Am I just inefficient? I had a lesson at a ring about five minutes away because they have much better jumps. Getting there isn’t too big of a deal, but it seems like by the time I get home, hose down the horse, unload my tack, clean the trailer, park the trailer, another 2 hours have passed.
Do you spend half a day when you truck out to a close by lesson?
Inquiring minds want to know!
Pretty much. Trailering anywhere eats up huge amounts of time.
Lol. I spend half a day when I have a lesson at my own barn. Trailering out? The day is shot.
Well, the trick is to set yourself up so you don’t have to do all those things.
Like: is there a way you can park the trailer faster and easier, maybe by doing things like setting up marks for yourself, or reconfiguring the spot?
Like: what cleaning do you have to do in the trailer, and is there a way to do that less often?
Like: can you have duplicate items that live in your trailer, so that maybe you only have to move a saddle in to it?
If you board, you obviously have less control than if you have everything at home. When I boarded and went to clinics 5 minutes away, yes indeed it took half a day.
Yep, 1/2 day minimum to trailer anywhere it seems! And I don’t even have to unhook when I get home (usually) because I have an SUV that I drive to work, the store, to run errands, etc.
If it’s 5 minutes away, can you hack there?
But yes, it usually takes up half a day. I go 20-30 miles though.
For lessons that are 10 minutes down the road, the lessons are about 45 minutes each, if I take two horses, there is a lesson in between my two, so it is about 3 hours. When the lesson is an hour away, then you have 2 hours drive time, 10 minutes unloading and tacking up, 45 minutes to ride, 15 minutes to untack, rinse, load trailer, for one lesson. I usually try to schedule two, and if the trainer has time to allow me 15 minutes between, instead of an entire lesson with someone else, it helps, but that doesn’t always work.
I have the trailer hooked up the day before if Im doing this in the afternoon, after work, actually, even for the days it is before work, I have it ready to roll. Because I have to get to work. Currently my instructor often can come to my barn, so I will have 2 lessons, first at 7, if my boarder is riding, she gets 7:45, I ride at 8:30, finish at 9:15, untack, rinse 2nd horse, bolt inside, shower, change and am at work before 11. Then I get to work until at least 7, because well…I have flexible scheduling, I have to get in my 8.
The trick is staying in practice, if you do it every week or a couple of times a month, you have an efficient routine…well, you will if you have to do your own 6 stall barn, work 40 hours a week, commute to that job, kid, family, etc.
Doubleposted, oops!
We left for a lesson at 9:30…got back to the barn at 2:30. Yes it takes the whole day. Then again my trainer is 90 minutes away.
My trailer out lesson is after work, so my timeline looks like:
Hmmm. Adding it up is almost half the day. I’m just doing part of it in the dark and over three days.
My routine - Hook up trailer, load tack, catch horse from pasture, brush horse, load horse, drive 30-40 mins, unload, quick brush and tack up, wait for lesson before me to finish if running over, 45 min lesson, briefly talk to trainer about lesson/what to work on, untack, repack trailer, load horse, 30-40 min drive, unload horse, rinse horse and turn out, unload tack, clean manure/urine from trailer, park trailer. Yep, that takes about half the day (about 8 am to about 1 pm). More time is needed if I have to check and fill tires, get fuel, clean tack, horse is hard to catch, is filthy or not cooperative loading… Sometimes I can hook up and pack tack the night before and shave a little time off.
Um, no. I haul 15 minutes to ride 5 days a week and it certainly doesn’t take 1/2 a day.
Weeknights:
Home - 6 pm
Change clothes, kiss husband, load horse, pull out - 6:25 pm
Pull into barn - 6:40 pm
Tack up, head to arena to lunge - 6:55 pm
Lesson starts - 7:00 pm
Lesson ends - 8:00 pm
Cool out horse, untack, rinse horse or put cooler on (season dependent), load horse - 8:20
Arrive home - 8:35
Unload, feed dinner, go inside - 8:45
So, 2 hours and 45 minutes total?
Add a another 30 minutes on weekends as I like to stand around and visit/gossip before I leave.
Granted, I keep my tack at my trainer’s barn as I don’t really ride anywhere else. But even when I don’t leave it there, it stays in the locked tack room of my trailer as I don’t ride at home.
Wow, I can’t believe this takes people all day. I keep much of my stuff in my trailer, when my horses are living at home, because my trailer is my tack room. For a lesson a 20 minute drive away, if I leave 45 minutes before my lesson, I’m good. Trailering to my lessons takes me no more than 3 hours total.
One way to save steps if your tack doesn’t live in the trailer is tack your horse (everything but bridle) in the barn before you go, and (unless it’s a long drive) let him wear it home so it all comes back into the barn. Much less schlepping back and forth that way.
I have a Euro trailer which is a bit narrow, so trailering with tack would not be a good choice.
At least I’m in good company.
Hitching up literally takes me five minutes. It’s just the other end that seems to take FOREVER. I suppose I could just leave my stuff in the tack compartment and deal with it later if I were really in a hurry.
Parking the trailer takes about five minutes tops. Then another five to unhook it. Those little Boeckmanns are super efficient. But just hooking and unhooking a rig adds up.
At least I’m in good company 
Yep. Even with my daughter hooking up the trailers, getting tack in the trailer the night before so all I have to do is load and go…30 minutes at the barn to catch him, run a brush over him, make sure the other guys have hay, close the lane gate; 30 minutes to the trainer’s; 30 minutes to unload and tack up (we don’t have to lunge); 30-45 minutes for the lesson, and then back to the barn. Clean up the trailer poop, make sure everybody has hay and water.
I usually get home from an 11:00 no earlier than 2-2:30, having left home around 10. Shoots a hole in the best part of the day.
And I spend the rest of the day smiling…always on cloud nine after my lessons
I could have taken a lesson this Sunday but realized that it would take almost all day and that I need to get ready to go out of town for 3 weeks. Sunday is the last full day I’ll have to catch up on odds and ends for the trip. So, no lesson. My horse is 30 minutes north of my house and the lesson is 30 minutes south of my house so it’s a lot of driving just to get the horse to the lesson, much less all the other stuff.
He’s gray too, so sometimes just running a brush over him isn’t enough! :o
Don’t mind doing it when I’m not under pressure, but that does not describe this weekend! :eek:
Yes …pretty much takes up at least 1/2 if not most of the day…I get to my barn around 10…hook up trailer, load tack , bring my horse in , groom then load him by 11…drive 90 minutes…arrive at trainers farm at 12:30…unload , tack up and am on by around 12:45/1pm …finished by 2pm and re loaded by 2:30…home by 4 -just in time for my daughter getting off bus…I park , unload , put all tack away then have to feed all the horses and am probably done by 5ish if I’m un interrupted…
I’m lucky my trainer comes to me.
Unlucky that my hauling vehicle is also my Daily Driver.
So if I need to drive anywhere after hauling, I have to unhitch.
When I do haul I try to get everything loaded the night before - except the horse or Driving mini - then hitch the vehicle before dark.
When I leave for wherever, I just have to load the horse/mini & both self-load.
I’ve put down enough gravel so coming home I can pull in & around to park the trailer, minimal backing needed.
If I can, I leave tack & cart in the trailer overnight & vehicle attached. Cleanup means sweeping out the manure & bagging shavings for reuse (bag left in trailer). Sometimes that waits until the next morning.
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