Back to JournalTHE MAN BEHIND BLOOMER TRAILERS BRINGS HIS NAMESAKE BRAND TO THE HEAD OF THE PACK.
Written by Constance Dunn
If you’ve hit the pro rodeo circuit or caught an episode of TV’s Yellowstone, you’ve seen a Bloomer Trailer. And perhaps caught a glimpse of Randy Bloomer himself, the affable blue-eyed Texan behind the crème de la crème of modern horse trailers. Bloomer carved out a luxury niche in the business about quarter of a century ago when, as a trailer dealer who had years of experience working with horses, he cast a critical eye on the state of trailers—and found it wanting. He observed, for instance, that while horses had physically changed, trailer designs had not kept pace with the evolution of the equine—its target demo.
Bloomer saw an opportunity that would change his fortunes while pushing the industry towards greater heights, while also bringing animals greater comfort. “The trailer industry had gotten lethargic,” he explains, “and no one was listening to horse folk, or the horse itself.” Bloomer met with established trailer makers to communicate how things could be made better for owners and animals alike—yet his input, no matter how earnest and detailed, fell on deaf ears. In the face of such passivity, Bloomer’s instinct to act was piqued. He decided to create the best horse trailers out there; made with the best components and sporting the best designs—all keenly focused on the needs of horse and human.
“I listened to our cowboys and cowgirls and made changes accordingly, and made them that day,” states Bloomer. “Because better is better, right?” A smoother ride and improved air flow were at the top of the list of design revolutions. (“I don’t know how many hundreds of miles I rode in the back of them,” says Bloomer of the trailer-testing process). And with gleaming exteriors and sharp graphics his trailers looked darn good, too. “I wanted something to look over the top,” he says of the visual profile. “I wanted it to look like a Ferrari.”
It’s a persistent push for better and better that’s propelled the success of Bloomer Trailers since its founding—and Bloomer himself since birth.
“I wanted something to look over the top. I wanted it to look like a Ferrari.”
Discussing the origins of this trait, he chuckles, “It certainly wasn’t from my upbringing, that’s for sure. I didn’t have much guidance, so you’re kind of baptized by fire. You try a lot of things and some of them don’t work.” In the absence of direction in his formative years, Bloomer pulled from culture. “The code of the West is one of the creeds that I use in my business,” he declares. “It’s such an easy thing—it’s old-school values.” Adherence to these values no matter what, plus faith, are the fountainhead for Bloomer, and he’s keen to promote and preserve them.
“The code of the West is one of the creeds that I use in my business. It’s such an easy thing—it’s old-school values.”
Bloomer’s trailers are the official trailers of a Who’s Who of professional rodeo and Western horse organizations, and the company also extends its hand to the next generation with its Bloomer youth rodeo team, and by being the official trailer of the National High School Rodeo Association (NHSRA) and, naturally, the Texas High School Rodeo. Even wearing a cowboy hat, he points out, goes well beyond function. “There comes some responsibility with it if you take it seriously,” states Bloomer, “and there’s some moxie behind it.” Synonymous with the American West the world over, the cowboy hat, among other things—like John Wayne, for example, who Bloomer, a longtime fan, recalls as an “almost surreal” figure—represents the essential role the ranch cowboy plays in its cultural fabric, often with much less credit than is his due.
But even a person like Bloomer, born with heaps of resolve, must revisit the wellspring of his drive from time to time. Describing a tough past economic recession, when nearly a handful of his competitors had shut their doors and there were moments that he struggled to stay the course, Bloomer would do whatever it took to buoy himself for the day. To connect with his vim and vigor. “On the way to work I might crank up classic rock,” he recalls. “I felt like I owed it to my employees when I walked through that door to have a smile on and be positive. If you’re going to lead men and women, that’s what you have to do.” Spoken like a true cowboy.
Photographs courtesy of Bloomers Trailers
