About trailers

I was always afraid to haul my own horse, because I couldn't handle the thought of something going wrong and being responsible for an accident. That ended the day I discovered endurance riding. To be an endurance rider, you pretty much need your own rig. So I went out and got one immediately. I ended up with a "minimalist" truck, strong enough but only barely, and no niceties like AC. I suffered so much on my trips to central Oregon in the heat, windows down on the freeway. I'd go back to the trailer to check on the horses, and they were more comfortable than I was - the trailer was insulated. Lucky horses.



This is a picture of my first trailer. The trailer was a rusted out piece of crap, but it was actually really cool in some important ways. It was a two horse straight load, with an enormous tack area, big enough to hang out with your horse.




I would spend many rest stops sitting there in a chair, having lunch, feeding parts of my lunch to the horses whose faces were right there in the tack area.





The picture is my sister, compass around her neck after an orienteering ride, getting out of the rain and hanging out with the horses. See how quaint that is? How many modern trailers allow this? Usually there is a full wall between the tack area and the horse area, so you have to stand on the tire outside and peek through a window to see how your horse is. That would not do. In this 70s era trailer, I could put all my tack and a weekend's worth of hay and water in that tackroom, and have room to sit in my chair and hang out with them. This would become a priority for me when I went to find trailer #2. I sold the trailer in 2005 to a couple in McMinnville, OR. I trust they are enjoying its unique design today.

I had a very specific list of must haves for my next trailer. I wanted one of those fancy two-horse straight load aluminum jobs with a walk through to the tack area. (Trail-et has a model like this called the New Yorker.) But I wanted no wall between the horses and the tack area, just chest bars. Hm. Hard to find. Then I had this idea, what if I bought a three horse slant load, and removed the wall and dividers? I'd have the same amount of room as my old piece of junk!

I found it! It's a Triton, now defunct company, and only partly aluminum - it has very heavy walls (plastic reinforced somethingorother). Not a light trailer, thankfully I had a much much bigger truck by then. I bought that trailer immediately and took it straight down to the shop to have it modified.



I have an awesome 2000 one-ton Silverado with 4 doors in case I decide to have children. (Oh how I love my truck.)





First outing to Cougar Mountain. I couldn't believe it was mine!







In this picture the seller is showing me the trailer. Those solid dividers had to go. The horses couldn't even see anything, they were in little prisons with those dividers. (Dividers with bars are much nicer, psychologically, I think.)



You know how you should always check to be sure your blinkers work before hauling? With this trailer I could see the blinkers from my side mirrors on my truck.





I wanted the tack room wall cut in half and made removeable. It actually turned out really nice - you can remove it, or, what we did was just unhook one side and swing it back and forth to make the tack area bigger or smaller. You can clearly see the half-wall in this photo. This is me and the mare at Home on the Range, 2007. You can see how I am both rider and crew. (hehehehe you can't do that in Europe!!) I was so exhausted in this picture, and we had 10 more miles to go.



In this picture you can see the wall which I've opened a bit to walk through and feed the horses some beet pulp. I had the hooks put on the remaining half-wall. Totally closed, I could haul three horses, stock style. I had an outdoor light put on that made camping so nice - we could tack up before dawn at the start of a 50 mile ride without flashlights. No more annoying, back-breaking loading ramp, it has a sweet rear door with those really cool bar locks. There is no sharp edge on this trailer, it is so safe. You can open and shut the windows, and there are fly screens on all of them, making it nice for my friend who sleeps back there.

I sleep in the truck. Canopies are such a luxury - no more setting up leaky tents after dark! I wanted to have a tent-burning party, but thought it wouldn't be good for the environment.






Now I live in Germany. Ausgerechnet jetzt. That means, after finally getting the perfect rig, I cannot use it anymore. The trailer is with a friend, and the truck is for sale on truck trader.com. I made this blog entry as kind of a pity-party, poor me. Now I have this to look forward to...when I eventually get a rig in Germany, it's gonna be a sardine can. *sigh*

I think these last two posts illustrate how much I love my husband, and how blessed I am to have found him. He really is worth it, and I can adapt to this new way of life. The best part of the day is waking up next to him and cuddling. I admire him, I respect him, and he understands me perfectly. He offered to take over the cost of keeping my horse as soon as my horse arrives, and he's willing to buy a farm, just for me, when condo life would have suited him fine. I complain a bit, mostly about how I miss doritos and mountain dew and single-track riding trails that are NOT PAVED, but he is worth it. I never even thought I'd marry, and when I met him, I knew that would change.