A trailer question

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emmad96

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I am currently attempting to find a float/trailer for my mare. She's 16.3hh. What's the minimum height float you would buy? I am looking at one that is 214cm high where her head would be, going down to 204cm at the back. Thanks and gin to anyone who answers :)
 
I'm a kiwi! We call them floats here, tried to think of what you guys call them and the best I could come up with was trailer! The thing you stick the horse in that isn't a horse truck
 
emmad96 said:
The thing you stick the horse in that isn't a horse truck
Click to expand...

That made me laugh!

This is an interesting question, because I have just looked at the Ifor Williams horse trailer (very popular in the UK) specification and it is not what I expected.

The HB506 model is designed for horses to 16.2, and the HB511 is for horses to 17.2. But the difference is in the length and width, not the height. They both have an internal height of 2.26m.

My feeling is that if a 17.2 can be comfortable with 2.26m, then a 16.3 should be OK with 2.14 above her head. I think the issue is when it drops to 2.04 at the back, as I am assuming that is where she is loaded, hence its getting significantly lower than the head clearance in an Ifor.

The roof surface and construction needs to be taken into account as well. If the steel frame is close to her head then that carries more risk than if its a more flexible, smooth fibreglass panel.
 
I got rid my old Rice Europa, headroom 7'(213cm) because my 15.2hh mare is claustrophobic and her ears brushed the roof. She's much happier in my 7'6" headroom Ifor 510, and she certainly isn't dwarfed in it.

Some large horses learn to duck when loading and travelling, of course ;).
 
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