It's with a very heavy heart that I put my beloved horse trailer for sale this week.
I'll never have a team of oxen again so the need for a 38' long, solid steel behemoth is no longer.
I'm not sentimental about stuff at all; having lost everything once before, there's a certain freedom to not having a pot to piss in. Without possessions to hide behind, life makes you decide real quick about your priorities: what you'll die to protect. My animals have always been right up there at the top of the list.
That's why it's so hard to say goodbye to this big girl. She not only hauled all my animals back and forth for almost 20 years, she was the flagship trailer I used when I ran Hudson Horse Transport. My old dually has pulled that contraption from Texas to Virginia, and every place in between. Some were paid trips, most were rescued horses pulled from the kill pens, and heading to greener pastures.
I restored every single square inch of her and then repainted and babied her every few years with a new paint job. To thank me for bringing her back to life, she saved lives, over and over again.
Saved my hide for 9 months while I was building my house and had nowhere to live.
Roof leaked, broken windows, but it was shelter.
When I finished with my house, it was her turn to get new everything.
Odd, strong, unique, she and my old truck have been true constants in my life. My 22 year old truck with over 200,000 miles (170,000 I put on myself) has never ever let me down. Sure, she's had issues, but she always got me to the mechanic's house before crapping out completely. This truck has heart.
I have an ancient Appaloosa, and three big tall horses, one of them tipping the scales at 2000 pounds. That's a lot of tonnage to haul. Finding the right trailer, that's heavy duty enough, tall enough for Angus and wide enough for him too, is damn near impossible... unless you have connections.
The perfect trailer is waiting for me on hold, 4 Horse draft trailer with dressing room, 50 years younger than mine. Boss (that's my F350's name) is going to be so surprised when we're booking it down the highway with 4 horses and it doesn't feel like she's having to use every last gasp of horsepower to pull a 60 year old lead sled.
Secretly, she's gonna miss her too. The day my trailer rolls out of my life, a little part of me is going with her.
