In the U.S., you’ll often see these pop up around rodeo arenas when events are being held.
But unlike Europe, where caravan horse carriers are used, separate trailers pulled by pickup trucks are the norm. Since rural Americans (and many urban ones) drive trucks, it makes less sense to have a dedicated vehicle to transport horses – and you have a truck to haul hay and supplies, and tow other types of trailers.
It’s also common in the U.S. for horse trailers to have (human) living quarters. Federal and state tax codes consider a vehicle to be a second home if it meets the “head, bread, and bed rule” (which means it must have a toilet, kitchen, and bed), so the interest on the loan to finance the trailer may be tax-deductible, and in my state the taxes (purchase and property) are lower.
The definitions of head, bread, and bed are extremely vague, to the point of being humorous: One of our trailers simply has a microwave oven, sink, and built-in ice chest as its qualifying “kitchen,” and a shower head in the horse stall closest to the living quarters. It does, however, have an actual bed over the gooseneck, which we use for storage.
Some of the living quarters are pretty utilitarian but I have seen some where the quarters are quite nice. My guess is that people who follow the rodeo circuit want some comfort after spending their day being bucked off a horse, being stepped on by a bull, etc.
Absolutely. The higher-end makes of trailers (Bloomer comes to mind) are extremely luxurious, fully furnished and equipped, and feature an aluminum body to offset the extra weight of the living quarters.
We haul in a couple of Oklahoma-made 4 Stars – a step or two down from Bloomer, but still aluminum bodied, with living quarters available from utilitarian to luxurious.
I have often wondered how Europe ended up with horse carriers (horse boxes) versus trailers? I assume it may be due to lack of tow vehicles, but still very different. I was at a vendors shop in the UK when I learned about these. One of their customers built them and alot of them were very high end.
It’s a generalization, but Europeans that own horses and show them are typically even richer than American horse owners. It’s definitely not a common middle class undertaking over there.
The owners of such dedicated trucks are obviously loaded. The average owner arrives in something like the trailer below, 2 horses max. Any decent SUV or midsize van will do as a draft horse.
Many folks actually own ponies (like the utterly common Shetland ponies) and/or horses. Big business. From supplying fodder to collecting the manure and everything in between.
Johannes, Given the popularity of 1970s-era US cars in the Netherlands, I’m surprised we don’t see a few examples of this kind of horse transport there!
Oh man. I would love to sneak into camp at 2 AM and park this Borat-mobile right next to the biggest fully loaded giant motor home. Pre install a few well hidden cameras and go hideout in my willing conspirators rig. Record everyone’s dumbfounded looks for posterity of course. The two friends I grew up with kept horses and while both had money they were down to earth. Either that or they just liked my antics. One had a hobby farm and the other had a small 50 acre farm/ horse ranch. They would get quite a kick out of that.
In the U.S., you’ll often see these pop up around rodeo arenas when events are being held.
But unlike Europe, where caravan horse carriers are used, separate trailers pulled by pickup trucks are the norm. Since rural Americans (and many urban ones) drive trucks, it makes less sense to have a dedicated vehicle to transport horses – and you have a truck to haul hay and supplies, and tow other types of trailers.
It’s also common in the U.S. for horse trailers to have (human) living quarters. Federal and state tax codes consider a vehicle to be a second home if it meets the “head, bread, and bed rule” (which means it must have a toilet, kitchen, and bed), so the interest on the loan to finance the trailer may be tax-deductible, and in my state the taxes (purchase and property) are lower.
The definitions of head, bread, and bed are extremely vague, to the point of being humorous: One of our trailers simply has a microwave oven, sink, and built-in ice chest as its qualifying “kitchen,” and a shower head in the horse stall closest to the living quarters. It does, however, have an actual bed over the gooseneck, which we use for storage.
Some of the living quarters are pretty utilitarian but I have seen some where the quarters are quite nice. My guess is that people who follow the rodeo circuit want some comfort after spending their day being bucked off a horse, being stepped on by a bull, etc.
Absolutely. The higher-end makes of trailers (Bloomer comes to mind) are extremely luxurious, fully furnished and equipped, and feature an aluminum body to offset the extra weight of the living quarters.
We haul in a couple of Oklahoma-made 4 Stars – a step or two down from Bloomer, but still aluminum bodied, with living quarters available from utilitarian to luxurious.
Yeah they can be crazy nice. This was a customer of mine at a previous job.
http://www.outlawconversions.com/#home1
Something like this is peak horse hauler/motorhome combo:
https://www.roelofsen.eu/en/horsetruck/rr6-top-class-line/
I have often wondered how Europe ended up with horse carriers (horse boxes) versus trailers? I assume it may be due to lack of tow vehicles, but still very different. I was at a vendors shop in the UK when I learned about these. One of their customers built them and alot of them were very high end.
It’s a generalization, but Europeans that own horses and show them are typically even richer than American horse owners. It’s definitely not a common middle class undertaking over there.
The owners of such dedicated trucks are obviously loaded. The average owner arrives in something like the trailer below, 2 horses max. Any decent SUV or midsize van will do as a draft horse.
Many folks actually own ponies (like the utterly common Shetland ponies) and/or horses. Big business. From supplying fodder to collecting the manure and everything in between.
Johannes, Given the popularity of 1970s-era US cars in the Netherlands, I’m surprised we don’t see a few examples of this kind of horse transport there!
Those are retired by now Eric, enjoying the good life. Like visiting a show on a sunny day.
Instead, decades later (courtesy of Rob de Voogd Transport):
Oh man. I would love to sneak into camp at 2 AM and park this Borat-mobile right next to the biggest fully loaded giant motor home. Pre install a few well hidden cameras and go hideout in my willing conspirators rig. Record everyone’s dumbfounded looks for posterity of course. The two friends I grew up with kept horses and while both had money they were down to earth. Either that or they just liked my antics. One had a hobby farm and the other had a small 50 acre farm/ horse ranch. They would get quite a kick out of that.
….and just imagine your horse is the 1st prize winner the next day.