07/19/2026
Let me start by saying that I have been driving horse trailers for over 50 years (yes, that means I am old); and so I do know something about horse trailers (yes, old people do know a few things). Please note that this trailer is 8' tall. Now, the vast majority of you do not need an 8' tall trailer; but there are some horses big enough that really appreciate the extra height. In all of my casual trailer horse listing browsing, I have not seen another 8' tall 4 horse living quarter trailer. This trailer also has no mangers. My experience has been, which is considerable, is that horses much prefer this style trailer. I replaced this trailer with a 2022 Lakota simply because my fat, old and not so stable body was risking my very existence when getting out of bed in this trailer by using a step mounted to the wall to get to a mounting block which I had been using for 20 years just fine. I finally had to accept the fact that my body was no longer what it used to be so went in search of a trailer with stairs to the bed. Unfortunately, with the stairs also came mangers and 7'6”. Horses I had hauled in this Merhow for years suddenly decided they did not appreciate the lower ceiling and mangers; and it took many discussions about loading into the new trailer before they finally accepted that this was their new life. This trailer also has a steel frame. Experience has taught me I really prefer the steel frame. I was showing in Tulsa when I was rear ended by a drunk driver with no license, no insurance and three outstanding warrants. He broke the bed of his truck in half and tore the quarter panel off his truck. He bent the ball in the bed of my truck. My Merhow trailer had a small dent in the back door. That was it. Now this was in a 35 mph zone. Do you think he was doing 35 mph? My Merhow trailer was basically indestructible. The new trailers are made out of aluminum. Some of the more expensive brands use the higher grade aluminum which is stronger; but many people opt for the lower priced models that do not offer as much protection for your horses. The comfort and safety of my horses is important to me; and this trailer is that. Now I know it does not have all the bells and whistles. I was thrilled with my Lakota having a button I could push and temperature control to use the air conditioner. I have had both trailers to Nevada in the summer. When stopping for the night, the temperature inside the trailer is over 100. The Merhow, I climbed on the mounting block steps to reach the dial on the outside of the air conditioner to turn it on. Thirty minutes later, I am thoroughly enjoying my temperature in the seventies and can sleep comfortably. My Lakota with the really nice thermostat controlled switch is still ninety degrees after 3 hours; and I am struggling to sleep. I was thrilled to find a switch to open and close the awning on the Lakota and that it would retract automatically in the wind. Imagine that compared to having to manually find the strap on the Merhow awning to pull it down and having to get up in the middle of the night to put it in when a wind comes up. We were camping with the Lakota in Montana. My husband tolerates my adventurous ways by staying in the trailer while I go explore Yellowstone. It takes quite awhile to get around Yellowstone; and I was over an hour away from the trailer and almost to my destination when my husband calls and says I need to come back. The awning is a wreck. I am irritated because it took me an hour to get where I was; and I was almost to my destination. Still, my husband humors me; so I feel obligated to humor him. I tell him it will take me an hour to get there. I get to the campsite; and here is the awning, a crumpled mess around the camper door so that you cannot open it. So much for automatic retracting in the wind. We had to hire somehow to come straighten it enough to get it retracted again; and it cost a pretty penny to get repaired. That got me to thinking about the slide-out. We just push a button on the Lakota and out it goes. No more using a drill to crank in and out the slide-out like on the Merhow and having to make sure the battery is charged on the drill and no more having to endure any rainy days when you need to put it back in. Still, I wonder what will happen if we push the button and the slide-out does not go in. Fortunately, we have not had to find out yet; although it did try to eat the seal around the slide-out which also had to be fixed. Now I get to the cabinetry. I love oak. I guess I am old fashioned. I know oak is not the new fad. It is the old fad. I love my oak in the Merhow and in my house. My Lakota has the barn wood interior which seems so dark. Anyway, my Merhow has cabinets on either side of the slide-out. One for me and one for him. Really easily accessible for our old bodies with lots of room. No climbing on the couch or crawling through the bed to get at the cabinets like in the Lakota. The shower is bigger in the Lakota which is a blessing because my body has shrunk a couple of inches in height and when my belly was stretched out a couple more inches it did not bulge so; and then add a few more pounds and you can see the advantage of a bigger shower. You can see I love my old trailer and had to switch because of my body insisting I now needed stairs to the bed. This is a 23 year old trailer; and so the living quarters are not in pristine condition. It has been used and loved. It has a 12' short wall. The floor the entire length of the trailer is solid. We have pulled it from Nevada to Maine and many points in-between and used a one-ton diesel to pull it. I do not have to sell it; but if someone can use a well loved trailer, I am willing to sell my old friend. $28,000. See less
