Recommended Trailers

We have a 17' stock/slant combo. Use it without its dividers most of the time for firewood and pulling garden tractors.... it's very versatile.

Depends on what you want to use it for. My first horse trailer was a 2 horse straight load with little tack areas under the mangers. Loved it, but didn't have much room for stuff, and without a cap on the truck, I couldn't haul much unless the weather was good (like for going to camping events and such).

My next trailer was another 2 horse straight load, but it had a dressing room up front - loved that! Even in bad weather, I could put waterproof stuff in the truck bed, and everything else in the dressing room, and it was nice to be able to change (and on occasion, even sleep) in the dressing room. It also locked, which I was glad for. At most of the places I boarded, I was allowed to keep my trailer there, and I used the dressing room as my own tack room, it held lots and was secure.

My current trailer is a 16 foot stock trailer. It's better for me now for several reasons - I got back into driving, and I can fit a cart in one section, and a pony in the other. It was a major pain loading and unloading a cart from the back of the pickup, as it often involved unhitching and re-hitching the trailer (or jacknifing so far that you - oops - hit the trailer with the bumper).

And with my own place now, I also use the trailer for hauling hay and sheep. And anything else I need to.

My livestock trailer has plexiglass on some of the side openings, but I prefer most of them open. It's been very few times I've wanted a completely weatherproof trailer - the vast majority of the time, the more airflow, the better.

I've always had step-up trailers, and nothing's had a problem, even the sheep or the minis (I do raise the jack to lower the back end for the sheep). But I know people with ramps who like them. So that's basically your choice, and training the horse to it. I've never had a slant load.

I'm not up on brands, but livestock trailers tend to be less expensive, and decent used ones can be found. Have someone check it over for you - mostly the underneath, the floor, the tires, brakes and bearings. And the hitch. All stress points and welds should be solid. Your state may require breakaway brakes.

There are some pretty good deals around. We got a pretty good deal on a stock trailer a few weeks ago that had all new wood on the floor and all new wiring and bumper jack. We don't even have critters yet but we are trying to get all of our infrastructure in place by late summer. We don't have and don't want a heavy duty truck so we needed something fairly light and even with my old Tacoma you can hardly tell it's back there.

I just bought a 16 foot stock trailer too. Maybe too low for a big horse though.
I found horses are easier to get in and out of a slant load.

Thanks for the replies! I think I might have found a used trailer with a tack room that is cheap. If the ad is still up after the weekend, I'm biting it!