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Outfitting New Trailer: What Can't You Live Without?

Endurance and Trail Riding
#41

I had an old two horse straight haul gooseneck that I camped in for many years. I agree that a foam mattress is much better than an air mattress and doesn’t get cold.

I also had a bench that for a step up to the gooseneck. It was great because it also housed my cooler, coleman stove and bbq. I also had a small cabinet that I kept towels, clothes and dishes in and it proved a nice countertop as well. That trailer had tack storage under the managers.

I’ve now got 2 trailers, one with LQ and another stock trailer. Since hubby and I often go two directions we needed two trailers. When I’m stuck with the stock trailer which is a gooseneck that has the tack in the front, and a small corner step. The short wall is only about 2 feet. When I arrive I take all the tack and put it in the back of the trailer on saddle racks with my tack box. I then remove the saddle racks from the front. The many bridle hooks contain all my clothes then. I am going to get a magnetic light for the inside by my head at night.

Lots of great suggestions here.

Nancy!

#42

step stools

Yup!! That’s it. Thanks for finding a photo of it.

JoJo – I didn’t say it was collapsable – I said it was stackable. :slight_smile: I put my extra shoes under it, packages, retrievable items, etc for the one I use to get into the gooseneck. With the opening in front you can see what you’ve tucked in that space. Flipped over it acts like a container for traveling – stuff you don’t want moving around you put inside it.

It is very convenient, VERY lightweight, and puts up with all kinds of weather. Keep in mind – the reason I use such lightweight, portable stuff is because I need to use the trailer for several different purposes. Everything inside has to have the ability to be taken out at a moment’s notice. And it has happened – I’ve come home from a carriage event, had to revamp the trailer for foxhunting the next day (add the back stall), and then strip it again and revamp (remove the front stall, clean and put in the carpet) for an upcoming endurance ride the following weekend (it takes me a full 3 days to pack for a ride because I want everything “just so”!)

#43

trailer modifications

Thanks! :slight_smile: I love it, too – I have more room than you can imagine, and it really does feel like an apartment when I have the place to myself. So much open space makes it a tad more difficult to heat – rather like a large house, but those banks of windows are fabulous for catching sunlight and the trailer heats up in the winter SUPER fast on sunny days. In the summer, I drop down the windows so there is air blowing through (all the screens) from all angles – notice it is all windows along the length – and the curtains keep it cool and shady. It is UBER comfortable in so many ways. The kids love it during foxhunting – they were always climbing up into the “bunk” and taking a break after the hunt. My neighbor’s young daughter wants a trailer just like it – she says she’d live in it full time not only because it has more room than her bedroom but she could have her pony in there, too! :smiley:

So since you’re using all this space after unloading, how do you deal with the horse poop, pee? Do you have a slide-out floor slat on horse’s side so after s/he exits, you can slide that out and have lush carpeting underneath? LOL! (Ah, it sounds like I’m making fun, anything but!!) You’ve done a fantastic job with it from what I was able to see and read. I am curious about the beastie leavings though. I’d love to put some human use to my horse hauling side, but if that animal ever gets constipated, I think all I’d have to do is load her into the trailer. So what do you do about that so it’s nice and friendly to human use after s/he unloads?

Yes, I do have a slid-out slat and I only bed down my pony’s side with shavings – keeps the stall sweet and grabs the poop better. All the manure is taken out and scattered (or placed under the trailer to be scattered before I leave when the rest of the poops in the corral is scattered) at the ridecamp, then I sweep the clean shavings to the opposite stall. The reason for that is because the sliding door on the back is on the “driver’s side” where my pony stands during travel and I use that door to access the back end of the trailer when I’m not using the side door. I don’t bother laying down a carpet in the stall – the main carpet ends at the front of the stall.

I do, however, bring a Chinese oriental rug (very plush) to put on top of the regular living area carpet when I endurance ride in the late fall (November) – orientals are sooooo warm and friendly to your toes.

Is that a magnetic towel rack on the left per chance? Of all the things to pick out in that setup, it caught my eye because somewhere I bought one that I have on the front of my fridge and can NOT find another one! It has heavy duty magnets and also expands small or big, with about a half-inch rod, all plastic so towels really can dry. I would really like to find another one, and been looking for a while. That one looks like mine.

Yes, it is. :slight_smile: I was using it for a towel rack. They are very nice, but… can’t carry much weight. I use them to hang the curtains – easy to put up and take down.

#44

Baby wipes and hand sanitizer liquid for quick cleanups.

#45

In the mode of multitask items milk crates are high on my list. I have 2 that ate the old style that are longer than they are wide and 6 or so of the newer square type. The rectangle ones are great inside of panniers when we are packing in somewhere. The make camp chairs and a camp kitchen. They also work as a stool or step ladder. A garbage bag inside and you have a camp bucket for hauling water.

My little mare got to where she would try to take your knees off on every rock and or tree. I finally put a pack on her with the milk crates in the panniers and a 50 lb bag of salt in each side. She taught herself that it is best to steer wide around obsticals. The look on her face when she hit one of those boxes was priceless.

LF

#46

Don’t leave home without one of those metal ramp things that you use when you have a flat tire on the trailer. Also, be sure you have lug wrench that fits your trailer tires. Ask me how I know all this…

#47

one more item to consider

Due to a thread in the Other forum I would suggest a fire extinquisher if not already noted.

#48

Out west in the summer we really need a water tank. We ride out of staging areas with no water, and the creeks are often dry. I know alot of people don’t encounter these conditions, but if you do, a water tank is a wonderful thing. Unless of course you manage to leave the hose on, or forget to put on the cap, etc.

I am using my trailer tack room as my only tack room. So unless something is being cleaned (haha) it is in the trailer, ready to be used. I have flooded it twice and I am now VERY careful about that. Mine fits into a triangle space just inside the door which works well.

Did anyone mention a hole punch?

#49

2 good sources:

www.campingworld.com

www.campmor.com/

#50

those flat tire lifts

make sure they raise the trailer high enough to change the flat.
I bought one from State Line and was feeling very prepared when the folks I was in a convoy with got a flat.
wasn’t tall enough. . .

#51

Where do you get cabinets and storage containers that you can fasten to the tack room walls?

#52

Found a nice item at Cosco this evening- a 4 inch deep, 3 section foldable camping mat! Large twin size for right at $35. It is covered in vinyl on one side and nylon fabric on the other- even has carrying straps. I’ll try it out at an endurance ride in two weeks and if I like it I’ll get a second one to keep in the gooseneck. This will take up so much less room when not in use which isn’t the case w/ the twin mattress in there right now.

#53

Agreed,…except the Water Tank

Agree, with all but the water tank thoughts, great list and posts! Oh, and we have the same trailer, except mine is still that lovely grey colour and no screens. :slight_smile: I would love to “refinish” mine, as you say you have done yours. Would you mind explaining how you did?
Anyway,I have a trailer corner water tank, and I LOVE it, we use it for horse water everything. We have a steel stock trailer, and put it in the corner of the DR, against the outside wall of the trailer. Then, drilled a 1’ inch hole in that wall it would be against, for a spiquot to be on the outside of the trailer. That way, there is a spiquot right outside my trailer DR door, low and discret, but very easy to use. As for cleanup, I have a water hose attatchment that I have attatching my spiquot to the tank’s valve that I unscrew from the tank and have the tank free from the spiquot. I also have bungee cords holding the tank in the corner I undo, and then I can easily remove it and wash it out.
Of course, I do use buckets and they are good for things such as 1-day shows, etc. But when I am away camping or on Endurance rides, the tank is the best thing for the job, and doesnt take up the critical space, as it is very discret and fits easily in small corners that are often unused. ( I have a hanger for bridles I hang on the outside of mine as well, facing the inside of the DR; no space is regretted. )

#54

*** we have the same trailer, except mine is still that lovely grey colour and no screens. I would love to “refinish” mine, as you say you have done yours. Would you mind explaining how you did?

Sure. I bought about 3 (gallon) cans of Rustoleum gloss white, 3 of gloss gray, and one can of gloss black, grabbed my son and told he he owed me a whole day’s worth of work (for various and sundry reasons), had him scrub down the trailer to get off the surface dirt, and the next day we painted that baby inside and out. Took us two days. It looked gorgeous when we were finished. Still does.

The screened, drop down windows tooks about 3-4 days to design and complete. :slight_smile:

#55

Well, I have been down and out for the last whole week with stomach flu, so have not been online. I wanted to get back to this thread because of all the great suggestions and do a print-out of the whole thang! Three pages at this point, whew! LOL.

GTD, step by step on painting the trailer… first you just wash it down, yes? Do you use TSP for that or another product? Second, you what… just paint it with the gallon cans of Rustoleum? I assume you don’t use a brush, but instead, some sort of spray device. If so, what kind and how hard is it to deal with? Also, how do you avoid getting drips? I’m sure you likely just use a very fine spray and maybe go over it a couple of times, yes?

You don’t use a primer first? Just go from the wash down to the strait Rustoleum?

If this was covered, please just be nice to me and rough it out again, I’m still feeling rotton and operating at half mast.

Also, the step stools you were talking about, sounds like you have a good idea there, but one question… are they the kind that another poster said “I think these are what she’s talking about” then included a link? (Sorry, I can’t get back to that page w/out losing this one.

The EZ-Up w/straight legs… you said something abaout as long as the frame goes all the way up and “not on the level,” I didn’t know what you meant by that.

I don’t yet know what level of horse camping I’m going to be doing, this will be my first time at it, but thinking that canopy could be great for horse shade, and as you said, get two legs attached to the trailer in some way.

You have changed my mind entirely about bolting into the ribs of the trailer. Someone told me to do that, but you bring up points just way too good not to heed – compromising strength AND rust inside. I didn’t know the skin of the trailer had much strength but you’re not new at this obviously, I think you have some really good advice there.

Also someone else mentioned bolting a piece of wood to the trailer, then doing your “hanging” off of the wood – less bolts to go into the trailer. That makes a whole lot of sense to me. I was thinking about maybe doing that along the length of one side of the trailer and attaching an awning to that (similar to RV). But I like the idea of wood (two or 3 bolts) a whole lot better than a bunch of individual bolts right into the skin.

Really curious about the rustoleum process, what kind of sprayer, etc.

Just out of curiosity, re removing poop or its residue from horse’s side of trailer – tell me if this is a bad idea or not. What about just getting a big rubberized independent mat that isn’t too heavy and putting that in the back end of her stall? Put shavings over that. Then when docking for camping, do the normal poop/pee cleanup, but then also be able to remove that mat? I’m thinking of a flat Home Depot type that people buy for doorsteps. No way I would be able to pull the whole mat that’s in there, those things are super heavy and bulky. Would the horse trip on an added partial mat? Seems she wouldn’t, but your opinion? It would be really nice to be able to simply keep all droppings as contained as possible on an independently removeable extra piece of rubber matting that I could easily hose off, keeping the trailer’s original mat pretty unaffected.

I know that’s a lot of questions all at once, my apologies, I just re-read the whole thread and those were the things that came popping out at me.

One thing I did buy and do not regret (though time will tell) is collapsible bucket (holds 3 gallons) from Country Supply. It zips shut, is made of very strong material, can be carried and hung. (Will stand-alone filled but not if kicked I don’t think). The dumb little water bottle for human that comes with it leaks if you tip it to drink from (really dumb design, cheap little thing) but it’s a give-away. At least the holder that clips onto saddle is nice tho and could probably be used for other things. Main thing was the bucket, I just thought it would be a GREAT thing to keep in the trailer for quick watering of horse under route or if just going on a couple hours ride at local trails.
JJ

#56

JoJo -

Sorry to hear you were so sick :frowning: … but glad you’re better now. :slight_smile:

A simple scrub down is all the trailer needs before I paint. I consider the base coat of paint put on by the factory to be the “primer”.

I don’t spray the paint – that requires hours of prep to prevent overspray, AND too much cleanup of expensive equipment.

Easiest to simply use a brush and roller to paint. Use a paint brush to first to get all the corners and nooks and crannies. Then I switch to a roller, and paint it like you would a room. Lays down a nice coat of paint and doesn’t drip (unless you get too much paint on the roller). Easy cleanup, and the rollers are cheap. :slight_smile:

Yes, that plastic step stool is what I use. It is so ultra-light weight and SO handy!

I have some very colorful cheapee plastic water bottles from Wal-Mart for my new pocket-pad, but I do love those tall insulated drinking cups you can get for traveling in the car. They have the little sipping holes in the top that have sliding covers you move to open or close with your finger. No screwing opening a cap or pulling up a plunger top that is stingy with how much fluid it will deliver. Drawback is – they are heavier. And in distance riding – weight matters.

#57

On manure: use shavings. It grabs manure and urine, making it easy to clean the interior of the trailer.

I stay away from bolting wood onto my trailer unless absolutely necessary. Wood holds moisture (especially on the back side) and moisture is what kills a metal trailer. Better to do metal on metal.

#58

[QUOTE=gothedistance]
JoJo -

Sorry to hear you were so sick :frowning: … but glad you’re better now. :slight_smile:

A simple scrub down is all the trailer needs before I paint. I consider the base coat of paint put on by the factory to be the “primer”.

I don’t spray the paint – that requires hours of prep to prevent overspray, AND too much cleanup of expensive equipment.

Easiest to simply use a brush and roller to paint. Use a paint brush to first to get all the corners and nooks and crannies. Then I switch to a roller, and paint it like you would a room. Lays down a nice coat of paint and doesn’t drip (unless you get too much paint on the roller). Easy cleanup, and the rollers are cheap. :slight_smile:

QUOTE]

Well, I’m “better” now – just not back to normal. Exhausted easily. Thanks for the sentiments and well wishes.

Okay, using a roller usually leaves a texture – not like a paint brush but sort of a mini-bumpy surface, not smooth like a spray-on. At least that’s how I would imagine it coming out. That may still be okay, but do you get a textured finish like what I’m describing? Also, the whole inside of my trailer is curved sided (corners and ceiling corners). That could be a tad tricky. Do you just use smaller rollers there?

I can’t imagine doing metal with a roller and brush, but maybe only because I’ve never tried it. Rollers are kind of fuzzy (at least the ones I’ve used from paint stores). So when that nap leaves the paint, I would think it would create a texture. And then you’d see a difference where paint brush was used, no?

#59

When you use a roller with the smooth nap, the paint (which is pretty “thick”) settles flat as it dries. My horse trailer looks like the paint was sprayed on – it is that smooooooth. :slight_smile:

The brush will leave faint bristle marks if you get a cheap brush. Otherwise, you really can’t tell where the brush ended and the roller began.

#60

[QUOTE=gothedistance]
When you use a roller with the smooth nap, the paint (which is pretty “thick”) settles flat as it dries. My horse trailer looks like the paint was sprayed on – it is that smooooooth. :slight_smile:
QUOTE]
___________quote code seems not to be working _________

Oh reeeeeally!! Okay, this is now becoming a real possibility.

So now two detailed tools questions.

  1. What kind of roller do you get? Is there a type it’s called or a brand? The only roller-ing I’ve ever done is on walls and ceilings (and not a lot of that) and those have been nappy. I’m not sure, though, that I’ve ever done anything but buy cheap rollers. So is there a specific type I should ask for?

  2. For brushes, I hate cheap brushes for any purpose. Have you had best luck with nylon bristle or another kind?

  3. Also, have you found that you can pick up where you’ve left off IF you leave off in a place where the Rustoleum has dried? Or is it the sort of thing where once you start, keep going “or else”?

This is sounding very do-able !!

  1. Okay another question. Trailer is currently brown inside and out. Not a light brown either. Would I be asking for trouble if I try to paint it with a light color (e.g., a light grey?)

<Pant, pant, pant> I would LOVE to re-paint that trailer!
JJ

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