New trailer...

This is the dressing room. The grey area in the lower left corner, is a built-in "Boot" box storage area.




Rear view...


rear tack area...


The dressing room is on the driver's side. This is a switch from the other trailer, and the spare tire is inside the dressing room.

While in S. Carolina, Farmers Insurance sent out an adjuster from Atlanta to inspect the damage to my trailer. He totaled it on the spot. We then proceeded to load it down with furniture, and drove back to Ike torn Texas. It took several days after we returned for the insurance company to decide how much to pay, and find a local, Texas agent to handle the claim. We were back in Texas by Friday, 9/19, and I didn't get the check for the trailer till the following Wednesday. I missed a couple of days work because of having no trailer, and, when we got the trailer unhitched, the ball on the hitch was bent. I took the truck to where the hitch was installed, and they inspected the rest of the hitch, which is under the bed of the truck. Aside from the bent ball and a bent eye bolt for the safety chains, the hitch was fine.
I found a used, 4 horse slant load trailer for $2,000 over what the insurance company paid me. Sounds bad, right? Not so. The "New" trailer is aluminum, with a rear tack, larger dressing room, taller inside, and a nice upgrade from my old steel one. I had hoped for one with an electric jack, to make hitching, and unhitching easier, but I can deal with that. The new trailer is a 2003 model, Excess Sport. I love the larger dressing room, and the rear tack means my saddles aren't in my camping space. The old trailer had a walk-through door between the dressing room and the horse area. The new one doesn't, but with the larger area in the dressing room, I can have my potty, my chair, and still have room to move around.

On a different note, Birdie passed his mounted patrol test, so I can now work more hours. He has been ridden at work 4 days, and is starting to get the idea about "Potty Training". This is a good thing, cause at 16.2 hands, he is hard to get on from the ground, and if he "goes" in the wrong place, I have to dismount, clean it up, and remount.

Daughter and son-in-law have filed their law suit on behalf of their son over his right to wear his hair in 2 braids, outside of his shirt. The judge called for a hearing the very next day, and he is back in the regular classroom, until the next hearing. Yeah!!! He is on a field trip today that he would have missed if he was still in ISS. The next hearing is a week from tomorrow.