Maverick

 Saiph, from Wait for the Jump, just got herself a new trailer. We were talking about the different styles of trailers and how they are set up. She suggested doing a review on the trailer I picked out, so that we could compare and contrast the differences in styles, makes and models. I've had mine for a year now and have used it quite a bit for hauling out to the doc, the expo and on rides, so I have a pretty good idea of what works and doesn't work for me.

 We bought ours from Scott Murdock's in Johnstown, CO. 

When we started looking at trailers, we looked at a Bison with LQ (10' short wall with slide), three horse style. It would have been perfect for camping and endurance rides (still holding out hope) but the downfall was the difficulty in using it for a day trip. It was three times as long as a simple two horse slant load and the thought of hooking that up to drive 20 minutes down the road and then try to find a place to park it, was tough to consider. It seemed like a lot for just a day trip and the cost of the trailer was significant, even over 30 years. So instead, we started looking for a basic trailer.

I knew from the beginning that I wanted a slant load (I think they are much better on the horse, and much easier to haul with only one horse) with a swing out saddle rack. I am getting older and stepping up into the trailer is no longer graceful or easy. The swing out saddle rack is much easier for me to use. Trailers with windows are nice, but up the price a couple of thousand dollars and I wasn't real excited about spending that much. I like the slot openings on the sides, which allow for air flow, and I can always blanket when we haul if I need to.

 First time we hooked it up. 

Dressing Room/Tack Area with swing out saddle rack

The dressing room is decent sized, although I am using it for all of my seasonal tack (like my winter blankets right now) and the other items I have purchased and don't really want to get rid of, like extra saddle pads, my fancy saddle pad. It also holds the items I purchased for practicing WE, like dressage cones and poles, or items that I use when trail riding, like saddle bags, extra water buckets. The door hanger is nice, but I'm not utilizing it as well as I could be. It is slowly accumulating the items that we realize we need and they slowly find their way out there. I need to move my first aid kit to the trailer, plus a roll of duct tape and a can of WD40. (Rule of thumb to live by: If something doesn't move that's suppose to, use WD40; if something is moving that shouldn't, use duct tape.)

Extra buckets. The black and yellow bin is used for storing the odds and ends.

Winter blankets in the plastic storage bag I got with the rain coat I just ordered from Schneiders.

They were washed and treated before being stored, so they will be clean and warm come winter.

Broom and rack storage, plus my fancy saddle pad for shows.

Lots of bungies. You can never have too many bungies.

Hooks along one wall for hanging bridles, etc.

Not the best picture. I'm not sure what I was thinking.

The back door is one solid piece all the way to the top of the trailer and swings open to the passenger side.

At the end of the season we cleaned it out. Once the weather gets warm, we will wash walls, pull the mats, check the floor boards and clean everything before putting it back together.

Trailer is pretty amazing.

Steel construction. Empty weight is 2300 lbs. Hauls two really easily.