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Veteran
Posts: 106
| So the hubby and I bought a LQ a few years ago..back when we were both riding and rodeoing on the ammy circuit on weekends as much as we could. It was a goal for both of us to get one and we worked hard so we could have it. Flash forward a few years and we no longer rodeo…hubby no longer dogs and has began tentatively dabbling in team roping. He hasn’t been able to go anywhere or practice much due to work (we are commercial livestock growers). I don’t see it getting much better as the farm continues to grow and his parents get older.
I still barrel race but primarily NBHA…run and go home type things… I/we may stay in our trailer 4-6 times this year if we are lucky. Actually..that could be pushing it
I have a 10 yr old stepson who only has a so so interest in horses..if there is anything else to do..he would rather do it. He lives with his mom and they are not horse people and push baseball (which is fine). The hubby and I just had a baby who is now 8 months old…and of course we hope he grows up to rodeo but that will be a while.
We have 3 years left to pay this trailer off. If we were to sell this trailer today at value then we could pay it off and buy a nice name brand used 4 horse with dressing room outright with no extra money out of pocket.
We are not struggling to pay for this trailer nor or we in a bind by having it. I just can’t help but think how nice it would be to have a trailer that is paid for. How that money could be used towards something else (I have a goal of being debt free by the time I am 40...I am 35 now and will be there with or without this trailer)
I just feel like I can’t justify have it anymore…that it is going to waste. It stands around more than it is being used right now. It’s not a huge trailer that is a hassle to drag around or park. People are constantly asking if it is for sale.
Opinions?
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 Undercover Amish Mafia Member
Posts: 9992
   
Location: Kansas | Personally if it were me....I'd sell it. I can see if you were spending all weekend hauling to rodeos and staying all night, but not to jackpots then home. And you wouldn't have to worry about an extra payment!!! |
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  Friendly horse swapper
Posts: 4122
Location: Buffalo, TX | Even though I've been a trailer dealer for over 10 years, I still understand where you are coming from because the same thing happened to me....My good rodeo mare got hurt and I started hauling younger horses and exhibitioning, no overnight deals.....
I can get trailers at cost, but I was having the same thoughts you are, that I could be payment free if I sold my LQ and got a regular trailer....so I didn't think twice...I sold the LQ and have had nothing but paid for non-LQ trailers for the last 5 years...I can't tell you the money I have saved by doing that....if I ever decide to go a lot overnight again, the money I saved will go a long ways towards another LQ (smaller than I had anyway!).... |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 449
| I struggled with this same decision a year ago. We don't get to go as much as we used to and I hated to see it sitting out there just basically going to waste. I think I used my LQ about 2 times the prior year and maybe pulled the trailer half a dozen times. I made the decision to sell mine, so we did. We currently just have a stock trailer to use but we don't go enough to justify anything else right now. Our stock trailer doesn't even have a tack area, but we make do. In fact, after I sold my LQ trailer we only pulled that stock trailer to a "horse" event one time last year. Now, this all being said, I am planning on going a little more this year but again, I will make do with what we have for the time being. I do miss my LQ at times, but it wasn't really doing me any good sitting out there and not being used. Hope this helps :) |
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Veteran
Posts: 106
| I guess the only thing that makes me waver is whether I will be shooting myself in the foot by selling it and having a 8 month old baby who will be going with me occasionally..
if it was just us..it would probably have been gone..
edited to add: the hubby thinks the same way I do and then says he wants to keep it for ropings but he can't even find the time to ride his horse ( in 3 months!)..much less go anywhere.
Edited by Wishful 2014-03-27 9:26 AM
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 350
| I'm on the other end of it...have a 8 ft lq but would like a larger one....lol The thing you have to think about too is how much is it going to cost to replace if/when you want a lq again...they are soo pricey. We dont go to that many overnite shows but when we do we are busting at the seams with 2 or 3 ppl. |
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Veteran
Posts: 106
| true lucky2...ours is a 8 1/2 3 horse... so even if we sold now and our kid decided he wanted to ride...we would still have to go bigger...10-12 4 horse...but that is about 5 years from now..and we will be debt free with only a trailer payment..
see..there is too many what if's! Will we be ahead in the long run or not? |
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Porta Potty Pants
Posts: 2600
| I would probably sell and save the money. If you start going again, you will have the flexibility to get another one.
I on the other hand … don't go much, but know I would go more if I had a small LQ. There are several races that are close enough and two days, but I only go one day because I don't want to drive back and forth nor do I want to pay for a hotel. In addition, I have some allergies that would make having a place to escape the heat and allergens nice … but I'm happy with my paid off 2 horse for now. |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| With you having a little one, I would say keep it. If you go to a day event you will have somewhere to keep your child out of the elements. If it is too hot, you can have the ca going so your child can nap in comfort without the risk of heat stroke, you have a fridge to keep food for your child, can heat up meals for your child, give a bath if he/she gets too dirty. If it is too cold, turn the heat on.
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Member
Posts: 34
| Well I sold mine and I really miss it ....downsized to a three horse bumper pull ....if you ever want to go out of town to a clinic or to see your friends or just want to jump in for a three-day barrel race .... So I will be looking soon again!!! |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 832
Location: Kansas (but Great Lakes member since 1978) | I'm going to be accused at being crazy here but this is my thoughts on your post. I'm almost 66 years old and have been hauling for over 35 years. I'm pulling a 1996 small living quarters trailer that stills in excellent condition but recently I decided (well it took about three years to make this decision and convince my husband) to jump in and buy the perfect "retirement" trailer. I mortgaged the farm and started the process. We have no children and anything that is left over after we are gone will be for charities. Our new rig is going to be our retirement home away from home. I designed it to be able to haul a canoe and four wheeler when we realize our dream of driving the Alaskan highway. I do plan on rodeoing until I can't be helped on a horse any more but also realize we would truly enjoy a "dual purpose" rig. Yes, it's probably not the smartest financially thing I ever did but with life being filled with issues that can change in minutes and dreams never realized unless you take that giant step.... it just was what seemed to be right for us. I would rather take a chance on doing some things for today instead of regretting never doing it and wishing later and never getting to do it. I'll be dead before my farm is paid off but that will be the bank's problem so I'm not going to fret over it. We don't owe anything to anyone except mortgage and we pay as we go and skimp with things in order to live the lives we want to life. If we had kids I'd probably think differently as we'd want to leave something for them. Replacing a LQ trailer will only get more expensive. Yes, I looked for those many years for the perfect used trailer but nothing quite made the grade for my "dual purpose" needs. Am I sorry I made that decision, no. Do I wonder what in the world I was thinking, yes. But I have watched way too many friends put off their dreams for years and never get to even make an attempt of experiencing them. Think about your grandkids and what you want to do with them in the semi-near future.... staying overnight with them would be so awesome and not having to try to find another rig that will end up not being what you want or cost a lot of money could be a factor. Would it be financially fairly easy to keep what you have and know what you have....? Do you really need to sell and downsize and then maybe change your mind....? Now that I have muddied the waters, I hope everything works out for you. |
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Expert
Posts: 1477
Location: In the land of peanuts and cotton | Wishful - 2014-03-27 8:57 AM
So the hubby and I bought a LQ a few years ago..back when we were both riding and rodeoing on the ammy circuit on weekends as much as we could. It was a goal for both of us to get one and we worked hard so we could have it. Flash forward a few years and we no longer rodeo…hubby no longer dogs and has began tentatively dabbling in team roping. He hasn’t been able to go anywhere or practice much due to work (we are commercial livestock growers). I don’t see it getting much better as the farm continues to grow and his parents get older.
I still barrel race but primarily NBHA…run and go home type things… I/we may stay in our trailer 4-6 times this year if we are lucky. Actually..that could be pushing it
I have a 10 yr old stepson who only has a so so interest in horses..if there is anything else to do..he would rather do it. He lives with his mom and they are not horse people and push baseball (which is fine). The hubby and I just had a baby who is now 8 months old…and of course we hope he grows up to rodeo but that will be a while.
We have 3 years left to pay this trailer off. If we were to sell this trailer today at value then we could pay it off and buy a nice name brand used 4 horse with dressing room outright with no extra money out of pocket.
We are not struggling to pay for this trailer nor or we in a bind by having it. I just can’t help but think how nice it would be to have a trailer that is paid for. How that money could be used towards something else (I have a goal of being debt free by the time I am 40...I am 35 now and will be there with or without this trailer)
I just feel like I can’t justify have it anymore…that it is going to waste. It stands around more than it is being used right now. It’s not a huge trailer that is a hassle to drag around or park. People are constantly asking if it is for sale.
Opinions?
Will you PM me please. |
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 It Goes On
Posts: 2262
Location: Muskogee, OK | If it is not a money issue, I would keep it! I have heard MANY people say after selling their LQ that they wish they would have just kept it. |
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 Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | My rodeo horse got hurt and ended his rodeo career right after I bought my last LQ trailer. I kept it anyway. Even though I didn't stay overnight in it more than 6 or 8 times in 13 years, I was glad to have a place out of the weather, a fridge, and my own toilet, especially after I had kids.
I upgraded to a bigger trailer last year because I wanted to start going to some big barrel races again, and my husband was wanting to camp as a family. (I'm not a tent person!) |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 550
| Wishful - 2014-03-27 10:23 AM
I guess the only thing that makes me waver is whether I will be shooting myself in the foot by selling it and having a 8 month old baby who will be going with me occasionally..
if it was just us..it would probably have been gone..
edited to add: the hubby thinks the same way I do and then says he wants to keep it for ropings but he can't even find the time to ride his horse ( in 3 months!)..much less go anywhere.
I have small children and no LQ. My mom has an LQ, and it is soo nice to go to the shows with her. She has a small one, and it is plenty. She has a generator, and we can let the kids stay in it with one of us if it is hot or cold. We just enter up far enough apart that one can ride while the other one hangs out with the kids. I can also close them up in it with their toys & books while I saddle, so they are out of the way. She and I have also camped in it with one child, and it worked fine.
If it is a big LQ, I would probably try to downsize, but not get rid of it all together. |
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 Damn Yankee
Posts: 12390
Location: Somewhere between raising hell and Amazing Grace | I've never had a living quarters horse trailer. I used to haul my lil stock gooseneck and sleep in my truck. ALOT.
When hubby and I got married, we bought that lil stock outright for cash, no payments. Was very nice. Hubby kept bugging me for a few years to pick out a used LQ trailer to buy, but I didn't want payments. I could just never justify spending money on something that I honestly didn't really need for myself.
Then he goes to Iraq for a year deployment, and the lucky duck wins a 2011 Jeep Rubicon. After he came home and we got him his new truck, he spent a few weeks arguing with me that he was going to sell his jeep to buy me a trailer. I finally caved and let him, but we bought one with a six fort short wall and no LQ. We were able to build our own.
Long story short, it was well worth saving the money. We can survive in it great without being in debt. Could that be an option for you guys? Sell what you have, and buy something that you could slowly build your own LQ in? It's not really as hard as ppl think to build your own. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 720
| You are only 35. Things happen. You could find yourself back on the rodeo circuit, your stepson could take up roping, you could decide to start endurance riding. My point is, I'd hate to get rid of it, only to regret it down the road. If it's not a financial hindrance, I'd keep it, in case I needed it later.
Last summer, the water heater in my house bit the dust. I showered in my horse trailer for a month until I had the extra money to replace it. It was pretty handy. Makes a great "guest house" when folks come to visit, too.
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Veteran
Posts: 106
| Thanks all!
Its a hard decision for us anyway..when we need it we get great use of of it...its just that there have been times at shows that I havent even gone in the LQ at all.
On top of this thought process is another that says go bigger..an ideal family trailer would be a 10-12 ft 4 horse...versus what we have..an 8 1/2 ft 3 horse...add another year to the payments.
I guess that thought process is just the wishful thinking of having the whole family together at shows or the occasional trail ride even though realistically that is a rare moment. usually it is just me at the shows..lol
I am sure I would miss it if it was gone.. I guess I just need to sit down and really crunch the numbers and see if it will make any difference towards our other goals. I know that i will need a new vehicle soon too..actually...lol.. i probably need one already but i refuse to have a trailer payment and a car payment esp. with the type of vehicle I want next!
I just have to make sure I dont consider just my and my hubby's needs but also the kids.. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 902
Location: Qld Australia | With having a baby - DO NOT SELL IT!!!!!
I did the same, had a living area, bed, fridge etc, etc.
Upgraded to new but with no living and I REGRET it every day.
Good luck |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 784
Location: USA | I have a small LQ trailer....... I may not sleep in it all the time... but I sure do use it at all the races. I love having a fridge. Take my own food and water with me. It's nice at a DBL header to have a place to hang out between races and have lunch. Great for getting out of the heat, rain, cold. Having a bathroom is worth EVERY penny I pay on that thing. I tell everyone I didn't buy the trailer to sleep in I bought the bathroom. TMI: I got the stomach flu at the vet clinic one time..... That bathroom saved my life. It was horrible...... Even going to day races I still enjoy all the comforts of it. |
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