In my prior life, B.A. (Before Alpacas), I could not imagine towing a trailer across country. Even with growing up on a farm, because we had small stock (goats, rabbits, etc.), I had no experience with trailers. We just used the back of our Nissan truck with the camper shell to haul animals around. But I sure heard my share of harrowing trailer stories in which the term 'jack knife' was used to good effect. I somehow had the feeling that towing a trailer was way more adventure than I needed to have.
Enter the alpacas followed by the Rodeo/Chedesky fire in 2002. When the towering flames, which ultimately burned over 500,000 acres, forced friends of ours to evacuate their alpaca ranch, we realized that we needed to get serious. If an emergency struck, we had to be able to get all the animals off our place in one trip. All of a sudden I was the owner of a full-sized truck and a 16 foot stock trailer...which meant that I had to learn to pull a trailer safely.
The first time out on the road I felt like I was driving a big rig! Not only was my truck twice as high as any vehicle I had ever owned, but the trailer running behind seemed to take up the entire lane and then some. I was hugging the edge of the road, going about 30 miles under the speed limit, and sure that I would either end up in the ditch or sideswipe some on-coming car. And I was only driving 2 miles to the Safeway to use their parking lot to practice turning and backing! By the time I got there, I was shaking, sweaty, and about ready to give up.
Well, you never know what you can do until you try. Turns out I am pretty good at trailering. Since I have had to attend many alpaca shows by myself, not to mention moving to Montana and back to Arizona...it's a good thing! It did not take too long before I learned how to hook up, maneuver, back, and park the trailer. Towing it is easy. In fact, after a few hours on the road, I kind of forget the trailer is even back there.
I've also found there are many uses for trailers, now that I have one. You can pick up a big load of hay, move furniture from or to storage, make a temporary dog kennel, keep alpacas out of the weather if there is no room in the barn, set up an alpaca retail booth out of the rain if your tent blows down at a craft fair, store stuff you don't want to get wet, and even put a spare bed in it for kids when you have over-flow company.
I guess I have made my peace with towing a trailer now that we own two, the smaller one in the photo and the larger stock trailer. But you'll never catch me towing an RV! Those things are dangerous!
