# How Do you sleep at horse shows?



## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

Hotel, I am not a camper and I sleep like a log, prolly snore too. I only do one two night show once a year, no overnighters, I will get up uber early and drive the 2 or 3 hours.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

Freemare said:


> I have a few horse shows (Driving) that I plan on going to. However I have all ways had a hard time sleeping in strange places. Do you guys have this same thing happen to you? Also how do you guys sleep, do you sleep in your trailer....hotel...tent...Also tell me how you make it fell like home and deal with noise...etc


By the time I'm through grooming and working the horses to get ready to ride, then ride in the show, then groom, pick and feed and water......I could sleep on a picket fence. Have slept in the tack room, the trailer, a tent and hotel and as frequently as I can, I catch a catnap in my zero G lawn chair, right in the aisle.


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## Chevaux (Jun 27, 2012)

I found that you're so exhausted from running around, getting ready, etc., that sleep is not a problem - it's well welcomed. 

I did sleep in a hotel one time but I did not like being away from the fair grounds and my horse so thereafter I slept "on site". Friends used to come to the same shows as me with a truck camper so hung out there. One time I even just slept in the front seat of the truck as there was a mini party going on in there that didn't show any signs of letting up soon. I've seen people bring tents to pitch; one couple just used their horse trailer (where the horses go; cleaned up of course).


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## Phly (Nov 14, 2012)

We make do,








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## NBEventer (Sep 15, 2012)

I've slept in hotels, B&B's, my truck, my trailer, in a tent and even on a couple bales of hay in front of my stall or in our tack stall.

I will only do the hotel thing if I am doing a week long show if I don't have a trailer with a LQ or decent tack room to sleep in with access to someones hotel for a shower. I have been known to shower in the wash stalls at shows though lol.

I have never really had an issue getting sleep unless i've been sleeping in my truck. Otherwise I will sleep pretty sound. I am usually dead beat by the end of the crazy day that I could zonk out anywhere.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

Buy a hammock, but not the type with the spreader bars. With either rope or webbing a hammock can be hung anywhere you can hang the ends about 12' apart. More is ok, just not less. Hang it diagonally in a spare stall or stock trailer. Try it for a few nights, with the sleeping bag and a pillow. You can stretch out flat if you lay diagonally. Mine is 100+" wide. The next one will be nylon with a bug net.


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## Freemare (Jun 2, 2012)

Wow sounds like a crazy night some times. How do you guys deal with having a shower if there is no hotels near by or you dont have a LQ. I cant stand going to bed with mud and dirt on me.


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## NBEventer (Sep 15, 2012)

Freemare said:


> Wow sounds like a crazy night some times. How do you guys deal with having a shower if there is no hotels near by or you dont have a LQ. I cant stand going to bed with mud and dirt on me.


Hose or wash stall. Seriously I dont know how many times ive showered in a wash stall. Its common to see people using washstalls for themselves lol. Bring a bathing suit!


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

NBEventer said:


> Hose or wash stall. Seriously I dont know how many times ive showered in a wash stall. Its common to see people using washstalls for themselves lol. Bring a bathing suit!


 
Or do like Sarah does, just strip down and use some horse shampoo:lol:!


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## NBEventer (Sep 15, 2012)

waresbear said:


> Or do like Sarah does, just strip down and use some horse shampoo:lol:!


That absorbine shampoo is da shizz! As long as it doesn't get near any "personal" bits! :shock::shock::shock:


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

Freemare said:


> Wow sounds like a crazy night some times. How do you guys deal with having a shower if there is no hotels near by or you dont have a LQ. I cant stand going to bed with mud and dirt on me.


Most of the places I show have restrooms with showers in them, so cleaning up isn't a problem. Otherwise, I have just cleaned up in a sink in the ladies room. Or, if you really need to strip down, take a bowl into the handicapped stall with you and do the "private parts". Obviously, not as good as a shower, but you can get pretty freshened up that way.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

Most places that hold bigger overnight shows are fairground type places and I do believe most of them have shower facilities. I use a hotel because I don't like to camp & my hubby usually comes with me, he is not into hanging out at a show 24/7. Usually the showgrounds have camping areas as well, it's not a hardship at all I don't imagine.


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## albertaeventer (Feb 5, 2013)

I don't sleep very well away from home either. I usually need a night for sure, sometimes 2 to "settle in" before I can have any sort of decent sleep. We are usually tenting it, or sometimes we are lucky and can borrow the family's motorhome. I don't like taking sleeping pills or anything like that, so I usually just grab a few drinks with caffeine in them to keep me going during the day, and then catch back up on sleep once I get back home. If the show is close enough that I can drive back and forth, I do that instead. Definitely not ideal, but you do what you gotta do!

One week last year I was away for 6 days, doing a clinic and then a show, and I literally could not sleep for pretty much the whole week. It really sucked. By day 4 I'm not even sure how I was still a functioning member of society for my rides, but I managed. :shock:


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## Brighteyes (Mar 8, 2009)

Either in the living quarters of our horse trailer, a cot in the horse compartment, or the back seat of the truck. :wink: If you're tired enough, you'll sleep anywhere. Bring plenty of pillows and your favorite blanket.


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## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

The last few shows I've been to I borrowed DH's minivan. The seats all fold flat to the floor, so I just spread out a couple layers of padding and a sleeping bag and I'm all set.

I just got my own truck so will most likely be hauling to future shows and will have to figure out a new sleeping arrangement- I'm thinking either in the back seat or the bed of the truck (it has a canopy).

I'm usually so exhausted by the end of the day at a horse show that it doesn't really matter


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## SlideStop (Dec 28, 2011)

Freemare said:


> Wow sounds like a crazy night some times. How do you guys deal with having a shower if there is no hotels near by or you dont have a LQ. I cant stand going to bed with mud and dirt on me.


Cheap baby wipes!! Add a little extra water if needed!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## NaeNae87 (Feb 26, 2013)

We sleep in swags rolled out in the back of the float (horse box/trailer) or in the back of my bosses horse truck. 
I normally find that after all the running around I have done, I am tired enough to sleep anywhere. 

Most places we go have showers (all with varying degrees of hot water), If my boss has the truck, then there is also a shower in his truck... if not then its a Pommie Wash with baby wipes and a bucket load of deodorant! 
Urban Dictionary: Pommie Wash


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## aforred (May 12, 2010)

In the tack stall, I use a hammock or sleeping bag. Don't do it very often though. Usually sleep in a hotel or horse trailer with LQ.


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

The night before I have to show I do not sleep good regardless if it is at home, a motel, or in the trailer or wherever. I usually take a half of an Advil PM and put in ear plugs! Depending on the event we might go bar hopping the night before(and after) so usually that takes care of the sleeping issue..LOL


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## paintedpastures (Jun 21, 2011)

I sleep in trailer,like being near my horses The shows are like one big happy campground,Everyone sits & visits in evening ,BBQ etc.:wink: Either that or hang out at the stalls doing much the same. The socialization is half the fun of going to the shows!!!:lol:
As far as showering there is usually some public showers or the wash racks work in a pinch,if it works for the horse why not?!. My new trailer has a full shower but haven't tried it out yet:wink:


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## BigGirlsRideWarmbloods (Mar 28, 2010)

I am also a fan of trailer camping! 

So clean out the horse trailer but refresh the bedding to make it smell good and make the floor softer.

Cover the trailer floor with a canvas drop cloths from the painting section. They're more comforting than regular tarps and makes it more like carpet or a plushy rug.

Also a queen size Areo bed fits PERFECT inside a 2 horse slant trailer.

Bring a short bungee cord to close the trailer door at night.

I bought a 10 X 10 popup tent, like the kind they use at street fairs, and set it up right at the trailer doors. I sprung for the bug screen walls, and they are totally worth it. I keep a whole camping kit that I only use at horse shows in my horse trailer that includes camping furniture (table, chairs), camping stove and cookware, camping lights, sleeping bag.

All show grounds I go to usually have shower facilities or wash stalls or you can always take a hobo bath in a sink.

I have to sleep with a CPAP which makes trailer camping more interesting. This usually means I have to park near a power source but I do have a battery in case it's not available.

Regarding *how* do i get to sleep when trailer camping... Any show I'm camping at usually means its over 100 miles from home, which means a late night of prepping followed by an early morning, and a LOOONG drive, and b/c show season is in the heat of the summer, it's a long HOT drive, so once we get there we unload unpack horses, setup everything for the horses feed and let them rest while I move the rig and set up people camp. And by the time that's setup, it's BATH TIME for horses, followed by braiding, towel drying and grooming. Then time to clean stalls and feed again. And by this time if I have enough energy I will crawl in to my sleeping bag, shoving crackers in my face hole, while desperately missing my husband and my real bed. 

Yeah, no .. Never have a problem going to sleep.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## MGTS (May 13, 2013)

Horse Trailer - Backseat of the truck - tack stall. We make do. But then other than waking up a few times to check horses (I'm OCD about it when I am at overnight shows) I can sleep pretty much as soon as I close my eyes. Heck I fell asleep kicked back in the golf cart one afternoon.
Thankfully most of our away facitilities have showers available that we make use of. Otherwise wash stall works just as well for us *lol* We taught our daughter YOUNG how to sleep at shows ~ I have some pics of her on my shoulder asleep while I am coaching when she was 4 months old.


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