lol if my dad had taken me camping like that I might enjoy it now…
ah oh well. if you guys have fun thats all that matters, I’m always suprised by the various definitoins of ‘camp’ but who am I to judge, I don’t ever go on overnighters unless I must for a race or something, and then I sleep in the truck or trailer (2 horse BP) no heat, no AC no living quarters, bathroom = horse trailer…
no wonder I don’t like it!!! I’ve been doing it wrong all this time!!!
LOL we started out in a tent and a BP trailer, doesn’t everybody?. I don’t compete, my SO and I strictly trail ride…so we’re often gone for several nights. Last tent-trip we left the rain fly off, as it was a beautiful, clear night. 2AM…kaboom- thundershower 
I huddled in the corner of the tent and cried like a baby, I own it, I was a big baby LOL. Within a month we had a tiny LQ and I was sleepin’ in the nose, dry as a bone.
Icecapade we also travel to MT in the summer to hit the back country with our friends out there- some years it’s a pack trip and gone a week, last yr it was a FS cabin and horses overnighting tied to the trailer. I’m an equal opportunity camper 
I only thought of the magnets because I found a source that has magnets SOOOOOOO strong that it’d take serious effort to dislodge them. Plus they have a J-channel that the grid would fit snugly into.
Anyway, so if we drill into the steel frame, just put a glop of silicone sealer in there before the screw then?
I found this thread and am bumping it up for more brand specific advice.
I have recently decided to change my horse trailer from a full LQ to a 2H straight load with a 6 ft dressing room.
I am going primitive:lol:
So I am going to outfit it for the most efficient primitive living.
Mattress-I do not want air (just don’t) or memory foam (my back can’t handle it)…so what is my best choice? I regular LQ type mattress (I have a feather topper) or a futon? What would be the functional/comfort difference?
My new trailer does not have a door between the dressing room and the horse part-is this worth doing a conversion and cutting a door in?
Is it worth the investment to insulate/panel the dressing room?
Luggable Loo, PETT toilet or some other brand?
Could someone provide links or photos to the bench/seat/steps up or step stool/tool box items of choice…there are SO many out there.
Coleman ProCat-what kind of ventilation do you need(if any) to be safe? Does it need a special stand or something for safety or to prevent a fire hazard?
Again links would be great…I see the Sunshower-what about a privacy curtain? Because there are so many…
MOST important question next to adult beverages…ummm…coffee…would you use a camping stove? I saw a Coleman Camping Coffee maker that got great reviews.
OK a little less primitive-I have a Honda EU3000 Generator I was going to sell…is there any benefit in keeping this? It was to power my LQ and pretty darn heavy. Not like I would drag it around to plug in my DVD player! :lol: It just seems adding in the generator idea complicates it? Or sell this and get a small more portable one? Or fah-get it and stay primitive?
I have been dreaming of taking the leap to the world of camping, leaving my horse show world far behind so am VERY excited!
LMH, I have no thoughts on the mattress, but on the connecting door, a say a big YES, get the connecting door. When it is pouring rain, or darker than the inside of a pig, you will appreciate it.
We had a 6’ DR we converted by adding utility cabinets. When the weather was less than beautiful, we used the horse part of the trailer to cook in (with upper doors open) on the propane stove. I also had a bathroom fixed up in there, which I think I detailed earlier in this thread.
I did not go with the paneling, but it might be good for you to do so, depending on your climate, and what time of year you are using the trailer most. It was just a place to sleep and dress for me, didn’t really spend a whole lot of time in there.
Do you have photos you could share??
Maybe
I sold that trailer three years ago, but I’m sure I took photos for the sale ad. Give me a bit of time and I’ll dig them up.
I didn’t take photos of the potty, didn’t think anyone would be interested :lol:
We did also clean out the back of the trailer as soon as the horses were unloaded, threw water down on the mats and swept them out, then aired it out. By nighttime it was a perfectly nice place to set up a table and chairs for night time beverages, if the weather was uncooperative. Have also used under the goose for the same, but much more cramped!
oh thank you!
If anyone else has photos to share I would love it.
Since I am downsizing, I have a little cash for some comforts…
After reading this I am thinking the good investments would be the insulation/paneling and maybe adding in a couple of cabinets, the cut-through door and I am believe an awning would be a good one.
I think if I do paneling I will ditch the saddle racks on the wall and just use portable ones.
Though the stall patio is a great idea as well-another reason the cut through door seems essential.
This thread has been SO amazing! I am no longer afraid of trading princess for primitive!
found this thread and am bumping it up for more brand specific advice.
I have recently decided to change my horse trailer …so I am going to outfit it for the most efficient primitive living.
A full mattress resting on top of a set of lock-together foam pads and an indoor outdoor carpet (between the pads and the mattress). You want as much light in weight good insulation between your mattress and the metal floor of the overhang for the greatest comfort.
Some photos I took renovating my trailer’s sleeping area in the gooseneck from just having carpeting to the ceiling to a full blown “bedroom” that is dead quiet and VERY comfortable:
Photo 1 - before
Photo 2 - framing out the sleeping area in the gooseneck nose
Photo 3 - Finished out with insulation, paneling, electric lights hooked into the inverter with switches at the nose and at the entrance.
Photo 4 - Curtains and bedding in place, ready for an excellent night’s rest!
- My new trailer does not have a door between the dressing room and the horse part-is this worth doing a conversion and cutting a door in?
YES!!!
- Is it worth the investment to insulate/panel the dressing room?
Absolutely yes. You can go cheap and merely glue indoor/outdoor carpeting to the walls (which acts as an insulator and a sound proofing), or go a bit more expense and put up lightweight framing and paneling. If you go the paneling route, make sure you install some type of lightweight insulation like foamboard.
Photos from my trailer renovation - putting up the paneling (sides and ceiling) in the body of the trailer in the LQ section.. The structure in the center is a “dead man” - a set of braces that allows one person alone to lift a section of panel up so that it can be screwed into the bracing on the ceiling of the trailer.
- Luggable Loo, PETT toilet or some other brand?
The best advice ever on this issue was posted on the RV forums – the best toilet for little to no cost is to use a bucket of good soil! Soil will completely cover over any feces without a trace of smell, will biodegrade it, and is easy to acquire and dump. Those typical tall buckets (like the green Strongid bucket) have a top that fits perfectly to those invalid riser toilet seats that actually put your toilet at standard toilet seat height! For traveling just remove the toilet seat and cover the bucket with the snap on lid that comes with it.
- Could someone provide links or photos to the bench/seat/steps up or step stool/tool box items of choice…there are SO many out there.
I’ve purchased…and discarded… so many of these items over the years as being too cumbersome, too heavy, too annoying to use. I’ve finally just settled on using a lightweight plastic step-up from Costco. Weighs nothing, can be flipped upside down for travel and stuff can be put in it, and it endures all types of weather. It even doubles as a seat! I carry two - as they stack perfectly inside each other - one for the inside of the trailer to get into the gooseneck sleeping area, the other for outside as a mounting block.
- Coleman ProCat-what kind of ventilation do you need(if any) to be safe? Does it need a special stand or something for safety or to prevent a fire hazard?
This is a WONDERFUL heater that can really crank out the heat and doesn’t put out dangerous carbon monoxide because it burns right below the flash point. Always crack a window at least 2-3" to allow enough air exchange, and put the heater on a solid ceramic plate on the floor. The heater creates heat by extracting it from the gas in the cannister, so the outside of the cannister will accumulate frost. Put it where it won’t come into contact with any clothing or plastic or flammable articles.
- Again links would be great…I see the Sunshower-what about a privacy curtain? Because there are so many…
Again from the RV forums: unless you are going to be camping where you have a lot of sunshine to warm up a solar shower, your best option is to buy a 5 gallon pump-up garden sprayer. Fill it with hot water heated over your stove - and you have an instant hot shower. The nozzle on the sprayer will give you a full body cleaning, and is a really gentle way to clean yourself. Just set up your plastic stool in a shallow pan (like those you put under a washing machine) in the horse section of your trailer, sit down, and enjoy your shower below the level of the windows. Very private, and no curtains to worry about.
- MOST important question next to adult beverages…ummm…coffee…would you use a camping stove? I saw a Coleman Camping Coffee maker that got great reviews.
Again, less is better. A camping stove will make coffee just as easy as a coffee maker, and is one less thing to pack.
- OK a little less primitive-I have a Honda EU3000 Generator I was going to sell…is there any benefit in keeping this? It was to power my LQ and pretty darn heavy. Not like I would drag it around to plug in my DVD player! :lol: It just seems adding in the generator idea complicates it? Or sell this and get a small more portable one? Or fah-get it and stay primitive?
Your first choice of power should be solar panels fed into two marine batteries hooked to an inverter inside your trailer. This will suffice for about 90 to 100% of your power needs. All your lights should be the new low watt lights, and don’t go overboard on extraneous power-hungry machinery. I rely upon my solar for almost all my needs. That said, I do bring my Honda generator (very quiet, very portable) for the rare times when I need more power - like in the colder weather when I heat my LQ with an electric heater rather than running the gas.
I have been dreaming of taking the leap to the world of camping, leaving my horse show world far behind so am VERY excited!
It is tremendous fun, and you will love it! If I can offer any words of well-learned advice - insulate your trailer from top to bottom. Walls and ceiling. VERY IMPORTANT to prevent condensation from building inside and cold from seeping in. Also get a ceiling vent, or a Fantastic Fan.
I have a ton of photos from when I did my trailer renovation - all by myself! - that I’m uploading to a slide show. Will add the link once the album is complete. Hopefully, it will help show how some of the work can be done to make your trailer into home-sweet-home without breaking the bank!
May I also suggest you find some of the RV forums and read them - they have some terrific advice on camping, much of which you can easily transfer to horse camping.
Thank you GTD! Great photos. Do you have more of the rest of it? It helps me get ideas.
So now I am going to sound dense:o
The whole motivation behind the princess to primitive program is I am EXHAUSTED of dealing with finding 30amp hookups for my LQ. Without that it is just a big heavy thing I look at.
So, this solar power marine converter-is this how you get power inside without hooking up?
In other words totally solar powered electric so you really CAN have lights and no power cord?
What if it is cloudy?
I want to be simple but functional and fear I will start adding more and more and be right back at a little LQ-not what I need to do!
Also what size Honda?
So please, keep me simple! LOLOL.
Yes, I have a ton of photos. They are in the process of being uploaded to a new slide show.
YES, the solar is FANTASTIC!! I had my son weld a frame for a dual battery box under the gooseneck nose. The connections for the solar panels (which are portable and only used when I come to my destination - being placed on the roof of the trailer (some people install them permanently, but they have a longer life if they are removed when not in use)) are plugged into the connector that is permanently on the battery terminals. The battery wire was run through the front wall and up to the inverter which sits at nose level on the one side wall. The second you plug your solar panel(s) into the battery, it is charging.
You MUST MUST MUST use a marine battery - they are specifically designed for long decharging and recharging. A regular car battery won’t live near as long. My inverter is a 2500 watt model.
And yes, I’ve run for hours at night several lights, a TV, a DVD player, and a computer all at once on only one battery! You’d be amazed at how much power you can get out of those marine batteries. If you use a lot of power, you’ll want to gang two batteries. Easy to do - plenty of instruction out there on the web.
The best part of all this is…I did all this work myself (except for welding the battery box under the gooseneck overhang). It didn’t cost a fortune, and I ended up with a fantastic 10’ LQ that is a joy to use and live in. I also learned how to make the most of my space - my trailer is 18’ with 2 straight (removable) stalls in the back and a totally open floor plan (because we also use it for carrying a 4-wheel carriage, pole, and a pair). I separate the horse stalls from the LQ only when I get to my destination - putting up 3 foam boards lined on both sides with indoor/outdoor carpeting. Everything is attached via Velco straps and velcro-backed fabric strips. Easy to carry, easy to put-up/take down and store in the gooseneck nose during travel. It takes 45 seconds to put up those panels for a completely insulated, sound-proofing “wall” that includes a door as well! Having a temporary walls that are down for the trip means I can easily use the side ramp in the front of the trailer for the horses if necessary, and they can hang over their breast bars during travel without having a wall in front of their noses.
Oh, the Honda is a 2000. The only expensive hit to this renovation. But good for more uses than just running my fireplace electric heater while I sit in my lounge chair (yes, I take that with me, too! :lol:) sipping my hot chocolate late at night while I watch my TV DVD.
You have all the generator you need to power your current LQ. You can go anywhere…now. All you have to do is fill up and load up, the Honda. It will run your current trailer. As for 30 amp plugs- any RV place sells adapters that allow you to plug your shore line into any grounded plug.
This site may give you ideas of step up benches and storage. They are in Conyers if you need work done, and they do a good job.
I don’t know about you, but actually going primitive means sleeping hot many months out of the year here in the SE. If I were you…I would keep the Honda generator and not spend the money and effort to rip out a LQ. Hell, haul the LQ and just build a campfire if you don’t want to have power. Scratching my head here at the idea of demoing a LQ rather than load up a super quiet, super nice, Honda Generator, OR just haul the LQ and not use power. It’s called lanterns and propane stoves LOL. Kitty litter in a 5 gal bucket. Headlamps, etc…
Thanks for the tip on JBJ-I saw the website but did not realize they were on Conyers.
Cloudy days? Not a problem. Solar panels are highly sensitive and will charge even in dim light. You need complete blackness for them to stop working.
Believe me - I personally tested this, and they do work up to the point where you yourself have a hard time seeing.
The panels I have are made by Sensei. Excellent company, excellent product. I’ve had mine for years and they are fabulous.
JBJ Conversions did our LQ from the manufacture we purchased our trailer from. They are awesome! The craftmanship is outstanding! They can do miracles with small spaces and are so reasonably priced. I wish we knew of them when we had our first trailer, we would have kept it and have them redo the dressing room. We are not the handiest when it comes to stuff like that. super nice folks to work with!
Took me a while to find photos, and they aren’t great, but you can see the type of cabinets I put in my Bee 2horse Straight load trailer:
http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2854367028/a=4058316028_4058316028/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/
Doesn’t seem to matter which link I use, it is looongg. Don’t know why. Maybe because I’m trying to do it without having you sign in?
I’m new to this site. I wanted to say what an awesome thread this is. It took me a while but I read the entire thing.
I have a living quarter trailer for family trips that is equiped with just about anything you could want.
This year I bought a run around steel gooseneck from the 90’s for small overnighters by myself. I found this great website for outfitting it.
http://www.horsetraileraccessorystore.com/index.htm
[QUOTE=ChocoMare;4035018]
I only thought of the magnets because I found a source that has magnets SOOOOOOO strong that it’d take serious effort to dislodge them. Plus they have a J-channel that the grid would fit snugly into.
Anyway, so if we drill into the steel frame, just put a glop of silicone sealer in there before the screw then?[/QUOTE]
anyone have a link for those super strong magnets?
chocomare, are you around?
[QUOTE=Old Farm Woman;5339075]
I’m new to this site. I wanted to say what an awesome thread this is. It took me a while but I read the entire thing.
I have a living quarter trailer for family trips that is equiped with just about anything you could want.
This year I bought a run around steel gooseneck from the 90’s for small overnighters by myself. I found this great website for outfitting it.
http://www.horsetraileraccessorystore.com/index.htm[/QUOTE]
That’s an awesome link - thank you! Added to my favorites!
I’ve seen and heard about some odd things that “custom” trailer companies have done. When my boyfriend was having a new awning put on his gooseneck (weekend LQ package - though we can camp comfortably for a week), the guys at the shop wanted to put the awning on the opposite side from the door in and out of the living quarters. Their reasoning: it’s easier to put it on that side.
Kind of defeats the whole purpose of even having an awning, if you have to go outside and walk all the way around the trailer just to get to where the awning is? That space basically our kitchen, living room, and dining room on those longer trips.
Sigh. . .just thinking about it makes me anxious for winter to be over so we can start going on those trips again. . .
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