I started 2017 with the idea that I needed at least one new trailer (or, new to me), as my trailer was a 1988 model. Don’t get me wrong, this was a GREAT trailer. 4 horse, built to last, many different configurations possible. It travelled for many thousands of miles with me.
Home on the Range endurance ride
On our way to WEG 2010, somewhere in Utah?
You get the picture. Many miles, many different rides, many different trucks, many different horses. All the same great trailer.
But.
It was 30 years old and starting to show its age. We’ve replaced tires, wire brushed rust, touched up paint and resealed everything. It was pronounced “Better than a lot of trailers 1/3 its age”
But.
It was still looking pretty battered and I promote my horses, so ‘Get a new trailer’ (or ‘newer”) trailer has been on the list for several years. I spent lots of time checking out sale ads online, especially for Living Quarters horse trailers. We had used a pop up camper for about 10 years, which certainly had a lot of pluses (light weight and low profile being big ones), but it was showing it’s age also, so I sold it a few years back. We bought another, bigger used camper, which was much fancier (and spoiled us), but which started falling apart within 18 months. I sold that too.
I spent quite a lot of time perusing sale ads longingly. I hadn’t been doing much riding the last year, for various reasons, but I like to plan ahead to when I WILL be doing a lot of riding.
I sold two youngsters to some lovely ladies who didn’t have a lot of cash, but they did have…a nice aluminum trailer. So, as part of our deal, they got my old warhorse of a trailer and I got cash and the much newer aluminum trailer. Everyone was happy. Horse trading at it’s finest.
So, now I had one trailer, but what to do about competitions and camping, both things I like to do, in at least a modicum of comfort. I’ve done the camping in the horse trailer, tents, etc. Nope. No more, too old for that.
So.
More checking sale ads online. My husband Larry and I went to see a very nice LQ trailer. Pretty much perfect, but it was a private sale and we’d have to come up with the complete price. So, then I decided to go check our local trailer place. I bought the old gray trailer there years ago and they have a pretty good inventory, so I figured I’d just ‘go see what is there’.
I looked at some 7 ft wide, 3 horse LQs, with an 8 ft shortwall. Brand new, nice, but pricey. Also, the LQ was a bit cramped and I didn’t really want pop outs.
I asked what sort of used trailers they had in, just for giggles. I also found out that if the trailer is 10 years or less old, it can be financed.
The salesperson showed me a nice Sundowner, 8 ft wide, 7’6″ tall with a 12 ft shortwall. Very nice, lots of space, less than 10 years old. It got me thinking. Then he said “Oh, we just got another one in that is almost the same as this, only a different trim model. We haven’t cleaned it yet, but do you want to look at it?”. Sure, looking doesn’t hurt anything.
This one was also a Sundowner, pretty much the same as the other one, except the trim package was miles (and I mean MILES) above the other one. Leather furniture, real wood pocket door, ostrich leather walls, absolutely gorgeous. I asked the price and it was LESS than the other one without the gorgeous trim package. Turns out the other had some issues that cost money to fix and this one didn’t. Within a day, I dragged Larry out and we put money down on it.
So, we measured it before buying and the length is about the same that I had been hauling with my camper, extended hitch and 4 horse bumper pull. I figured no big deal, right? Well…this is a gooseneck, which means it turns in a very different spot than my old one. It has taken a bit of getting used to. Just getting it home was a bit nerve wracking. I had to figure out how wide to take turns, so as not to hit the curb.
It does look really long in this photo. It’s not quite as long as it looks, although when I’m hauling it, it sort of feels like that.
Larry and I took it out for our ‘test run’ up near Anacortes for a few days. It was windy, rainy and nasty, but we just turned the heat up a bit and watched videos, read books, and drank wine.
So nice!
A horse hasn’t actually been in it yet, at least one of my horses, but I have plans for this summer. Larry and I will be taking it around and ‘glamping’.
That is trailer #2.
Trailer #3.
Over the holidays, Larry helped me out in the barn a bit while he was off work. After about 10 days, he told me that I do too much work and that I needed a dump trailer to make my life easier. OK. Now, realize, I’ve been doing the same thing for almost 30 years, but anything to make life easier would be fine with me.
Back to the trailer dealer, we bought a new dump trailer.
Trailer #3.
It’s still in pristine condition, although I did get a load of gravel with it and got to play with the hydraulics. Nice! The plan is that we will set it up to dump wheelbarrows in so cleaning the barn and paddocks won’t be such a process. Hasn’t happened quite yet, but it’s on the way. No photo yet, I have to find my camera and my phone is being picky.
Yeah, I’m feeling a little spoiled. Feels good.
Really good.