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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 685
  
Location: Arkansas | Looking to buy our first horse trailer! Just thought it'd be interesting to hear about y'all's first trailer and your experience! Any advice would be appreciated!! |
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Location: OK | You need to give a little info. How many horses do plan to haul. What kind of tow vehicle you have. How far do you usually haul? Most definately I suggest a used trailer. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 685
Location: Arkansas | I was mainly just curious on everyone's experiences. It would be interesting to hear what y'all's first trailer was. Were looking for a 3 to 4 horse bumper or gooseneck. Has to have a dressing/ tack room. |
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 I'm Cooler Offline
Posts: 6387
 
Location: Pacific Northwest | Our first trailer was a Logan 3-horse that we bought brand new in like 1993 (i dont remember, I was little), and then when I was 14 we bought a new 4-horse Exiss. But MY first trailer that I bought myself was a used Morgan 2-horse.
We've never had problems with any of them, except one time the Logan tack room door kept swinging open and we were like 2 minutes from the arena (down a private road) so I rode in the tack room and held the door shut until we got there haha. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 685
Location: Arkansas | livexlovexrodeo - 2015-07-18 6:54 PM
Our first trailer was a Logan 3-horse that we bought brand new in like 1993 (i dont remember, I was little), and then when I was 14 we bought a new 4-horse Exiss. But MY first trailer that I bought myself was a used Morgan 2-horse.
We've never had problems with any of them, except one time the Logan tack room door kept swinging open and we were like 2 minutes from the arena (down a private road) so I rode in the tack room and held the door shut until we got there haha.
That's hilarious! Lol love it! My family growing up had a two horse straight load bumper pull then a four horse slant steel cm... Humble beginnings lol! I'm the practical person in the house, where my husband isn't as much and wants a full weekender package 4 horse with mangers... I'm thinking we need something safe to get from A to B easily. My only stipulation is I want drop windows on the front... Cuz I hate cold wind and rain blowing in the trailer going 70 mph at 35 degrees... |
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 Off the Wall Wacky
Posts: 2981
Location: Louisiana | Hubby had an old 2 horse straight load that was his first trailer. He paid $1 for it and put a new floor and new tires. Then a lady slammed into it in town and the guy that did the repairs sandblasted all the rust and reprinted the whole thing. It looked brand new!
He got a lot of use out of that thing for years. We just sold it for $1500, I think that was a pretty good sale!!
I just bought "my" first trailer. It's really ours :)
It's a '99 exiss 3 horse with a small dressing room. It's in awesome shape for it's age and came from a friend that really took care of it-he owns his own RV and horse trailer business.
It pulls great and we plan to insulate and finish out the front before too long. As long as I have a soft mattress and ac I'll be good!!
We plan on having this trailer for a long time. Anything larger would also require a truck upgrade so we're holding out!! |
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  Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | Mine was a new 2 horse featherlite bumperpull. lol with a small tack area ..crazy part is I pulled it with a lil toyota truck.this was 29 years ago. |
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 Take a Picture
Posts: 12841
| When I was in high school, the only trailer that we had was our hog trailer, no top. I didn't care, I got to go. The first trailer that I bought myself was a little one horse that had a canvas top. I thought I was so uptown. I think I paid about $175 for it back in 1975. My husband made me quit riding and after he died I bought a new Elite 3 horse gooseneck with a 4 foot short wall. I finished out the dressing room by myself. It is not fancy but it works for me. I love my Elite trailer and there are not many things I would change about it. Since that crazy superload thing is coming down my road Sunday or Monday I am going to get the generator and computer and hang out in it watching movies in this heat. We will have no electricity for no telling how long. |
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 Thick and Wavy
Posts: 6102
Location: Nebraska | The first trailer I hauled by myself was a keifer 3 horse bumper pull. I still have it and love it! I only with the butt side had drop down windows, too. |
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Member
Posts: 16
| My first trailer was an old steel 2 horse straight load Rocking S... I don't even think they make them anymore but it sure was forward thinking for the year it was made. The trailer was solid and only had to replace the floor once in its time. Sold it 20 years later and finally upgraded to a aluminum living quarters... feel like I'm in heaven!
Edited by bellablue 2015-07-19 8:54 AM
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 600
Location: Oklahoma & Texas | My first trailer of my own that my dad bought me for college rodeo was an S & H 2 horse straight load bumper pull that I pulled with my 1/2 ton chevy... i had that trailer til just a few years ago...this year I bought my first fancy rig lol a new 3h with an 8 ft sw that i had custom built... love my new trailer but definitely appreciated my 2h and having it when I did!! |
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Meanest Teacher!!!
Posts: 8555
Location: sunny california | depending on budget and what you are pulling with I would say a stock combo. mine wasn't my first trailer but I would never get rid of it; is is so handy. gooseneck so I have a bed. it has a small tack so I can carry quite a bit of stuff. I have had the front part full of hay and hauled horse in the back half. I have used it to move furniture, haul firewood and can get over 60 100+ lb bales. very nice for hauling weanlings in as well. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 685
Location: Arkansas | I love hearing everyone's stories!!! Not trying to diss y'all one horse trailer owners, but those things make me giggle every time I see them! They just look goofy!! Lol |
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Take a Picture
Posts: 12841
| Brrlracengirl - 2015-07-19 2:18 PM
I love hearing everyone's stories!!! Not trying to diss y'all one horse trailer owners, but those things make me giggle every time I see them! They just look goofy!! Lol
At one time, Miley trailers were by far the best you could buy. (40 years ago). Most of the one horse trailers had two axles. The horse had a great ride. There is a guy in E TX that has a restored one horse that looks pretty sharp. I told him he had the right idea and he said he took it through the drive through at fast food places all the time. Now tell me that ain't cool. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 629
| I still have my first horse trailer, but am casually looking for my next one.
My trailer is a 2H BP CM trailer. I think it's a perfect little trailer because at the time I bought it, I only had 1 horse, and he was too big for most of the little straight loads around here. Then over the years I acquired 2 more horses, so am now looking for a 3 horse. Anyway, its a 2H slant, which I haven't seen many of, so it has a rear tack and a decent sized dressing room. It's nothing fancy, but it has lights in the tack room and dressing room and horse area. Not wired for electric, but could be.
My favorite things I love about my trailer are how smooth and comfy it has been to haul. It's 19 years old, and still in great shape. I love the tack room because it has 3 saddle racks that are mounted to the trailer, and are straight in, not on a swinging bar, and aren't plastic. I've found the plastic saddle racks don't hold saddles well (they roll off when moving) and going straight in makes it easy to saddle and unsaddle.
I also LOVE that it has 4 ties on the outside of the trailer (2 on each side). This makes it especially convenient when hauling horses that don't like each other, or switching sides to keep a horse tied in the shade, keep a nosy one away from the dressing room, etc. |
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 Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | When I first got into barrel racing as a kid, my parents bought a 2 horse WW bumper pull. We didn't have that long before they bought our 4 horse Tracer bumper pull. It was tan, and a perfect rectangle--everyone called it the Cracker Box. LOL The first trailer I bought on my own was a used 3 horse gooseneck Featherlite. |
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Rad Dork
Posts: 5218
Location: Oklahoma | My first trailer that we hauled horses to playdays and 4H shows was a homemade stock trailer. BP, one horse (maybe two if you crammed them in there) and no cover or anything shielding the wind and bugs. I was always so embarrassed. Once I got serious about riding (junior rodeos) my dad ordered a CM Dakota 2H slant BP. He first ordered it in red and I bawled my eleven year old eyes out and he called the dealer and changed it to white (as per my request, of course). Fourteen years later and I still have the trailer. It's in great condition (minus a dent my brother put in it when backing and not remembering he had some pipe in the bed of the truck) and while my husband and I just bought our dream trailer a couple of weeks ago the CM is my go to if I'm going somewhere I'm not confident in pulling a bigger trailer.... and having a backup camera in my truck makes it much easier to latch onto and go. |
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 Expert
Posts: 3815
Location: The best kept secret in TX | My first trailer was a Goosneck brand steel cattle trailer with two dog boxes in the nose and three compartments with a hardwood floor. We bought it used, sanded it down to bare metal, primered it, painted it brown (So we didn't have to wash it so often lol) and my dad put a new floor in it for me. We used that thing so much for so many different things.
We finally sold it back to the guy we bought it from and bought a '93 sooner stock trailer. All aluminum, 3 compartments, grooved floor, and a calf compartment in the nose. It's basically a shell with padding on the walls. But I love it. It's a fmaily trailer. My dad owns it, but anyone on our farm can use it whenever. The guy who owned it before us only ever hauled pallets of goods in it. It was practically brand new when we bought it.
Wouldn't trade my Sooner for the world. It's a beast. I actually got ran off the road and rolled my truck while hauling back from a sale late one night. Had my good gelding with me. It bent the neck and foot and that was it. The trailer detached from my truck and stayed upright, while my truck rolled up and under the trailer. My horse was still asleep when they checked on him. Took it to Sooner to get an estimate to fix it and they said the only thing that needed replaced was the neck and the foot that it rests on while in storage. Replaced those and it's all good to go.  |
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 Reaching for the stars....
Posts: 12708
| I never had a trailer growing up and trying to show and rodeo.
I now have an 'ugly' trailer. I may end up using it for my remaining hauling years. It's a 1996 Sundowner 3 horse slant with dressing room fixed up comfortably. I just have to borrow waterworks.
I grew out of the ego that requires any monthly payment (i.e., a big trailer with lq). I LOVE no monthly payment!! My lead sled is ugly, but very, very safe. Hubb has rewired it, installed all LED lights, installed insulation, and pretty big screen TV and sound system and fridge for me. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 685
Location: Arkansas | Great and interesting stories y'all!! I'm excited to find something for us! I know we definitely want a slant with a dressing room or tack room to store our stuff! |
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 Expert
Posts: 2457
| First trailer was Dad's Wilson aluminum stock trailer ... no tack room but a lil drop down gate in the nose kept my buckets from flying around and my saddle fit nicely in the back seat!
My currently trailer is a little Titan Avalanche 2 horse slant. I bought it as a run around trailer that I could afford and paid off real quick. It has nice drop windows, plenty of space for large horses, a large tack room with a swing out saddle rack, and really nice mats that I can pull out myself to hose out. I will never sell it.
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 Undercover Amish Mafia Member
Posts: 9992
Location: Kansas | titan's are pretty nice little starter trailers, but they are steel. |
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Best first trailer!