I bought an old trailer in 2020. It was a Merhow 2 horse slant load gooseneck trailer with a weekender package. It was in good shape and a great trailer to start with.
I still own it for now. We brought it home a couple years ago and have been slowly making the needed repairs and/or maintenance. With Zac’s other duties it has taken us some time but it has a laundry list of things that Zac did to make it good as new…including a brand-new awning canvas and fully functioning (repaired) awning frame.
Since I haven’t had a trailer to use I have been borrowing the farm’s Adam 3 horse trailer. It’s been excellent but it is shared amongst the folks at the farm. It has given me time to reflect on while my ideal situation would be.
If you asked me a couple of years ago my dream trailer was a Double D 3 horse with the Safetrack Reverse option. The trailer costs no less than $72,000! OUCH! I know you get what you pay for but some things are simply unattainable.
A close second and more affordable would be a 2+1. I loved the idea of having 2 box stalls. The more I thought about it, however, there is no rear tack room. That means everything would have to travel up front in the dressing room. I don’t want to camp and sleep with all of my tack.
As we though more and more I realized Suzanne’s trailer…a Featherlite 3 horse slant with dressing room seemed to be the perfect fit. My only gripe was I wanted a ramp.
The farm trailer is a bumper pull, but it is a 3 horse slant Adam trailer with ramp. It sports a rear tack and dressing room but lacks the gooseneck.
On a whim I was “window shopping” online as I sometimes do. One particular trailer stood out to me. It was an Adam 3 horse trailer…so similar to the farm trailer…but it was a gooseneck. Essentially it was Suzanne’s trailer and the farm trailer combined. Adam is also a reputable brand. There are several other brands that I steer clear of.
Out of curiosity, I messaged the dealer. It was semi-local. The timeframe was around the Massachusetts Equine Affaire, and this dealer was known to go to the show. I asked them how much it was and if they’d be at the show since I was planning to go on Sunday.
The next morning I got a call from Mike, as it happened he was calling me FROM Equine Affaire and was standing next to the exact trailer I messaged him about. It was at the show so I could see it Sunday AND it was offered for a deal.
Sunday morning Suzanne and I drove to Equine Affaire and met up with some friends. We watched a couple of clinics by Phyllis Dawson, a renowned Olympian who represented the United Stated in Korea in the 1988 Olympic Games.
We did some shopping and eventually found our way over to Orchard trailers to meet Mike. I walked through the trailer. It was beautiful! It had a ramp! The space in the gooseneck area was spacious and you can easily sit up straight in it.
The sale price was $10,000 off the list price!
There was no way I could commit to it right away. The trade-in didn’t make sense and I didn’t have the money available to know for sure that I could afford it. Mike gave me his word that if he still had it when I figured out my finances he would honor the show price.
A few weeks later I found myself in a better position. I called him and made a deposit on the trailer.
It was happening!
In the weeks leading up to our pickup date I had some mishaps with the US Postal Service. I mailed Orchard Trailers a check and sent it as a certified letter with tracking. The clerk INSISTED I used the wrong zipcode. I argued but she was so intent and so certain I gave in. Later that day (before Thanksgiving) I noticed she was sending the letter to entirely the wrong town. They put in a service request but by that time it was the weekend and it was heading to Connecticut.
I watched as the days counted down and the letter didn’t change in tracking status. I was on the phone for HOURS with the most unhelpful people at USPS. I finally got someone who was helpful and he told me they were sending it to completely the wrong address. Instead of 78 State Road in Whately, MA the clerk was sending the check to 78 Star St in Whitman, MA.
I was FLOORED.
I returned to the bank who informed me that this check cannot be cancelled under 90 days unless there’s a good reason.
This was a good reason.
The bank made me return to the post office to get a letter from the postmaster that THEY had made the mistake. After getting the letter I retuned to the bank and the manager took copies of the letter, the check stub, the bill of sale, absolutely EVERYTHING. FINALLY they were able to cancel the check and reissue a new one.
The original Certified Letter is still lost as of the publish date on this post. Way to go, United Stated Postal Service.
December 10th we drove just under 2 hours to pick up the new 2026 Adam 3 horse Excursion. It was freshly washed and detailed and ready to go.
Now that it’s home I am working to get some vinyl flooring set down in the dressing room before I do anything else. Why on Earth do horse trailer makers insist on putting carpeting inside a horse trailer?! The new flooring is going to sit on top of the carpet but it is a tongue and groove plank board so it will be a lot easier to maintain.
In time I am going to build some simple cabinets to not only help me step up onto the bed area but to organize and store the items I plan to keep in the dressing room.
We have a little time before we take our maiden voyage but I am so very excited about this new trailer.
And I am excited to sell the Merhow soon too once we’re finished putting on all the loving details.
The Green Horseman 
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