{"id":3136,"date":"2024-10-09T16:52:08","date_gmt":"2024-10-09T23:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tires-easy.com\/blog\/?p=3136---a86e4534-43a8-4f01-a16c-b9a4b73dc805"},"modified":"2025-08-01T09:26:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T16:26:07","slug":"best-horse-trailer-tires","status":"publish","type":null,"link":"https:\/\/www.tires-easy.com\/blog\/best-horse-trailer-tires\/","title":null,"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 5<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

Top Horse Trailer Tires<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Ensuring a Smooth Ride for Your Equine Companions!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Even for tire retailers that receive feedback from thousands of customers using different brands of horse trailer tires, it isn’t easy to know the best tires for horse trailers. There are many online horse enthusiast discussion forums and seemingly endless commentary from tire “experts” with opinions and personal experiences about a specific tire brand or horse trailer tire style.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, this information can confuse the average horse-trailer<\/span> tire<\/a> shopper since there are inevitably conflicting views and individual experiences with any specific tire brand.<\/span><\/p>\n

What follows is our best attempt to provide you with the key criteria to consider when buying horse trailer tires<\/a> based on the concerns and experiences of horse trailer owners.<\/span><\/p>\n

The article also features the best-selling horse trailer<\/span> tires<\/a> on www.tires-easy.com<\/a>. These horse<\/span> trailer tires<\/a> consistently meet or exceed our customers’ expectations. Installing one of the recommended tires and performing good preventive maintenance can help keep your family, horses, and equipment safe on the roads.<\/span><\/p>\n

1  ST (Special Trailer) tires for a Better, Safer Ride<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

One of the biggest debates about tires for horse trailers is whether<\/span> ST tires are better than LT tires<\/a>. The LT stands for<\/span> “light truck,”<\/a> and The ST stands for “Special Trailer.”  The tire size is molded on the side of your tire, and an LT or ST precedes the numbers depending on the type. For example, ST235\/85R16 or LT225\/75R16. Both LT<\/span> tires and ST tires can<\/em> be used on horse trailers<\/a>. However, ST tires are specifically designed for use on trailers and have some important safety advantages.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because LT<\/span> tires are designed to go on a truck<\/a>, they must provide the proper traction, long tread life, and a good ride.<\/span> Tires are always intended to work<\/a> with the suspension of the target vehicle or equipment. A horse trailer has a much less sophisticated break than a tow vehicle.<\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore, trailer tires absorb more road shock and take a pounding since they are shock absorbers in addition to carrying the load. To handle this, ST tires have much stronger sidewalls. The tire for any towing vehicle cannot have such rigid sidewalls because it needs to flex during cornering.<\/span><\/p>\n

The<\/span> tire on a horse trailer<\/a> only follows the direction of travel, so it does not have to flex nearly as much. This means that compared to an ST tire, an LT<\/span> tire can cause the trailer<\/a> to sway more. This makes for a much less comfortable ride for your horses.<\/span><\/p>\n

Suppose there is an LT and ST option in a particular size with a similar load-carrying capacity (more about that next). In that case, we always recommend the ST<\/span> tires for horse trailers<\/a> because of the sway factor, particularly on high-center-of-gravity horse trailers.<\/span><\/p>\n

The<\/span> Carlisle Radial Trail RH tire<\/a> has the two most popular 16-inch horse trailer sizes and is one of the best-selling and most reliable tires. It is important to remember that most ST tires are speed-rated to a max of 65 miles an hour. In the last few years, a few manufacturers have introduced L, M, or J-rated ST tires, but a good safety rule is not to exceed 65 mph regardless.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Horse
There is a lot of information on the side of a tire. Note the ST in front of the size and the Load Range.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2  Higher Tire Load Range to Lower Risk of blowouts<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

We all hear and read about<\/span> tire blowouts<\/a>. While the most common cause of blowouts is low<\/span> tire pressure<\/a>, the risk is always compounded when the trailer is heavily loaded. Horse trailers are often packed to maximum capacity with much more than the horse and one tack set.<\/span><\/p>\n

A tire’s load capacity is the maximum weight it is engineered to carry when properly inflated and is always marked on the side of the tire. The load range on LT and ST tires is from C to F. The letters correspond to a “ply” equivalent (for example, C = 6 ply, D = 8 ply, E = 10 ply load equivalent). The higher the<\/span> ply rating<\/a>, the higher the tire’s load capacity.<\/span><\/p>\n

In numerical terms, an F tire with a load range is designed to carry 3,858 pounds when properly inflated. The four-load range F tires will carry 15,432 pounds on a dual-axle four-tire trailer.<\/span><\/p>\n

We recommend investing in the tire with the highest Load Range available for horse trailers. At a minimum, the tires on your trailer must always have a sufficient load range to cover the<\/span> GVW (gross vehicle weight) specified by the trailer manufacturer<\/a>. This information can usually be found on a plaque on the trailer frame or in the Owner’s Manual.<\/span><\/p>\n

3  Go with a Quality, Reputable Horse Trailer Tires Manufacturer<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

While brand name quality is not always guaranteed, constant product reviews and feedback from thousands of users can give us a pretty good idea of overall quality and reliability. Not all<\/span> tire manufacturers<\/a> make specialty ST tires. Notably, Michelin, Continental, Pirelli, and Bridgestone ignore this segment.<\/span><\/p>\n

The best-known brands and most significant market share in horse<\/span> trailer tires are Carlisle<\/a>, Towmaster, and Milestar. Not precisely household brand names, but proven brands for<\/span> quality in the horse trailer tire<\/a> segment. Here are the three best-selling horse trailer tires from hundreds of brands and models sold on www.tires-easy.com.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Horse<\/a><\/p>\n