TRAILERING 101
How Big Is Big Enough?
In today's market there is no question that there are several decisions
to be made when it comes to buying a trailer. And since "we" know our horses
best, who better to make those decisions than "us", right? We'd like to
think so, but how well do we really know our horses? Can you answer these simple
questions immediately? How tall is your horse? What size is your horse's blanket?
You probably got those two pretty quickly, now try these. How long is he from
his chest to his nose when at rest? How wide is your horse (not girth size)? Did you
get those? Tell the truth, no guessing or estimating allowed.
The point of these questions is that most of us really do not know how big our horses
actually are. Even though blanket size may give us an idea of the length of our
horse and the stall size he may require, blankets are measured differently than horse
trailer stalls. We challenge that if a horse wears an 84" blanket and it fits
properly he does not need an 84" trailer stall, in fact we'd bet that a 72-74 inch
(actual measurement) stall is more than adequate.
So you're saying what is the point of all of this? If you are about to buy a trailer
maybe you should be armed with this information before you set out. It just might help
take the guess work out of the question, "Will he fit?"
Disclaimer: You
know your horse better than we do, and some horses may not tolerate the taking of such
measurements. In all cases common & horse sense must prevail, nothing is worth
getting injured over. Also this is just a
guideline, since we cannot control the actual conditions of the measurement taking methods
we cannot guarantee the results.
Taking Measurements. The
simplest way we could think of is to use a wall in the horses stall or along a fence, to
emulate a trailer wall, and a piece of chalk.
Body Length: Place your horse against a fence or wall in his
stall, place his hind quarters against the adjoining wall or if using a fence maybe line
his hind quarters up with a fence post, we are trying to emulate the position of a butt
bar. Place a chalk mark in front of his chest, move your horse away then measure.
Neck Length: Place a chalk mark in front of his chest
on the fence or wall, and try to get your horse to relax and place one in front of his
nose, again move your horse away and measure.
Width: Place your horse against the wall/fence as
before take a string with a weight on it, even if its just a small rock, go to the widest
part of your horse let it hang down right above the ground until it stops swinging then
set it on the ground, like a plumb-bob. Move your horse away, careful no to step on
the stone or rock, and measure the distance from the wall to the rock.
Happy Trailering... See you Next Month.
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