I think it would be far too dangerous for entanglement, and some horses might panic. So no, I have never heard of this.

When you pull a horse trailer, you go very slow around turns, and whenever you stop and start so the horses can brace themselves. Most will use the sides of the trailer as needed. I drive ridiculously slowly when pulling a trailer. I don't care if traffic is backed up behind me. I will say that I strongly dislike trailering horses, personally. I feel like we are asking a lot of them, and trailer accidents give me nightmares.

 

Yes, there are such things and sadly used to often...
Racetracks have them when a horse has a catastrophic collapse on track they often are slung getting them off the track to emergent care.
Rescues also use them when a horse is in such dire need they are to weak to stand and support their weight.
I've also seen them being used when horses are airlifted from one location to another..

I saw this setup at a rescue.... it was upsetting to see in use but...it saved the horse from crushing its organs while it gained enough strength and will to live to stand and support its weight.

Very similar to this is what I saw at Belmont Racetrack on Long Island.
When horses breakdown on the track and shatter a limb they try to sling them to stop the mangling worse of the limb...yes, it is a specially designed horse trailer/ambulance.

When the horse went from the ambulance to the emergent surgical center the trolley used to support the animal during transfer then puts them to the overhead crane at the hospital and indeed they are slung ...
And more startling is when they do this and you see them, of course depending on what is in jeopardy that brings them for emergent care.

By appearance of his shaved belly, my guess is he is headed for colic surgery or something abdominal needs eyes and hands-on immediately.

Do they use slings....absolutely for many things.
When airlifting, the animals are heavily sedated to protect them as they glide above the ground usually via helicopter is what I've watched on vet shows and documentaries.

Horses do not normally do well when they not feel pressure to their limb and under their hoof...
That not feeling is what caused Ruffians euthanasia....she was put back together during surgery...when she came out of anesthesia she freaked and fought...braking her other limb at which time she was PTS, to weak and shocky to undergo more surgery..

Unmatched Legacy: The Tragedy of Ruffian the Racehorse

Many incredible racehorses have ran, but none so dominant as Ruffian, the undefeated filly who lost only one race, which claimed her life.

www.wideopenpets.com

And Barbaro....he is another who had a similar fate.. Complications of his injury caused a to soon death to come.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbaro_(horse)

Then after tragedy struck a horse who broke a leg, healed and came back to racing to win their first race in the UK..
A mare, her name was Miss Tiggy and the year was 2017....
There are published accounts of her injury, surgery to repair and her eventual win on the track.....a feel-good story.
🐴...

 

@horselovinguy but in a trailer? I feel like I wouldn't trust my trailer roof to support a horse's weight, especially if he started moving around.

 

What @horselovinguy is saying is that horses are transported in emergencies only in a sling. Those trailers are equine ambulances that are made especially for emergencies.

 

Some pictures are graphic...be forewarned...

AC your trailer would crumble....as would near any other brand of trailer not designed for a purpose...
It is a specially constructed horse ambulance available for certain kinds of injuries..

This is something like what I saw sitting in case it was needed...indeed not and nothing like your trailer nor truck.

If the animal can hobble, hobble it will onto the ambulance or enough hands are on scene they will literally pick up the animal who is under sedation and pain management already...
But no, the trailer inside is very reinforced to hold and support.
This is Charismatic {chestnut} loading on one of the trailers...don't know who the bay is...

This picture below is Barbaro with his broken hind leg...I think the one above is also him but unsure.

Look at what you can see of the super-structure in place.....that is not anything like your trailer!

For injuries such as this.....that special vehicle rolls.

It is not what always go trackside to remove a injured horse as injuries vary.
But when you have a mangled leg, shattered pastern, broken hind or forelimb...yes they have the equipment ready to roll.
A team of vets are also at the ready being on-scene as soon as the first responding get to the site....they are part of the first responders.
At Belmont the horse hospital is outside gate "B", think #7.... a short few minutes during which time the hospital is preparing for emergent life-saving action to commence..
Yes, the ambulance, depending upon where it is the animal had issue would drive a part of the track, then probably through the barn area and out the gate, turn and not far and there was the hospital and team waiting.
🐴...

 

I think @horselovinguy is getting off topic. This is what one company’s equine ambulance looks like

Equine ambulance | Visual.ly

Infographic explaining how horse ambulances work, by showing a cutaway diagram of the inside of the trailer and highlighting key parts.

visual.ly

 

Nah...not off-topic, you just found what I know I've seen.
The link is great! Do indeed read the captions on the picture and you will get a better idea of what that ambulance can do, does do for the injured horse.
That is no "regular" trailer with a aluminum skin like you have....seriously you have to design them to withstand incredible PSI when loading, transferring a animal in or out...
The picture I have is more graphic than needs seen of a horse who broke down in racing as it occurs, and the animal being slinged to help....
To graphic for here...

Thanks @updownrider for the assist in literature found.
🐴...

 

@updownrider that is a great link!

 

Yes @horselovinguy, I took the question to mean whether such an apparatus could be used in a horse trailer to transport a horse. Of course it exists, but it's not something the average horse owner hauling to a show would ever use, and for good reason.

 

That horse ambulance is AMAZING! And I would absolutely faint at the price tag, I'm sure!!

 

Theres no slings for the every day trailer that we use for hauling to events, the trailers we use are not made to hold up heavy horses in slings, but there is the special trailers made for horses that have been in accidents like a Equine ambulance that are made for this type of stuff. But for a every day trailer no..

 

never discarded the idea but now I know there actually is at least one speciality-built trailer somewhere, thanks @horselovinguy

and to everyone else: ofc I wasn't going to suggest a normal trailer (especially with beside the flimsy upper structural there also was the matter of limited/no power source being present on it too)

on another note: incidentally I've indeed actually heard a few mentions of tranquillized horse airlifts before, think at least one of that might had been from an unofficial copy of a rescue911 episode from usa tvs

 

Its not just horses, but all kinds of livestock that get airlifted when it is faster and less dangerous for the animal to be sedated and flown to a new location.
The show Dr. Oakley, Yukon vet has shown airlifts of all species many times cause it is fastest and least dangerous to the animals if flying suspended from a cable reduce danger...
I've heard of mine shaft collapse, underground sinkholes, dens from bear or large animal collapsing, a horse trapped in a stream and deep mud...
Those involve specially trained rescue teams, equipment and often a group effort of local law and EMS along with that highly trained rescue unit to hopefully get the animal{s} out with least injury to them....giving them a real chance to survive. I know our EMS have response teams in many counties here for just such a need...
I remember hearing about such a rescues here in Florida....several times actually.
Horrific auto accidents, animals caught underground and being lifted out of the earth and flown in a sling to waiting medical personnel.
@updownrider @ChieTheRider @knightrider ...we are all in the same state, just different areas but this kind of news hits the horse/cattle/livestock community hard... Have you heard anything?
I think one of those rescues was in the Ocala National Forest and positive on the vehicle accident that specially trained team has been seen in some local news publications regarding the story.
I know California has airlifts of horses in the news often....they seem to be cursed with events that swallow up animals easily, but the rescue crews have great success getting them out alive and minimal damages...just amazing..
🐴...

 

kind of news hits the horse/cattle/livestock community hard... Have you heard anything?

I ride sometimes with a lovely person N, who was on a group trail ride when a horse got terribly injured. The trails were so narrow and so far from help that they had to lead the horse back to the trailer, and it died on the way to the hospital. They had no cell phone signal and were not able to get that kind of rescue. It was very sad.