Float Facts
What to look out for when buying a float
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If your horse has always travelled well on a conventional straight load trailer then there is no reason at all to change to an angle load for your horse’s sake. However you may enjoy the added benefits of all the storage space that an angle load trailer allows.
If, however, your horse struggles to stand in a conventional straight load trailer while travelling, i.e. it scrambles, or you travel a lot of young horses, or you change horses frequently and don’t know what they will travel like, then the angle load float is the answer:
All the benefits of travelling in a truck but it’s a float.
Minimises the effects of travelling by standing on the angle.
- Horse doesn’t get thrown forward and back during breaking and acceleration.
- No rolling from side to side around corners.
- When on an angle the horses feet are positioned to be able to balance against movement in any direction.
- The horse has a full wall behind it to lean on rather than just a bar.
Scrambling will be a thing of the past.
- The horse has the security of the dividers to lean into with it’s body but has room to spread it’s legs as far as it needs to.
- Minimising effects of travelling as above, a horse left loose in a float will always position itself onto the angle.
Easier and safer loading and unloading for you and your horse.
- The horse has 1.98m to walk into so the float is very inviting, also the large windows aid this.
- The horse can turn around and walk straight out. - No more backing problems, rushing out before the bars are undone or stepping off the ramp and hurting you or your horse.
- You are always with the horse, no having to tie him up and leave him to go the rear of the float to do up rump bars and ramp.
- Because of the positioning of the horses in an angle load float, they are staggered one slightly in front of the other, so there is no way they can stand on each other with their legs.
You and your horse will arrive LESS STRESSED, more RELAXED and REFRESHED ready to focus on the job at hand, winning that competition or simply having an enjoyable ride.
If, however, your horse struggles to stand in a conventional straight load trailer while travelling, i.e. it scrambles, or you travel a lot of young horses, or you change horses frequently and don’t know what they will travel like, then the angle load float is the answer:
All the benefits of travelling in a truck but it’s a float.
Minimises the effects of travelling by standing on the angle.
- Horse doesn’t get thrown forward and back during breaking and acceleration.
- No rolling from side to side around corners.
- When on an angle the horses feet are positioned to be able to balance against movement in any direction.
- The horse has a full wall behind it to lean on rather than just a bar.
Scrambling will be a thing of the past.
- The horse has the security of the dividers to lean into with it’s body but has room to spread it’s legs as far as it needs to.
- Minimising effects of travelling as above, a horse left loose in a float will always position itself onto the angle.
Easier and safer loading and unloading for you and your horse.
- The horse has 1.98m to walk into so the float is very inviting, also the large windows aid this.
- The horse can turn around and walk straight out. - No more backing problems, rushing out before the bars are undone or stepping off the ramp and hurting you or your horse.
- You are always with the horse, no having to tie him up and leave him to go the rear of the float to do up rump bars and ramp.
- Because of the positioning of the horses in an angle load float, they are staggered one slightly in front of the other, so there is no way they can stand on each other with their legs.
You and your horse will arrive LESS STRESSED, more RELAXED and REFRESHED ready to focus on the job at hand, winning that competition or simply having an enjoyable ride.
Whether the horse faces forwards or backwards on the angle does not make any difference for the horse when travelling, it is the angle that is of benefit to them. However our experience has shown that for loading and unloading it is safer for the handler when the horse is facing forwards, you simply walk the horse in, thread the lead through the twine so you can hold the young horses head forward if you are not sure they will tie up, you can keep a hand on the rump while you pull the divider around to hold the horse in its bay. Then if the horse cannot turn in the float, then you can simply back them out as normal until they learn that they can turn.
However if the horse is facing backwards to travel, before you can go anywhere you have to get your horse to turn around in the trailer, then as soon as you do the horse is facing the opening in the float, and more often than not the young or inexperienced horse will start pushing and shoving trying to take off out of the float. You can tie the horse up (but remember they are facing the escape route) so when you move to the other side of the float to get the divider to pull it across to close the horse in, but then you have left the space even more open. Otherwise you need to try and hold the horse while you reach for the divider, generally the horse will follow you a little, then you need to get them to yield back across the float and backwards into the divider bay, which for a young or inexperienced horse is very difficult, especially if it is into a place it doesn’t want to be. We have seen many people get squashed and run over by their inexperienced horses when trying to load into a float that faces this way.
The other problem with facing backwards is that the second horse needs to walk into the float and swing its head over the top of the one that was loaded first, causing potential for all sorts of problems, otherwise the horse needs to turn a lot earlier in the float and then back up a lot further. Because of this it also makes it difficult to have a head divider between the two horses.
We know a lot of you are saying, "but a lot of trucks face the horses backwards". This is true, but you are talking about two completely different things. A truck has more internal width than an angle load float as they are much higher off the ground (we are not talking bay length and width, as this is determined by the angle the dividers are placed on), which gives the horse a disincentive to take off out of the truck, because it is nearly 2 metres off the ground and the ramp is a lot steeper.
However if the horse is facing backwards to travel, before you can go anywhere you have to get your horse to turn around in the trailer, then as soon as you do the horse is facing the opening in the float, and more often than not the young or inexperienced horse will start pushing and shoving trying to take off out of the float. You can tie the horse up (but remember they are facing the escape route) so when you move to the other side of the float to get the divider to pull it across to close the horse in, but then you have left the space even more open. Otherwise you need to try and hold the horse while you reach for the divider, generally the horse will follow you a little, then you need to get them to yield back across the float and backwards into the divider bay, which for a young or inexperienced horse is very difficult, especially if it is into a place it doesn’t want to be. We have seen many people get squashed and run over by their inexperienced horses when trying to load into a float that faces this way.
The other problem with facing backwards is that the second horse needs to walk into the float and swing its head over the top of the one that was loaded first, causing potential for all sorts of problems, otherwise the horse needs to turn a lot earlier in the float and then back up a lot further. Because of this it also makes it difficult to have a head divider between the two horses.
We know a lot of you are saying, "but a lot of trucks face the horses backwards". This is true, but you are talking about two completely different things. A truck has more internal width than an angle load float as they are much higher off the ground (we are not talking bay length and width, as this is determined by the angle the dividers are placed on), which gives the horse a disincentive to take off out of the truck, because it is nearly 2 metres off the ground and the ramp is a lot steeper.
There are pros and cons for each braking system and you need to weigh up which option suits your individual circumstances best. However, once your trailers total loaded weight is over 2500kg you must go to electric brakes with brake away switch.
Hydraulic brakes are very convenient in that you can tow them with any vehicle, just hook them up and away you go. However you need to ensure that the manufacturer has used a top quality coupling that has a dampener in the coupling housing, not a spring, otherwise you will find that the float will jar a lot as you brake and accelerate as the coupling expands and compresses for the braking action to work.
Electric brakes give your horses a very smooth ride. They have a fixed coupling so that there is no jarring at all and when you put your foot on the brake in the car, it applies the brake on the float. You have the flexibility to be able to adjust the amount of braking on the trailer while you are travelling, so if you have the float empty you can wind the float brakes down, or if you have two big horses and full of gear you can make the float brake more so that it doesn't push your car around. The major draw back is that you have to have a brake controller fitted in each vehicle you wish to tow the float with (there are "drawbar" controllers, however we do not recommend them). Some people actually see this as a benefit as it is a great way to avoid friends "borrowing" your float, but a bit more expensive to set up if you have a couple of cars you wish to tow with. The other downfall is that they only come with drum brakes. The other major benefit is that you don't have a reversing lock to flip over when you need to reverse, so if you pull too far into the intersection, or you have parked on a slight slope, you can simply reverse.
But what ever you do, make sure that the float you have has enough braking capacity for the weights that you are carrying. Any two horse float that is to carry two hacks will need to have a braking capacity of at least 2000kg. You have at least 800kg of float, plus two hacks of at least 500kg each which makes a total weight of 1800kg, well over the braking capacity of a lot of horse floats which is only 1500kg. This is different to the coupling rating, so both coupling and brake capacity needs to equal or exceed your total weight when loaded.
Hydraulic brakes are very convenient in that you can tow them with any vehicle, just hook them up and away you go. However you need to ensure that the manufacturer has used a top quality coupling that has a dampener in the coupling housing, not a spring, otherwise you will find that the float will jar a lot as you brake and accelerate as the coupling expands and compresses for the braking action to work.
Electric brakes give your horses a very smooth ride. They have a fixed coupling so that there is no jarring at all and when you put your foot on the brake in the car, it applies the brake on the float. You have the flexibility to be able to adjust the amount of braking on the trailer while you are travelling, so if you have the float empty you can wind the float brakes down, or if you have two big horses and full of gear you can make the float brake more so that it doesn't push your car around. The major draw back is that you have to have a brake controller fitted in each vehicle you wish to tow the float with (there are "drawbar" controllers, however we do not recommend them). Some people actually see this as a benefit as it is a great way to avoid friends "borrowing" your float, but a bit more expensive to set up if you have a couple of cars you wish to tow with. The other downfall is that they only come with drum brakes. The other major benefit is that you don't have a reversing lock to flip over when you need to reverse, so if you pull too far into the intersection, or you have parked on a slight slope, you can simply reverse.
But what ever you do, make sure that the float you have has enough braking capacity for the weights that you are carrying. Any two horse float that is to carry two hacks will need to have a braking capacity of at least 2000kg. You have at least 800kg of float, plus two hacks of at least 500kg each which makes a total weight of 1800kg, well over the braking capacity of a lot of horse floats which is only 1500kg. This is different to the coupling rating, so both coupling and brake capacity needs to equal or exceed your total weight when loaded.
Aluminium, at the correct thickness and grade, is by far the best flooring you can have on your float, providing that the spacing of the cross members in the chassis are at the correct distance and are made out of the correct type of steel. The best quality aluminium is High Tensile marine grade and it should always be 5mm thick or above, and glue and riveted or screwed to the chassis.
Ply floors are unreliable, they can be good for several years and then may just give way, or in some instances they can fail early after very little use because of moisture penetrating the ply, or even poor gluing of the different layers in manufacture. Protective treatments such as tanelizing or treatments for the marine industry are only in the top few layers and as soon as it is cut to size the edges are no longer treated making the floor susceptible to water damage. When rubber is put on top of the ply it sweats and doesn't allow the ply to dry causing it to deteriorate quicker, especially in NZ's wet conditions.
Ply floors are unreliable, they can be good for several years and then may just give way, or in some instances they can fail early after very little use because of moisture penetrating the ply, or even poor gluing of the different layers in manufacture. Protective treatments such as tanelizing or treatments for the marine industry are only in the top few layers and as soon as it is cut to size the edges are no longer treated making the floor susceptible to water damage. When rubber is put on top of the ply it sweats and doesn't allow the ply to dry causing it to deteriorate quicker, especially in NZ's wet conditions.