# Camping with horses question



## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

This scenario is a little far out for us right now, but my husband brought it up (I mean camping with the horses) so I thought I'd ask.

Are there places you can camp overnight with horses that have corrals or paddocks already set up that you can rent? Is this a thing? I feel like if I went camping with my horses and didn't have them really secure, I wouldn't be able to sleep. I know that people hobble, or high line, or use portable electric panels, but I see problems with all of these and I can't imagine myself ever being comfortable using one.


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## lb27312 (Aug 25, 2018)

Ohhh a question I can answer! Almost every place I camp has either a stall or corral. Even some primitive camping places have corrals. I can use hot tape corral as my guys are very respectful of that. And yes there's usually a fee for them. 

A few pics...


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## Phantomcolt18 (Sep 25, 2007)

Some places do have corrals but I just use step in posts, 2 lines of electric tape, and a portable fence charger and it has worked out VERY well for me. I've hit the fence with the portable charger and let me tell you I got a decent little zap and my boys are very respectful of fencing. I have photos of my set ups they're just on my phone and I have to go searching.


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## Phantomcolt18 (Sep 25, 2007)

And Dice being a cheeky ******. 










I bought handles for my gate area so I can go in and out as needed. I tried the portable corral route and the first time I used them I discovered they were a pain in the behind. If you have unlevel ground you have to be careful whereas with the step in posts you can create an area whatever size and shape you want (within the rules of the place you're staying) not to mention the tape and posts take up WAY less room in the trailer than the portable panels. When I am finished with them I roll everything up and pack it all in an old tent storage bag. Not to mention my tiny portable corral cost me over $500 whereas my tape set up cost me around $60 and takes about 15mins for me to set up on my own. 

For me, this is a much easier and effective scenario haha


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## Cordillera Cowboy (Jun 6, 2014)

Most of my horse camping has been in a wilderness environment, or at a historical site. I’ve always high lined there.









On one large trail ride I participated in, most folks set up portable electric fencing. Our barn simply tied the horses to the trailers.


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## lb27312 (Aug 25, 2018)

lol @Phantomcolt18 - cute photo!

I like the tape setup as well and prefer they get used to it. I keep my tape setup in my trailer cause you just never know. I have a friend that only likes to go to places with corrals or stalls. We went to one place that the barn was dark and the stalls were small. I didn't want to put my horse in there so set up my tape to a good size! That's another reason I like tape is I can make it any size I want. Anyway my friend ended up using some of my setup and set her horse up with a nice size corral. She didn't know if her horse would like it but she was fine.


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

@Phantomcolt18 what is your source of electricity for this set-up when you go camping?


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

For a pricier option, Carri-Lite Corral Panels -- telescoping plastic panels that hook together once expanded.


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

@Avna if a horse pushed or leaned on one side of that, would it just tip over? Or is it heavy enough not to?


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## Phantomcolt18 (Sep 25, 2007)

ACinATX said:


> @Phantomcolt18 what is your source of electricity for this set-up when you go camping?


I use Powerfield's Portable Trail Fence Charger and my "grounding rod" is a metal ground spike used to tie out dogs and it works a treat! It runs off of two D batteries and has an on/off button to easily turn the fence off when not in use. I have used mine about 8 times now for full weekends (Fri-Sun) straight (turned off when both horses are out on the trail) and the batteries are still going strong, of course I keep backups in the trailer just in case, but I absolutely love it! 



https://www.statelinetack.com/item/powerfields-d-cell-portable-trail-fence-charger/E001461/?srccode=GPSLT&gclid=Cj0KCQjwi7yCBhDJARIsAMWFScMS8ICBPUnb-KCtjDPHbQq6UYORX7hz1FWjOSyU4492sIIdPQv5AgsaAv01EALw_wcB


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

ACinATX said:


> @Avna if a horse pushed or leaned on one side of that, would it just tip over? Or is it heavy enough not to?


I haven't seen this with mine. It doesn't tip over, but a horse pushing on it can move it out of square if it isn't staked down. Lots of people use a side of their trailer for one wall so it is bigger and possibly more stable -- comes with clips to do this with.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

And, the barrel strapped to a pillow is for what purpose?


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

tinyliny said:


> And, the barrel strapped to a pillow is for what purpose?


Hooch, obviously.


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

I have done just about all of those camping scenarios except hobbles. When I was in my 20's, I trained both my horses to stake out. Boy, THAT was convenient! You could put the stake anywhere and they could graze. And you could move the stake to better grass any time. It took me all summer to train one of my horses to stake out, but she was good for 20 years doing it once I got her trained. You can buy rubber training stake-out lines now days, but back then, I threaded a heavy washer attached to clothesline rope through a hose to train my horse. I was babysitting my god daughter every morning, so we played outside every day, watching the horse. When she'd get herself caught, I'd release her. By the end of the summer, she had learned to pick up a foot and shake the rope/hose off. After that, I didn't need the hose and used a stake-out rope. 

I high lined for years on camping trips, but one ill-fated trip, both my horses got tangled and slightly injured. I think I got careless and tied them with a too-long rope. I believe high lining has to be done just right for the horse to be comfortable and safe at the same time. 

I have also tied to the trailer a bunch of times. Unless you are sleeping in a tent, the horse shakes the trailer all night while you are trying to sleep, and it is not the best situation. 

Now days I use electric tape. I have a fence charger that uses two D batteries and they last about 3 years, going camping about 6 times a year, sometimes for 5 days. I leave the electric off during the day because my horses respect it.

I think about half the places where I camp offer stalls and about half of them don't. Some charge extra to have a stall and some supply it as part of the nightly cost.


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

knightrider said:


> I have also tied to the trailer a bunch of times. Unless you are sleeping in a tent, the horse shakes the trailer all night while you are trying to sleep, and it is not the best situation.


If you tie to the trailer, are they able to lie down? I'm thinking not, right?


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

If you tie them long enough, they can lie down when tied to the trailer, but then they can get trapped and caught easily, so I never have. I always felt a little guilty tying them to the trailer (not so much when I was a kid) and have only done it when there were no other options. Plus, after the first time, I knew I wasn't gonna get much sleep--jiggle jiggle, snort, snuffle, jiggle, clank.


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## charrorider (Sep 23, 2012)

Yes, some places have corrals. You'll have to check once you have an idea where you want to camp.


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## Cordillera Cowboy (Jun 6, 2014)

tinyliny said:


> And, the barrel strapped to a pillow is for what purpose?


That was a demo pack load for an historical site. The “pillows “ are bundles of trade blankets wrapped with a canvas cover. The keg was empty for this purpose. But would hold whatever liquid you needed to transport.

iv had no problems with the high line. I tie the horses with just enough rope to get their heads down to eat or drink. That seemed to also give enough slack to lie down if they liked.

I always slept close by in case of trouble.


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

Cordillera Cowboy said:


> I always slept close by in case of trouble.


I'm afraid that unless they are in a corral or pen or something, I won't be able to sleep at all. Ugh.


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## SwissMiss (Aug 1, 2014)

This is the set-up I use if the place I am camping at has no corrals or stalls. Built the panels myself and for transport they go on hooks on the outside of the trailer with some ratchet straps to tightly secure them...
I don't like including my trailer in the pen, as my pony is an avid paint-chewer. To secure it I use step-in posts and it has worked really well in the past. Setting up camp is fast and easy too. Since I travel by myself, I needed/wanted something where no extra hands are needed for setting up or breaking down...


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## Danneq (Sep 18, 2020)

Is there a concern for predators? Whenever we camped as a kid, we always had to take precautions with the food in case of bears. I'd be nervous that bears or a big cat or some such would see the horses as prey.


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

I don't know about grizzly bears, but black bears wouldn't see them as prey. Mountain lion attacks on horses do occur, but attacks on full-grown horses are rare. Also I'm not sure how excited I would be about camping in mountain lion territory. I'd have to think about that.


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## its lbs not miles (Sep 1, 2011)

ACinATX said:


> This scenario is a little far out for us right now, but my husband brought it up (I mean camping with the horses) so I thought I'd ask.
> 
> Are there places you can camp overnight with horses that have corrals or paddocks already set up that you can rent? Is this a thing? I feel like if I went camping with my horses and didn't have them really secure, I wouldn't be able to sleep. I know that people hobble, or high line, or use portable electric panels, but I see problems with all of these and I can't imagine myself ever being comfortable using one.


I've camped since in my teens (i.e. in the early 70's) and so long as your horse is trained there is no need to worry about having corals, etc... Those sort of requirements will severely limit your camping options. I've camped using a hobble and secured line without problems, but you do need to train the horse (which is obscenely easy to do). In fact, by this point, even with my current horses, I can take them out and if there is a place where some trees are positioned properly I can even stretch a line of rope around the trees, about chest high for the horse, and they'll stay inside all night. The only potential item I have to keep in mind is finding a place with a water source nearby and getting permission to camp on someone's land (but so far that has not really been a problem over the decades). People tend to be very friendly about it (no doubt because of the horse LOL) and I've even had people bring me something to eat or come out to have a beer with me after I set up camp. But then I don't haul my horses some place to camp. I ride out of my driveway, turn left or right on the highway, and ride. Generally 20-25 miles a day depending on our speed and how much daylight I have.

I have lightweight gear. Horse transports everything. If you look close in the photo with her water bucket you can see where there's a rope along the ground that is attached to her hobble. There's also a couple of photos showing the hobble and line. I'll even attach one showing her eating breakfast inside the sort of rope corral I made at that location (she did have her hobbles on during the night, but I'd already removed them so I could get packed while she ate). Also an older photo of me on my way home from camping trip that someone took and sent me.

Camping can be as easy as you're willing to make it. Clearly, if you train your horses it requires very little and it only takes about a day or two for me when I train them to hobble and be picketed.. I find keeping everything lightweight to limit the weight to 20% is the toughest part of it all for me.


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## PoFoSho (Apr 20, 2021)

ACinATX said:


> This scenario is a little far out for us right now, but my husband brought it up (I mean camping with the horses) so I thought I'd ask.
> 
> Are there places you can camp overnight with horses that have corrals or paddocks already set up that you can rent? Is this a thing? I feel like if I went camping with my horses and didn't have them really secure, I wouldn't be able to sleep. I know that people hobble, or high line, or use portable electric panels, but I see problems with all of these and I can't imagine myself ever being comfortable using one.


Absolutely there are places that have corrals/paddocks and places w/ barns/stalls! We also have an electric portable fence we have used before for places that do not have those options. The paddocks are ideal, of course, but you can use electric fence, too!! Here in Florida, you can find really good information on different state parks that already have corrals and through Facebook trail/horse camping groups.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

I have been so pleasantly surprised at how many places have horse camping. You can't reserve online at most places around here - you have to call. Online, they always show every horse camping site as "booked" - this is to prevent people without horses from reserving the sites. Every place we've been either has a paddock or a tying pole at each campsite. You can also buy a "HiTie" system for your trailer - it extends out so the horse has much more room to walk around, and has a bungie so the horse can lay down, eat etc. without getting tangled. I was really surprised this weekend to see that my mare really did not mind the tying pole at all - in fact she seemed happier there than in a paddock.


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