Horse Trailers
Buy and sell horse trailers in Guatemala.
A horse trailer in Guatemala earns its keep on a handful of days: the horse parade at the town fair in Cobán or Chimaltenango, a show at a riding club, a long trail ride with a group of riders, a vet visit in the next valley. The rest of the time it stands in the yard, and that is where much of the wear happens, in the floor, the tyres and the wiring. The trailers run from single-horse and two-horse tag-alongs to larger gooseneck boxes, new and pre-owned, loading up a ramp or through step-up doors. On highland roads the brakes deserve as much thought as the stalls.
Ramp trailers and step-up trailers for one or two horses:
the first decision is how the horse gets in. A ramp trailer, the style British and German makers such as Ifor Williams and Böckmann build, has a rear ramp the horse walks up, and many add a front ramp so it can walk out forwards instead of backing down. A step-up trailer, the American pattern, has swing doors and a floor low enough to step into, with no ramp to lift or to rot. Young or nervous horses tend to load more calmly up a ramp; a seasoned horse steps up without fuss, and a step-up hoses out faster. A single-horse trailer is light enough for an SUV, a two-horse tag-along is the usual pickup trailer, and three or more horses mean a gooseneck. Cattle and mixed loads belong with livestock trailers, and horses looking for a new home are under horses.
Trailer brakes and the long descents off the highlands:
a two-horse trailer with both horses aboard can weigh as much as the pickup pulling it, and on the long grades down from Sololá or Totonicapán toward the coast, a trailer without working brakes shoves the pickup into every bend. The two kinds follow the two styles. European ramp trailers usually carry overrun brakes, built into the coupling, that bite on their own when the trailer pushes against the hitch. American trailers usually carry electric brakes, which do nothing without a brake controller wired into the cab. Ask which a trailer has, and whether your vehicle can run it, before you fall for the stalls. Electric brakes should also have a breakaway switch and battery that lock the wheels if the trailer leaves the ball; pull the pin and listen. And check your vehicle’s towing rating against the trailer loaded, not empty.
Tack rooms for fair parades, rubber floors for farm work:
a trailer that mostly goes to fair parades and riding-club shows earns its money with a front tack room, where the saddle, bridle and parade gear travel clean and locked, plus a tie ring and a hay net so the horse arrives settled. A trailer that works on a farm can do without the tack room and gains more from a rubber-matted floor and sides that take a hose.
Floor, ramp and wiring on a used horse trailer:
start with the floor. A horse stands on four small hooves, and boards that softened under urine and manure give way without much warning. Get underneath with a torch and look at the boards or aluminium planks from below, then step inside and bounce your weight. Lower and raise the ramp: it should feel solid in the middle, and the hinge pins should not be rusted thin. Swing each partition and make sure it latches. Then look at what standing still does: tyres that went flat and were pumped up again, wheel bearings dried out, and the plug and light sockets, which corrode first. A trailer that has been parked for months needs its brakes tried on a slope with weight in it before a horse goes inside.
A horse trailer listing a rider will drive across the country for:
photograph the inside from the back with the partitions open, the floor from underneath, the ramp or doors, the hitch and the brake coupling or controller, and each tyre. Say how many horses it takes and how tall a horse fits, ramp or step-up, the brake type, what it has been towed with, and when the floor was last replaced. If a horse once kicked through a panel, say so and show the repair. A buyer coming from Jutiapa in a pickup that has never towed with electric brakes needs to know before setting out whether your controller goes with the trailer and which plug the lights use.