One of the most important pieces of information to keep in mind when shopping around for a horse trailer is the trailer’s weight. While this obviously isn’t the most important factor, it is one that can ultimately be a deciding factor in which trailer is best suited for your needs. The safety of your horses is always the absolute main concern that you really need to be watching for, and there are a number of things you need to look for in a safe horse trailer.
Always make sure there is plenty of light and that the horses have room enough to move around so that they don’t lose their balance. Make sure the stalls are well ventilated with good airflow. Check the trailer for holes, splinters, and other debris that may injure the horses during travel. Take the time to make sure that the doors shut and latch properly.
Image credit: JL Horsemanship
When you are figuring the weight of your horse trailer, you will need to remember that the total weight includes horses, feed bags, floor mats, and tires. The gross pay weight includes the weight of the freight as well as travelers. It’s extremely important that you don’t have too much tongue weight on your horse trailer, as this can lead to some severe problems. The tongue weight of your trailer is the weight that pushes along the hitch of the trailer. If the tongue weight of your horse trailer is too heavy, it might wipe out your suspension and do some serious damage to your tires. You may also cause the front wheels of the vehicle you’re using to haul your car with to lift off the road, or cause the back wheels of the trailer you’re pulling to raise off the road.
The hitch weight plays a significant part in the overall tongue weight of the horse trailer. The weight allocation hitch spreads the weight over all the tires of the horse trailer hitch, making it easier for the wheels to carry the weight of the trailer. It is important to make sure that the weight is spread out evenly, as this will help you avoid raising the tires of the pulling vehicle off the road or ruining the vehicle’s suspension.
Once again, it is important to stress that while the weight of a trailer is indeed an important factor in buying a horse trailer, the ultimate goal is to buy a trailer that accommodates your horse’s needs and gets him where you need him to be safely. There are a million different aspects of picking the right type of horse trailer, so be sure to weigh out everything before making a choice.
There are a lot of different places you can go to do research on this topic. It’s always a good idea to shop around at several different dealers before choosing a trailer, as you will have a better chance of finding a good deal. It’s also important to mention that the weight capacity the trailer can hold should be clearly displayed on the outside of the trailer. This is crucial to helping you calculate the total weight of your trailer. Make sure the weight of the horse you will be transporting isn’t more than the trailer that will be used to transport your horse, as this will negatively impact the safety of the trailer. It can’t be stressed enough that safety is the number one priority and goal of finding a horse trailer, so keep that in the front of your mind.