Loading device and loading method for horse trailers and the like

An improved transport device for horses or other animals, having a floor support, a wall structure upstanding therefrom and a wheel assembly providing mobility for the device, the wall structure adapted to provide an opening to permit loading and unloading of a horse and to provide at least one stall space for a horse, wherein the improvement comprises:

• restraining means associated with each stall space and located generally at the back end of the stall space, each said restraining means being movable between a first posture permitting the horse to be led into the stall space and a second posture positioned generally behind the horse's rump when the horse is standing in the stall space, each said restraining means comprising a restraining arm member mounted to the device for rotation between said first and second postures, said arm member being sufficiently long to extend generally the width of the stall space and being adapted to extend generally parallel to the floor support when in said second posture and to extend generally vertically when in said first posture;
• and
• actuating means mounted to the device in operative association with said restraining means, said actuating means being operable at a location remote from said restraining means and adapted to permit movement of said restraining means from said first posture to said second posture, each said actuating means comprising a relatively elongate rod member rotatably mounted to the device and extending generally from its back end generally to the front end of the stall space, said restraining arm member being fixedly mounted to the back end of said rod member for rotation with said rod member, said rod member including means generally at its front end for enabling rotation of said arm member when desired;
• such that when said restraining means is in said first posture, a horse can be led onto the trailer by one person and, after positioning the horse in the desired location in the stall space, the person operates said actuating means to cause said restraining means to move from said first posture to said second posture generally behind the horse for substantially preventing backward movement by the horse.

A method for enabling one person to load a horse, or other animal, onto a transport device, comprising the steps of:

• leading the horse onto the device and positioning the horse in the desired location in a stall space on the device;
• and
• causing, from the front of the stall space, a restraining arm member located generally at the back end of the device to move behind the horse, generally at about the level of the horse's rump, by causing the arm member to rotate from a generally vertically extending orientation to a generally horizontally extending orientation;
• and
• positioning catch means on the device to prevent rotation of the arm member beyond a predetermined point, such that when the horse tries to back up it is essentially restrained from further backward movement by said arm member.