I'd like to hear from others on opinions on the best combination of both quality trailer manufacturing, including animal safety, and human creature comforts. Also, how about customization? Which manufacturers are most receptive to that - both in the horse and human areas? I would like a 4-horse aluminum trailer with around 14' short wall luxury living quarters. I will be spending quite a bit of time in this trailer and will consider it a "second home." I currently have a 1996 4-H Featherlite with 8' living quarters. and am looking to upgrade to a larger living arrangement with more bells and whistles for extended stays. I've been quite happy with my Featherlite as far as quality construction, but do feel the living quarters are less than what I desire for my current lifestyle. 

Thanks in advance!

Sue 

I would go with something like this   http://www.precisionquarters.net/

Add a skylight over the bunk that will double as an escape hatch. If you ever have a fire while you're in the bunk...you're toast!

RIDE ON!

 Hmm...wasn't this the one you were asking us about a couple months ago? You should have someone look into proofreading that website before doing all of this advertising for them. That seriously says alot about a company. Especially one where attention to detail is so important.

The pictures do look nice, though.

There really are a million and one different ways you can go. If you could possibly wait until Congress, that would be the ultimate place to shop, of course (as I'm sure you know)!

Check this one out (They are site sponsers) You can get trailer and LQ from them. Great people, high quality workmanship.  

    http://www.whinnycargo.com/

Thanks for the replies, everyone. Things have changed quite a bit since I bought my Featherlite ten years ago. LOTS of advances.

In reference to the RV conversion, I knew a lady that used to regularly transport her two horses to competitions in the back of her RV. I was always facinated by that - especially since I don't believe this was a professional conversion. If I am not mistaken, her husband was very handy, and he did the conversion himself. She transported this way for years, and it was apparently very safely done (she was picky about the care of her horses)!

I see a lot of responses from Kentucky folks. Do any of you know if we still have any major manufacturer trailer dealers in Kentucky? I remember we used to have a Sundowner dealer, I believe in Bullitt County, but I no longer see that dealership from I-65 when I pass the area.  

Sue

There are some things that you should know before buying a trailer and a Living Quarters.  First and foremost, if you would like a truely custom LQ you need to have the Trailer built to house it.  It will save you money when putting the LQ in the trailer, because of less labor the LQ company has to endure because of framing being put in the proper locations.  Another MAJOR thing is possibly voiding the warranty on whatever type of trailer you would like to buy.  Some LQ companies are not allowed and or qualified to perform work on some types of trailers.  That is question you should ask the dealer/ manufacturer that you are working with.  Also there are some types of trailers that are more designed/ user friendly towards LQ Companies, the ones that I know of are Stidham, Hart, CM, Integrity.  All of which are nice trailers, it just depends upon what type of trailer you prefer.  I am part of JNJ Conversions & Trailer Sales, and we deal with this type of situation all of the time.  We would enjoy the opportunity to help you in any way that we can, even if you have questions of how different trailer are built, or how LQ's are really put together!  I would recomend looking at the types of trailers that I listed above, in my opinion they are worth looking at!  Please take a look at website, and Like I said I  would love the opportunity to help you any way that I can!  www.jnjconversions.com  ~Good Luck, And I Hope to Hear from you!~

Well, shucks, retento, I don't have a crew to haul my horse, and I don't go to shows with my horses (not for years, anyway). I gave that up in favor of endurance racing. When I did show horses, I trained them, and cleaned up their poop, both inside the trailer and out myself! I do the same for my endurance horses. What shows I do attend happen to be alpaca shows. We have a herd of about 50 and attend some 8-10 alpaca shows around the country each year. My hotel (usually 2-3 star, by the way ;) costs are pretty high once I pay for rooms and meals for both myself, my children and a staff member, so I thought I could put a few extra bucks into a nice living quarters trailer instead of the $6000-$7000 I'm spending a year in hotel costs. An added bonus would be that my accomodations would be on-site - a nice plus considering the very long hours alpaca shows entail.

One of the reasons I ask about customization is just not solely for the living quarters -- though I still want the bells and whistles in those - perhaps even a Lazyboy! I'm a bit curious about what manufacturers will build a custom trailer from scratch. Right now, I have two trailers - one for the alpacas, and one for horses. I'd like to scale that down to just one trailer, but it might be nice to have some customization done by the manufacturer in the form of removable horse panels that can be replaced with panels suitable for alpacas. We also have our 4-Star stock combo upgraded with full insulation, an air conditioner, fans and pull-out vents (like you usually see in the roofs of horse trailers) low- at face level for the alpacas. I'll need these features incorporated into my new trailer, if in fact I can pull off the feat of having just one trailer. 

Naturally, money is always an object, but the subject title does express my interest in wanting high quality and creature comforts. By the way, anybody know of a manufacturer that installs helicopter landing pads atop luxury living quarters horse trailers?

Hee-hee.... don't we all. Now that's a trailer that deserves a helicopter strapped to it's roof.

I''m sure most large trailer companies will built what you want.Contact a Sooner dealer and have them contact Lonny at Sooner and he'll build whatever you want.

I just bought a C&C and they made it to my specifications.  Custom to the point of taking away inches from one place and adding to another.  They offered options as far as type of dividers and type of ramps and doors.  My cost for the trailer was around the same amount of a few other trailers I had priced out including 4 star custom, dream coach custom, sundowner line made, featherlite line made and sooner line made.  I found that the line made trailers you can get slightly lower cost but they charge out the wazoo when you go to changing things.  So those that say custom is a whole lot more expensive, it is not what I found in my trailer buying experience.

The only downside is that C&C themselves does not do the inside of living quarters.  They will brace for everything needced in the places you state, but to complete the inside you can get it sent to one of the conversion companies from them and pick your trailer up from there.  My dealer arranged for everything on the new trailer my friend custom ordered and she just went and picked the trailer up totally turnkey complete from him.  My trailer is waiting for the living quarters area because I want kind of an unusual set up and have a local guy that is going to do it. 

Hey Sue,

We do install custom living quarters and most of our living quarters are in Featherlites.  We work with the largest Featherlite dealerships in the world, Don Johnson Trailer Sales, Inc. in Walla Walla, WA. http://www.thetrailerplace.com/

I would love to talk to more about your ideas, please contact us at http://www.jr-interiors.com/ or Don Johnson Trailer Sales, Inc.

Sincerely,

Jim