I've found it's very easy to make mistakes when buying anything to do with horses because emotion gets in the way of hard logic.

I've found this to be especially true when buying the two most expensive "horsey" itmes, the horse itself and the horse trailer.

The first trailer we bought was a complete disaster. The seller definitely saw us coming.

What made the whole experience especially aggrivating, when we looked back, was that they had been recommended by a friend, a fellow memeber of the Pony Club.

The problem with our first trailer was the floor. It was rotten. How we failed to notice this weakness I'll never know. When we went to view the trailer it was standing in a puddle in the corner of a large stable yard and the inside was a mess. It obviously hadn't been cleaned out properly after use.

But the price was a bargain! And who can resist a bargain? Especially when it is couched in realistic rationales.

Their children had all gone off to University, the horses had been sold. So they no longer needed the horse box. They just wanted to get rid of it and use the money to buy course books for their kids.

We fell for it.

A new floor cost us more than we'd paid for the trailer.

So, how do you avoid making similar mistakes?

My ten top tips for avoiding the obvious pitfalls when buying used horse trailers are on my web site.