I’m so excited to share about my recent acquisition of a set of wheels for my ponies (well mostly Ernie). I’ve wanted a horse trailer since I originally brought horses home a few years ago, but I thought maybe I wouldn’t use it enough since once the retired horses came home what would there really be to do?
Fast forward a couple years and I really wished I had a trailer when Stampede was sick and I decided to take him to the local veterinary hospital. Trying to negotiate his transport was stressful, particularly because he was so big he couldn’t fit in a regular size trailer.
Then this past summer our barn had so many horses going to away shows that the 7 horse trailer was having to make two trips. Not so bad until you are on the second load and don’t get home until midnight on a Sunday after your horse was done showing at 2PM. Add on my interest in trail riding and dressage lessons, and it felt like I reached the point where it was a worthwhile investment. Of course the market for trailers, like most things currently, is crazy. I had been regularly looking through ads and contacting dealerships for quite a while when this trailer popped up in a Facebook group. The luckiest part was that the seller didn’t post it to a big group and didn’t post it to a trailer specific group. The seller was also hot for cash which worked in my favor. So I feel like I got a steal on this awesome 2020 Hawk trailer. Special thanks to Hillary for answering my questions and telling me what else to ask the seller, as well as helping me get equipped to pick up the trailer and bring it home.
The trailer was not super close, 4.5 hour drive each way if we didn’t stop, so we did get some good practice driving the trailer empty on the highway. Then weekend before last I was able to back up and hitch up on my first try and then I drove it to the boarding barn by myself where I practiced backing up with the trailer and then loaded Ernie on it to see what he thought. Of course Ernie got right on then wondered why we weren’t doing something, ha! I’m really so lucky to have such a good horse.
Of course it was snowing this past Sunday so I opted out of trailer practice but I did get some additional supplies set up in the trailer so it’s ready to go.
So excited for all our future trailer adventures! Feel free to share any tips to this trailer pulling newbie!
Congratulations! The Hawks are my favorite, I love the easy design and they’re roomy for the big dudes. Can’t wait to read about your future adventures with the new setup!
Thank you! It seems quite nice and roomy. It was even better than I thought once I saw Ernie in it. Plenty of room for a bigger horse yet.
I saw this on Facebook and am SO HAPPY FOR YOU! it is life changing having your own trailer!! So excited on what you get to do from now on. AND it will be great if something is wrong with your retired guys too. Just safe peace of mind. ALSO you will end up using it for other things too (Lawn mowers, mulch you name it 🙂 ENJOY!! Looks lovely i was looking forever for a straight load and finally gave up and bought the slant. I am okay with it as I use it mostly as a big box stall for Remus but may get a different one down the road. SO EXCITED FOR YOU 🙂
Thanks! When I looked into trailers I really wanted a straight load, particularly with having larger horses generally. If our big tractor would fit inside I would totally be moving that for service that way, lol. The prior owner was using it to move construction items, only had horses in it once!
This is exciting! Congratulations! There is nothing like having your own trailer. My tips are:
1. never let someone behind you make you go faster.
2. if you live where the roads have passing lanes that disappear (like here) be careful of people trying to rush past you. They literally have no idea that you can’t brake. I tend to cross over when the dashed line turns solid to prevent that.
3. you will never back up as smoothly with someone watching than when you are alone.
basically assume everyone else is an idiot on the road. 🙂
Thanks so much for the tips! I already had people staring at me when I practiced at the barn for the first time. Literally the first time I had ever backed up a trailer and 4 people were watching me, lol. I’ve been tempted to put some kind of sticker on the back of my trailer to try to keep people back but not sure that would even work.
So excited for you! We have two of those same Hawks at our barn and they’re an awesome trailer!
Thank you, it’s going to be an adventure! Thankfully someone who lessons at my barn had one so I could see one in person first. That was the hardest part of trailer shopping, no inventory anywhere!
Congratulations! I kind of hate hauling horses because the other drivers on the road make me nervous, but I absolutely love the freedom having my own trailers affords. The best advice I got was to avoid accelerating on turns, wait until you’re straight whenever possible. Take your time, and remember to swing wide when pulling in places. And what Theresa said above, I’m shit backing up when people are watching… Lol!
Thanks! Yeah, I definitely have stress over the responsibility of driving my own horse, but at the same time I was often frustrated by the way others besides my trainer drove the trailer so I’m happy to have some control of that piece. Ugh I definitely need a lot of backing up practice…