the trailer's overall design. Simplicity is the key. Work the latches, and check durability.
