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Factory-made
horse trailer
had its share of problems by Delbert Trew
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In
today's world, it's hard to realize the common, tandem-axle horse
trailer came onto the public scene only about 40 years ago.
Sure, there have been homemade trailers since an abandoned Model T
differential had a wooden box wired on top with baling wire. But the
real, honest-to-goodness factory-made horse trailer is not that old.
When we hauled horses from 1939 into the 1940s we used a regular grain
truck with stock racks. Single horses were hauled in a stock rack
fitted to the bed of a pickup. Usually, you gritted your teeth at
the hot or cold weather and trotted your horse across country to your
destination.
Our first ranch tailer was a steel cage built out of an oil-field
sucker-rod mounted on a truck axle with no springs. Our trailer was
so heavy the pickups could hardly pull it, and with no springs we
could ride horseback as fast as we could pull the trailer. Out on
the highway, the trailer became outright dangerous to pull.
I think we bought our first factory-made horse trailer from Bud Berry
on Amarillo Boulevard at the Fritch Highway intersection. It was a
Hale trailer with a wooden floor, wooden sideboards mounted in a steel
frame and was a dream to pull down the highway.
Not so out on the ranch because every feed road was laid out with
wagons long ago and had ruts so deep the new trailer dragged high
center continually.
Welders like Glenn Studebaker of Pampa made a living building new
rear pickup bumpers that were stout enough to pull the loaded horse
trailers. Other adjustments had to be made as most ranch horses didn't
like this newfangled, rattling contraption.
Ranchers and cowboys paid a price for this time-saving device as they
quickly learned to fix flats. Tire tools, jacks, tire-patching stuff,
a portable air tank and an air compressor became a common sight in
rural shops.
Some days, the horse-trailer owner spent half his time cussing flat
tires or trying to load his stubborn livestock. Other times, his normal
day's work could be finished in half the time by utilizing his wonderful
new horse trailer.
Ironically, the Old West horse that stood patiently tied to the hitching
post at the local saloon awaiting his owner was now replaced by a
trailer load of horses waiting patiently outside the local coffee
shop for their owners to "saucer and blow." Some things never change.
© Delbert
Trew
"It's All Trew"
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July 1, 2005 column
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