Those who trailer alone

HaffiesRock

HaffiesRock

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Long story short is I am on a small private yard and out hacking is rubbish. Only 2 others to ride with and that isn’t regular. I don’t want to move my pony so have bought a a towing vehicle and am in the market for a trailer (looking at long term hire initially).

There is fab hacking a 10 minute drive away in 2 different directions and also a big equestrian centre with shows, arena hire, clinics etc.

Problem is I’m likely going to be travelling alone. Will have people to meet up with and hack, but the getting there and back will be on me.

How many of you do this? Is it a silly idea? I don’t want to have to rely on others and want to be able to just go to an arena hire or a show. Meet up with a friend for a hack.

To add, it’s been years since I’ve towed so I’ll be practicing first but is it doable alone?

Thanks in advance
 
When I was young, in the 1980's, I used to go out most weekends in the summer to a show or fun ride, on my own towing with my Series 3 Landrover. It's a lot easier if your horse is good to travel and doesn't have a meltdown because you stopped at a red light. And is there someone who can take your horse home if something happens to you, join a rescue service. If it's not far and you’re meeting friends you should be fine.
 
Thank you!

I intend to just go out for practicing and do longs of reversing! That’s what scares me!

Pony travels well as far as I am aware but I’d have someone follow me for the first couple of outings to double check

My partner can borrow my friends horse but he’s not a great loader so there is the option of company if he can work on that.

Good point on getting home if I can’t drive back. There are a couple of people who could help with that so I’ll keep that in mind
 
spacefaer said:
I'd never get anywhere if I had to rely on friends or my oh to go with me!

I go hacking, fun riding, competing and hunting by myself. Never occurred to me to rope someone else in. I am a bit antisocial though 🤣
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Same!! Pony is only 4 and was backed this year so I want to get her out and about before she gets to comfortable with hacking with the same two horses, doing the same road 2 road hacks. Plus I want to compete and nobody on my yard does (until I’ve got transport of course and then I’ll probably have more friends) 😂😂
 
I do all of my trailering alone and have done for years. I've had a few issues (very few) with getting lost when sat nav has failed me (I ended up in the middle of Northampton in the rush hour on one stressful occasion when my phone packed up). Locally should be no issue at all, as long as horse loads and travels ok. Make sure to take a way of securing trailer though, a Denver boot or hitchlock.
 
When my friend used to travel solo (I often used to tag along) they had a sheet of emergency contact details left visible in the car, so in worst case scenario people knew who to contact to sort out themselves & their horse.The list was split into contacts for horse and contacts for themselves. I always thought that was sensible!
 
Landcruiser said:
I do all of my trailering alone and have done for years. I've had a few issues (very few) with getting lost when sat nav has failed me (I ended up in the middle of Northampton in the rush hour on one stressful occasion when my phone packed up). Locally should be no issue at all, as long as horse loads and travels ok. Make sure to take a way of securing trailer though, a Denver boot or hitchlock.
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MuddyMonster said:
When my friend used to travel solo (I often used to tag along) they had a sheet of emergency contact details left visible in the car, so in worst case scenario people knew who to contact to sort out themselves & their horse.The list was split into contacts for horse and contacts for themselves. I always thought that was sensible!
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Thank you both. Very sensible ideas. I would have a hitch lock but whether I would have thought to lock it up whilst out is another story. Also the numbers, that is good. I have similar at the yard in case I have an accident and people know who to call!
 
I trailer alone. My biggest tips (for myself too!) would be:
- give yourself plenty of time. It doesn’t matter too much if you’re just going hacking but if going to a comp or lesson with a timeslot, aim to be early so you can take your time getting there without the panic of making the time if the roads aren’t great or you don’t know the route.
- don’t blindly follow your satnav, as its not always towing friendly! (Especially if you miss a turn and then it tries to take you down a no-through housing estate in a town to turn around…).
- reversing - take your time (again!). Don’t let people rush you, you will be just fine. Also bonus to turning up to places early is that you can pick a good spot/have more room to get in.
- if you’re meeting up with someone, text them when you’re leaving with an ETA. Same for going home too.
 
I go alone to stuff, sometimes with company, sometimes meet people there! The only thing I do differently is if I know it might not be a brilliant idea to have horses tied to the side of the box and no one there to hold (beach for example you’re just parked on the side of the road) then I make sure that they travel with everything except the bridle on, I get hat and boots etc on and ready so it’s literally open front ramp, bridle and then unload and get going.

Also teach your horse to load in front of you, so much easier and I think safer to just stay on the back ramp and do the breech bar and ramp and then go round to the front to tie up.
 
I trailer alone every where I go & my horse isn't a good traveller. I make sure I know exactly which route I'm taking don't just follow sat nav if going somewhere new, have a good equine rescue & breakdown policy, a decent first aid kit and sedative and always make sure partner if you have one knows where your going. Also make sure you have knowledge & wherewithal to change a tyre, would be my advice for travelling on your own.
 
Good idea about satnav!, ignore it mostly. I used to Google places and jot down the best route (A roads/motorways) then you don't get diverted down silly little roads by satnav
 
I travel everywhere on my own, including taking my youngster to the breakers recently. I travel literally 100s miles. I hate having to rely on someone!

I have a clip with emergency contact details on I clip to my trailer, I also make sure someone knows where I am/what I am doing.

Once you have gained some confidence you will find it liberating!!!
 
I travel a lot solo, the horses get used to it very quickly and to be honest the loading is the “difficult” part, even that is fairly easy now!

I tend to load, then keep lead rope in my hand and then dart round the back to close up everything at the back. It means that if the horse does decide to pull back, they aren’t tied to anything so there is less chance for panic. At the start, I would have parked some feed / nicer haylage at their head so they weren’t tempted to reverse off when I put the back bars up. I don’t really need to do that anymore.

Unloading then: I untie them, throw lead rope over the neck, get everything organised then nip round to the back and undo back bars. Then they usually slowly start to back off and I catch them on their way down.

One of ours does come off the front, I actually find this a bit trickier going solo as she tends to come off a bit faster. If front unloading, it’s helpful to put front bars back up before you toddle off on your adventure - makes reloading a lot easier!

For a short journey with a sensible traveller, I would travel with saddle on + a sheet on top. Or for longer trips, I find I can put saddle (and cover!!) on before I unload, a step is invaluable for this as I can stand on one side of the partition (I do this with a 17hh ISH in an IW511).

It is daunting initially but it’s super handy and I’m glad I can do it 😃
 
sheep said:
One of ours does come off the front, I actually find this a bit trickier going solo as she tends to come off a bit faster. If front unloading, it’s helpful to put front bars back up before you toddle off on your adventure - makes reloading a lot easier!
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sheep said:
For a short journey with a sensible traveller, I would travel with saddle on + a sheet on top. Or for longer trips, I find I can put saddle (and cover!!) on before I unload, a step is invaluable for this as I can stand on one side of the partition (I do this with a 17hh ISH in an IW511).
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I have optimised my trailer for solo travel. Idolo ties either side at the front, with long ropes left permanently threaded at the right adjustment for cross tying. No partition, full width breast and back bars, so it's easy to go in and tack up before unloading. I've added a stall guard to the top of the front ramp, so that even when the front bar is dropped the horse can't rush out. (My youngster rushed to begin with but with practice she soon learned not to - the stall guard is just belt and braces now).
I also made a place to hang an over the door feed bucket in the nose of the trailer, which keeps horse busy while I put the back bar up.
 
For me the towing and riding is fine, its the re-loading thats an issue, she needs someone leading and someone stood behind and she walks straight on. on my own Im flapping. Though Im hoping this will improve with more practice. But something to think about, would recommend dragging a friend or partner on foot til you get comfortable :)

I tend to park up, put my hitch locks, on open boot and get tack out first then get the horse out. then fling the headcollar into the trailer last second. Ps the back of a 505 makes a fab improv mounting block as long as youre not too heavy ...
 
For years nobody on my yard did anything with their horses, so I was trailering alone from day one! Once you get into a routine, it's quite nice and no different really from hacking alone, as long as you keep the trailer maintained and if you don't have a recovery option locally, get it sorted with a national company. I travel with full width bars (one horse!), so I have plenty of room to tack up or untack under cover if needed. It's more like a mobile stable.
 
I’ve only ever travelled alone or with a child. My first ever time towing a horse DH came with me but apart from that I’ve just done it on my own.

My Equitrek was a PITA to reverse (even DH, who can park trailers in the tightest of spaces on any angle) said it moved weirdly. I’ve now changed to an Ifor Williams and it’s much nicer to tow.

Pick some easy trips out, our local EC you can drive in/out of spaces (enter the first or last class 😂), the local common is drive on/off, pony club is usually pretty easy.
 
I’ve spent years trailering solo, would barely have done anything had I been reliant on a spare pair of hands!

General bit of advice, have phone charger/battery, have an emergency contact and a location tracker on your phone, have trailer and equine recovery (and spare functioning tyres)

Also of going local, and horse generally good, travel tacked up, and cross tie.
 
I past my lorry test at the beginning of the year. I was nervous like you about going out alone. I was getting panicky about not being able to load or put the ramp up on my own, but honestly I've not had an issue. For the first few trips out I went in my car first to scout out the route and parking/turning but after that I just got on with it.
 
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