The Complete Guide to Buying, Maintaining, and Servicing a Horse Trailer

Neva Kittrell Scheve

Description

Trailers are a fact of life in the horse world. Sooner or later, everyone who owns a horse will have to deal with a horse trailer in order to haul to shows, races, hunts, and perhaps even to veterinary clinics. Up to now, when horse owners wanted information on trailers they had to rely on magazine articles or word-of-mouth recommendations. Not anymore. The Complete Guide to Buying, Maintaining, and Servicing a Horse Trailer is the first and only book for both owners and buyers of horse trailers. It's a resource that gives prospective buyers, faced with hundreds of models to choose from, the means to make the right choice. It's a manual that gives current owners information on maintaining and caring for their trailers. Foremost, they will learn from lifelong horsewoman Neva Scheve and Thomas G. Scheve, both respected industry insiders, that the safety and comfort of the horse should always be the primary concern. This authoritative book, with more than 175 illustrations, addresses a number of important topics, including how to:
* Determine whether to buy a new or a used trailer.
* Ask the right questions of the dealer or owner.
* Weigh the options and select the best model for your needs.
* Evaluate tow vehicles and hitches.
* Master pre-trip preparations.
* Care for your current trailer.
* Load, drive, and use a trailer safely.
* Deal with typical exterior, interior, electrical and mechanical problems.
* Assess the work of repairmen if the job is more than you can handle.
"Complete" is not just an idle word: this book has an appendix that gives the names and addresses of the major trailer manufacturers to contact for literature. In all, the Scheves have given horse owners everything they need to make an informed purchasing decision that will benefit themselves and their horses.
Preface.

Acknowledgments.

Introduction.

Chapter 1: Trailering from the Horse's Point of View.

Chapter 2: Purchasing a Horse Trailer.

Chapter 3: Trailer Styles, Types, and Variations.

Chapter 4: Loading and Unloading Features and Options.

Chapter 5: Interior Features and Options.

Chapter 6: Controlling the Interior Environment.

Chapter 7: Exterior Features and Options.

Chapter 8: Mechanical Parts.

Chapter 9: Capacity.

Chapter 10: Construction Materials.

Chapter 11: Living Quarters.

Chapter 12: Used Trailers: Buying, Selling, and Trading Up.

Chapter 13: Buying a New Trailer.

Chapter 14: Tow Vehicles and Hitches.

Chapter 15: Driving Tips and Horse Safety.

Chapter 16: Operation and Service.

Appendix.

Index.

Sujets

• horses
• Pets
• Maintaining

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 05 mai 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780470370056
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

The Complete Guide to Buying, Maintaining and Servicing
The Complete Guide to Buying, Maintaining and Servicing
NEVA KITTRELL SCHEVE
WITH THOMAS G. SCHEVE
This publication contains the opinions and ideas of its authors. It is intended to provide helpful and informative material on the subject matters covered. It is sold with the understanding that the authors and publisher are not engaged in rendering professional services in the book. If the reader requires personal assistance or advice, a competent professional should be consulted.
The author and publisher specifically disclaim any responsibility for any liability, loss or risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this book.
All photographs by Neva Kittrell Scheve
Copyright 1998 by Neva Kittrell Scheve
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Howell Book House
A Simon Schuster Macmillan Company
1633 Broadway
New York, NY 10019
Macmillan Publishing books may be purchased for business or sales promotional use. For information please write: Special Markets Department, Macmillan Publishing USA, 1633 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.
MACMILLAN is a registered trademark of Macmillan, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Scheve, Neva Kittrell.
The complete guide to buying, maintaining and servicing a horse trailer / Neva Kittrell Scheve with Thomas G. Scheve.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-87605-686-9
1. Horse trailers. I. Scheve, Neva Kittrell II. Title.
SF285.385.S34 1998
636.1 083-dc21 97-38167
CIP
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Book Design by A D Howell Design
CONTENTS
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1 Trailering from the Horse s Point of View
Chapter 2 Purchasing a Horse Trailer
Chapter 3 Trailer Styles, Types, and Variations
Chapter 4 Loading and Unloading Features and Options
Chapter 5 Interior Features and Options
Chapter 6 Controlling the Interior Environment
Chapter 7 Exterior Features and Options
Chapter 8 Mechanical Parts
Chapter 9 Capacity
Chapter 10 Construction Materials
Chapter 11 Living Quarters
Chapter 12 Used Trailers: Buying, Selling, and Trading Up
Chapter 13 Buying a New Trailer
Chapter 14 Tow Vehicles and Hitches
Chapter 15 Driving Tips and Horse Safety
Chapter 16 Operation and Service
Appendix
Index
PREFACE
When Tom and I started our trailer sales dealership in 1983, it was to be a part-time venture to help finance my passion for horses. Tom s background in advertising and marketing, my interest and experience with horses, and our combined previous involvement in other retail businesses made for a unique combination for a horse trailer dealership. The horse trailer industry has changed dramatically since then, and we would like to think that our influence has been responsible for some of the improvements.
We named our dealership the Sport Horse Trailer Company, and we were originally Trail-et dealers. Trail-et s sales manager was a good teacher, one of the few real horsemen who also knew trailers, and he was a big help to us. He was the first to suggest to me that the design of the trailer is important for the good of the horse. I was the first to teach him about warmblood horses, which were rather new in this country in the 1980s. Since I was involved in dressage and combined training, it became our market area of expertise, and we became a Top Ten dealer our first year in business. We were always asking Trail-et for custom-built larger trailers because an extra tall trailer was 7 feet tall back then, not nearly large enough for the horses in our market. Soon Trail-et made 7 feet 4 inches the standard height for its walk-through (Thoroughbred) trailers and 6 feet the standard width.
Our sales increased yearly, and we were approached by Tom Holdeman of Merhow Trailers. He had just taken over Merhow Trailer Manufacturing, a respected company that had been founded by his father and uncle. He was looking for dealers to sell his new, modernized version of the Merhow trailer, which had been a quality trailer for 25 years but was beginning to look dated in comparison with the flashy new trailers coming on the market. Although the trailer he presented to us was promising, there were many features that I felt would keep it from being accepted by discerning buyers. He agreed to make any changes that I suggested, and a great working relationship was born. The Sport Horse edition was the first trailer that was built specifically for us and for the warmblood market. Tom Holdeman also enlisted our help in advertising and marketing, which resulted in a campaign to educate the buyer about the importance of the design and construction for the well-being of the horse. The Sport Horse trailer was a huge success, and we broke all previous sales records. Many of our customers kept in touch and gave us feedback. If problems occurred, changes were made so that the trailer kept improving. The Merhow Verylight trailer, a lightweight trailer designed for average to smaller horses, also came out of our association with this company.
Word of mouth from our satisfied customers allowed us to expand our sales nationwide and to Canada and Mexico. Our part-time business became full-time, and we moved onto a sales lot in a small town near Cincinnati, Ohio. Over the years customers came to us with stories and experiences of their own. We share some of them in this book. Some stories were funny or cute, and some were downright bizarre, but most involved problems that people had in the past and wanted to avoid with a new trailer. We heard more horror stories than we ever wanted to hear, but they taught us that a horse is capable of anything in a trailer, even the impossible! The most important discovery we made was that certain common design features prevalent on existing horse trailers could actually increase the chance of injury or accident. We also discovered that we could reduce many problems by incorporating common sense into the design of the trailer by looking at the trailer from the horse s point of view.
During our years in Cincinnati, we took on more trailer brands and, at one time or another, we represented just about every major trailer on the market. We were able to find out firsthand which trailers held up better and which ones had problems, how manufacturers handled warranties, which manufacturers had the most customer satisfaction, and which trailers returned to haunt us. In the end, we chose the best manufacturers and had prototypes made of our own designs, using the knowledge we had acquired over the years. It was important that the trailer be easy for me to use, since I am fairly representative of our typical customer, and that my own horses would travel comfortably and safely. The result of this effort was the Equisport, a deluxe trailer designed especially for warmbloods and other large horses, and the Thorosport, a safe economical trailer for all other horses.
When we moved to North Carolina in 1992, our own education was further enriched when Richard Mansmann, V.M.D., Ph.D., then affiliated with the University of North Carolina, contacted us about his special interest-improving the internal air quality of the trailer and reducing the shipping stress of horses. He supplied us with a wealth of information about the negative effects of shipping horses and had his own suggestions for improving the health and well-being of horses during travel. He had seen our Equisport trailer and thought it was the first trailer he had seen that addressed this issue through its design.
Since our customers were clamoring for more information about trailering, we published The Hawkins Guide: Horse Trailering on the Road , which is an in-depth study of the legal aspects of horse trailering, combined with emergency travel information, and The Hawkins Guide: Equine Emergencies on the Road , which I coauthored with James Hamilton, D.V.M.
Neither Tom nor I planned to become so involved in the horse trailer business. We have continued to work to improve the quality and safety of our trailer, and the new EquiSpirit is the result of improvements to our past trailers and a new relationship with the Hawk Trailer Company.
Tom and I both enjoy sharing our knowledge. We travel to major conventions and local clubs to speak about what we have learned about horse trailering and to gather more knowledge from those we meet. This book is a culmination of all that has come before.
N EVA K. S CHEVE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We wish to thank the following people who have been extremely helpful in supplying information for this book: James Hamilton, D.V.M.; Richard Mansmann, V.M.D., Ph.D.; Bob Fisher, engineer, Merhow, Indiana; Bryant Jones, Sundowner Trailers; Robert B. Peliti Jr., Four Star Trailers; Brian Timm, Hawk Trailers; Dave Weimer, North Shore Conversions; Tami L. White, Cherokee Trailers.
The following companies have generously supplied information about their products: Dexter Axle, Elkhart, Indiana, a special thank-you for supplying the service information contained in chapter 16 ; and to DrawTite Hitch for their support not only of this book, but also for our other projects; and Cor Tec, Washington Courthouse, Ohio. For locations of demonstration photographs, we thank Windy Hill Farm, Pinehurst, North Carolina, owned by Marilyn and Peter Soby, and Southern Pines Tack and Saddler, Southern Pines, North Carolina.
For models, we thank LouAnn Earp, Cassie Mason, and Phyllis Lynch.
For horse models, we thank Tristan 095 and Rio, owned by LouAnn Earp; Gem, owned by Marilyn Soby; Parr s Sparkle, owned by Barbara Scheve; Vespi, owned by Kay Redding; Tina,