Trailer - What Would You Do?

[archiesmum]

I am lucky to have a lovely Bateson Deauville and tow with a VW Tiguan, which is my everyday car, great to drive and never skips a beat. Since Covid I have barely used the trailer to transport my own horses - maybe a handful of competitions and a couple of vet trips, I mostly seem to use either or both to help others

I am really struggling mentally with getting my mojo and nerve to ride my perfectly lovely horses, let alone compete or fun rides etc. Would I be completely bonkers to sell the car and trailer and just get a smaller, cheaper run around car? Has anyone done this and regretted their decision?

With the health of my finances I would use the money to go towards some debts so it wouldn't be easy to get another car and trailer if it was the wrong decision. I do have several friends who have offered theirs if I did need transport and they weren't using it, but the thought of not having my own makes me feel quite vulnerable.

What would you do in my situation?

 

[AmyMay]

Sell

 

[OrangeAndLemon]

They are assets that are depreciating (faster if not used).

Could you sell the trailer and think about the car. You might not get good value on a car switch with second hand prices being good.

 

[Abacus]

I wouldn't be in debt over horses, and especially for the sake of a luxury like a trailer. I would definitely sell that. The car is worth thinking about separately, as it might be a false economy to get a much cheaper one and you do need some sort of car.

As an alternative thought you don't mention how many horses you have but if they are lovely, would you consider selling all but one,and focussing on getting your mojo back? May not be an option of course, just a thought.

 

[emilylou]

If you really need to transport your horses it is very easy to hire transport, plus if you have offers from friends then you can pull in those favors if needed. If you have debt, I would sell and downsize the car.

 

[archiesmum]

Thank you so much for your thoughts, it is looking like selling is probably a good idea. I am an annoying '... but what if...' over thinking type person which makes these decisions more complicated in my brain

I am at a yard with fantastic hacking on the doorstep and instructors visit regularly so it's not like I would be missing out on those opportunities without transport. And when I look back I don't think I ever really enjoyed competing, it was more what I thought I should be doing even if it petrified me

I have 2 rideable horses - one is on a more or less on full loan from the yard with a financial contribution because I would worry about selling him as he has hock arthritis. The other one is the one I should be enjoying I don't think I have ever not had debt whilst having horses!

 

[Xmasha]

sell the trailer for definite. If your car is trustworthy id keep it. better the devil you know sometimes.

Hope you get your mojo back

 

[Errin Paddywack]

Sell the trailer, keep the car. A car which is reliable and that you like driving is worth it's weight in gold. Second hand car prices are ridiculous and from my experience whatever you buy (unless you are very lucky) will have problems to sort out. Besides if you keep yours you could potentially borrow or hire a trailer if really needed.

 

[Gamebird]

Also research local options for self-drive horsebox hire, or horse transporters, ideally one that operates 24/7. Then put their numbers in your phone. If you have concrete plans for transporting your horse at short notice, any time of the day or night, then you shouldn't feel vulnerable. And the cost will be much better than having a big vehicle and trailer sitting around 'just in case'. If it helps, keep the cost of a 24hr horsebox hire plus fuel somewhere safe where you won't spend it, then you know that option is always available at short notice

Unfortunately my usual experience of people trying to get transport in an emergency is that all the friends who promised to help if needs be are suddenly busy, or their box is at the garage, or otherwise off the road, or they need it for a show. Your friends may be more reliable, but for peace of mind have a solid emergency plan set up, then sell the car and trailer!

 

[ponynutz]

Agree sell the trailer but not the car

 

[nagblagger]

Also a trailer sitting around may seize or tyres perish through lack of use so may not be roadworthy when you need it. (Talking from experience, luckily not in an emergency!)

 

[Annagain]

Sell the trailer, keep the car. It's much easier to borrow a trailer if you need to and tow it with your car than to borrow a trailer AND car. I doubt changing it will save you that much money with the price of used cars at the moment and there are always costs associated with it (lost tax, changing insurance etc).

 

[dottylottie]

i don’t have my own transport so of course havent been in this situation, but i’d probably downsize the car and keep the trailer!

my thinking is just that if you have somewhere for the trailer to live, it won’t cost much/anything to just keep, and if you decide you want to use it you can sell your car to upgrade again, whereas selling one car to upgrade a car and buy a trailer again would be more difficult.

 

[Fjord]

Basically what Gamebird said!

 

[archiesmum]

Haha! Thank you for all your thoughts and I'm almost glad there are different views as I feel less crazy for going round in circles!

If I sell the trailer I would sell the car too and get a cheaper, older Golf or Polo and use the remaining money to pay off some debts. If I keep the car I might as well keep the trailer

 

[Hormonal Filly]

Haha! Thank you for all your thoughts and I'm almost glad there are different views as I feel less crazy for going round in circles!

If I sell the trailer I would sell the car too and get a cheaper, older Golf or Polo and use the remaining money to pay off some debts. If I keep the car I might as well keep the trailer

If the trailer doesn’t cost anything to keep, I’d keep it but if you sell the car you won’t have anything to tow with it so it’s a catch! My dad always lets me borrow his 4x4 to tow with if mine breaks, not sure if that’s an option.

If you have debts it’s worth clearing so sell both, get something cheaper to run

 

[TPO]

I'm in a sort of similar position kinda...

I didn't have transport as a kid excluding a year at age 13 when my then best friend took me to PC and stuff with her. Then I got a trailer in my 20s, that dad towed for me with his pick up, with the plan to use it for eventing but it ended up only being used for vet hospital trips and yard moves. When I lost that horse I sold the trailer.

I bought a 3.5t approx 5 years ago and again it was barely used. Then I bought a trailer last year before selling it to buy a new Cheval Liberte last Novemeber. I've used it twice and just feel meh about the whole thing. I don't have an arena (keep the horses at my parents) so winter is a write off. I've been hiring a local arena and I was supposed to be a clinic last weekend but hurt my arm so couldn't tow. I ended up selling my trailer and it gets collected today.

I have a towing car (2.2t) and my original plan was to get an older but bigger car to tow a trailer with living as most of the stuff that I want to do (western) is in England and I'm in Scotland. However now that my trailer is going I kinda don't feel like replacing transport.

As said above I've already checked out local hire places and can get a 3.5t for £140 a day should I want or need to go to anything. £140 sounds a lot for a day but it's cheaper than owning a trailer or lorry.

Back to your original point, despite having clinics booked with trainers and a big name trainer coming over from Europe etc I just feel "meh" about the whole thing whereas I should be excited. I finally have a fit and sound horse <touching wood>, had transport and finances to do what I thought I wanted to do. I genuinely do just want to brush my horse's tail and faff about at home training how I like training and just cutting about the local fields (I have farmer's permission!).

So basically just do what makes you happy. You don't need to go to fun rides/shows etc if you don't want to.

It sounds like a good plan to sell trailer, downsize car and use the money to offset debts, in turn that will probably lighten you're mental stress too.

Given how you've helped others you'd hope that someone would bail you out if you needed help but a good idea to have local hire places up your sleeve too.

 

[archiesmum]

Thank you so much for all your replies, I keep going round in circles bit I am leaning towards sell

TPO - I relate to your post so much! No transport when I was growing up, missing out on shows, rides, camps as a kid until I passed my trailer test in my 20s. I never thought I would cross this bridge after being so, so desperate to have the freedom to go out and about with my horse for so long. I keep telling myself that it's OK if I just potter around and it doesn't mean I can't get something else in the future if the need and desire arises. Thank you for the reassurance