Precisely my point TX.

By the way did you get my message in your inbox?

I pretty much agree.
I have a Silver Star which is not a widely known brand but they make an excellent trailer!

However, I don't (won't) own anything that would paw, kick, bite or be destructive.  They all haul well, so a moderately priced trailer works fine for me.

eta:  I haul a LOT.

It all depends on what you're willing to pay for. Soft walls,fireplaces and plasma TVs are great but but only if thats what you want and can afford in a trailer. When I am at a 4 day show,I don't spend alot of time in the trailer. I am certainly not living in it more like staying there til I get home. I wanted a solid trailer with a nice, functional LQ. I like my Exiss, it what i needed at a price I could justify. I am not concerned about resale other than if and when I trade up, I should think how I care for the unit and its overall condition would make more of a differnce than brand.

This was where I was going with my post about the compenents all being the same in the different trailers.  I think its most important to pick a trailer with the horse features and quality you need structurally, then select a living quarters package.  Its going to be the layout of the living quarters that will matter more than who does it, what I tried to get across earlier is all the mechanical components of the living quarters trailers are going to be very similar or identical, no matter what the brand of trailer.  A Dometic fridge in a Trails West is going to be the same Dometic fridge in a Sundowner.  Hope that makes sense.....

of course your planned useage makes a difference as well as your maintance. Most problems get bigger if things aren't taken care of ASAP...and i am just as gulity as the next guy leaving things until "later". One would expect tha a high priced rig should last longer and be of a higher quality yet we all know sh%@ happens. What something is worth depends entirely on you and what your willing to spend.

My trailer is recreational in the sense I do go every weekend to shows ( for the most part) some are about 3 hours away. Not much compaired to you but I haven't been disappointed in the least.

I agree that structure is important. It is to me even though I use my trailer for recreational purposes. I bought my trailer as a keeper for numerous years and I don't want to have to find a dealer to service it constantly. But, I also think the LQ is important. I know the components may be the same brand but I think the way they are installed can make a difference. I don't want a shower that leaks or a bed where I hit my head when I sit up. I don't want plastic parts in place of metal or a piece of webbing as a bumper for my horse. I have seen these in some of the newer trailers and decided to invest my money in a used trailer that is structurally sound.

I use my trailer different than a lot of you. Most of these high end trailers never leave the black top. So they have a different purpose in mind. So what's good quality to man who rodeos 200 days a year, is not the same as good quality to me.

I never park in a fairground parking lot.

During the week I haul 20-40 minutes away and do an evening rides in the mountains to condition my horses. So my trailer needs to be easy to hook up and go.

Weekends I head for the mountains. Usually the end of a Forest Service gravel road. Occassional endurance or CTR ride often in another state.

Fall is hunting season and again finds me parked at remote trail heads. Where I ride all day and return to the trailer for dinner and bed.  TV reception usually is non-existent, so evening are spent standing around a campfire.

I need a trailer that

1. won't rattle apart going down gravel roads.

2. compact and with good ground clearance to navigate rough roads.

3. Since I'm fighting a loosing battle to keep my daughters and wife along. A few creature comforts helps bribe them to join me for the weekend. I like the heater, Wife and girls require the bathroom. Wife enjoys reading a book under the Awning

4. Awning is a must. In the mountains I don't need the A/C, But the trailer gets warm in the sun. The awning gives you extra living space to spread out.  It keeps the rain off the area right in front of the door, so I don't track as much mud in.

5.Gotta clean up easy. Teenage daughter can mess it up real fast. Couple of guys huting in 2 feet of snow in October make a real mess.

Bottom line, I won't spend $75,000 on a high end trailer, But the $25k I spent on a small brand weekender trailer serves me well.  evaluate how you will use your trailer and decide features are most important to you.

I am on my 2nd Classic Trailer. The 1st trailer I kept for 5 years. Nothing wrong with it. I had one weld break on the catwalk along the side. The door stop/catch that held the Dressing room door open was a little underdesigned. It was a 3 horse GN trailer with no LQ.

So I bought a bigger trailer with a Weekend LQ package. It has a 24' box vs the 1st trailer's 19 foot box. Nothing fancy. But it does have a bath room for the girls, a built in furnace, a radio/CD player. I haul a generator in the truck bed and the girls use it to make Top Ramin noodles or popcorn. It's got a 19' awning and a water tank in the hayrack for the horses and 20 gallon tank under the coach.

As far as the Mayor of SLC. I could really hijack this thread and waste a lot of time. I let it lie.

TX, if you spend 200 days a year rodeoing. Then you probably spent a few days here in Utah. The Legacy Center in Farmington is a favorite stop over for cowboys working the rodeos around the west in the summer. With the big rodeos in Ogden & Salt Lake for the 24th of July and It's a 5 hour drive up to Boise or Cheyenne.  We see a lot of cowboys come out from Texas, OK etc and they base camp here for 2 weeks or so and make short hops to all the area rodeos.

This was my 1st classic trailer parked in Southern Utah. I frequently tie my horses to the trailer. As you can see, sometimes there is no place to highline them.