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 Born not Made
Posts: 2937
   
Location: North Dakota | Does anyone do it? And if so, what's your tricks?
My biggest concern is what I would do with my horse in case I can't get a stall at the race. I don't have any portable panels for the trailer. I could jimmy-rig a little pen with some small posts and wire or string, but honestly I'd be scared he would walk through it because it wouldn't be electrified. I feel really bad just leaving him tied to the trailer overnight because he would not be able to lay down, or I guess I could put him inside the trailer. He'd still have to be tied because I have a slant load and I wouldn't want him to get "stuck" trying to turn around, or panic.
Ideas?
For myself, I can try to find a hotel room for the night ... but I would only do that if I got a stall for him. I'd never leave him tied to the trailer with me not there. I can throw an air mattress in the gooseneck of my dressing room. And then just "redneck it" (that means no shower!!).
So just curious if anyone else has gone to a 2-day barrel race without a living quarters and what you did.
Edited by r_beau 2014-05-14 2:30 PM
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 Dog Resuce Agent
Posts: 3459
Location: southeast Texas | I slept in back seat of truck.
You could sweep out trailer and put a cot back there.
Plan on finding a portable elec fence charger. If your horse knows about that, and rig up a pen. |
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 Miss Laundry Misshap
Posts: 5271
| There is nothing wrong with tying your horse to the trailer over night. There is also nothing wrong with not showering for 24 hours. Shower in the morning before you leave, shower when you get home.
I've gone to 3 day races without a shower because of the cold! No way I was getting my booty and head wet in 39 degree temps in a trailer! You can bet it was the first thing I did when I got home, but everyone else was dirty too. Who really cares? I'm out to barrel race, not win a smell good beauty contest.
We used to take a tent. Now we have a matress in our gooseneck, it has no living quarters, but we use a bale in a bag as a couch, and have a dorm fridge and microwave from walmart. We also have a cupboard. Like going from the Super 8 to the Comfort Inn! One day I'm going to move to the "Hilton" with real live living quarters! |
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Born not Made
Posts: 2937
Location: North Dakota | Nateracer - 2014-05-14 2:40 PM Now we have a matress in our gooseneck, it has no living quarters, but we use a bale in a bag as a couch, and have a dorm fridge and microwave from walmart.
What did you do to get electrical in your trailer for the dorm fridge and microwave?
I can certainly live off foods that don't need to be refridgerated or heated for 48 hours, so it wouldn't be a necessity. Only thing that would be nice is to have a freezer of some sort because I do like to use ice boots on my horse after a run (that I normally keep in a cooler). Not sure if I could get them to "re-freeze" by just dumping new ice into a cooler (if it's really hot out) although he could go without for one day.
Any recommendations on a portable electric fence? (or at least the source, I can get the wire and posts myself) He is used to electric fence and respects it so that wouldn't be a problem. I would just really like to give him the option to lay down .... although who knows, he might not lay down anyway.
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Miss Laundry Misshap
Posts: 5271
| We took it to a trailer dealership, I think it was actually a camper place and had them install a breaker box and a couple of sets of plugs as well as the air conditioner. |
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 Undercover Amish Mafia Member
Posts: 9992
Location: Kansas | I either sleep in the back of the cab...or put a blow up mattress in the neck with lots of blankets and pillows....only because I have to sleep with a million pillows LOL (no seriously). And I'll take a shower on the arena grounds (if they have any in the bathrooms) |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 832
Location: Kansas (but Great Lakes member since 1978) | Traveled for a long time by roughing it. My horses were use to being tied to the trailer and they even lay down to rest but be sure to get them use to that at home and not when you are away. We got into the "baby powder" kick cause you smell fine and don't feel dirty. Had living quarters for a long time now but we still have some very fond memories of our "old days".... lots of laughs from back then. |
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 Tried and True
Posts: 21185
Location: Where I am happiest | There are a bazillion rodeo's with no stalls for the horses. They stay tied to the trailer and actually do just fine. Hang a hay bag, keep it full and hang a water bucket from a tie ring or the bars on the trailer window. If you feel better having him in the trailer, just remove the dividers so he has the whole trailer and bed it with shavings really good. He'll be comfortable and well rested. We've done it for years. |
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 Vodka for Lunch
Location: Lala Land | We are looking into an affordable camper. |
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| i've been wanting to hang a hammock in my slant of my bumper pull trailer for this... seems like an easy solution to me!! and then i wouldn't be squished to were i couldn't strech out in truck back seat |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 832
Location: Kansas (but Great Lakes member since 1978) | Here are a few tricks we use to do when we use to rodeo "roughing it style".
5 gallon water jug, paint it black and set it in the sun.... makes for a nice warm bath. We would get two big buckets and soap up in one and then rinse off in the other. We later got a little RV water pump and would put the hose of it in the jug and made a "cowboy shower". It was way better than cold.
I already mentioned the baby powder.
Make sure your trailer doesn't have any leaks over your bed area.... I use to caulk my old trailer but the new "spray on stuff" you see on TV and can get at Wally World actually works great and you can get it in clear so it doesn't look bad if you happen to spray it over the edge some.
An ice chest with goodies.
Take some extra shaving in case it rains and your horse happens to be living in a mud hole.... won't dry it up but will help make it less of a mess.
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Veteran
Posts: 113
| Tie out or.. I used step-in posts and some rope as a pen. But my horses don't test fence very readily.
I've slept on the dressing room flow of my trailer a few times.
If you don't have a freezer, forgo the ice boots and just cold hose instead.
Pack PBJ's, cold cut sandwiches, granola bars, fruit... you'll be fine for a couple of days. Eat at the concession stand.
If you want to shower, shower on the grounds if they have them. Or buy one of those bag camp showers and hang it in the back of your trailer.
:) It can be done. And is done every weekend by tons of cowgirls.
Edited by runaround 2014-05-14 3:42 PM
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Born not Made
Posts: 2937
Location: North Dakota | goldcard - 2014-05-14 3:35 PM Here are a few tricks we use to do when we use to rodeo "roughing it style". 5 gallon water jug, paint it black and set it in the sun.... makes for a nice warm bath. We would get two big buckets and soap up in one and then rinse off in the other. We later got a little RV water pump and would put the hose of it in the jug and made a "cowboy shower". It was way better than cold. I already mentioned the baby powder. Make sure your trailer doesn't have any leaks over your bed area.... I use to caulk my old trailer but the new "spray on stuff" you see on TV and can get at Wally World actually works great and you can get it in clear so it doesn't look bad if you happen to spray it over the edge some. An ice chest with goodies. Take some extra shaving in case it rains and your horse happens to be living in a mud hole.... won't dry it up but will help make it less of a mess.
Love these tips. Thanks!!
Anyone else?
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 Hog Tie My Mojo
Posts: 4847
Location: Opelousas, LA | goldcard - 2014-05-14 3:35 PM Here are a few tricks we use to do when we use to rodeo "roughing it style". 5 gallon water jug, paint it black and set it in the sun.... makes for a nice warm bath. We would get two big buckets and soap up in one and then rinse off in the other. We later got a little RV water pump and would put the hose of it in the jug and made a "cowboy shower". It was way better than cold. I already mentioned the baby powder. Make sure your trailer doesn't have any leaks over your bed area.... I use to caulk my old trailer but the new "spray on stuff" you see on TV and can get at Wally World actually works great and you can get it in clear so it doesn't look bad if you happen to spray it over the edge some. An ice chest with goodies. Take some extra shaving in case it rains and your horse happens to be living in a mud hole.... won't dry it up but will help make it less of a mess.
The bags of pellet shavings work awesome for drying up mudholes. Just stomp them in to the mud put a regular bag over them if you want. In an hour or so the ground will be almost dry. |
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 Keeper of the King Snake
Posts: 7622
Location: Dubach, LA | Nateracer - 2014-05-14 2:40 PM There is nothing wrong with tying your horse to the trailer over night. There is also nothing wrong with not showering for 24 hours. Shower in the morning before you leave, shower when you get home.
I've gone to 3 day races without a shower because of the cold! No way I was getting my booty and head wet in 39 degree temps in a trailer! You can bet it was the first thing I did when I got home, but everyone else was dirty too. Who really cares? I'm out to barrel race, not win a smell good beauty contest.
We used to take a tent. Now we have a matress in our gooseneck, it has no living quarters, but we use a bale in a bag as a couch, and have a dorm fridge and microwave from walmart. We also have a cupboard. Like going from the Super 8 to the Comfort Inn! One day I'm going to move to the "Hilton" with real live living quarters!
We could haul together! Back in the day, none of us had living quarters. |
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Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
| I do it in a 2 horse bumper pull. I have a dressing room, but there's no ventilation and that concerns me, fumes from other campers/generators and it just gets stuffy in general.
So I sleep in the horse portion. I pick the poop and wet spots out, spread the shavings evenly but pull them away from the walls, then I lay a tarp down and lay landscape timbers along the edge to hold it down (helps prevent dust and shavings blowing around at night because my AC is the drop downs and open slats on the trailer!) Sometimes I'll spray a little water out of my water tank on them if they are the real dusty kind, I do that prior to hauling anyway for the sake of the pony.
Then I have a twin size memory foam mattress topper that we kept when we upgraded to a bigger bed, I lay that down, and then a sleeping bag on top. I keep telling myself to buy a cot, but I don't stay overnight much so this works for now. Luckily I've only had to do this at facilities with showers and such, but baby wipes and powder work just fine in my book - it's a rodeo not a fashion show! I stayed 2 nights like this at Lincoln for Bonus race and it worked out well, I figured I'd hurt like heck by the end of the weekend but I was actually very comfortable. We also installed a sliding latch up high on the back trailer doors so I could lock myself in since I travel alone. Pretty cozy little set up.
We have some pens that ride on the big trailer that are PVC and slide over step in posts, those are real nice. But most of the rodeo girls us electric tape and step in posts with a charger, or just tie their horses. Ours usually won't lay down in unfamiliar places, at least that's been my experience, and they don't seem any worse for wear if they don't. We tie them a little long so they can rest their heads lower, but not so long that they could sniff out a place to lay down or get a leg over the rope. |
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 Expert
Posts: 5293
| Look up a Zodi Portable shower if thats a priority. I had one for years before the LQ. They use those little camping sized propane bottles and make INSTANT hot hot hot water!!!! I sold my LQ and LOVE roughing it again. |
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| If the ground has wash stocks for the horses you can put a pair of shorts on and wash there. rinse your body the best you can with soap and the hose and wash your hair. I always felt better if I could at least have my head washed. I would take t-post and make a make-shift pen for my horses. i used regular rope (but they were so gentle you could put lawn chairs in front of them and they wouldn't walk over them) if you are worried about the fence with rope you can also put the fence wrap (the orange stuff you see at some construction sites) on the outside of the make-shift pen. But really the pen is only good if the horse is calm and used to being hauled like that. As for me I would either sleep in the front of the slant or when I was pulling the bumper pull I would take a tent and sleep in it. i would buy the cheap dollar store mattress floats and blow them up and put my sleeping bag on top of it. better than sleeping on the ground. |
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 Not Afraid to Work
Posts: 4717
| I only have a bumper pull. Ive slept in my truck and ive slept under the topper on an air mattress.
I've tied out or I bought 4 portable panels and strapped them to the side of the trailer resting on the bumper. Works great for overnight. Ive also kept my horse in the trailer in rainy weather. |
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 Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
Location: Phoenix | We rodeo all weekend in a dry gooseneck. Shower before you leave. Pack a cooler with ice. Being a gallon or two of water for brushing teeth, washing face. Sleep in nose of trailer or fold down back seat of truck and sleep there. Horses are fine tied to the trailer. Mine actually DONT stock up tied to trailer but WILL if stalled on concrete. Go out to eat dinner, pack food for breakfast and lunch and snacks. Hats/caps are your friend. We do this every weekend from May to Sept with 3 people. It's as close to camping as I'll ever get. |
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