Tomorrow's "Horse" Adventure

[patricia024]

Hi,
Anyone out in "Cathe-land" own horses? I've been riding for a few years; still learning a lot!

Well, tomorrow morning I will be loading up 2 horses (with help, of course) into a 35 foot horse trailer with full living quarters and head to Brown County State Park in Indiana (from Michigan). It's approx. 5 hours in a car. My boyfriend is down there for work right now so I'll be meeting him there! Luckily I did drive the truck/trailer last weekend with my boyfriend to get a little "feel" for it! The only thing I'm really nervous about is the "one-lane" construction in Indiana with maximum width of 10' (the horse trailer is 8').

Any suggestions? (I will keep in mind to allow extra time for stopping and "extra" wide turns!)

Hope everyone has a great 4th of July weekend!



~~Patti~~

 

[cheval]

RE: Tomorrow's

Hey, sounds like fun!! I love horse camping. Sounds like you have a nice set-up there.

Drive slow and easy to give your horses a nice easy ride. If you think about them riding back there and giving them the smoothest ride possible, you'll drive smooth and steady. I don't really care about the other drivers behind me. I care about my horses. When they can, the other drivers can go around.

When you stop for gas, drop the windows for the horses so they can look around and offer them water at least once. Mine rarely drink on the trailer, but some do and I always offer.

Don't unload at stops. No point in putting your horses at risk and just letting them stand in the trailer is a break for them.

Put hay in the trailer for your horses to munch on. Horses are grazers and it's good to give them something in their stomach to help keep everything moving nicely inside and help prevent ulcers. If you have a pig, just give that one a flake or less when you stop so s/he has something to munch on for awhile. I have one of each. My non-pig gets a full hay manger so he can nibble when he gets the notion. The other one gets a flake at the start and another flake about every 2 hours after.

Try to plan your trip so you're not going through any major city during rush hour.

On the one lane, just keep looking ahead and go slow. You'll do fine.

I'm excited for you. Have a great time and report back on how you did! I'm planning to take one of my horses overnight camping this weekend and am really looking forward to it.

April

 

[celestialtimes]

RE: Tomorrow's

Patti,

I have horses as well and did something very similar...I have to say...I envy you! SMile.

Just drive the speed limit and stop early...if you miss your turn...just keep going until you can safely turn around.

Patience is key!
Celeste

 

[patricia024]

RE: Tomorrow's

Thanks April & Celeste for responding!

We do have the hay already for them in the trailer and a bucket available for water. Hopefully there will be a place to fill it up at a rest area. (I don't think I'll have to fill up with diesel until I meet my boyfriend south of Indy.) Luckily I'll be getting to Indianapolis around noon-1 p.m. so I'll miss rush hour. Like you said April, I can't worry about the people behind me!!! I'm leaving plenty early so I don't have to "rush"!

Enjoy the holiday!

~~Patti~~

 

[turbo1]

RE: Tomorrow's

I've been trailering my horses for about 8 yrs, the one thing I've learned is to TAKE YOUR TIME and don't let nasty, ill mannered drivers intimidate you. Be especially careful of drivers cutting in front of you, (this is my biggest pet peeve) they have no clue how dangerous that is, meaning you cannot stop as quickly as a car can. Try to stay relaxed (thats hard to do when you first start trailering horses!) Have fun and enjoy!!! Camping/riding is my all time favorite thing to do.
Before heading out make certain all your lights work, brake lights, tail lights, turn signals, etc and check your tire pressure.

 

[gwd]

RE: Tomorrow's

I hope this isn't too late to be of help but an easy way to be sure that you will have water for the horses when you stop is to purchase one or two large (5 gallon) *clean* gas cans and fill them with water from home. There are two advantages to this. First, you won't have to worry about a water source during your trip. Secondly, some horses can be very finicky about how their water tastes and it's not uncommon for a horse to refuse "strange" water...certainly seen that happen at enough horse shows .

Also, *IF* you get yourself into a situation and *MUST* stop the trailer *VERY* quickly you can drop the truck down into 2nd gear as soon as you're down to 30 mph and use the truck to aid in stopping. Don't do this above 30 mph or you'll blow your transmission and engine but it definitely works in an emergency or when descending a steep hill.

Have a safe trip and have fun!

ETA: If it's going to be hot, or even warm, be sure to provide enough air flow/ventilation during the trip. Trailers get very, very HOT in the summer. However, if you have the kind of windows that drop down so the horses can hang their heads out please, please, please don't let them ship with their heads hanging out. Eye injuries can happen all too easily with all the flying debris and you don't want to have to medicate eyes, trust me! Or, far worse, I do know of an incident in which a big rig passed too closely going the opposite direction and, well, I don't think I need to say any more on that one ;(.

 

[cheval]

RE: Tomorrow's

>I hope this isn't too late to be of help but an easy way to
>be sure that you will have water for the horses when you stop
>is to purchase one or two large (5 gallon) *clean* gas cans
>and fill them with water from home.

Good thing to take water from home. I have a 39 gallon tank as we often camp in primitive fields with no or limited access to water. I also have several 6 gallon water containers. I'd advise against getting gas cans to put water in. Get a blue or aqua colored container specifically for water. That way there is no possible way to mix up water and gas. The water containers can generally be found in the camping/rv departments of the big box stores and cost around $6 each. Some of the bigger truck stops might have them, too.

April

 

[patricia024]

RE: Tomorrow's

Hi Ladies,
I made it back from my trip! I loved driving the trailer and had no problem at all through the construction.(I sure was worried; though!) I got down to Columbus, IN at 1 p.m. and found a parking lot to wait in until my boyfriend showed up. (I know I had left a bit early at 6:45 a.m. but I wanted help loading the horses and making sure everything was set on the trailer). Well, instead of my bf's class finishing up at 2 p.m., he got down around 4:15. I didn't see him until 6 pm. I spent 5 hours "bonding" with the horses! I put my chair next to the trailer near the horse windows and that seemed to help....I think I was their "security"! lol They did great for not being able to get out and move! Numerous people stopped by to make sure I was ok.....

The trails and camping in Brown County State Park were awesome! I amazed myself at some of the steep hills Red & I went up & down on. Our longest day of riding was 6 1/4 hours. It was great!

Thanks for all of your advice! Our next "big" trip is to the Great Smoky Mountains at the end of this month! My bf will be driving then!

~~Patti~~