I just got back from SC...on a shopping trip!

[Mellifluous]

Guess what I bought!?!?!?

I am so excited - I have been wanting and wanting and suffering. Now, I am satisfied...I have even purchased accessories!

Eeeeek, I am soooooo excited. :D

[motorgypsy]

?????????

[ErinC]

MG, the new trailer, in the picture..

Congrats, looks nice!!

[motorgypsy]

Duhhhh - I get an F in observitude! :-? :-? :-? :-? :-?
What brand is it and how many horses? It looks gorgeous!!

We need a four horse but only have 7200 pound towing capacity. HMMMM.

[CarolU]

oh Mel..that is TOO COOL!!! I'm so glad you FINALLY got it! Maybe delayed gratification is best (maybe not though!). LOL

Now...get some awesome Paso Fino decals from Sandy!

[Terri]

Oh, congratulations!!! so exciting. You are mobile! I know how you feel, my new trailer is coming by Christmas. What kind is yours? Dressing room?

[baileyholc]

8-) Congradulations :!:

[Terry Wallace]

GOOD for you Mel! That trailer will "change your life"...
Say goodbye to the "I'm trapped at home with my horses" problem, and HELLO to National Park Trails .... !!

Er, Ah...as long as we can still RIDE in them..... ;-)

[paintedhorizon]

What part of SC did you go to? Congrats!

[ASB.Immortality]

Love the trailer Mel! I think it was a really good investment. You can have tons of fun now! :)

[moonrize]

Yippee Mel, now you can come to Tally with your ponies and ride with us too :D

[Mellifluous]

OK- I have got to share a bit more about this. I am so pleased with how everything turned out with this trailer. It is funny how things evolve! This is probably TMI for most of you, but might be helpful for those of you who are looking for a trailer.

You see, in the beginning I had x dollars to spend. I thought I would find a decent used trailer. I was looking at a steel 16' stock or combo type, no frills. I had to have a bumper pull because Kevin won't let me "butcher" the bed of his truck for a gooseneck. I looked around and discovered that stock trailers hold their value very very well and early 2000 models were running from $500-$700 less than the cost of a brand new one. Kevin brought up the point that a used trailer will probably need tires or a floor or wiring work, maybe even new brakes and will have some rust. Why inherit someone else's maintenance issues when I could spend a bit more money and get a brand new one.

So, I started looking around at new stock trailers (thanks to Starr's hot tip) and had decided that I would have to either buy a plain 12' stock straight out or buy a 16' with the features I wanted and finance about $1500. I also looked at a 2 horse tag along stock style with mangers and a small tack storage under the manger. That particular trailer was $4700 new. I discussed my options with Kevin. He could tell that I was less than enthused about the stock trailers I had looked at. He encouraged me to broaded my horizons and see if I could find something that I would be truly happy with.

I started looking at the local trailer websites and horsetrailers.com and changed my search parameters to include pricier trailers. I ended up discovering a gem of a trailer made by miley.

http://www.mileytrailer.com/2horse.htm

I found a somewhat local place that had it priced at $6500, went and looked and loved it. It has an alumnium floor, dressing room, lots of horse space, removable divider, interior lights and is fully enclosed. The plexiglass is removable for warmer weather. The 2 horse size is perfect for my needs since I will only be hauling 1 horse for the majority of the time...unless someone needs a ride or I have someone who wants to ride one of my other horses. I himmed and hawed about it and Kevin told me that I needed to spend the extra money and get it because I would not be happy with the stock. NEVER take that man shopping with you if you don't want to go overbudget...
Anyway, they would not budge on the price - said they were wholesale so that is as low as it would go. Kevin applied for financing with me and it ended up that the best financing rate was 11.4% on the whole balance (6 years payments, total paid on trailer would be nearly 10,000). I expressed my desire to put $3000 down and the rate went up to 13%. They told me that because trailers are luxury items, lenders will rarely go below 10% on their rates. :roll:

Thankfully I have a husband with a head full of sense and he told me to check and see if I could find the trailer cheaper somewhere else and not to feel pressured to get this one. I went home, looked the trailer up on horsetrailers.com and found a dealer in St. George SC that had it for $5700. I called and found out that they had an still had an '05 in stock and would knock another $250 off of that price. Sooooo Kevin took the day off yesterday and we trundled off to SC to get the trailer. I was able to put my money down and Kevin and I worked a deal where he took the remainder of the balance and I will be making payments to him with a 3% interest rate. SWEET!

So the moral of the story is - shop around, don't finance your trailer with the dealer and have someone that is impartial with a good head go with you as you shop.

AND I highly recommend dealing with Carolina Trailer sales as they were friendly, up front and pain free to deal with. Awesome folks!

[Terry Wallace]

MILEY? Gee...I didn't know they still made trailers! I have a 1974 Miley 4-horse... remember the trailer we completely rebuilt? It is a Miley... it IS because of the features... that I bought the old thing in the first place....it has an escape door at every stall... and makes into two box stalls for long hauls...

Tell Kevin... he made a darn good point... it took us a good six months to cut out all rust, weld in new metal, replace the floor, replace the suspension, sand, primer & paint it, cut all new mats for it, rewire it, add inside lights and fans to it.... it was a labor of love though... not one many people would care to take on... ;-)

[Trail Rider]

I am in the market for a 3 horse slant but also have a 7200 lb towing limit. It is not fun evacuating for the hurricane with 3 horses and a 2 horse trailer. I need a bumper pull also.

[Mellifluous]

Trail rider - check this one out

http://www.mileytrailers.com/3horse.htm

Here is one at the place I got mine from. They would probably come off the price since it is an '05 Looks like they still have paper over the plexiglass

http://www.horsetrailerworld.com/home/trailerdetail.asp?ID=58431

[Trail Rider]

I looked at one in Birmingham and the problem I had was that the head side windows were pretty big and had no bars. I was concerned that the horse could get through it or hung up if they spooked and tried to get out. I might give them another look. Do you know the weight?

[Mellifluous]

I don't know the weight, I can ask. I didn't get the drop windows because I felt they were too large too. I got the standard style with the plexiglass sides.

I don't want to come across as a salesperson. After all of my searching, this line of trailers gives the most bang for the buck.

[Trail Rider]

I picked up a brocher in Birmingham and just looked at it. The 3 horse is 3175 lbs. It is the one with the windows and the price shown is $8495.00 wholesale. Thanks for the information. I wonder if anyone else has any experience with this make of trailer. How do others that have had them for a while like them?

[Mellifluous]

The wholesale price thing is BOGUS. I ran into that with the place I dealt with the first time! That "wholesale" crap ounds like them. They have 2 lots in AL and one in GA

[reuben T]

uh-huh, i went shoppin fer a trailer last fall, (2 months ago)
and what did i come up with? welllllllll,,,,,,,, i got into a whole nother bracket of the system, got a 20 foot gooseneck fer levenhunnered, an that was expensive, oh it's rusty and had a rotten floor, i welded in heavy angle iron around the bottom and sawed some black locust for a floor, it's good an solid now, but still rusty. it had 2-15's and 2-16's fer wheels, so found 2 old 16" wheels and 4 used tires, stuck one of the 15's on the side for a spare, rewired the whole thing with some old gov surplus shielded cable i picked up a few years ago. course the ole truck that pulls it don't look much better, it been rolled twice and beat back out by somebody befor i got it. may/maynot do something about the rust. suits me fine fer now. at least it's paid for. soon thereafter a friend got a 24 footer for 900 worth of guns and old 4 wheelers, twas actualy in better shape than mine was. course it helps to have a mechanic and a tool box riding along whenever i go somewhere, (can't git rid of em, cuz mechanic tis me)

[ASB.Immortality]

What Mel says about the wholesale price thing is true. Get on the internet, and search for them. You can come out with some really good deals. Also (I don't know how far from Shelbyville, TN you are but...) they have tons of trailer places. And may have what you are looking for. With it being the end of the year there are lots of year-end deals to be had. You may find a trailer you like really well a little farther away but sometimes the price difference is well worth the drive. I would just have to say look at them on the net, and call around. Sometimes you do better calling around. Put them on the spot about it, and you might get a better deal. :)

[Linda Y]

Larry, go to the Dixie Horse and Mule trailer site www.dhmco.com
I got my 2 horse alum slant with small LQ from their store in Mobile. They have been nothing but great!

[ASB.Immortality]

Hey Linda... small secret....


That was the place with the NOT wholesale price, even though they claimed it to be. ;-)

[Linda Y]

Yeah, but they have great after sale service. Which I cannot say about our local dealer here in Mississippi. I probably should have shopped longer for my trailer, but it is a sort of oddball size being 2 horse slant with LQ. They are really hard to find. I did get it for a good price compared to slants with just DRs. Wholesale...I doubt. And I should sell it since it doesn't look like I am ever going to get to use it!!
:roll:

[Ginger]

You pay interest to your own husband? Better start charging him for anything more than "just the usual", bwahahaha.

(Ps- congrats on the new horsey wheels!)

[Boyd R]

Woooo Hooo Mel

So Does this mean we will see either or Sat. at the parade or Sunday at Frady branch??????

[baileyholc]

I would charge him for the usual as well.

[DebbieS]

Mel, congratulations on your trailer!! I went for 4 years with no trailer. Had to rent or borrow.

Finally, 2 years ago I bought a nice little 2H slant, with slider windows like yours (Trails West). I was completely satisfied until this summer when I had to haul 3 horses a couple times. Ended up making 2 trips to event, and begging a ride home for one of the horses..... I also have a cousin that likes to go with me - no trailer. So, I offer to haul her horse, then one of my family members wants to go too (with a horse, of course). I really need a 3H, BUT my 1999 Silverado is just a 1500 (and it's paid for, so I'm not in the market to buy another truck right now).

You'll see.... it's like the barn/stall/horse thing. You always end up needing just one more.....

Congrats, anyway!!! You'll have so much more fun now!!

[Mellifluous]

Goodness! I need to clear Kevin's name! :D He is not charging me interest, his credit card that he put the balance on is. He has a low interest card that will stay at %2.99 until the balance is paid. It seemed like the best way for me to "finance" the trailer. ;-)

Now, here is the really SAD part about having a nice new trailer - I don't have a horse that I can ride right now :-?

Even if I did have a horse, I could not come out this weekend since I am watching the Lippizaners on Sat. and will be going to Macon for my liscensure exam on Sun. SCARY! :shock:

Anyway, this is my current horse situation.

Lexi- My family has guilted me out of riding her since I am too heavy and she does not need to be carrying my lard butt around at her age. I need to lose 30 pounds and she will be able to take me on leisurely trail rides.

Phoebe - Needs to go to "University" to learn about such things as riding...and I need to lose 30 pounds so I can ride her too (Once she has attended "university").

Spirit - He is only two, has not attended University either and is not happy with me right now even if he was old enough to ride and trained.

Lady - Well, she is no fun to ride because I have to stay on my toes at all times in case she blows. I have not taken her out for a group ride because I am afraid that I won't return in one piece. She is actually my best candidate for riding at the moment, but I don't enjoy myself when I ride her.

*sigh*

[ASB.Immortality]

Hey Mel! I have someone you can ride, and I can gaurantee he isn't scared of a thing! You just can leave him out in the pasture though. He hates being outside but maybe 30-45 a minutes at a time, and if it is hot, the flies are too bad, or he deems the weather is unfit... way less than that.

TURBO!!!

He is the perfect mount. :D

Oh yeah... he will get you somewhere as quick as you would like to go if you find the need of hurry. Will stick up his pic so you can check him out from the last time I rode him.