Trailering in to shows: How long a haul for you?

[Silverbridge]

I’m curious about the show-day time investment people make, among those who prefer to haul in to recognized shows.

It appears from the thread about ride times that there are a lot of COTHers who do this, and that there are regions with enough shows going on to make it a practical option for many.

But what is “within driving distance”? An hour? Two hours? More? Would you drive two hours each way, both days, for a two-day show?

What about the added time for getting from your house to the horse, and hooking up the trailer? For example my horse is located about an hour from my house in the first place. Well, in non-commute traffic I can do it in under 45 min. And I can’t bring my trailer home overnight, our street is too narrow.

Anyway as someone with only three shows per year in my greater metro area-- two in Spring and one in Fall-- I’m just curious what people mean by “local” when hauling in per day, for a recognized show. If I limited myself to hauling in, I could only do three shows per year. Unless I had an Arab or half Arab, in which case there are local Arabian shows with USEF/DF recognized dressage classes and judges.

And now there’re rumors of the Spring show being dropped. That will mean one show in the Fall, and one in the Spring, in the entire Scottsdale/Phoenix metro area. That would be enough showing to test my ability against others of my level, and at least to get out there annually. But it wouldn’t be enough to achieve awards scores.

[theresak]

I travel 20 minutes from my house to the barn, then it’s almost 2 hours to trailer to the show facility. And they like to schedule my rides before 9:00 am…

So my schedule looks like:
3:45 alarm
4:10 leave home
4:30 arrive at barn, try to find my horse in the dark in his pasture, groom, and braid
5:30 load on the trailer and leave barn
7:30 arrive at show
8:20 warmup
8:50 test

But, last year I was able to be home by 2:00 pm after cleaning the trailer, totally unpacking my gear, and stopping for Culver’s.

[MysticOakRanch]

I’m in California, so take it with a grain of salt - I have about 8 or 10 shows that are within a 45 minute haul (3 different facilities), and another 7 shows that are just over an hour (2 different facilities), and another 4 or so that are about 2 hours away (2 different facilities). So that is mostly my limit for hauling in - 2 hours. If I expand to 3 hours, there are even more shows. I could show almost every single month (Feb - Nov) without traveling more then 45 minutes! Some of those are one ring shows, but most are 2 to 4 rings.

I mostly haul in - a lot of our shows charge a pretty hefty stall fee - I see people talk about $25 or $35/day - MOST of the shows here are $125 or more for the stall, and we pay $25 or $35/day just to haul in to the show. The smaller shows tend to have more reasonable day stall fees.

My horses live on my property, so I don’t have to drive to get them, but I have to get out early and feed and clean. Many years ago when I kept them at a stables, I drove 20 to 45 minutes (depending on where they were), and hooked up that morning, so yes, it was often a 4 a.m. departure if I had a morning ride, or getting home at 7 or 8 at night if I had an end-of-day ride.

[Shagyas_Rock]

I typically travel anywhere from 4 1/2 to 6 hours for a show. Trailering in for the day isn’t an option. . .

[betsyk]

It depends on what kind of show/event/ride it is. I don’t know that I’ve ever hauled 2 hours to a dressage or hunter-type show but I might consider it, because there’s usually plenty of standing around in between actual work efforts. A mini-event, maybe or maybe not - if it had a shorter XC phase, I might consider it, but a recognized event, no. Would I travel 2 or more hours for a day-long trail ride (“day long” usually means a couple hours of riding and a couple hours of eating!)… maybe, maybe not, depending on the difficulty of the trails and the difficulty of the trailering. Two hours on the interstate with few stops has to be easier for the horse than lots of twisty back roads, up and down hills, which is how you access most of our parks.

[phoenixrises]

I have to go 3-4.5 hours to shows. There’s nothing close to me other than the couple my barn hosts but they don’t even have L judges. Sunday my first ride was at 10:40am, I left the barn at 6:45. Arrived at show at 9:30 got ready adn on, second class was at 1:15, but we didn’t get our sheets until 3:20! And I didn’t come all that way to leave without my test sheet so I wasn’t back home until 7pm. Looooong day.

[netg]

I’m under 15 minutes from the show facility down here, but my horse lives at my trainer’s an hour away from me and the facility. I do not normally trailer in the morning of a show. However, this past weekend we took all our horses home on Saturday afternoon - with my mare coming back to my house and I turned her out alone on an acre to roam and stretch her legs. She doesn’t do well in the small stalls, and I think it was very good for her. I fed at 5am then got back in bed before getting up to bathe and re-braid her. We were still at the show at 9, to give her a while to settle back in to her stall prior to our 10:30 first ride.

[Dbliron]

There’s one show to which I can trailer in, the rest range from a 1 - 2 hour haul in little traffic to 6 - 8 hours over two mountain passes. The shorter hauls can be seriously impacted by summer tourist traffic, as I live in a summer vacation destination. Our one “local” show is the only one I risk trailering in, for every other show I arrange for stabling and drive in at least one day ahead, and sometimes two, to ensure that the horses are rested and so am I.

[2tempe]

You need to move to Florida! not quite as hot…

I can do 8 recognized shows a year (and some are technically 2 shows in one weekend to help score needs) without hauling more than 60 minutes from the farm where I board. I rarely just trailer in as I have a stallion, and I also like to relax, socialize and watch some other rides. Better for my peace of mine and his to have a stall. In these cases I can go home to sleep, unless I have a very early ride time. Given his almost white coat, the little man requires am scrub, no brush and go for him!

There are literally dozens of other shows within a three hour radius, but I see no need for that much driving, especially if it means I-75 or I-95 which I HATE even when just in the car.

We get top judges, many well recognized names, so I truly know where I stand!

[Libby2563]

I’m very lucky in this respect because I have my horses at home and my favorite local showground is about 45 minutes away, so I can haul there twice on a weekend no problem. With early ride times, I’m home and done by noon. This showground hosts 6-8 shows a year I think, and there is another facility even closer that hosts 1 or 2 (haven’t been there because they’re usually during the hotter months and my old man has anhydrosis).

2 hours would be about my limit for a day haul, but I do much much prefer that to stabling. Additional costs aside, I don’t enjoy the extra hassle of packing, stall prep, handwalking/grazing, etc and my horses always prefer turnout. My old guy actually bust out of his stall and briefly trotted through the CDI barn at Devon last year…when he thinks it’s turnout time, he makes it happen!

[joiedevie99]

I rarely show off the trailer because almost all of our shows are 2+ days at which point I stay over. That said, I’ll consider a one-day haul-in show if it is within 2 hours of me (I believe there are 3).

[atr]

This year I am fortunate enough to have 3 two day shows within 25 minutes of the barn, which is 10 minutes from my house.

Even so, the first one we did we splurged and “stabled” for the weekend. because we thought it would be fun and more relaxing. Huge mistake, should have taken the horses home. We were in unshaded south-facing run-ins and our horses, who aren’t used to that environment at all, were toast by day 2. So next weekend when we go back to that venue, we will be taking them home to sleep in their own beds.

The other venue doesn’t offer stabling, so that’s easy!

The other localish shows this year are a good 2 hours away down the canyon and across the city and waaay out into the desert… We will be going to one two day show out there and will go out the day before and stay over. We also know in advance that they have nice, shady permanent stabling. It will be the only cool thing about the weekend.

[Magicboy]

These days I show two hours away…back in the day, I’d haul 6 or 7 hours but always in a caravan with others hauling t the same show.

[atlatl]

I have a couple of shows within a 2 hour drive, but they are typically 2 or 3 day shows so it’s just easier on me and the horse to get a stall and a hotel room. Fortunately, we plan shows so that we can share rooms etc.

[JLR1]

I’m moving my horse to a barn 10 minutes from home and 20 minutes from the only show grounds I show at…previously boarded at the ranch out in the middle of nowhere as OP. I generally get a stall for use during the day, partcularly if a have more than one class and then haul my horse home to sleep in his own bed. I usually get teased about this, but I prefer a little inconvenience for my horse’s comfort and my peace of mind.

My general show day schedule will allow for travel time to the ranch which will soon be 10 minutes, 40 min to get trailer hooked up, a thorough pre-grooming and horse loaded. Drive time to the show grounds is 20 minutes and from there I need about 30 minutes to do a final groom, get dressed and onto the warmup arena. I’ve been doing it this way forever and have it down to a science

[SBrentnall]

I haul in usually. I live an hour from my barn, and have to make a 30-min detour to pick up my trailer from a friend’s place (my barn charges $50 monthly to park). Luckily, I have 3 multi-ring venues within a 10-min drive of my barn, so the drive when loaded isn’t bad.

Here’s my schedule for this weekend’s show:

05:30 - get up
06:15 - leave home
07:00 - hook up trailer at friend’s place
07:45 - arrive at barn and groom, braid & pack
08:45 - load horse & leave barn
09:00 - arrive at show grounds
09:45 - start warm-up
10:27 - ride
11:00 - horse back in trailer
11:15 - unload horse at home barn
12:30 - finish unpacking and yacking with barn friends
1:00 - drop off trailer at friend’s
2:00 - arrive home

2:05 - pass out on couch
3:15 - wake up and realize I’m still in stinky show clothes
3:30 - shower
4:00 - try and do something productive; end up crashing in front of TV
6:00 - think about watching test video… need wine
6:15 - throw something in microwave, uncork wine
7:00 - watch test video.
7:10 - drink lots more wine
8:00 - drunkenly text trainer and swear I’m never showing again
8:20 - find miracle supplement online that will turn horsey into FEI superstar
8:30 - look at show schedule and plan next outing

[PNWjumper]

I did a one-day haul in option at shows with a couple of my horses in June. The drive was 3 1/2 - 4 hours each way. I arrived at the show at noon, finished up around 5, and hauled home. Not sure I would do a one day much further away than that.

But my horses are at home, as is my trailer. So there’s not a whole lot of hassle in the way of getting horses or dropping them back off.

[JenEM]

I’ve always hauled in to dressage shows, though I’ve only ever done one day of multi-day shows. I’m within roughly an hour of most of the licensed show venues in the area, so hauling in for the day is not a big deal. I usually haul in for Hunter stuff (my primary discipline) too, because we’re only 30 minutes from PGEC, and my horse is happier getting to go home to her own stall, and go out overnight. I would haul back and forth there for multiple days of a multi-day show, but probably not anywhere else. We’ve hauled in for the day at a few 1.5hr shows for hunter stuff, but that’s probably the farthest I’d want to go without stabling; last weekend we hauled 2hrs to Culpeper for one day (due to my work schedule conflict, believe me, I would have loved to be able to do the whole weekend!!) and wouldn’t do it as a day trip again. Horse did OK with it, but it was a lot of work for one day, and I wasn’t even the one who did the braiding.

My truck is a second vehicle, so I hook it up, load up everything the day before. Usually the horse gets bathed the day before, too. Then I just have to spot clean, scrub socks, and braid the day of. Dressage braids are ridiculously fast compared to hunter braids, so that’s an hour tops, from pulling in to the barn in my car to loading up in the truck and pulling away with a clean, braided horse.

Frankly, the ability to haul in and show off the trailer at nearby venues is what makes rated/licensed showing affordable for me. Paying $150+ for a stall (and at hunter shows you can only get them for the duration, not the night, like some dressage shows, which are still ~$50-60 for a day) would double the cost of showing for me, and especially in something not my primary discipline, make me unlikely to show at the licensed level. I do realize I’m lucky to live in the DMV, where even the “far” show venues like Culpeper or Morven or Swan Lake are within a 2 hour bubble. But having that proximity is what makes it possible for me.

[fenwai]

I feel very fortunate to live less than 5 minutes from one of the nicest facilities on the West Coast - and certainly the best showgrounds in the state - that hosts 5+ rated shows and 6-8 schooling shows a year. My horses are home, so it’s very convenient to ride a class, put my horse away, pop home to shower, come back to watch a few friends, scoot back home to feed, hop back to the grounds to scribe, etc. It makes it possible for me to even show in the morning and work in the evening, which I have done in the past. There are lots of other shows within a 2-hour drive but I’m happy to stick with my local neighbor! If I had to travel any length of time showing would be very difficult to make happen with my work and family obligations, so I’m grateful for the convenience!

[KyrieNZ]

I LOVE reading about what others do in terms of driving to/fro shows etc.

I’m in New Zealand and thankfully my horse lives at home - I hitch, pack and braid the night before if need be.

My local dressage group is 40 mins away, and they have monthly ‘local’ days. They have a 2 or 3 day tournament once during the season which offers championships for each level, qualifying for Horse of the Year, series leaderboards etc.

The next two further afield dressage groups are 1h 30 mins - one north, one south.

I’m not aiming for Horse of the Year this season, but would love to ride at Nationals (295 miles one way / I allow 6 hrs). As it is a 4 day show, I book a motel for accommodation, and my horse is yarded at the show.