Narrowed search down to 4 star, Cimarron, and Hawk (balanced ride specifically). Horse comfort, reliability, and longevity are top 3 priority. Hoping to use this trailer for a very long time.
What are the differences between 4 Star and Cimarron? Looks like both are aluminum, with option for WERM flooring (I know there’s pros/cons there too).
Pros/cons of aluminum everything vs galvanized steel?
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I have a Hawk and my neighbor has a 4 Star, both are 2+1 without a dressing room. We take turns trailering to trail rides. They’re both good trailers. There are features I like better about each one. I think the Hawk is just about as nice and a better value for the price. The 4 Star has much nicer butt/breast bar pins.
Have you noticed a difference in how the horses haul in one or other?
If you had to choose to trailer only 1 “forever”, which one would you chose?
Supposedly fiberglass roof/wood floor (hawk) is quieter in theory? Although some have said the insulated aluminum roof and WERM floors are quiet too.
I had a 4 Star 2+1. Custom ordered. Build year was 2019.
First, the trailer showed up with a door in the wrong spot compared to the drawing. They were very mad that I refused to accept the trailer, though they agreed the trailer did not match the agreed drawing.
Two months later, I get my trailer.
My WERM flooring failed and needed repair.
A breast bar snapped off in regular use. “The weld didn’t penetrate”. Ok, where else are there welds without penetration?
The paint failed. Their fix was to put a cheesy piece of plastic where the tie rings and grab handles were.
The roof insulation sheeting was overlapped backwards, where if a horse hits the ceiling they basically surgically scalped themselves. Ask me how I learned that.
Here are pictures of some of the “high quality welds”. What a joke.
You’re paying for the name. 4 Star is no longer the quality it used to be. I sold that trailer and now have a Hawk and love it.
So I had a 4 star 2+1…but it was big (extra foot in the box, extra 2 foot in the dressing room, 8’6 height). During Covid I decided I wanted to downsize, as I usually am only trailering 1 horse.
I decided to go to Hawk (I had had a Hawk prior and felt the horses traveled better in it…it was also a 2+1). I did a 3 horse slant with lots of features and extra stall size. It looked lovely when it arrived.
Not even 2 years later, I am having issues with it rusting in spots it should not be rusting. I’ve had to repaint areas for the rust…and under the gooseneck. After having a 4 star…the Hawk is not the same quality and is not nearly as sturdy. The 4 star will last a looooong time with minimal maintenance…the Hawk is requiring a lot of maintenance and I can see it’s not going to hold up well.
After much thought…I recently decided to go back to a 4 star…because I can tell that this Hawk is not going to last like the 4 star would. I am also going back to a 2+1 (but without the extra feet). Fortunately, I got a good bit of money on the 4 star I sold…and I am getting a very good trade in on the Hawk, so I’ve not lost money in all of this.
I will say that my old 4 star was noisier inside…but now they have the quiet ride features and that is making a difference in the newer 4 stars. Hawk is a quiet ride in comparison.
That said…I’ve had issues with both. First Hawk I had had the back top door hinge fail and fall off in my hands. A few years later, the axle dropped off (thankfully that happened right after unloading a horse and backing the trailer into it’s parking spot…we were SO lucky). The first 4 star I bought had issues with water leaking into the box stall (think mini swimming pool)…that ended up being replaced by the dealer/4 star as they weren’t able to fix the leaking/flooding issue.
Ride in your car with the windows rolled all the way down. What’s louder, the rattle of change in the cup holder or the semi driving past?
Now, I do think we should eliminate the rattles that we can. But this isn’t an enclosed and air conditioned space. The wind and road noise will drown most generic trailer noises out. My 4 Star had quiet ride everywhere it could and it was still a rattley horse trailer.
I haven’t noticed any difference. The only difference I noticed was when I had to haul my backup pony in her trailer and she doesn’t have adjustable butt bars. My pony got a bad rub at the top of his tail/just above his tail. For normal sized horses (mine is 14.3 and hers is 17 hands), they both seem perfectly comfy.
My Hawk is a 2017 and I had a Hawk BP before that for 17 years with no issues. Her 4 Star is older than 2017. I know she somehow lost a wheel once, but as far as I know it has also been trouble free other than that.
I’m almost 3 years into a custom Equispirit (made by the same factory that makes Hawk) and I’m thrilled with it (as are the horses). Pricey but totally worth it.
I’ve had 4 Stars for 35 years. I’ve traded over the years for different sizes to accommodate my lifestyle changes. I’m sorry @endlessclimb had problems. I never had one. Because of my geographical location, I wanted a smaller trailer width wise because of traffic. Four Star worked directly w me to build a smaller trailer (6’2” wide) with a small dressing room. It’s a gooseneck and I love it more than any other I’ve had. I feel very safe in heavy lanes of traffic and my big horse has more than enough room. It’s a 2 horse straight load. PM me if you’d like the dealer I worked w or the person at 4 Star.
I have a Cimarron 3 horse slant gooseneck, 2015. I’ve loved it and it’s been a great trailer. I don’t have a dealer here but haven’t needed any work on it other than maintenance and new tires.
My horses haul happily in it.
Ditto. My EquiBreeze is a forever trailer. Built sound, safe and right.
If you want forever go with Featherlight or Exxis. Had mine since 1995
I have a 2019 Balanced Ride 2+1 with LQ that I love. To be honest, I would consider all of the manufacturers you mentioned, but the Balanced Ride is softer on the pocketbook. That said, I’m more sold on the wood floor for quiet and softer ride and the steel frame. I had a Hawk 2+1 GN years ago that was involved in a serious accident. My Ford dually was totaled and I had damage to the trailer. I had the other driver’s insurance company ship the trailer back to the manufacturer in Wisconsin because I wanted to make sure the frame and axles weren’t bent. They weren’t. My horses were eating out of their hay bags when I when opened the doors to check on them. The safety of my Hawk sold me on continuing to purchase their products. I’m also in Florida and the trailer stays much cooler than an aluminum trailer.
We have a custom built Cimeraron and just love the trailer. Its a 2018 and we did have to send it back once to have some small things done to it (nothing major) and they took it back and fixed everything we wanted without any issues.
Would purchase another one in a heartbeat!
I know 2 people with three 4Star trailers (one owns 2) all 3 the roof leaks. They have both told me this is a known issue with this brand.
I have had a Trail-et (2 horse bumper pull with DR)and now own an Equi-Spirit (2 + 1 XXL with DR) that was manufactured by Trail-et. Trail-et is now out of business so the Equi-Spirit is manufactured by Hawk. I know a few people with Hawks. All three of these brands use a solid fiberglass roof. I have never heard of leaks in them.
They ride well. They re-sell well. I sold my Trail-et for $1000 less than I bought it for 21 years later. My understanding is all three of these brands are spin-offs of each other in some regard. They share a lot of the same manufacturers and the same philosophies.
I would add Equi-spirit to your list. I purchased my trailer used. I have contacted Equi-spirit twice with questions and the owner was quick to answer my questions with very detailed answers. They are proud of their product and want you to be very happy with it.
Cimarron is not common in my area so I know nothing about them.
I have a 2015 4 Star that has been great. The roof caulking is pretty sparse but I had one leak in 2020 at the front of the nose and patched that, and the rest of it made it almost 10 years—just redid it. Considering how little sealant was up there originally and the hot Colorado sun, the roof has done well. I also have WERM that has had no issues. The bus windows can be a pain to get closed all the way because the plasticky seal can get tight, but that is typical of those. I wish it had a larger box and some other customizations, but when I bought it, it was a great deal for the upgrades it has and was on a lot ready to go, so it was too good to pass up.
I was talking with someone local with a newer one with Quiet Ride, and she thought the Quiet Ride upgrade was more of a pain in the ass than it was worth, which somewhat surprised me. But I saw one that could be flipped around in the straight stalls to do reverse load, and something like that would really appeal to me. When getting help from others, I’ve had some people struggle with the pins on mine, but one person said it was the easiest trailer she’d put hands on.
I hate that 2 + 1 trailers are now double the price if not more than they were 10 years ago. That makes it harder to want to like any of them if anything goes wrong.
I have a 2022 4-Star 2+1 and a 2004 Hawk straight load bp. I love both trailers and they’ve both held up super well with no major issues. I do think my 4-star feels like sturdier trailer overall but maybe that’s because it’s bigger? If I had to buy another trailer today I’d probably go 4-star but I’d be really happy with another Hawk as well. I’d reach out to both companies (if you’re buying new) and see what the costs and building lead times are, that may help you make a decision. I got lucky and had mine built in 5 months but the normal lead time when I was looking was a year (during COVID).
I have a 2024 Balanced Ride 2+1. I really like the trailer (despite my learning curve learning to pull a trailer this long and a gooseneck). I took my two young horses two hours away and they rode beautifully and even both peed in the trailer. When I cleaned the trailer out (used a biological cleaner) and pulled the mats up, the pressure timber floor is heavily painted to protect it. Wow. A bit of a learning curve to train them to load backwards (you have to open the partition and load the near horse first), but overall, I think they really liked riding that way. My trailer is reversible. It is also convertible to two box stalls. It has cameras, fans and a special door between the tack room and the front box stall, so that I can use it as a tack up space. It has so many features and the customer service can’t be beat.
I have a 2023 4 start 2+1(and a tack room) which I love (no leaking on mine, horses haul well, ease of use), but it’s really long! Also I don’t find the +1 area as useful as I thought I would. Ive used the front door to unload a young horse, but they soon learned to back out. I’ve used it to put a pony, but an actual 3 horse slant would be better for hauling 3. Im just suggesting that you are clear on why you want the +1 part and if that your best option.
I had a 2007 2H gooseneck 4 Star that I loved and would have never sold, but my friends were retiring and selling everything so I bought their 4 Star 2+1. My 2007 was solid. It never had any issues that weren’t related to regular maintenance. It pulled like a dream, every horse I hauled loaded like a champ with it. I love the +1 part. I frequently haul semi-long distances and the ability to take an extra friend and not have another rig is perfect for me, and I love being able to walk them off the side ramp and have a little extra storage space, if needed.
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