Review: 41722 Horse Show Trailer
Posted by MeganL,
When I first saw 41722 Horse Show Trailer, I'll admit my reaction was not that enthusiastic. The Friends line seems to have a fixation with horses (they must be popular with the target demographic!). I was about to write off the set as this year's Friends horse set, and with an admitted eye-roll that I started building the latest addition to the Friends horse universe.
What I'd forgotten, however, is that the Friends line does feature a large vehicle every year that are usually excellent sets. 41722 is no exception, and my first impression was definitely wrong. In fact, I'd say that this is the best Friends set of the second wave that isn't a school-themed set. Read on to find all the things I found so charming with the set. (Note: for those who don't like my sloths making cameos, you'll like this review; it's sloth-free.)
Summary
41722 Horse Show Trailer, 989 pieces.
£89.99 / $99.99 / €99.99 | 9.1p/10.1c/10.1c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
A clever horse-themed set with multiple functions and maximizes space
- Cool play features
- Preferred in informal play test by 6 year old
- Yet another Friends horse set
- Price seems high
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Inside the box there are eight numbered bags, an instruction book and an instruction booklet, and a small sticker sheet. It looks like there are some needed details but also some more gratuitous decoration.
Minidolls and animals
There are three minidolls in this set, Savannah, Elijah, and Emma. While Savannah and Elijah are not part of the core Friends theme, they have been seen in several sets before. Savannah was introduced in 2021, and her torso is new in this set in a blue jacket with purple trim over a yellow shirt. As always, her faithful guide dog Goldie is with her.
Elijah was introduced earlier this year and has been seen in four sets prior to this one. He must have several copies of the same shirt, as he's worn the same one in all the sets! For this riding excursion he's got a new pair of jeans with bright green boots. Like Savannah, Emma also has a new torso - she's wearing a sleeveless zip-up vest in her signature medium lilac over a white shirt. She has white pants (she must be very confident that she won't fall in the dirt!) and black riding boots.
As the Friends will be riding horses, all of them come equipped with riding helmets.
There are two horses included in the set. As with the horse in other Friends sets this year, only the neck can be moved; the hindquarters are static. We've seen the golden palomino in 41721 Organic Farm; the medium nougat horse with black mane and tail is new to this set.
The completed model
As would be expected with a horse show, there are a number of accessories. A pair of saddles, show jumps, and some hay bales are provided for the horses. Making sure Goldie isn't left out, she has a dog bowl complete with bone.
You naturally have to have a vehicle to pull the trailer, and this jeep fits the bill. It's very colourful!
I like the "HOR5E PWR" license plate (provided by a sticker), though I notice this is the first Friends vehicle in a while that doesn't have any obvious electric vehicle signage.
Most notably, the jeep can fit four minidolls, or in this case, three minidolls and one guide dog. I like how the designer has included bright purple edging under the roof, as there clearly weren't enough different colours on this vehicle.
But now, on to the star of the show - the trailer. The main compartment is the stable area for the horses (obviously). It's not pictured, but the space behind the door is a storage area for the hay bales.
A closer look at the inside of the trailer show some of the decorations and certifications of the Friends. I like the picture of Savannah and Emma on one of the stickers, along with Emma's cat Chico.
The other side of the trailer looks rather plain, but there's much more in store.
The rear of the trailer features a water tank, as well as a ladder to get to the top of the trailer. I'm very happy to see that the Friends have a way to get the roof!
The rear doors open to show a horse prep area with miscellaneous grooming tools, along with some of the ribbons that have been won by the trailer's occupants.
Climbing the stairs to the roof, there's a low table at the ready.
Just the front of the table is a snug sleeping area for three. It looks like Emma's bed is on the left, but plenty of space for another two Friends. The bedroom area even has windows at the side and a glass roof, so the Friends can stargaze in a controlled environment.
I love all these compartments in the trailer. However, to quote the old Ronco commercials......but wait! There's more! We need to explore the front of the trailer.
One the left side of the front of the trailer, there is - of course! - a bathroom. We couldn't have a trailer set without a bathroom! We sorely missed that at the Organic Farm.
On the right side of the trailer, there's a small kitchen, with a fried egg on the stove, a small sink, and an overhead cupboard with some mugs.
I think the designer has outdone themselves in maximising the space in the trailer. Here's the trailer again, with all the spaces opened up.
And another view. I really like how all the doors can open without interfering with each other.
Overall thoughts
The Friends line generally has one larger vehicle a year, and almost without fail they are inventive and fresh and pack a lot in a limited space. The Horse Show Trailer is a worthy addition to this series. It holds lots of play value, kids will love the horses, and there are plenty of things to do. While there are some pink accents, I very much like the prevailing colour of earth blue for the trailer. And major kudos to the designer for utilising every square stud of space for the trailer. With access to five compartments, it plays much larger than it looks! I'm disappointed that there are only three minidolls for a set this size, but I suppose the horses are supposed to offset that.
Recently, my cousin's 6 year old daughter was visiting, and I invited her to take a look at all the second wave sets that I've reviewed so far this year, and asked for her thoughts. While she did like 41722 Organic Farm, the set that caught her eye and she played with for the longest was this one. When asked why she liked it so much, she mentioned the horses, the fact that you can feed them, that the Friends had somewhere to sleep and - of course - that there was a bathroom.
This is a solid, substantial set, and yet to me the price ($99.99, 989 pieces) seems high. It's the same price as 41714 Andrea's Theatre School, and yet it's difficult to compare the two, as they appeal to entirely different audiences. If your Friends aficionado is into animals and horses, then this is the set for them.
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23 comments on this article
The "H0R5E PWR" is probably the best part of this set (tongue-in-cheek, of course). However, this set seems to have been intended for Andrea judging by the overall color scheme being very uncharacteristic for Emma. Also, Emma's vest is lavender (not even medium lavender). What LEGO calls medium lilac is BrickLink's dark purple.
Another great Friends set. How do they keep doing so well? I love it when vehicles have storage spaces, especially when they have entire rooms!
It's one of those things I appreciate about the first few Star Wars waves. And campers.
How are the horses getting in and out? Did I miss something in the review or did they not put any ramps in the trailer for the horses? That is the sort thing as a child I would have thought about, but maybe that's not typical of most children.
There's a lot of details that obviously were considered like the bathroom, the table on the roof to eat at and the ladder to get up on the roof though I'm not sure how they're carrying their food to the table (hoisting it up in a bucket possibly?).
I can see this being a lot of fun to play with but I much prefer the theatre. As far as value for money, somehow vehicles look less good value than a toy building, especially one as different as a theatre.
The car looks rather small compared to the pretty massive trailer. That trailer is quite a bit bigger and better than I expected at first glance. But still.....this doesn't come close to many of the great recent Friends sets. And the price doesn't help either.
It's another really good Friends set for this year and your review is great. I hadn't realised how many different sections were accessible.
I do hope the sloths are just on a Summer holiday and appear again in the reviews. Lego should be fun and that kind of running gag is part of it.
Friends sets are usually nice looking. This looks like a kid's MOC for a Friends set, but not in a good way. You can't compare it to the "Friendship X" vehicles from previous years.
Isn’t the “table” on top of the trailer the ramp for the horses? It can be clipped to the side of the trailer.
Friends sets seem to have the most building and interesting interiors than any other line. Very impressive!
Very pleased that this review has:
> No sloths.
> A bog.
Being the nitpicker that I am, I have to point out a couple unrealistic features of this set.
First, the horses are carried sideways with regards to how they'd be carried in a real horse trailer.
Second, the jeep has the same license plate as the trailer. Missed opportunity for another horse joke, if you ask me.
Nitpicking aside, this looks lie a very nice set. I like the touches of the little feeding bins for the horses and the stargazing window.
@Paperdaisy: I was going to say they get out the same way minifigs and minidolls get to the second floor of buildings without stairs, but I think @Lego_max has the right of it.
@TheOtherMike said:
"(...)
the jeep has the same license plate as the trailer.
(...)"
Interesting! Do trailers and the vehicles towing them have separate license plates in the States? In the UK, the trailer has a number plate added to its rear that matches that of the towing vehicle. Often that number plate is scrawled in biro on cardboard...
@bananaworld said:
"Interesting! Do trailers and the vehicles towing them have separate license plates in the States? In the UK, the trailer has a number plate added to its rear that matches that of the towing vehicle. Often that number plate is scrawled in biro on cardboard..."
I don't know about other countries, but here in the Netherlands every trailer with a gross weight over 750 kg is required to have its own license plate. I imagine that's similar in many other countries.
Those cardboard license plates have now been banned over here, but for light trailers you can get a white license plate for just a few euros.
@bananaworld said:
"
@TheOtherMike said:
"(...)
the jeep has the same license plate as the trailer.
(...)"
Interesting! Do trailers and the vehicles towing them have separate license plates in the States? In the UK, the trailer has a number plate added to its rear that matches that of the towing vehicle. Often that number plate is scrawled in biro on cardboard..."
In my state, Missouri, some pick-up trucks don't have license plates over a certain weight because they expect you to haul a trailer with a plate instead... Naturally, there are a lot of people who exploit this and go around without a rear plate period so Cops can't read / identify them. (You aren't required to have a front plate for some vehicles either, from what I've been told.)
Ironically, my state is known as the "Show Me" state. I guess they should change that...
Not a bad set for big fans or Friends and minidoll style horses.
There's also 60327 : Horse Transporter for the Minifig side of things (and probably would fit a single Friends horse as well) + it brought back the minifig Saddle, and a new minifig horse color.
I personally do hope the "horse" theme gets extended a litle bit into City as well, seeing how the City set has jumping bars and riding hats for both figs.
Great review of a good-looking set! Just missing some sloths :(
Nice review Megan. Looks like a lot of play value and a lot of bricks. Big price though.
My instant reaction was that the trailer reminds me a lot of the TLM2 Disco Bus set 70828. Incidentally, on the subject of value, 70828 can currently be bought in the UK on Amazon for £38 delivered. At over 1000 pcs, including figures, light brick and gears it's brilliant value.
@Lego_max said:
"Isn’t the “table” on top of the trailer the ramp for the horses? It can be clipped to the side of the trailer."
You're right! That makes way more sense than a table...
@Lego_max said:
"Isn’t the “table” on top of the trailer the ramp for the horses? It can be clipped to the side of the trailer."
Aha, that makes a lot of sense. The Friends don't have to hoist their dinners in a bucket to sit at the non-table and the horses can get on and off safely.
I think it would be more true to real life if the ramp was built into the walls of the trailer like it would be on a real horse box but I'm guessing that they tried that and preferred the solution that we see now.
I've just noticed that something else is missing - some kind of 1x1 brown piece at the back of the horses' area. They could have put a trans yellow piece on the floor too.
@MeganL said:
" @Lego_max said:
"Isn’t the “table” on top of the trailer the ramp for the horses? It can be clipped to the side of the trailer."
You're right! That makes way more sense than a table..."
Yeah, I was going to say that when I've been to my niece's eventing competitions (dressage + stadium jumping + cross country), we didn't eat on top of the trailer.
Also, her trailer DOES have a door at the front that opens to a storage area, not a kitchen. The trailer has no "bog"/toilet though, but maybe some large trailers do. (I doubt it though.)
I noticed someone commented on the horses being in the trailer sideways (rather than facing in the direction of travel). I've actually seen trailers like that a few times. I can't imagine the horses like it, but those trailers DO exist.
It's nice enough, but the price is obscene. These "big van/ trailer" sets (horse or not) were a stretch for 70 Euro, but 100 Euro is completely bonkers.
"Note: for those who don't like my sloths making cameos, you'll like this review; it's sloth-free."
Wait, do people exist who don't like sloths???
Please bring back the sloths. Sloths are great!
interestingly there is not even a single picture of the friends on said horses.