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  Discussion on Dividers in Trailers
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Member:
5691

Posted on Sunday, Apr 22, 2007 - 8:20 pm:

In the May issue of Equus magazine, there is a question regarding the pros and cons of a partial partition versus a full length to the floor partition in a trailer.

The article stated that partial or non-existant dividers were preferable and safer for horses as a result of being able to step laterally as far as necessary to keep their balance, whereas with a full divider, leaning to stay upright is very unnatural and prevents a horse from stepping over far enough during a turn or swerve.

The picture showed two horses in a straight load.

My slant load trailer has a full to the floor divider with padding all around. I can take the bottom half off. I have left it in place because it is there and I was under the impression that it would decrease the likelihood of the horses that I trailer to step or kick at each other and cause an injury.

I wrap all horses legs and they wear bell boots when traveling. Does having a full divider matter in a slant load? Should I leave the full divider or change it to the partial divider?

Thanks for your thoughts,
Debra
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Apr 22, 2007 - 9:33 pm:

Hello Debra, while I am sure injury is possible I regularly transport 6 horses tied side by side in a stock type trailer, no shipping boots, and have not had a shipping injury related to this over many years of trailering. We tie in a manner so the horses are on the diagonal, facing the rear of the trailer as I do believe it is esasier for horses to ship facing rearward. But with regular size horses and a 16 foot box, they are shoulder to shoulder. I do think dividers of any kind present another type hazard in an accident, making it more difficult to get horses out around them.

This is not to present my way as the best way but to demonstrate there are many ways to do this and while placing the feet a little further apart may give a horse a bit more side to side stability, if they can lean against the dividers, what is the big deal, at least concerning this point. I do not notice my horses "spreading" their feet.
DrO
New Member:
antlana

Posted on Monday, Apr 30, 2007 - 12:32 am:

Debra,

Would it be possible for you to SAFELY observe your horse/horses' behavior while being hauled? This might help you decide what you need to do. I had someone haul me around in a trailer so I could see what was happening back there and I found much of the problem is unexpected stops, which are sometimes unavoidable, and not preparing the horses for turns and acceleration as much as possible given the circumstances. Some of them do tend to lean on the dividers, but if you give them as much warning as possible they will usually adjust their feet too. They normally don't require a tremendous amount of room to do that, but once you see what yours are doing, you'll know if you need to remove that panel or not.

I have hauled as DrO describes, and also with dividers and lower panels, and have had no problems with either as far as the horses being able to balance.
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