I can mount my horse from the ground, so getting on isn’t a real concern.
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For those needing a portable mounting block option you might look into one of these Fold Flat Step Stool They come in different heights and yes, they fold perfectly flat when not in use.
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Do whichever your horse is more relaxed about. Some horses are better tied to the trailer. Others are better inside the trailer with all the windows open. I tie mine out to the trailer and yes, I do leave them to go to the bathroom. If I will be gone for more than a few minutes they get loaded back into the trailer for safety.
Practice tying to objects at home. Most people do not do this often enough. Tie to your trailer (if it is hooked up to a truck – never tie to an unhooked trailer) for tack up a few times. Tie to a tree. Tie to the fence line (if it has twine/an appropriate place to tie). These skills immediately translate to being tied to a trailer. You can also load them up (again, make sure trailer is hooked to truck first) and serve grain to them in the trailer a few times to get them used to standing and eating on the trailer.
Or, if you have a wooden flatbed like me, install heavy-duty d-rings (the kind used for tie-downs) to the bed of your truck and tie them there.
To make showing out of your trailer easy, organize the day before. Have your bridle[s] within first reach of the rack, have your show clothes hung up somewhere in the dressing room (or truck) out of the way as you walk in and out of your trailer. Know where everything is.
Buy a small 3-tier plastic bin and have spares of everything. Spare leadrope, spare halter, spare bell boot[s], spare flash strap, spare girth (VERY important!!). In my trailer, the bottom bin is first aid - cotton wraps, Alushield, dorm gel for emergencies, banamine, betadine, thermometer, corona ointment, etc. The middle bin is spare horse stuff - fly bonnet, boots, girth, etc. The top bin is spare human stuff - gloves, belt, pinneys, a showshirt in a ziplock bag, and a full change of clothes including underwear in case we take an unplanned splash in water.
Bring multiple bags of hay. I always bring 2 per horse.
Bring water from home, but do not fill it up the night before. It can cause additional humidity in the dressing room/lead to mildew and some horses don’t love ‘stale home water’.
Having everything organized and prepared will help you feel more confident in your ability to show out alone, too.
And… have fun. 
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This is awesome. Thank you for taking the time to write all this down!
agree with everyone else except I’m not a fan of leaving horses tied outside for anything other than tacking up - you never know when a loose horse may make its way around parked trailers.
I’m a big fan of water tanks in trailers - they have a variety of sizes, some double as saddle racks. Went to a trailering safety seminar and that was one of the things that stuck hard. You never know when you might get stuck in traffic for a long period of time and if there’s an injury of some sort you’ll most likely need some water.
have fun
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Organization is key for showing off the trailer. I also use my two step mounting block as stairs up to my tack - I can only heave myself in and out so many times lol. If you can, try and park so that you can tie to the side your tack room is on - even better if you can park in a way that keeps that side from getting afternoon sun. I also make sure human cooler and anything I might need to grab from the truck is on the passenger side so that I dont spend my day dipping under (and inevitably hitting my head on) the goose.
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I agree with this. Yesterday at a hunt trail ride, a horse was tied to the side of a trailer and got loose. Things happen. I like mine to be secure on the trailer.
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At 2 different horse shows, 2 people decided it was a good idea to tie their horses up to a fence rail they were parked close too. Horse shied at something pulled the rail down and the next thing you know you’ve not only got a loose horse but one running around with fence rail attached to him. the 2nd time that happened a barnmate had just put her horse back in the trailer after she finished braiding him. If they were still outside at that moment it would’ve been ujgly.
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Here, tying to the trailer is the norm. Going somewhere with yards/stables is rare. No one that I’ve ever seen leaves the horse on the trailer either. The vast majority are happy to stand tied with hay.
I have one who you can tie all day and leave unsupervised and she’s not going anywhere. She also will happily follow me around so that’s a win win! The other is yet to be tested but based on recent tying behaviour at home…that’s going to be interesting. I don’t want to be that person with a loose horse tearing around!
I don’t have cross ties so mine are always tied to something at home, usually a corner of the carport. The older one will now tie to literally anything, as long as the rope is draped over it, that’s her spot. The younger is a work in progress.
Get a blocker ring and a 20’ rope if you’re worried about her coming loose from the trailer.
Based on my mare’s behavior, that’s what I will be using when she needs to be tied to saddle etc.
Yeah blocker ring is on the cards! After yesterday’s behaviour she got to spend time with the nice solid post! She’s also learnt how to undo a regular quick release knot 
Perhaps this has already been covered, but I subscribe to the same theory re: trailer as a stall. I’m in the process of having a plastic stall gate mounted to the back end of my trailer so my mare can look out and see what’s going on around her when she’s in there (when stationary, of course) because she’s not big enough to see over the ramp when it’s up and gets a bit anxious when she’s in there alone.
Stupid question, but is it considered a no-no to use a crosstie (with quick release shackle) to tie a horse to a trailer? There’d be no quick release knot for her to undo 
Definitely an option! So far looping the loose end back through a couple times seems to be stopping her, but I won’t be surprised if she figures that out! I like to refer to her as my overgrown puppy 
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This happened at a ranch I worked at. The horses are tied daily (both inside the barn, as well as trees and such out on trails) and so they all learn very quickly how to behave. There was one horse though that I’m certain had a few screws loose - he was fine 95% of the time, but every now and again he’d just come a little unhinged, usually with no apparent trigger. The usual tie hooks around the barn had strips of inner tubes that we used as breakaway material, but the ones in this area that the horse was supposed to be tied to had been broken and not replaced yet, so the wrangler tied him to the cross beam of the hitching fence.
Naturally, the horse had one of his “episodes”, pulled back and ripped the whole cross beam out of the fence and proceeded to gallop down the breezeway with an 8ft log with 6 inch nails sticking out the ends. And that’s how our wranglers (not all of whom came from horsey backgrounds) learned an important lesson about why we tie to the rubber breakaways (and also definitely not on cross beams that have been nailed in on the near side of the fence). 
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My should have known better daughter tied her horse to the wire on the stall door at a show. Then went to get something. I was just coming around the far corner as I saw him draw back, hit the end of the tie rope and then proceed to pull that door off it’s track, then run dragging it behind/beside him. Full in panic mode I run screaming to find her, he’s running that stall door flopping and banging beside him. We stop him. Untie the door, put him into an empty stall. Then go back to pick up the door just as the show organizer pulls into the parking lot to see the two of us carrying the door back to the stall! We just shrugged and said ‘Dont’ ask.’
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Lesson girl tied her school horse to the gate near the wash rack instead of using the cross ties in the wash rack to hose off horse. Horse pulled back and ripped the gate off the hinges and went running down the street with the gate banging into his hind legs. Horse was laid up for the rest of the summer recovering from his injuries. In seems like in cases like this, the parents should be liable for the vet bills and loss of income.
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I would guess the parents would say the instructor should have been properly supervising.
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I’m curious for everyone who has said using the trailer as a stall if they have a straight load or a slant load trailer? I feel like I’ve seen more people leave their horses in in a straight load since it seems like when there’s front windows/escape doors there’s more air flow and sometimes the stall is wider than a slant. I haul with a 2 horse slant so I’m curious if this works for different types of trailers!
I event and fox hunt so my horses are at the trailers a lot. I always put my horses back on the trailer and don’t tie them. Maybe I can’t tie them or my horses are hooligans, but let me tell you, my horse got loose with his buddy after a long hunt and no one loves hearing “there’s a horse loose in a blue blanket.” That idiot should have been tired but instead went around like “you can’t catch me I’m the gingerbread man!!” So after that… the trailer is his stall. Confinement.
I will add that I recently purchased a small power inverter/generator and use it to power fans at my trailer. I have fans in my trailer, but this is way easier and really keeps them cool. It’s kinda bougie. I love it though.
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