What’s up guys?!
Today, I’m sharing my TOP Five Things to take camping with horses. At some point, I will make an exhaustive checklist with all of my essential horse-camping items, but today, it’s just my top five! Whether you have a comfy living quarters (LQ) trailer or you are a happy tent camper, these items can help to improve your horse-camping trip experience.
Top Five Items to Take Horse Camping
- Bag of hay cubes
- Fanny pack
- Slow-feed hay bag
- Carrots
- Rolling saddle rack
Take Hay Cubes on a Horse Camping Trip
It doesn’t matter what you feed, a bag of hay cubes is always a good idea for the trip. When you first start horse camping, you might not be able to accurately estimate the amount of hay you’ll need for the trip, so it’s always nice to have a bag of hay cubes just in case. Also, for horses new to camping, this is a great way to help them hydrate. Horses that are new to traveling can be picky about drinking water, so soaked hay cubes are a fantastic resource.
I’m actually a huge fan of soaked hay cubes for a number of reasons. I almost always give my horses a bucket of soaked cubes prior to any trailering. If you’ve read any of the recent literature about equine ulcers, you know just about anytime a horse steps on a trailer, they’re trying to brew up an ulcer. It doesn’t matter how experienced they are. I always like to feed a bucket of soaked hay cubes prior to a trip, so my horses have forage in their tummies to buffer any potential acid flare ups, and also a little extra hydration for the trip.
Personally, I like to feed an alfalfa cube or an alfalfa mix. Again, I think alfalfa, with the extra calcium, helps to buffer the tummy on potentially stressful trips. This can help to avoid ulcers, keep the gut moving, hydrate your horse, promote relaxation and good behavior and the horses love it. I will typically feed a bucket of soaked cubes (one good scoop, or about a pound dry) once a day on my camping trips.
Old School Fanny Packs Rock!
My next must-have horse camping item is an old school fanny pack! Laugh all you want, but these things rock! I have so many fancy (and not-so-fancy) saddle bags, but my GO-TO bag is always going to be the fanny pack. I like a medium sized one, because I can get my phone, camera, snacks, carrots for my horse and lip balm in it, with room to spare!
The most important reason you should have a fanny pack is in the UNLIKELY, but possible event of becoming involuntarily separated from your horse on the trail, ie: you fell off, got bucked off or otherwise parted ways with your steed. If you’re dumped, you won’t see your horse galloping away with your cell phone in a saddle bag!
You’ll see me in a fanny pack in a lot of my videos, especially on the trail. I usually turn it around behind me, and cinch down the belt strap. It stays tight and doesn’t move or rub at all, even during a posting trot!
Slow Feed Hay Nets Are Essential
Another one of my must-have items on a horse camping trip is a slow feed hay net. These are also called “small hole” hay nets sometimes. My horses are used to having LARGE pastures and 24/7 turnout, so going camping means confinement to small spaces. Equestrian campgrounds differ from place to place, but one thing is for sure. There are almost never any large turnout spaces for horses. For the entire duration of the camping trip, your horse could be in a little stall, on a high-line or even tied to a trailer.
For horses that aren’t used to being stalled, this can be especially difficult on their guts. In addition to standing still, when they’re used to moving around, is that they might only get their hay meal twice a day. They can quickly hoover up a few flakes of hay and then be sitting around with empty tummies for the rest of the day or night. A slow-feed hay net ensures your horse will have access to forage 24/7 throughout the camping trip. This can help to prevent ulcers.
Empty tummies are unhappy tummies. We know that horses like to eat a little bit at a time throughout the day, and this is especially important when they’re in new or potentially stressful environments.
Carrots, Carrots, Carrots!
A large bag of carrots is another essential item! I know it sounds basic and cheap, but a bag of carrots is one of my most important items on any horse camping trip. First of all, carrots are high in electrolytes! Second of all, they’re full of moisture! That’s two good things! I like to have carrots on hand as treats throughout the camping trip. If this is your horse’s first or second camping trip, it’s really important to have carrots on hand. I keep a few in my fanny pack for my horses on really long trail rides too. They really perk up after a carrot or two, and it’s GREAT for morale!
I know a lot of people who are into really fancy powder and paste electrolytes, but you have to be careful with those. If your horse is new to camping and not drinking water, you don’t want to automatically dump a bunch of powder or paste electrolytes into him. If your horse is severely dehydrated, that can be very dangerous. As a rule of thumb, you should only give horses powder or paste electrolytes if they are already drinking water. Carrots are a great way to get moisture and electrolytes into your horse, safely.
Rolling Saddle Rack- Number One Horse Camping Luxury Item
Okay, so this is actually a new must-have item for me. I recently got a rolling saddle rack, and I’m absolutely in love with it! I got a large one that holds two saddles, but there are plenty of really cute small ones that hold one saddle!
I’ve been to so many campgrounds where the stalls or corrals are REALLY far away from where your trailer is parked, and you would either have to bring your horse over to the trailer or carry all of your brushes and your tack back to the horse! It’s SO nice to be able to roll everything over to where I plan to tack up. This also clears out extra living space in my trailer. I can roll the cart right into the horse area after we unload, or leave it near my horses.
My rolling tack cart currently holds two saddles, three bridles, two brush bags, multiple spray bottles, two breast collars, multiple saddle pads, two girths and two helmets! It holds everything I need, and you can roll it around! What’s better than that? Okay, it’s kind of a luxury item, but I still highly recommend it as an essential item. It’s a great “quality of life” improvement item!
That’s it for the Top Five Things to Take Camping With Horses. If you haven’t already, check out my latest horse camping trip to Brunea Dunes State Park in Bruneau, Idaho!
Until next time, Happy Trails!
Incredible