I have been looking to buy a trailer for a while. But I’ve been a bit more serious about it since we are possibly moving and I’d like to have my own trailer so I can bring ConeMan back out to the barn for lessons, shows and in an emergency, the vet. We don’t need a HUGE trailer with live in…correction…we can’t afford a huge trailer with a live in at the moment. So we’ve been looking at little 2 horse bumper pulls. The thing is I’m terrified of horse trailers.
Last spring Piney sent me to the hospital with a concussion and to get my scalp stapled back together. It was a freak accident and just one of those times I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The horse loading after him spooked and he panicked and as I tried to unhook him he smashed me into the frame of the emergency exit. Not a fun day at all. Luckily it was at an equine health and wellness clinic and the veterinarian that gave Piney to me was able to tranquilize him and help us load him up. Even dopped out of his mind he didn’t want to load into that trailer.
The day I got him he was tranquilized before we loaded him up. The vet said it’s just better safe than sorry. The trailer we brought him home from the first time was a newer trailer and it was white with a white interior. The trailer we brought him to the clinic in was an older trailer with a darker interior. I know for a fact that he thought it was a dark scary bear cave, but I also think that he didn’t think he was going to fit in there. He didn’t want to go in there that morning either when we loaded him up. I know I obviously need to work on trailering for both him and myself. I just figured that he’d been trailered all over the country as a youngster so he would be used to riding in a trailer.
I don’t have much experience with trailers. I’ve never hauled one but it’s something I’m going to have to learn. My experience loading them is pretty limited too. My friend had a 4 horse/livestock trailer that was super easy to load. It was divided in the center and one horse would ride infront of the divider and one behind. It was easy to get in and out of and the horses we hauled were awesome…point them to the trailer and they’d hop right in.
The other trailer we used a lot was a 3 horse slant I loved loading monsters into that. It was basically load them in, shove their faces into a haynet and shimmy their butts over and latch the divider. However, we had horses that loved riding in the trailer.
I am not a fan of older trailers for a few reasons. Mostly the size. Horses 40 years ago were smaller than they are now. A two horse side by side from 1970 doesn’t offer the room that a horse of today needs. A few years back I borrowed a friend’s 2 horse trailer from the 60’s or 70’s to move Yellow to the farm I was living on. He barely fit and he was a real narrow Quarter horse. Gosh I loved how willing to hop into that teeny tiny little trailer he was though. He always had the “We are going somewhere today? Cool! I’m in! Let’s do this!” attitude wherever he went. Piney freezes at the sight of a trailer. It’s bad and embarrassing.
Every single trailer I’ve seen in our price range I’ve picked apart and imagined how badly I’d get hurt using it. I look at the ones with little escape doors and I replay that day I got smashed into one. But I’d rather have an escape door than a little escape window lol. I have a very active imagination and I see myself bringing the monster into the trailer and having him flip out again this time doing more damage to both me and himself. I HATE trailers…Why can’t a nice 2-3 horse slant be more affordable?
I am terribly frightened of trailers too. I wish I could get a van that my boys could walk into and have lots of space. Trailers are so tiny and confining.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you are ok. That sounds like a horrible accident!