I BOUGHT A HORSE TRAILER!!!!!

Here's one New Years resolution to cross off the list!  Yipeee!!!! Of course we end up picking it up in the snow so now it's all dirty.  It's a pretty nice trailer though, I'm excited!   It is a three horse slant pull trailer with a front tack room....exactly what I wanted!!  Room to grow for second pony and future packing donkey.

There is surface rust on it but I've been reading a lot about Corroseal and will work on that when the weather gets warmer, at least 45 consistently for the product to work. Buying an older steel trailer you have to expect some rust since they don't treat the metal like they do with other vehicles.  Not sure why since most trailers are overpriced in my opinion....shouldn't that include a good paint job? Aluminum trailers....forget it, they are ridiculous in price.

Glad I found a trailer that is good, it just needs a few upgrades but for a 1995, wow...it's looking awesome.  Just needs some TLC.  Structurally the trailer is sound, good floors with another layer of wood over the support planks and rubber nice mats.  We'll just have to treat the rust to make sure it doesn't spread and make sure the trailer stays sound for many years.

  The couple we bought it from already bolted a saddle rack in the front of the tack room.  I figure I'll see how that works for me, Steve says he doesn't like it but it's not his trailer.  From what I gather that type of saddle rack is $200+  We'll go with what is there and start working on what we NEED to work on first. There are some hooks for bridles and halters, I can probably add a blanket rack somewhere, water container bench and other storage...plus a broom, manure rake and all that other fun practical pony stuff.  I'm pretty psyched.  Out of all the styles I've looked at this is what I've wanted.  The dividers can be secured open too, though eventually I'll want them fully closed so Dani is secured when traveling but this feature will help during the training process.

This is just the first step, I have to get a few things to go with the trailer.  It started with the proper ball and hitch for our truck, gonna have to move onto locks for the hitch and coupler and since the couple couldn't find the key for the tack room lock we'll have to re-key it or buy a new one.  Oh well little stuff.

The big thing before I start hauling this spring and summer is that I need to buy new tires and get my truck equipped to work properly with the trailer brakes.  The tires look good but are 7 years old.  Most trailer tires die from old age not from wear so it's kind of expected buying a used trailer from a private seller.  I can use the trailer as is for trailer training Dani but for hauling even a couple miles with my precious mare in it....I'll want brand new tires that I know don't have any dry rot.  I'll have to get good covers for them for protection from the elements during storage.

I'm excited to have a little bit of a project (lots of stuff we can get for it!), I'll post pictures as I proceed with refurbishing this trailer to prevent further rust and to make it look spiffy new again...gonna have to decide on whether to paint it a shiny white or to match the outside to the taupe color of my truck....I'm thinking white is good though, classic and clean.  It's a nice solid trailer and I got a good price on it, which is awesome since I think most trailers are over priced.  At least in the coming months I can work with Dani on loading and I can practice driving it and backing it up in particular.  Then this summer hopefully we'll be well on our way to trail riding!!!  I'm so excited, it's almost like my hubby built me a tree house in the backyard.  All I want is to go play with it and sleep on the floor of the tack room!  I'm so silly.....

EDIT: Sorry the pictures suck, took them in the snow and couldn't even see the screen it was so bright.  Some are actually from the sale ad.  I'll take more soon though!