# Horse trailers and boarding your horses



## trailridertwh (Sep 15, 2018)

In the next 5 years or so (maybe 10, maybe less) I would really like to get a LQ trailer. I currently have a 2 horse straight load bumper pull with just a tack room. But I really want to be able to go long distances and camp. My husband and I are hashing out some plans for the next few years to upgrade my truck to a heavy duty and then deciding on getting a LQ trailer.

The only issue is that I board my horse. We own our home but we have no plans on moving anytime soon, we love our house and it's location in proximity to the barn (I'm about 10 minutes away). But it's in a subdivision with an HOA, and while we have a large corner lot with a large backyard I don't think my neighbors would appreciate me storing any trailers back there! 

So my question is, are there any people who board with multiple trailers, especially if one is a LQ gooseneck? I can't see myself ever giving up my bumper pull as it would seem silly to have an LQ trailer as also my "day trip" trailer. Does your barn charge you more for storage (included in our board is trailer parking)? Do you store your LQ off site from your barn, like a storage facility for trailers/RVs? Is that inconvenient? Or too costly? 

What do people do in this situation? What are some good suggestions or compromises?


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

Your BO may allow more than one trailer at no extra cost. Some do. Some don't.

I have met people who say they have to put their trailers in storage lots because the barns won't let them park anything. How unhandy!

I used to travel a lot for work and would take one or more horses with me. I boarded at horse motels. Ran into two places that wouldn't let me leave the trailer! At a horse motel! Fortunately the places where I was working let me unhook in their back lots.

BTW my personal trailer is a 3-horse slant bumper pull. I don't ever get asked to haul bulls (which is why I bought a smallish trailer), but my friends with 10 and 12 horse goose necks ask to borrow mine for those little trips frequently. I love mine.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

I would allow a boarder to leave their trailer here for a short while, while they made arrangements with a storage place. We have one less than 2 miles from here, so it wouldn't be real unhandy. The only reason I don't allow permanent parking is, I just don't have the set up for it. Temporarily we can do just about anything but long term it would really cause some issues.


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

I know most Americans find this extremely unpleasant to contemplate, but camping is perfectly possible without a mobile house. I've done it my whole life -- backpacking, horse camping, car camping. Tents are not the end of the world, and neither is outdoor cooking. 

I've known several people who simply clean out the back of their trailer and sleep there. Very simple. 

But carry on ....


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

Some HOA have a "commercial lot" where the residents with boats, enclosed trailers, jet ski, or anything else such as camper or motor home can park their legally registered and insured vehicle.
I don't see why you couldn't park your large horse trailer alongside these other vehicle...
Or, park at a storage facility that has high fences and security gates.
Lock your trailer, check on it and its insides occasionally and make sure the hitch is blocked/locked and secured...
Of course, insurance is a must no matter where you keep such a vehicle for your sanity.

If you are really contemplating long-distance travel and taking the horses then don't not consider a motor-home pulling your 2-horse trailer currently owned.
A very comfortable existence for you on the road long from home and your horses still going with you.
LQ-combo horse trailers sound wonderful but unless you refer to getting a really large trailer, it is not much room for the humans..
Keep in mind laws for driving these behemoth trailers around are changing for everyone ....or so is the discussion much closer to happening in reality.
Soon you will be required to have better and more expensive class of licenses when you get over certain sizes and weights...they cost money to get, money to keep and you must pass a practical road-driving test covering all aspects of being on the road and preparing to haul. 
They also are talking about mandatory physical exams yearly for those driving...very similar to CDL license requirements.
:runninghorse2:...


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## trailridertwh (Sep 15, 2018)

Avna said:


> I know most Americans find this extremely unpleasant to contemplate, but camping is perfectly possible without a mobile house. I've done it my whole life -- backpacking, horse camping, car camping. Tents are not the end of the world, and neither is outdoor cooking.
> 
> I've known several people who simply clean out the back of their trailer and sleep there. Very simple.
> 
> But carry on ....


I understand the sentiment you're making but unfortunately that isn't what I was asking about. It's all personal preference - I'm happy you're comfortable camping that way but different strokes for different folks. There's no reason to think that one way is the only way of doing things. Everybody is allowed to live their life at their comfort level. Again, happy you enjoy tent camping but I'm not comfortable that way, so there's no reason to get upset when somebody prefers one way over another


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

I would just ask the place where you board. I don't own a trailer, but the place where I board would let you keep multiples there. Although barn owner might start throwing hints around about how she just needs to borrow yours real quick. If you can't keep multiples, could you keep your big one there and your smaller one in your back yard? Maybe that wouldn't be as bad as storing both? It also might not hurt to ask your neighbors how they'd feel about it. I don't think I'd mind my neighbor having a small trailer in their back yard.


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

trailridertwh said:


> I understand the sentiment you're making but unfortunately that isn't what I was asking about. It's all personal preference - I'm happy you're comfortable camping that way but different strokes for different folks. There's no reason to think that one way is the only way of doing things. Everybody is allowed to live their life at their comfort level. Again, happy you enjoy tent camping but I'm not comfortable that way, so there's no reason to get upset when somebody prefers one way over another


I'm not upset. I just have noticed that for most Americans, camping means doing as exactly as possible what you do at home, only somewhere else. I've always found that a bit mysterious.


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## QueenofFrance08 (May 16, 2017)

While I have my horses and our weekender trailer at home, a ton of people I ride with in the Endurance world board and have LQ/weekender trailers. Most of the ones I know are able to keep them where they board, a few others at storage units/lots nearby. I'm sure you'll be able to find a spot!

P.S. you wont regret it! We have a weekender with a fridge, stove, bed, sink, and cowboy shower and I appreciate it at every ride! Someday we hope to upgrade to a full LQ but just having the basics is amazing!


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

I've wondered that as well as it really is no longer camping. But as said. Different strokes. We all grew up roughing it. Most of us still prefer to with an added luxury item or two in the tent. (Blow up mattress). I've slept in the back of a trailer as well but usually that space was reserved for showering off with privacy. My SILs will take LQ over tents - cabins or lodges over LQ and hotel rooms with room service over anything. Our family campouts have gotten complicated. 



Ask your BO and if storage on site is not possible find a close storage facility. I personally wouldn't haul a trailer behind a behemouth as once you get where you are going if you need anything you are stuck taking the behemouth unless there is Uber available..... Some places we have been there isn't even emergency service much less anything like that. Better to have your own vehicle with LQ on the trailer. I have seen some nice truck bed campers. Small, comfortable and well equipped especially if the camping area has facilities then you can pull your same trailer if BP.


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## AtokaGhosthorse (Oct 17, 2016)

Y'know. We own a mini storage. I have people asking me all the time if we have boat sized units... and a trailer corral... for this very reason.

We actually used to go camping by hauling two rigs: 5th wheel behind a 3/4 ton Ford, stock trailer behind a second gen Dodge Cummins. I like the 5th wheel because it had a toilet for middle of the night, my 46 year old bladder let me know too late I gotta go pee... and I don't have time to get to the on-site camp bathrooms... and the AC... not for daytime use but to get a good night sleep when it barely cools off at night. 

It was way, way too much hassle. (Though. We may well have an other two rig trip this summer, maybe more: Son and Hubs prefer bass fishing. Son has an 87 long bed chevy as his first truck. It came with an 'old man camper shell'. He plans to put it BACK ON, throw his tackle and an air mattress in the bed, hook on to the bass boat and follow us to Sardis Lake, Lake Texoma, and Coffee Mill Lake this summer. I'll have the horse trailer and horses.)


I bought a 3 slant with a BIG dressing room and a queen sized bed, ac. It has electric and propane for heat options with added vents into the horse box for the horses if it gets too cold on them outside. It came with a portable 'camp' toilet that sits nicely in the corner where on some trailers there's an access door into the horse box. Mine doesn't have one, but it makes for a nice place to have a portable potty. It has a potable water tank and water pump that's been added, 110 plugs inside, outside hydrants and a hydrant in the front horse compartment (so you can convert the inside to a kitchen if need be).

My front compartment on the trailer, by the escape door, is dedicated to camping equipment - I have what my dad calls an Action Packer - a heavy duty plastic footlocker. In it is my perolator coffee pot, my coleman stove, my fuel bottles. I have a fish cleaning table - the kind that folds up, but has a sink on one end, a removable faucet. You hook a garden hose to it to have water. So far it's only been used to throw curry brushes on, but it's there if I need it. I have a small weber grill, my feed and hay and garden hose, my poop rake, and a broom, my tack repair tool box, all ride up in that front compartment.

I use a flatbed truck - I like it to use as my kitchen - that's where we cook our meals. You can get under the gooseneck and cook if it starts to rain. I've got a 'cowboy' shower, the type that you fill with water, let it warm in the sun, hang it up and rinse off. I have a pop up privacy cabana to hang it in. 

We camp at equestrian camp grounds, which are usually apart from the boater/fisherman type campgrounds around lakes. They still have bathrooms available, and at some, showers. 

I have a generator for camping at places with no electricity, the water tank on my trailer works for camping at places with no water - though I try to avoid those for the horses' sake not my own.

I see nothing wrong having a trailer with LQ. Some of us are too old for truly roughing it.

No matter what route you choose for the trailer though, camping with horses has been one of the best things to happen in my life. Period. I'd put it at number four: Met my husband and married him, had kids with him, got horses, go camping with horses... in that order of importance. It's changed my life and the lives our horses for the better and I am so glad my life took this turn. Even if it was unexpected, looking back, it's been organic growth. It's been good for all of us. I encourage anyone wanting to try it, to do it.


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## greentree (Feb 27, 2013)

We seriously loved our truck camper. We had an electric Stabil Lift on it, so we could drive an unencumbered truck around, and use our bumper pull trailer. 
You would still have to store it, though. 
I have never boarded, but almost every barn I visited seemed to have a row of trailers...


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## beau159 (Oct 4, 2010)

trailridertwh said:


> We own our home but we have no plans on moving anytime soon, we love our house and it's location in proximity to the barn (I'm about 10 minutes away). But it's in a subdivision with an HOA, and while we have a large corner lot with a large backyard I don't think my neighbors would appreciate me storing any trailers back there!



Doesn't matter what your neighbors "appreciate" or not, but would it (or would it not) be against HOA rules?
That's considerate of you to think of your neighbors, but if it is legal within the rules of the HOA, then you can park it.





trailridertwh said:


> So my question is, are there any people who board with multiple trailers, especially if one is a LQ gooseneck? I can't see myself ever giving up my bumper pull as it would seem silly to have an LQ trailer as also my "day trip" trailer. Does your barn charge you more for storage (included in our board is trailer parking)?



Ultimately, it just depends on your barn, their policies, and the space they have available. 



Personally, I've never boarded at a "real" boarding barn. I've only kept my horses are people's private places. And I've always had a space to park my trailer without any additional fees. I have a 3-horse slant gooseneck. There is no living quarters but the dressing room is very generous. Since I board, I treat my trailer as my "barn". I pretty much keep all my stuff in it. 



I know of a boarding barn in my area that does charge to keep your trailer parked at the barn, but I do not know how much. I do believe it is minimal in comparison to the boarding fees.


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

At my barn where I board, people are allowed to store their trailers there. There's about 6 total. She doesn't charge us.
I would ask the place that you board first.


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## Joel Reiter (Feb 9, 2015)

horselovinguy said:


> If you are really contemplating long-distance travel and taking the horses then don't not consider a motor-home pulling your 2-horse trailer currently owned.
> A very comfortable existence for you on the road long from home and your horses still going with you.



My aunt and uncle, who made their living on the rodeo circuit, used a motor home for years to pull their horse trailer. But theirs was very short. One thing to take into account is that a lot of motor homes have extremely long spans between the rear axle and the hitch, which means that every bump in the road is magnified many times back at the trailer. I would consider many of them unsuitable for pulling a horse trailer just because of the abuse the horses would take from the geometry of the connection.


If you decide to go the living quarters trailer route, the weight variables are enormous. If you're planning to buy a one-ton truck with a monster diesel engine, you can probably pull any trailer you want, but otherwise you have some work ahead of you matching trailer to tow vehicle.


The problem with using a pickup with camper as a horse trailer tow vehicle is campers tend to be so heavy that even a small trailer exceeds the load capacity of the truck. It wouldn't be impossible, but it would take some research to find the right combination.


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