The debate over straight load versus angle load floats has been running in Australia for more than twenty years. The angle load advocates will tell you that horses travel more comfortably on an angle — that they don't scramble, that it's safer, that studies prove it. When I started asking to see those studies, something interesting happened.
Nobody could produce them.
What the actual research says
After a lot of searching, I found a study that examined this properly. It was conducted in 2000 by Ray Goer BVSc, MVSc, PhD of Kentucky Equine Research; Anne Rodiek, PhD of California State University; and Carolyn Stull, PhD of the University of California-Davis. It was published in the American Equus Magazine in April 2000.
The researchers shipped horses loose in a stock trailer to see which way they chose to face. Here's what they found: horses spent a collective 65% of their time facing backward. Individual preference was strong and mixed — one horse spent 98% of the journey facing forward, another spent 100% facing the rear.
Crucially: no horse chose to stand on a slant.
The respiratory drainage issue
There's another finding from the research that doesn't get talked about enough. The study noted that a horse who can lower their head below the point of their withers during travel is significantly less likely to suffer respiratory stress.
In most angle load floats, even a 15hh horse doesn't have the headroom to lower their head to that position. That means they can't clear their respiratory passages properly over long journeys. This can lead to travel sickness — and in severe cases, it can be fatal.
Why horses don't scramble in angle load floats
Here's the thing: horses often don't scramble in angle load floats — but not because they're more comfortable. It's because when the partitions don't extend to the floor, they can step their legs sideways into a wider stance to maintain balance. They're compensating for the lack of support, not travelling easily.
Watch closely and you'll sometimes see a horse in an angle load float continuously shifting weight, jamming its rump between the divider bar and the wall, twisting its back at a 45-degree angle. Over time, that twisting can cause muscular problems and back pain.
The case for straight loading
Straight loading is the natural direction a horse moves — walk, trot, canter are all forward-facing movements. The scrambling problem in conventional straight load floats isn't because straight loading is wrong; it's because most floats don't give the horse enough room to maintain balance.
The JR Easy Traveller addresses this directly. The sloping walls and adjustable rump and chest bars act like a seat belt — giving the horse lateral support so they can shift their weight without throwing themselves off balance. They can also lower their head for proper respiratory drainage.
We can provide veterinary test results and video footage demonstrating this. If you're in the market for a float, it's worth asking any manufacturer not just what their float does — but what evidence they have that it does it.