MOST MOST GETTING THE OUT OF YOUR HORSE TRAILER

from Elite Equestrian magazine Nov/Dec 2023 holiday Gift Guide issue

by Elite Equestrian LLC

Emma shares her story...

By Tom Scheve

What should a horse trailer cost? How should you pay for it? What is its actual value?

Let’s start with value.

Good news. Horse trailers are an investment. Unlike the tons of money we spend on horses that exit our bank accounts never to return, a horse trailer is always worth a portion of what we paid for it. Fortuitously, the old saying “what goes up must come down” does not seem to apply to horse trailer prices, which is good. When a brand’s price keeps increasing over the years, it maintains the equity in its older trailers. If kept in good shape, a substantial chunk of money will come back home when it is traded or sold. However, watch out for brands that suffer quality issues; they will spread like wildﬁre throughout social media, plummeting their value. If you plan on keeping your trailer for a long time, remember that “quality goes on long after price is forgotten.”

There is also an inherent value in horse trailers that is not easily recognized but very real – safety. Design features that promote safety that reduce or prevent accidents will save you costly medical bills and a lot of distress. Some trailers, such as ours, have all the safety features built-in as standard equipment and are added to the sale price. With other lines, you may have to add the safety option. Either way, they are well worth the price.

How should you pay?

When my wife pushed me to look at boats to cruise around the coastal sound, no way was I going to pay those prices. However, a salesman who saw me admiring a particular boat said “You can own this with no money down and two hundred and ninety dollars a month. We spent eight years boating around the sound, visiting the beautiful islands, and docking at incredible restaurants. When we had our fill, I sold it, paid off the loan, and had money left over. Long-term financing is an excellent way of getting something you thought you couldn’t afford. Horse trailer financing companies offer payment terms that span twelve, fifteen, and even twenty years. And don’t let interest rates deter you. You may think eight percent to seventeen percent is high (depending on credit score) but if you’ve lived through a time when interest rates were at twenty-two percent, the current rates seem low

So even If your approval is higher, don’t postpone your life. You can always reﬁnance later if interest rates drop. Making more money is always possible, but you can’t make more time.

What should a horse trailer cost? Horse trailers can cost anywhere from eight thousand dollars for a two-horse stock to well over a hundred thousand dollars (multi-horse with living quarters). What’s important to know is that dealers that sell brand name trailers discount to complete. If it’s important to you to get the best possible price for your newly purchased trailer down the road, you need to buy it at the best possible price. You don’t need a buyer saying, “I can buy a new one for that.” If you’re worried about getting warranty and service done buying long distance instead of local, don’t. The manufacturer, not the dealer, pays warranty claims. Since a horse trailer is a box on wheels, most body shops can do the work quickly. And chances are, a body shop is nearer to your location than a full-service horse trailer dealer.

Horses are magniﬁcent, powerful, playful, unpredictable animals that most of us care about deeply and though the primary purpose of a horse trailer is to move horses from one place to another, the word “safely” should be added. Horses will readily walk onto any box on wheels because of trust. Don’t betray that trust by putting them in danger. There are many ways to buy a decent, safe trailer that will raise your comfort level and give you a good return on your investment.

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