Don't know what they were but they had white bodies and black heads.
Trailer Wishlist
- Thread starter Margali
- Start date
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Sounds like someone's Dorpers wandered into your yard. Ear tags? Did the owner show up eventually?
I didn't notice any ear tags or just don't remember. Called the brand inspector and they didn't want to deal with the sheep until another rancher wanted them. Brand inspector located the owners and picked up the sheep for them. Owners lived around 20 miles away as the crow flies. Quite possible the sheep may have been pastured closer to here.
Don't actually know if the brand inspector actually turned the sheep over to the owners or not.
Here they brand sheep and I cannot remember if those sheep were branded or not but I suspect they were branded.
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Might have charged a fee to the owners since they were estrays.
@Margali:
If you were planning to use the trailer mainly for taking sheep to shows, you might consider a 5th wheel toy hauler. They have living quarters in front and large open garage type areas in back where people normally load and carry dirt bikes etc. I knew a woman who bought one to travel to dairy goat shows. They have a door from the living quarters into the "garage" space and often have extra overhead bunks that can be lowered down in that space too. My friend divided up the open area with stock panels to transport her goats. She even made a small miking area for when she was traveling. It is possible that type of trailer might fit your purposes better for combined family camping and sheep shows. Plus you can leave the campground in the truck to sightsee, shop, etc., without having to break camp with the camper to do those things. Of course, it will still be a very large trailer as opposed to a 16' stock when you simply want to transport sheep to auction, etc.
Another friend bought a used gooseneck trailer and outfitted the front over-the-cab area with a bed. Then he put in cabinets, a porta potty, sink, fridge, and camp stove. They used it to go horse camping with friends. Rough but usable and worked out cheaper doing the work themselves. You couldn't live in it, but nice for camping.
Lots of possibilities to suit you out there. Often trailer companies will take their larger trailers and specialty trailers to big Fairs and livestock shows to show them to fairgoers. Those trailers will be available for purchase with pic up after the last day of the show. Sometimes those units will be at a discounted price since the mfgr doesn't want to haul them home. If nothing else you can look at several models to see if you like them.
FYI Don't worry about bathing facilities in the trailers since most Fairgrounds have shower facilities on site, and so do most parks and campgrounds.
@Margali:
If you were planning to use the trailer mainly for taking sheep to shows, you might consider a 5th wheel toy hauler. They have living quarters in front and large open garage type areas in back where people normally load and carry dirt bikes etc. I knew a woman who bought one to travel to dairy goat shows. They have a door from the living quarters into the "garage" space and often have extra overhead bunks that can be lowered down in that space too. My friend divided up the open area with stock panels to transport her goats. She even made a small miking area for when she was traveling. It is possible that type of trailer might fit your purposes better for combined family camping and sheep shows. Plus you can leave the campground in the truck to sightsee, shop, etc., without having to break camp with the camper to do those things. Of course, it will still be a very large trailer as opposed to a 16' stock when you simply want to transport sheep to auction, etc.
Another friend bought a used gooseneck trailer and outfitted the front over-the-cab area with a bed. Then he put in cabinets, a porta potty, sink, fridge, and camp stove. They used it to go horse camping with friends. Rough but usable and worked out cheaper doing the work themselves. You couldn't live in it, but nice for camping.
Lots of possibilities to suit you out there. Often trailer companies will take their larger trailers and specialty trailers to big Fairs and livestock shows to show them to fairgoers. Those trailers will be available for purchase with pic up after the last day of the show. Sometimes those units will be at a discounted price since the mfgr doesn't want to haul them home. If nothing else you can look at several models to see if you like them.
FYI Don't worry about bathing facilities in the trailers since most Fairgrounds have shower facilities on site, and so do most parks and campgrounds.
No, this is a fence them out state. Owners of livestock are not required to fence in their animals with the exception being that those in an area that has deed or HOA restrictions requiring livestock to be fenced in.
The laws here were written by ranchers for their benefit.
SageHill
Herd Master
What a great idea using a toy hauler!!
Ridgetop
Herd Master
This was before living quarters horse trailers became common. Until then the best thing in horse trailers was a large dressing room and tack area. Most living quarters in horse trailers are too small for more than one or 2 people to do anything. They are not very comfortable since there is no good seating and minimal cooking/bathroom facilities. The toy haulers had comfortable trailer living accommodations. Since she was showing and transporting dairy goats, they took less space than horses and their poop (goat berries) were easier to sweep up and clean. It wouldn't work if you were showing horses or cattle. It worked great for her since she traveled long distances to show and could actually pull up in a rest stop, walk through the trailer to feed, water, and milk without unloading any animals.
CLSranch
Herd Master
Toy haulers are nice.... If you have money to burn. That's getting a whole lot of fancy, expensive, heavy, meaning more fuel to pull, harder to climb a hill and more breaks to stop and $$$$$. I've read a lot of suggestions that are a bit ecentric for a 14'-16' need.
I have a 30' travel trailer. I got one so big because I may live in it for 10 months a year and need room for the wife and kids to come visit. I know lots of people who don't mind spending $60k MORE than I did and another $30k on their truck but they have to then live on the road to pay for it, instead of enjoying their time at home once the layoff comes. I always mention that's a whole lot of trailer to stop if something goes wrong.
My gooseneck horse trailer with an 8' short wall is more than big enough for me the wife and 3 kids to go camping. Even with a play pen up if bad weather. Usually it's a 14' and a tent. I've gone to events with several adults staying in it, even had other camps over in the back when it rained and had plenty of room. Water tank on top made a gravity shower in the back. You don't need it to be bigger than a hotel room. If so, get a little trailer and a hotel room and you don't have to haul it, or make payments in the off season. Just my .02
I have a 30' travel trailer. I got one so big because I may live in it for 10 months a year and need room for the wife and kids to come visit. I know lots of people who don't mind spending $60k MORE than I did and another $30k on their truck but they have to then live on the road to pay for it, instead of enjoying their time at home once the layoff comes. I always mention that's a whole lot of trailer to stop if something goes wrong.
My gooseneck horse trailer with an 8' short wall is more than big enough for me the wife and 3 kids to go camping. Even with a play pen up if bad weather. Usually it's a 14' and a tent. I've gone to events with several adults staying in it, even had other camps over in the back when it rained and had plenty of room. Water tank on top made a gravity shower in the back. You don't need it to be bigger than a hotel room. If so, get a little trailer and a hotel room and you don't have to haul it, or make payments in the off season. Just my .02
Ridgetop
Herd Master
We always had a big truck so a used camper with bumper pull trailers made sense. That's why we bought a 12' Lance camper - used but in xlt condition. The seller had done some upgrades too. His wife had rheumatoid arthritis so they were going into a motor home she could climb into easier. Got over 12 years use out of it both camping, dairy goat shows, and Fairs, staying in it for up to several weeks at a time. When the kids graduated from 4-H and no more Fairs or livestock shows, we bought our 30' 5th wheel. We still had the camper for me to take horse camping with my trail group. We have traveled a lot of miles in the 5th wheel and lived in that for several months at a time. Two of our sons (linemen) borrowed and lived in it for months at different times when working out of town. We have also used it for extra housing when our kids moved and were between houses, or when the whole family came into town for weddings, etc. We have gotten over 17 years use out of it. We keep all our vehicles and trailers in good condition and have gotten our money's worth out of both.
Personally I wouldn't have a toy hauler either, it's a lot of BIG trailer for a specific purpose. The lady I was referring to was a professional livestock fitter and traveled with her own animals and others to shows all over the state and farther. Gas was cheaper then too. I wouldn't have a living quarters horse trailer either for the same reason although a lot of horse show and rodeo people use them. It is what you need for the job. I like to use what is cheapest for my budget and fits the purpose. We use the truck without the camper or trailers to haul feed, equipment, building supplies, etc. We used the camper as living quarters for camping trips, Fairs, livestock shows and extra sleeping quarters for the kids when we needed extra beds for visiting family. Now for more comfort camping we have our 5th wheel. For additional ranch cargo space we have a larger gooseneck livestock hauler.
When we first started with horses we rented horse trailers, then went to small used MiIey horse trailer. We had an old pop up Alaskan camper on a utility bed GMC that we puled it with. The camper was permanently attached which meant it was an overpriced uncomfortable motorhome without a toilet. But it was free from DFIL. LOL. We still had a truck and later we replaced the GMC with a Lance camper that we took off when it was not being used. Then we added the 16' stock trailer when the dairy goat herd got too big for the Miley. The other trailers were added as the need arose and our budget allowed.
One thing, I would always suggest looking used first before buying new. We only bought new when the sales price was better than what we could find used. There are always deals to be had. No need to rush in to buy something too soon. And the more you use different combinations, the more you know what works and what doesn't for your family and the use when you finally decide to buy.
Personally I wouldn't have a toy hauler either, it's a lot of BIG trailer for a specific purpose. The lady I was referring to was a professional livestock fitter and traveled with her own animals and others to shows all over the state and farther. Gas was cheaper then too. I wouldn't have a living quarters horse trailer either for the same reason although a lot of horse show and rodeo people use them. It is what you need for the job. I like to use what is cheapest for my budget and fits the purpose. We use the truck without the camper or trailers to haul feed, equipment, building supplies, etc. We used the camper as living quarters for camping trips, Fairs, livestock shows and extra sleeping quarters for the kids when we needed extra beds for visiting family. Now for more comfort camping we have our 5th wheel. For additional ranch cargo space we have a larger gooseneck livestock hauler.
When we first started with horses we rented horse trailers, then went to small used MiIey horse trailer. We had an old pop up Alaskan camper on a utility bed GMC that we puled it with. The camper was permanently attached which meant it was an overpriced uncomfortable motorhome without a toilet. But it was free from DFIL. LOL. We still had a truck and later we replaced the GMC with a Lance camper that we took off when it was not being used. Then we added the 16' stock trailer when the dairy goat herd got too big for the Miley. The other trailers were added as the need arose and our budget allowed.
One thing, I would always suggest looking used first before buying new. We only bought new when the sales price was better than what we could find used. There are always deals to be had. No need to rush in to buy something too soon. And the more you use different combinations, the more you know what works and what doesn't for your family and the use when you finally decide to buy.
