Lending out a trailer

[Amalter]

I have the opportunity to get reduced board in exchange for allowing the BO occasional use of my trailer or giving them rides to places we are already planning on going, like trails or the local indoor arena.

A current boarder has this arrangement with them but are moving for unrelated reasons.

Any things to take into consideration with this type of arrangement? I think I would be fine giving them rides but uncertain about lending it out. It’s a brand new trailer I’ve saved for and waited for for a very long time.

An acquaintance of mine gave me the advice to avoid offering rides in general or at least be very limited in who I trailer. On the one hand having been trailerless for so long, I have really appreciated when I’ve been given rides. But I also see how it could get to be a bit much. My horse is super easy and travels quietly. I’m not interested in dealing with anything complicated or fussy in the trailer.

[clanter]

easy out is to tell them you do not carry commercial insurance nor will be getting such. The exchange of reduced board is compensation for the use which nullifies your private insurance

Odd to me that a boarding barn does not have its own trailer which is a business expense right off for the business

[Scribbler]

@Amalter

I have the opportunity to get reduced board in exchange for allowing the BO occasional use of my trailer or giving them rides to places we are already planning on going, like trails or the local indoor arena.

A current boarder has this arrangement with them but are moving for unrelated reasons.

Any things to take into consideration with this type of arrangement? I think I would be fine giving them rides but uncertain about lending it out. It’s a brand new trailer I’ve saved for and waited for for a very long time.

An acquaintance of mine gave me the advice to avoid offering rides in general or at least be very limited in who I trailer. On the one hand having been trailerless for so long, I have really appreciated when I’ve been given rides. But I also see how it could get to be a bit much. My horse is super easy and travels quietly. I’m not interested in dealing with anything complicated or fussy in the trailer.

Are they pulling it with their own truck?

How experienced are they? I let my coach and mentor use my truck and trailer in exchange for storage at her farm but I know she knows what she is doing. Even so there is inevitably wear and year and time conflicts.

I am really picky what horse and riders I give rides to. I have learned I need to be in charge. I don’t take problem loaders. My mare goes on first and comes off last and I want her protected from drama.

I would have a very very honest talk to the last person and I would want to really observe how BO drives and loads and hitches and unhitches.

Basically don’t ever lend out anything you cannot risk getting destroyed.

Oh and check the insurance

[Kyrabee]

Big NO. Not worth any reduced board.

Susan

[saddleup]

Don’t do it.

[endlessclimb]

NOPE. Big, honking no.

The chances that someone else’s horse will damage the thing you’ve worked very hard for is at or very close to 100%.

[trubandloki]

I would generally say no…well actually NO to this question, like so many of the other posters.

If you are still thinking about doing this, start by talking to this other boarder about this has worked out for them. Does the BO help clean out the mess when they are taken places? Has the BO stepped up and fixed things that have gotten broken?
Do they have a written contract that covers restrictions, repairs, etc.
Just have a candid discussion with that boarder about it.

[wsmoak]

Don’t lend anything you can’t afford to lose.

If you are receiving any kind of compensation, your personal insurance may no longer cover it. Check the fine print in your policy.

And listen to your gut on this. The other boarder may have been in a far different financial situation than you are, where loss or damage might not have been a big deal to them. Just because the arrangement worked for them does not mean it is appropriate for you.

[Pokerface]

I think the fact that you are asking the question is likely an indication that it’s not a great idea. Something in your subconscious is telling you “NO”.

I have haueled horses/ponies from my barn many times. It helps with gas money and I typically have young horses who need a friend on the ride win/win. That said, my trainers mostly have a group of very experienced animals who travel well, and even the younger ones are pretty easy haulers. They go out of their way to make sure I get good ones, especially to make sure my babies get a good experience. I trust them completely to make sure I don’t have issues.

Also, my truck and trailer are 20 years old, dings don’t bother me. If i had a shiny new trailer, I’d care a LOT more about it getting bent up.

[lenapesadie]

How many months of reduced board savings will it take to equal replacement cost of your rig?

Are we talking a $50 monthly board reduction or a $500 monthly board reduction?

[Foxglove]

@lenapesadie has a valid question --certainly a $500 reduced board might make the hassle and risk worth lending a trailer. $6000 a year in board credit would repair a lot of damage and likely pay for insurance.

However -unless the compensation is that substantial, I fall on the “NO DON’T DO IT,” side of the argument.

When I was a kid, I had a scrawny backyard horse (Flicka crossed with The Black Stallion to my eye). Of course there was no trailer, truck, or anything else to get my horse from home to wherever except by riding her there. I swore to myself (as I watched the neighbors’ kid pass in her oh, so lovely, horse van) that if I ever had a trailer, I would give a ride to ANYONE who asked for it --and loan my trailer to ANYONE who needed it.

That lasted about 10 years of adult horse owning. There were too many times of horses who were supposed to load, not doing so making ME late. There were kids whose parents wanted child to ride with me an the horse to the show, then showed up late “to watch” after I helped child unload and tack. One family asked me to haul home their horse and turn it out so they could enjoy the horse show venue a second day. And I was blamed for any every horse that injured itself in the trailer. The LAST STRAW was a “friend” of 30+ years who 1) broke a light off my trailer, then wanted me to have it fixed and send her the bill (that put me in the waiting room of the trailer repair waiting for the fix after taking a 1/2 day to hook, haul, and unhook), THEN the next time she said "Let’s go trail ride (she had no trailer), I said, “Only if you’ll come wash out the trailer with me when we’re done.” (She preferred that I drop her off on the way home). She said, “Why? You’re going to wash it out anyway.” --OK DONE. Never hauled her again. And ended the friendship --no exactly over that, but it was another straw that broke . . .you get the idea.

There is ONE person I would loan the trailer to, or haul —the woman who hauls my horse and me to everyone of our Mounted Archery Competitions all summer long across the Midwest. But I fully expect to arrange to fix any damage (broke a plastic piece on her awning and immediately had it repaired) and I drive 90 min to clean her LQ and horse area after a weekend. OH, and I provide her a horse to fox hunt all winter long --so it’s a pretty even trade.

So again, based on my experience --unless there’s a substantial reason to loan it, or haul, don’t.

[Obsidian_Fire]

Another in the camp of don’t. Like many, I borrowed a trailer for years when I didn’t have my own. BUT. I always returned the trailer in as good or better condition than I got it. I also didn’t have any problem horses. I also knew that my friends, acquaintances, weren’t wired like me. They would not have returned something the same as they got it. Nor would they have ‘made it right’ if something broke. Once I finally got my own, that’s it. It’s mine. I paid for it. I waited YEARS for it. I’ve loaned it out maybe twice - to people who I knew were as anal as me about it.

[endlessclimb]

I loaned out my small trailer just one time to someone. They were in a real bind. Their trainer hauled the trailer. I knew the horse was a seasoned gelding.

I had them sign a contract. I also did not charge them any money as a set fee. I told them to give me what they thought was fair.

Want to know what I got?

A trailer with white lithium grease ALL OVER the coupler (why, I don’t know, it was working just fine - took forever to clean it all off because it had dried on in the summer sun). The best part - not a red cent or gift card or anything from the horse owner.

I mean, I did say “what you thought was fair”, so it’s my fault too. But nothing. Literally nothing. Screw that, never again.

I would NEVER loan my big 4-Star trailer out. Never ever ever.

[2DogsFarm]

@clanter

Odd to me that a boarding barn does not have its own trailer

This is the 1st thing that came to me too.
Even a backyard barn with few boarders is ill-equipped without.
What does BO do in an emergency?
So, I guess I’m voting NO.

I did let a former friend borrow my trailer when we were both going to the same show. Hauling 3 + carriages, so a 2nd trailer was needed.
She did me the “favor” of bending the jack.
Offered to fix it, never did.

The only person my trailer goes to regularly is my neighbor/hayguy (who I call my Faux Grandson).
He’s been hauling since he was a kid, can maneuver his own 35’ (8’H, 7.5’W) trailer neatly around anywhere/anything & back it up like it wasn’t there.
My 16’ is nothing for him to haul & he takes better care of it than I do.
If he hauls horses or - more often - hay, it comes back spotless.
And he’s been known to take it in for service & pay the bill without asking.

[Spudsmyguy]

A trainer I know posted on FB asking about borrowing someone’s trailer to go to a show because she didn’t want to pay the rental fee. I asked if she had enough to replace the trailer if things go sideways and she gets into an accident. I think she ended up renting.

[Paint_Party]

A couple of Christmases ago my husband bought me a new Logan Coach trailer. It is still in nearly new condition. I keep it at home, parked on my property, because any horse trailer parked at the barn eventually gets “volunteered” into use. Believe me, I’ve noticed over the years that some get returned in lovely condition, while others… not so much. Sh*t happens.

Most of the other horse owners rarely haul, and have no idea how to handle a balky loader/unloader. Yet at some point they decide to haul their own horse to the show because the slots on the van are taken. Or on a whim they want to go on a picnic trail ride in the forest with some cross-town friends. Of course, they need to borrow someone else’s trailer. That trailer will never be mine.

[Spudsmyguy]

@Paint_Party

Most of the other horse owners rarely haul, and have no idea how to handle a balky loader/unloader. Yet at some point they decide to haul their own horse to the show

Reminds me of a thing that happened a zillion years ago. I worked one day a week at Gold Coast Equestrian Center in Old Brookville and one day one of the boarders was going to a show. Gilda and the boarder tried vainly to get that horse to load and spent hours; they set up a chute, bribery, loading another horse, lunge line behind the butt, nothing was working. They tried everything to the point where it was moot trying to get to the show except to use it as a training session. I think they were still working on it when I left for the day.

[atlatl]

I’m another in the NO camp.

I’ve lent my trailer a couple of times, mostly when the trainer was taking my horse and another to ride with her trainer. I thought my trailer was safer than hers, IMO.

I’ve hauled for others as a favor, and let another person take it to a show once on the condition that it be returned in the same condition; it wasn’t. Nothing big, just enough little things that annoyed me. That person doesn’t get to borrow it again, ever. I would likely lend it another person at the barn because I’m confident they would make things right if it were damaged.

The really annoying part of these situations is people just assuming that they can borrow other people’s things. The “what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is mine” crowd. That really galls me.

[Janet]

Clanter is right.
If you are getting reduced board, it will be deemed “commercial use”, and will void your insurance unless you get commercial coverage.

Not only would you not get reimbursed if your trailer is damaged in an accident, but you would be personally liable if any horse or person were injured while using your trailer. It might also void your coverage for when you are using the trailer yourself.

[Janet]

About 20 years ago I lent my trailer to my sister. She had 2 horses entered in a local Horse Trial, and her tow vehicle was in the shop.

She left one horse in the trailer while she rode dressage with the other one. The one who was in the trailer, who was an OTTB, panicked when he heard the PA system. He reared up, then fell over and got himself jammed under the divider with his neck at such an odd angle that they at first thought it was broken. They had to call 911, and they had to use the “jaws of life” to cut out the divider and get him out. (Luckily he just had cuts and scrapes.) Since the rear support was part of the permanent structure of the trailer, that rendered the entire trailer structurally unsound.

The trailer was about 25 years old, and I was getting ready to replace it anyway, but I have never again lent out my trailer. I have occasionally hauled someone else’s horse to an activity I was already going to. But I have not, and will not, ever again lend my trailer to anyone.