Choices

Since I wrote the post about selling my little red wagon I've been doing some research and thinking about horse trailers. There's been a lot to think about.

I realized that buying a trailer is a lot like buying a horse:
1.  First you think about what you want it for. I wanted to go to a few shows, some clinics and maybe some fun weekends away. Most of the shows I will attend are overnight but there are options for places to stay.

2. How often will you be using it? It would be somewhere around a dozen times. Possibly more than 10 but not likely. Once I retire it may go up quite a bit but I'll cross the bridge when I get there.

3. Separating the 'nice to haves' from the 'must haves'

4. Budget. The most limiting thing of all.

There are many choices even given the results of the above. My choices were based on my preferences. I know that there are lots of opinions and I like to think that any really bad option in horse trailers has been eliminated. That leaves it up to personal choice.

I was leaning towards a Bumper pull rather than a Goose Neck. Mostly because Ed was not keen on putting in the hitch ('what, you want to put a hole in the truck?').  I know it gains me more space in the trailer but it takes away space in the truck bed. And I've never pulled a GN before. So I decided that I would stick to a bumper pull.

Slant load vs Straight. I looked at research and did some pondering, knowing my horses. Most of the slant loads I saw here I was worried that the only way to get to the front horse is to remove the back horse. I also worried that if I had to stop suddenly they have nothing to brace on. So I was leaning towards the straight loads.

Step up vs ramp load. I know it's easy for a horse to step up but I've seen some issues with backing out of a step up. But horses can get used to them easily.

Given that I live in a small, rural province (we only have one 'city') there's not a lot of choices in horse trailer shopping.

I never appreciated that before.

There wasn't anything used that fit my bill and I didn't want to drive for 800 km to look at a potential used trailer.

There is a dealer in a couple hours that carries three brands of trailers: Merhow, Frontier and Exiss. I liked all of them on the internet but I needed to go see and touch them. So last week Ed, Cynthia and I went on a road trip to check out the trailers.

Turns out there was only one straight load on the property and it was sold. But I had a chance to look at the slant loads to see what I thought and I could still see the quality of the work. Looking at the slant loads and I could see that Irish would probably not do well in them. I think he would feel confined. And I wasn't sure if, when Carmen filled out, she would fit comfortably. They did have one extra long slant but I still liked the straight load that I saw.

In the end I ordered a straight load, bumper pull Exiss with a small dressing room. It's being built right now and I should have it soon in a few weeks. Here's some of  what I liked:
1. the body is insulated
2. the aluminium 'skin' on it is a thicker grade then the others
3. the quality of the hardware really impressed me.
4. I like the quality of the rubber.
5. it comes with locks for all doors on the trailer.
6. It has a screen door in the dressing room
7. nice size windows for the horses with their own vents
8. I liked that it was white and how nice and airy it was inside.


This is photo of what I ordered:

I can't wait for it to come. I have serious plans for this baby.