Horsekeeping Away From Home
Awareness of the outside world. Camping concerns involve trash, overuse, and impact on the local environment. Since we “camp” at horse activities, the local environment is a parking lot.
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Our snazzy digs at Whip Hand Farm. [Clinic Report]
Sleeping in a horse trailer is not everyone’s choice. We’re cheap and we like to be near the horse(s). Trailer camping it is.
We have bedded down in the trailer four times now. Twice in the horse transport area. [Mid-South 2018, North Georgia]
Twice in the overhang of the tack area. In the post last time, I mention camping briefly. I failed to mention how freaking cold it was. We now have a camping limit of Not Below Freezing. [Rodney & Milton’s Excellent Overnight Adventure]
Issues
Hot coffee. Drive to local shop. Immersion heater. In this case, Coach Kate was kind enough to supply.
Ice. Not much choice other than buying. Needed daily infusions of ice in high summer. Clinic weekend was gorgeous weather but cool enough my sodas were still cold the next day. Everything else is negotiable.
Running water. Showers. Toilets for when a bucket isn’t enough. I’ll spare you the details. Let’s just say our colons were cooperative for the duration of this overnight trip. [Putting The Portable in Potty]
Not Issues
Electricity. This is not camping in raw nature. We are within feet of buildings with lights. Flashlights and battery-operated wall lights were enough to illuminate our space. Plus we were tired and went to bed at sunset.
Water. Those nearby buildings also have water.
Thoughts
Examine terrain better. We parked on a slope. Slight enough that I did not realize. Steep enough that my slippery sleeping bag gradually slid down the platform.
Better padding. I don’t remember the overhang being so hard last time. Either we brought padding that I have forgotten about or we were so cold that padding was not a top concern.
Temps. The overhand will probably be too hot in the summer.
Space. This was one night. We moved stuff around to sleep and then moved it back in the morning. This would get old on a multi-night trip. Plus we’d have more stuff.
Outro
Any advice from more experienced regular campers or trailer campers?
Onwards!
Katherine
Virtual Brush Box 
I use my trailer (no living quarters) for camping. It’s better than tenting and a lot of the places we camp (state forests) have decent amenities for longer trips. We use portable fences. It’s soothing to fall asleep to the sound of horses munching.
You started “camping” very early.
When you were 1 1/2 years old, we drove across country in our VW bus to Denver where your father had a summer job. Then we came home via Las Vegas and New Orleans. We slept in campgrounds in the bus. You rode in a a kiddy chair on the 2/3 bench seat or played on the double bed mattress in the back. This was before seat belts!
At night, we moved the luggage to fill in the floor in front of the bench seat and you slept there. We had the mattress in the back. Dinner was a cookout. When your diapers (cloth in those days) ran out, we washed them at a laundromat on a Navaho reservation. Since it was in a desert, there was no dryer. We arrived in New Orleans with the last of the clean diapers hanging out to dry across a side window on a colorful sash of mine.
It was a fun trip.
You always have to stay close to your four-foots.
I wanna to use a high-tie at a hunter show. Imagine the pearl-clutching.