I learned the hard way that the best insurance you can have when looking at used horse trailers for sale is to be prepared.

The used horse trailer market is very similar to the used car market. The difference is that there is more emotion involved because you are often under pressure from your kids who seem to have a knack of taking a fancy to a trailer that you know in your heart of hearts is not a practical buy.

The first trailer I bought was a real patsy. When we looked at it I felt that it was a bargain. I even knew the people selling it so I felt confident that they wouldn't deceive me or do anything underhand. And, to this day, I still believe that they weren't being deliberately dishonest, but...

When we looked at it everything seemed OK. The floor was covered in nice clean straw bedding, the electrics (indicator and brake lights) worked. The brake and lifting gear both functioned without much difficulty.

The problem was the floor. Under all that nice dry bedding was a damp and rotten mush which was hidden beneath a rubber mat.

The rubber mat was the real culprit. I don't think the sellers had ever looked under it. But they had always parked the trailer in a low-lying corner of their yard where water gathered underneath. Constant exposure to water had rotted the wooden floor.

It wasn't until we were boxing up for our second outing that our pony put his foot through the floor. Thank goodness we weren't traveling along when it happened.

A new floor cost more than I paid for the trailer. So my bargain was not at all what I had aticipated.

Now I have a set of guidelines which I drew up before I bought my next trailer. Now when I'm looking at used horse trailers for sale i can go straight to the best deals on ebay and be sure that I don't get ripped off by unscrupulous dealers offering used horse trailers for sale.