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.
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Ditto. My EquiBreeze is a forever trailer. Built sound, safe and right.
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If you want forever go with Featherlight or Exxis. Had mine since 1995
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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).
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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.
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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.
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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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I don’t know much about Cimarron at all, and I can’t recall seeing one in person. I have a 2H gooseneck EquiSpirit (made by Hawk). I prefer Hawk over 4-Star generally, but if I were equally open to both, I’d just go for the best bang for my buck. Both build nice trailers and have been around for quite awhile. The folks at EquiSpirit are great to deal with, IME.
I have heard a few things about newer 4-Star trailers not being as well made as some of the older models, but I am not sure if that’s model or year dependant. The only consistent thing I’ve seen with EquiSpirit and Hawk is peeling paint on the fiberglass roof. Some of the issues with a fiberglass roof comes from people just not caring for or not knowing how to care for fiberglass. I like the fiberglass roof because it does keep the trailer cooler in warm temps, in my experience.
I love the 2+1 design, but this time around I didn’t need the extra.
I will be hauling 2 most of the time, but envision transitioning to 2 box stalls once I arrive to any particular location (lessons/shows), where the horse could hang out for hrs at a time without feeling as cramped as in a trailer stall.
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what type of care goes into fiberglass roof maintenance?
Just bought a Cimarron 2+2 and thrilled with it. Looked heavily at both 4 Star and Cimarron and ended up going with the Cimarron as the dealer was easier to work with and both felt high quality.
Will say all dealers I talked to advised against WERM flooring.
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Oh interesting. What reasons were given not to use WERM?
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I have a Brenderup not Hawk but they both have the fiberglass roof. For cleaning the inside, I use a mold and mildew spray made for boats and for the outside (shiny part) I use the same and follow it up with a wash on wax. Probably could do with a true wax n buff but I’m not very tall and not trying to do that from a ladder. My trailer is a 2008. I love the fiberglass roof and believe it makes a huge difference in the heat.
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I’ve not heard that from a dealer. I don’t like it, though. The 4 Star I had before the one I have now had WERM flooring. My horse scrambled on that turning into my driveway. He never scrambled before and he doesn’t scramble now with regular rubber mats in my new 4 Star. I think it’s hard and slippery, personally. I use fat gorilla tape over the seams in the regular rubber mats.
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I know you want a comparison, but here is where I asked about the 2+1. I got great responses and people shared some nice photos which might help.
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I recently bought a Balanced Ride 2+1 (horses face backwards, but mine is reversible), made by Hawk. I looked at 4-Star and Cimmaron, but prefer Hawk as I had my last Hawk trailer for 20 years and sold it for what I paid for it. The company is fantastic to work with and their delivery guy went out of the way for me (made some repairs to my old Hawk before I sold it). My horses love this trailer SO MUCH that the first ride I took them on, they both peed! They have never peed in a trailer before. When I peeled back the mats to clean it, I found my wood floor was enamel paint coated! The dealer convinced me to go with wood over WERM.
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