Owning a horse is not as simple as it seems. Ask the equestrians, suppose you have to translocate your horse from point A to point B, what would you require? That’s right! A horse trailer. A horse trailer is a versatile portable horse container that not only gives you the freedom of transporting horses from one place to another but also with many luxuries.
5 Best Horse Trailer Brands
To know which ones are more suitable for you, it is imperative to explore a variety of horse trailers available in the market.
Below are 5 of the best horse trailers currently available in the market, along with their reviews;
1. Lakota Horse Trailers
America’s #1 best-selling horse trailers belong to the Lakota horse trailer brand. Undoubtedly, they have dominated the trailer industry and livestock carriage domain. Lakota trailers come with top-of-the-line aluminum horseboxes and an exquisitely built interior. In addition, the Lakota trailers are compact living quarter horse trailers and provide the luxury and comfort of a 5-star hotel suite.
The trailer stock has 6 variants that are different from one another based on cabin size. The variants are as follows;
- 11′ Bighorn Quarter Horse trailer (2020)
- 13′ Bighorn Quarter Horse Trailer (2016)
- 15′ Bighorn Quarter Horse Trailer (2020)
- 16′ Bighorn Quarter Horse Trailer (2020)
- 17′ Bighorn Quarter Horse Trailer (2016)
- 16′ Bighorn Quarter Horse Trailer (2021)
The other sister variant is the Lakota Charger horse trail, with similar cabin size variations.
Interior
Talk about the interior spacing for horses, the cabin is aptly ventilated, with aluminum windows. The wooden floor comes with an add-on in a custom-built variant. The usual variants consist of aluminum floors. However, the living quarter comes with a full wooden texture interior, which includes the kitchen and lounge.
Warranty
The trailers come with a standard 8-year aluminum structure warranty, 2 years for the interior, and 1-year bumper fronts warranty.
Cons
The only minor drawback Lakota horse trailers come with is their unsanded metal edges which may cause safety concerns.
2. Shadow Horse Trailers
Next in line, are the Shadow Horse Trailers with 4 variants: Bumper pulls, Goosenecks, Living Quarters, and Livestock trailers. All the above-mentioned trailers can haul horses and quite fancily so. Of all the trailer brands, Shadow horse trailers come with the most number of models; each one built uniquely.
Loaded with all the standard market features, aluminum body, and wide selection, these horse trailers are specifically designed to meet the demands of professional equestrians.
The Shadow series Professional Living Quarter Horse Trailer is the top-of-the-range variant with insulated horse area and roof vents.
Interior
As far as the interior is concerned, the walls are made of carbon fiber polymer, vinyl floors carpeted gooseneck, and insulated ceilings and walls.
Warranty
The shadow horse trailers offer a 7-year warranty on structure. The rest vary with pieces.
Cons
Apart from the expensive price tag, no plausible drawback has been reported. Most horse owners prefer the Shadow Horse Trailer all because of its workmanship and neatness.
3. Sundowner Trailers Inc.
Almost 45 years ago, Sundowner Trailers designed and built horse trailers that met the demands of professional equestrians, and even today, they keep updating and providing their customers with the best features available on market. Talk about the horse trailing industry, Sundowners are the pioneering elites and whatever trend they launch, is simply followed by the other brands. Keeping in mind the comfort of both, the horses and people, they design the living quarters in such a way that luxury is guaranteed. Be it hauling your horse or carrying a whole team of racehorses, Sundowner Trailers is at your service.
Interior
The interior of the Sundowner Trailers offers nothing but grandeur, extravagance, and style. With a customizable interior and an immense amount of space, this trailer brand is second to none as regards the posh inside.
Warranty
The Sundowner trailers offer warranty as follows;
Structural – 8 Years Recreational, 1 Year Commercial
Electrical – 1 Year
Sealants – 1 Year
Cons
Again, being the market dominatrix, Sundown Trailers Inc. is the most coins sheller horse trailer brand and due to heavy amounts of aluminum used, the trailer may be susceptible to brittleness and insulation stands minimal.
4. 4 Star Trailers
As the name suggests, 4 Star trailers are surely a starry horse trailer brand. For every model of its flagship trailers (goosenecks and bumper pull in particular) quality, durability and luxury are promised. The all-aluminum build and lightweight carbon polythene used as interior offer both safety and fuel efficiency.
Interior
The interior of this trailer speaks of class and elegance. The fiber and matte combination used on floors walls and roofs is simply matchless. 4-Star trailers offer one of the smoothest and sleekest interior looks of all the trailers.
Warranty
4 Star Trailer brand offers a staggering 8-year warranty duration which is by far the longest of the rest of the trailer manufacturers.
Cons
4 Star Trailers is no doubt an excellent trailer brand. However, you can find loopholes anywhere. Before buying the trailer, do inspect the floors taking off the mat, thoroughly. The trailer brand uses sheeted floors due to which fluids (such as urine) may seep through and spread beneath the mats.
5. Bison Horse Trailers
As they claim, the Bison horse trailers are the only trailer manufacturers that have their living quarters constructed out of steel and aluminum both. The aluminum-steel alloy although adds to the weight and burdens fuel economy, also offers added protection, safety, and a tougher build than any of the other trailer brands. This also explains why they are called Bison Trailers. They have trailers ranging from the smallest bumper pulls to the largest living quarters. Plus, all of these are customizable and can be altered as per the horse owner’s demands.
Interiors
Warranty
With a minimum warranty of materials and body of 2 years, Bison trailers give the warranty period as the other counterpart manufacturers.
Cons
Due to added steel frames into the aluminum base of the body, the trailer may consume fuel a bit more than usual. However, there are steel-free variants, but in this case, the price tag is likely to go up.
Best Horse Trailers: A Summary
Until now we’re pretty sure you might have a fair amount of idea about how to spend your money on a horse trailer wisely. You also are now aware of the top horse trailer brands crafted of sheer class and determination.
A good trailer has certain characteristics to look out for and can be as follows;
- Made of the best quality aluminum with no added metal mixture. This ensures light weight structure, better design, powerful build and most importantly, it takes off the stress on your automobile engine and blows off less gas.
- The safety factor must be taken into account when purchasing a horse trailer. It is imperative that you assess thoroughly the safety features and instructions on the user’s manual. Additionally, to further evaluate, look into the floors, walls, coverings.
- Warranty should be assessed properly so that you know what you’re paying for.
- Depending on the number of horses you plan to haul with the trailer, you’d want to choose the size for it. The size of the trailers usually ranges between 10 and 18 ft.
Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Best Horse Trailer Brands
Let us look at a few FAQs before we wrap up this interesting discussion.
Lakota horse trailers are arguably the best horse trailers in the market as of now. Having a multi-domain variety of horse trailers and that too with top-notch quality, Lakota horse trailers leave behind the trailer brands such as Sundowners and Featherlite. Lakota manufacturers provide specialist trailers which are mostly titan living quarters. These are made out of aluminum with box corners to give them an edgy look. The best thing about Lakota horse trailers is the interior. It is highly modifiable depending on customer’s demands and the level of quality and technique employed for the said purpose is matchless.
Horse trailers are, like the usual trailers, used for hauling horses or transporting them from one site to another with safety and comfort. There are several different types and variants of a horse trailer and they have a share in making by numerous top brands. A horse trailer can be a;
– Bumper pull
– Gooseneck
– Living Quarter
– Custom built trailer
According to the size of trailers, they may range from the smaller bumper pulls to the bigger living quarters that can accommodate both horses and people under the same roof.
The Cimarron Norstar 4HLQ mega-trailer is crowned as the most expensive horse trailer of all the others. It stands at a staggering price of $223,000, the price tag of a brand new sports car. The luxury, magnanimous size, and brute power of this trailer explain the expensive price tag.
The trailer is 47 ft. long and has a unique feature of ‘reverse’ horse loading in which the horses are loaded at the driver’s end of the cabin and their heads face the rear end. The trailer uses 8000 lbs. torsion suspension axle coupled with air-bag suspensions and shock absorbers.
4 Star trailers rank among one of the best horse trailer manufacturers. They particularly specialize in making bumper pulls and goosenecks. The majority of these you find on the roads are of the 4 Star brand. Their quality, durability, and multitude of customizable options, make the 4 Star trailers one of the best. They take your suggestion into account and build exactly the trailer of your choice with added or removed features. Apart from that, 4 Star trailers give a nice and sleek exterior look made out of 100% aluminum panels. The windows are quite rightly positioned for proper ventilation. This is necessary for the horses that may require longer hauling trips. Overall, 4 Star Bumper pulls and Goosenecks are a supremacist in the mini-trailer domain.
There is a multitude of trailers in the market and numerous manufacturers particularly specialize in horse trailer production. Some of the top tier trailer brands that manufacture horse trailers are;
– Featherlite Trailers
– Cimarron Trailer Manufacturers
– 4 Star Trailers, Inc.
– Logan Coach Trailers
– Sundowner Trailers
– Lakota
– Exiss Trailers
– Trails West Trailers
– Titan Trailers
– Merhow Trailers
– CM Trailers
Lakota horse trailers, as they claim, are the #1 America’s best-selling horse trailer brand. They particularly excel in manufacturing living and livestock quarters. Their flagship series is the Lakota Bighorn living quarter and the Lakota Charger and Colt series. What makes Lakota horse trailers best in business is their stat of the art interior design and top-notch aluminum exterior with careful and precise craftsmanship. Apart from that, it is not just the quality that makes them top of the line, it is also the level of luxury and comfort. Buying this horse trailer would surely be worth it.
Aluminum horse trailers have their pros and cons. However, the pros outweigh the cons; as fuel economy is the best thing about aluminum trailers due to their lightweight panels. Looking at the cons side, an aluminum trailer would offer slightly less protection in the event of an accident as compared to the safety offered by a steel cabin. In addition, aluminum is rust-proof but is likely to corrode, if there is continuous spillage of horse urine and manure. Overall, aluminum qualifies for the horse trailer job.
Horse Trailers: Small, Big and the Biggest…
To end the long story short, we reiterate that horse trailers are no doubt a wonderful discovery for equestrians. Horse trailers have solved the problem of hauling and transporting horses from point A to point B. Some of the best trailer manufacturers specialize in producing horse and livestock trailers of which, the more famous ones are Lakota, Sundowners, 4 Star, and Featherlite Trailers. If you have a horse or a team of horses, and you’re looking for a good conveyance source to transport them, horse trailers are the best bet.
