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

[Fancy]

back from 1st overnight!

We did our first overnight this weekend. It wasn’t much, by most standards, but we were “out in the woods.” :winkgrin: My mare and I went to a local state park with friends and spent the night. I got to use my brand new high-line, and my new Prussic Loops, and see if I could set things up so the high-line didn’t sag. And I spent the predictible sleepless night worring about my mare, who spent most of the night laying down, sleeping. Our experienced camper taught us a trick. She gifted each of us with the little $1 light sticks. I hung mine on my horse’s halter and I could see her all night long. It looked like she was wearing a little lantern.

I had a ton of fun. Gotta go do it again, and soon! :yes: :yes: :yes: :yes:

[JoJo]

Fancy, Congratulations! I sure know what you mean about worrying about the horse, first time on a high line. My ill-fated, rained-in camping trip… I did the same thing! Of course I had her tied to my trailer and a tree, so I felt her every move, lol.

I also bought a package of light sticks, and though I didn’t use it that time, they sure look like just that added measure of security, being able to see them!

I’m planning another trip in mid-July, hopefully this one won’t have rain! I sure loved waking up to the sounds of nature and the sight of my horse right there. Glad your first trip went well !!!

[gabz]

Fancy - where did you camp?

[MuleLady]

This has evolved into the MOST helpful thread I’ve ever seen…thanks again to all. I have gotten so many ideas and been able to make so many little decisions about my trailer outfitting, thanks to y’all.

So, this weekend, I’m heading up to Ft Valley for 3 days/2 nites; gonna stay in a campsite but no hookups to anything. The mule will be in a paddock with a water hydrant nearby (so I won’t have to lug it to her) and they have a bath/shower house so I can stay clean. It’s not really roughing it, but it will give me a chance to see how well all my decisions about what to take hold up.

Having never been there, I am somewhat concerned about the mule having some shade during the heat of the day. If the paddock doesn’t offer any, I am taking stuff to see how she does with picketing (assuming there is a place to do that) during the day when I can supervise her. Worst case scenario, I can put up her corral in the shade near the trailer (letting her run up into the trailer as a shed if she so desires; with the partition to one side, there’s plenty of room for her to relax in there).

I’ll report back on whatever I learn from the experience!

[Fancy]

@gabz

Fancy - where did you camp?

We were at Pontiac Lake State park. I must say, it’s a nice place. I had never been there before. When we poked around a little, we found two REALLY nice sites, with about 8 hi-line poles in a semi-circle, and not too far from the outhouse. LOL Us lil ole ladies gotta be aware of these things, ya know. :yes:

I bought rope and stuff for a hi-line. I was REALLY pleased with how well it worked out. Looked almost like I knew what I was doing! :lol:

[katarine]

I check this post almost daily to see who else has ventured out there and enjoyed camping with their horses.

Be warned- it’s addictive. I predict many Friday’s off in your collective future wish I could go somewhere this weekend, but one pony has a flat tire/new abscess :no:

[MuleLady]

…not too far from the outhouse.

No kidding! I’ve got my little porta pottie all loaded up with clumping deodorizing cat litter (hey…it works with the cats…why not me? :lol: AND it makes the pottie bottom heavy so I am less worried it will move around or tip easily). I predict that each time I wake up in the middle of the night and DON’T have to venture outside across the dewey grass to an outhouse, I am going to be very grateful I decided to spend the $30 on it!

Here’s what I decided to do for now regarding curtains for privacy…I bought cheap lightweight but non-sheer fabric for a buck a yard. I cut it to length and am just going to drape it over inexpensive cafe rods that I mounted on plastic stick-up hooks. All very lightweight and I like the idea of not leaving the curtains up all the time…since there are going to be times when I don’t want the windows blocked. When I get back from camping, I can just fold up the curtain fabric and store it in a quart size ziplock in the “kitchen stuff” tote that stays in the trailer.

Some other things I thought might come in handy that are tucked into the “other stuff” tote: plastic clothes pins and twine from the dollar store to use as clothesline (in case I need to hang stuff to dry), table-top tap lights that run on 1 D cell battery (3 lights for $10 at walmart), wasp/hornet spray, a roll of screen and a pack of 50 3/4" round magnets that might hold the screen up over the tackroom door to let air but not bugs in at night if it’s hot, and in a fit of exuberance, a nifty lightweight hammock for camping. The hammock takes up very little space in the tote but I think I’ll get a lot of use out of it.

[rideapaso]

The pipe corrals at Ft. Valley offer plenty of shade. I always bring a rain sheet for the horse. Unless you are in one of the covered corrals, there is no shelter from rain. Have a great time!

[Fancy]

Next step is to get a bar or two welded on my door so I can hang a nice shoe bag or something for incidentals. My DH works at a place where they can do such things. I cleaned out the trailer very nicely the other day, and realized that I could actually SLEEP in there without it smelling like horse s***, so I need to find screens and magnets and stuff. I am really getting excited. Addictive? You betcha! Even a short trail ride is addicting. And I’ve been hooked since I was three and the horsey photo guy came around and took a picture of me on his pony.
:lol: :lol: :lol:

[MuleLady]

Well, I got back from my first real experience camping in my trailer at Fort Valley and learned a couple of things:

> Plan meals out ahead of time and pack victuals accordingly to avoid taking too much along that you just have to unpack when you get home.

> I LOVE my little charcoal grill, also love the grate with legs I put over the fire to set open cans of food on to cook. Heated hot water in a whistling kettle for coffee, oatmeal, etc. Worked great.

> My “catbox” (e.g., hassock style porta pottie with cat litter in it) came in handy NUMEROUS times at night. Was VERY glad to have it.

> Those 50-packs of little round craft magnets come in handy for hanging lightweight fabric across the windows at night for privacy. Easy up, easy down.

> Can’t say enough good things about the usefulness of Dollar Store tap lights.

> Need to pack more libations next time. We ran out the first night!

Edited to add: If you would like to see a report of my trip (with pics of our hair-raising Saturday ride), it’s here.

[Simbalism]

Mule Lady, Just read your story of camping at Fort Valley. NO freaking way would I have been able to do that loop. I have a terrible fear of heights and there is no damn way you would get me by myself on a ledge much less with my horse. Kudos to you for bucking up and doing it. Guess I won’t be going to Fort Valley any time soon. hehe…

[MuleLady]

LOL, well it wasn’t like I could turn around and go back–or so it seemed at the time! Not with my gigantic mule on that narrow ledge, anyway.

That experience has prompted me to put “well stocked bar” on my list of trailer necessities, cuz I really wanted about a 16 oz Black Russian when we got back! Heck, if I’d been thinking straight, I would have packed a filled flask in my saddlebags. :yes:

[Simbalism]

Yep beverages of the fortifying type are always on my list of necessities for camping.hehe…Luckily, I have a smallish TB mare, my butt would have been turned around and gone outta there…

[JoJo]

Mule–

I went to your website and that trail setup looks trecherous! I can see where you’d say you were glad to say you’ve done it but may not want to do it again, LOL. Really nice pictures! Thanks for linking it!

[gothedistance]

In reality…

The first time you ride those historic trails, your first reaction is “NO FRUITBATTING WAY!!” The rocks, the now-here-now-gone-now-back-again trail makes you watch each rock and each step so carefully you barely notice the scenery – except when you suddenly notice the trail is NOW skirting the side of a heavily treed cliff. You end the ride saying “NEVER AGAIN!!”

Next time – the rocks suddenly don’t seem so bad. The trail tends to remain more visible, and suddenly…you notice the views are beyond breathtaking. You have to stop now to look out over what is the most breathtaking scenery you’ve ever seen, and utter the exact same words as Gov Spotswood when he looked out over the same view 400 years ago that never in all his days would he ever had imagined anything so magnificent in all of Creation.

The next time after that – the rocks are now just part of the trail, and the trail says put without playing hide and seek. The adventurious part of you reaches out to the challenges which… suddenly are very surmountable. The trail calls you on… and you follow, sometimes riding, sometimes walking. You notice your horse has fallen under the same spell, it’s feet automatically picking just the right spot, between the rocks, to find Mother Earth. You start noticing every tree, every bush, every rock, and begin to understand how Nature formed this highly unique fortress of a valley. It is beyond beautiful… and truely one of a kind.

And the next time after that – you are now old friends with the trail, canny to every twist and turn. You even start giving certain rocks names – they’ve become old friends, signposts of where you are, and where you’re going. The trail belongs to you now – you know every stream and where it hides the best spot to water your horse. You know the trees, and how and where the mountain changes them from one species to another. You delight in their coolness, and glory in their autumn colors when the mountain changes from summer green to firey red, orange and yellow. As old as the mountain is, it still welcomes and invites you, showing you all the glories to the hidden woods, the vast vista of the Shenandoah 1,700 feet below, and letting you in on the secrets of the geological past to a history that goes back to the beginnings of this planet and the great ice age of the recent past.

And you find that you’ve found something deep in yourself that pulls you back – a challenge, perhaps, but also something more intrinsic, something more etherial. And fear fades away like the early morning fog in the hollow, leaving behind a clear sunny day…with the trail before you.

[MuleLady]

GTD: That was eloquent and I can very much relate to it. Funny you mention the pull of that place…because I already want to go back to FV. It IS magnificent there. The rocky trails were notable but not a big deal for the most part. The mule had zero problem with any of the footing. However, places like that ledge are probably just too much for my innate cowardice and terror of heights to overcome! I could kick myself for not thinking to take a picture in the middle where I was the most frightened…it’d be nice to look at a photo and adjust my perception based on reality rather than my admittedly overactive imagination!

[Mtn_trails]

I don’t like those very narrow trails that are straight down over your toe either but sometimes you have no choice. Just last weekend we were riding out of a horse camp in central WA and the trail was soft, very narrow, and straight down to the river on one side. I was riding my 3 year old mustang and at one point, she was looking to the right up the hillside and both hind feet went over the edge! I was just about to bail off and was kicking and yelling at her to get up and she scrambled back onto the trail. If that trail had given way, we both would have gone down. There was another narrow area later on and I got off and led her, if she fell, she was falling without me. I think a few more rides and she’ll be fine, it scared her as much as it scared me.

Mulelady, don’t worry about your Emma going over the edge, as you probably know, mules have a highly developed sense of self-preservation and I don’t think you could force a mule over the edge if you tried.

Emma’s such a pretty mule too!

[sam6974]

Thank you Mulelady for the information about Fort Valley. I’ve book a cabin there for Oct and I’m trying to talk my friends into going. I wont tell them about the trails though.:no:

[MuleLady]

Thanks, Mtn trls! I did have a brief moment of giving thanks that I wasn’t up there on one of the whacky OTTBs I used to have.

Sam6974: That is just evil! I hope you have a great time and post about it afterwards!

[sam6974]

Yeah, I can be that way.

Hey if I cant get anyone to go, I may be emailing you as you know the trails!