Camping at shows

[JohnDeere]

Sometimes shows are out away from everything. One is about 35 minutes from a available hotel. This is a smaller show with plent y of room for campers/etc. This isnt a place where people bring their landyacts! :D But a decent camper is still $$.

I was thinking about scouting out places that have nice bathhouses and taking a tent. WOuld I be laughed out of the showgrounds? :cool:

[Bravestrom]

We have slept in the dressing room of our trailer, in the back of the trailer and in a tent. We have air mattresses that we take with us if need be. Have even slept in the tack stall.

[jennywho]

Some of my favorite childhood memories are from camping at horseshows and later at some of the bush meet racetracks.

Funniest memory ever is when some fellow campers felt the need to hoofblack the toilet seat in the porta potty one night. Next day ever faithful horseshow mom says "honey, is there something on my backside" Yep one black ring. LOL. I am busting up just typing this. PRICELESS.

[Renae]

Rather then a tent just stay in your tack stall. I do it all the time.

Having stayed n both tents and tack stalls: you will get used to the horses in the night, but if it rains you will be much happier in the barn on a cot then in a tent on a foam or air mattress.

[Dirty Little Secret]

Many a nights I've spent in my horse trailer. Saving $ for horse showing. I've got it down to an art.
I clean the back of my trailer out and have a cot. I even have a solar fan that will run about 4 hours if you charge it all day. If there isn't a bath house I've been known to bathe out of a sink (including washing hair). It may not be as comfortable as the Holiday Inn but certainly cheaper. If the weather isn't extreme it's pretty ok!

[Trakehner]

We slung hammocks in the trailer or horse van (brought along a tarp to put on the floor and a cheap carpet remnant to put on the tarp. Plus, it made for a nice "room" when set up outside the trailer to put chairs on.

Get a portable toilet...cheap and a good thing to have.

Battery/solar fans are your friend (you can also tap into the car battery. We usually kept a spare deep-cycle battery to power stuff and would charge it when going down the road.

[Griffin]

i always see people camping at shows, I have slept in my tack stall, which is doable if you bring ear plugs and one of those sleep things for your eyes.

[trubandloki]

I have slept in the back seat of the truck for a week long show.

If it is the tent or the tack stall I would, like someone else posted, take the tack stall. That way you are not affected by the weather as much.

[Texarkana]

Hotel? Camper? Tent? Pssh. I usually end up sleeping wherever I can find a few feet of level surface-- floor of the tack stall, on hay bales in the aisle, in the back of the trailer, across the bench seat of the truck... :lol:

In all seriousness, I've seen people in tents at shows before. Whether or not it's feasible depends on the showground. I've been to a lot of facilities that are too crammed to set up a tent without risking being run over by horses or vehicles. Then I've been other places where they actually have designated areas for tent camping. So just make sure to check out the showgrounds first. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to call the secretary and ask.

[kellyb]

I don't think I'd want to sleep in a tent - but I'd be glad to sleep in a tack stall, trailer, or the back of my SUV.

[JohnDeere]

I am part of a big barn. The tack stall is already taken. ;(
I dont have a horse trailer, though it may be cheapre than a camper.
I have children so I have to share the truck. They do make camper tent attachments for truck beds tho. It would keep you out of the mud/rain. You sleep in the truck bed.
Our other vehicle is a small car. Wouldnt be comfortable.

[Donkey]

If it's not freezing cold out, my husband and I usually tent it at shows. I event and many people in our barn also tent. As well, some have campers or living quarters and some always stay in a hotel.

Of course, when we travelled south of the border to american events i notice the trend is much more towards staying in a gigantic winnabego.

It's nice to be near the horses so you can get up and catch them when they get loose ;)

[4Martini]

I have a camper that sits in my truck bed. I took it to a week long eventing camp and it was awesome. You have to pop the top up to access the queen sized bed that sits over the cab of the truck. The table can be converted into a twin sized bed as well. It has hot and cold water and a fridge that runs on propane. It even has a shower sprayer outside that has hot water (I wear a bikini to use it since it's just out in the open.) The only pain is if you are using the truck as well (my horse rode up in a friends trailer so we used my truck to go into town) you have roll up and down your house- but it only takes 10 minutes. You also have to park it level (has something to do with the propane...)

It was quite affordable on craigslist two summers ago - I would guess you could get a pretty nice one for 5k or less now if you looked (ours is only a few years old and was used by a hunter once a year - so really good shape after we cleaned off some dry blood.) You can get older ones much cheaper.

ETA - my DH says you can get them cheaper - ours is winterized, has a furnace and is built to be robust for off road use.

[aquafilly]

I've been toying with the idea of buying a Ford Econoline (big work van) and converting the back into a living space. Apparently a lot of people do this when they don't want to buy a truck + camper. I'd love to go camping rv style, but I don't want to buy a truck AND camper AND horse trailer. Hmmm I think I might have to post a thread about this.

[JohnDeere]

I had some kind of Ford van where the back seat folded into a bed. Used it exactly once. :winkgrin: Glad the things gone before the kids want to drive it. :yes:

That would be perfect for what we need. Maybe an old VW camper van?

[Renae]

If the tack stall or trailer are not options then I would read the rules for the facility. Some facilities do not allow tents. Others don't care.

IMO check craigslist, your local paper, etc. You should be able to find an old but still servicable camper trailer, slide in camper or pop-up trailer for a couple hundred bucks, especially if you are willing to redo the interior a bit (new carpeting, new foam mattresses, etc.). My brother bought a camper trailer for $400 and turned it into a fish house. Just as an example found this on my local craigslist http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/rvs/1055967346.html $400- easily what a hotel for 1 horse show would cost and you would have that gem forever :winkgrin: And at least you would be off the ground should it storm while you are at a show.

[JohnDeere]

Why woud you want a house for fish? :confused:

DH could and has repaired his share of campers/trailers/houses/cars. But honestly if hes got time/ambition (sometimes :yes: moreoften :no:;) ) Id rather him work on our real house. Hes not that into horses or camping. I doubt if a camper to take to horseshows would be high on his list.

I OTOH woud love to take a lower cost trailer & fix it up. I like being off the ground out of the rain. I dont have the knowlege tho to fix 1 right.

Our pickup has a 6.5 foot bed behind the crewcab. Ill check ebay for truck campers. That would be fine for me.

What about a uhaul trailer? Or a horse trailer that isnt good for horses?

[Renae]

LOL for ice fishing :D

[JohnDeere]

Do they sit in it and fish or just camp when they are ice fishing?

We dont have ice fishing down here.

[Renae]

Ah, you put holes in the floor and bring it out on the ice and p[ut it over the holes in the ice and sit in it and fish. They will even stay in it all weekend, it has a stove and little porta pottie.

[FlyingSwap]

We always sleep in the tack stall and have a great time! Tarp over stripped floor of stall, then cheap carpet remnant on top of tarp---cots/air matresses, sleeping bags, lots of pillows, plug-in cooler means you can take a bunch of food with you and save money that way (we are also known to have the hospitality schedule memorized to an embarrassing degree!)---if the place has showers, we use them happily, if not--then it's time for bathing suits and crocs in the wash rack. Either way, if you see two girls (one blonde, one brunette) walking around the showgrounds with towels on their heads and shower caddies, it's us. ;-)

We take along a laptop and DVDs---horse show favorites include The Horse in the Grey Flannel Suit, also HorsePower: Road to the Maclay, Harry Potter, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (we adore anything with Maggie Smith) etc. Prop this up on top of cooler and you have a veritable theatre!

We also take board games (right now we're in a rut with LIFE) and a soccer ball, but obviously most of our "down time" is spent watching class after class after class and eavesdropping on BNT's coaching their riders.

One of our favorite things about doing this at the Virginia Horse Center is that there is a close by Pizza Hut which delivers to VHC---you just tell them which barn and they will come find you! That is tradition every time we show there (which is quite a lot).

I know some people prefer the hotels and stuff, but I wouldn't do this any other way. Many of my favorite horse show stories stem from the fact that we were camping out in the tack stall. I love being right there by the horses, and people stabled around us love that we always get up and close all the barn doors (again at VHC) if it rains or storms in the night--and VHC is known for its AWFUL thunderstorms!

We do several night checks/stall picking-outs/hay refills/wrap&sheet checks for our trainer's young horses, in addition to the occasional morning feeding or tack cleaning or bath or ringside grooming or whatever---and she braids our horses in return!

There IS a way to show on a budget. I firmly believe this. I refuse to cut things that are important to my horse (like # of bags of shavings or whatever), but if you can cut your own corners, it can be done. As a broke college student, I managed to wheel and deal and budget my way into being able to show all season as a result of economizing on things like hotel/food/pro-braider, etc. Do all your own work---clean your own stalls, feed/bathe/hack/groom/walk/etc your own horse.

I will end this very lengthy post by saying that I don't feel like I've "lost" anything at all by not being able to afford to horse show millionaire style. I wonder how meaningful a ribbon or experience can be to those who just show up for their classes and dash off to go change and hit the party scene? I wonder if this kind of fun can ever be had by the people who don't experience showing this way.

[AppendixQHLover]

I have slept: In my car, the back of my mom's blazer, friends camper, tack stall. Now that I have a gooseneck I will be sleeping in my dressing room. I have a overnight show next weekend, and will be camping out in my trailer. It is 45 minutes from my house but I just don't wnat to leave him overnight.

SO..I will get a sleeping back, and blanket. Curl up and sleep.

[JohnDeere]

Anyone used something like this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Truck-Tent-Fits-5-5-Bed-Camp-Right-Tent_W0QQitemZ140308097372QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_De faultDomain_0?hash=item140308097372&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C 240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

[CJBean]

When I was a kid we used to sleep in the tack stalls as well. Now as an adult I am thinking of going to multi day shows and have considered sleeping in my tack stall as well. My only problem is I SNORE! And I guess my snoring can get pretty loud, so I am not sure I would be appreciated by others if I was sleeping in the tack stall, LOL Oh what to do!

[RegentLion]

Pretty much our whole barn camps when we go to shows that are held at a fairgrounds fairly near our barn. The campground portion is right near the horse section, and so we can have campfires (fire ring), and we basically just hang out at night and chat and have a great time.

At 'away' shows, my husband and I camp, and my trainer goes in a hotel with the other client. My trainer would rather camp but the client woudln't so they do the hotel.

We all love to camp--close to the horse, no drive in the morning to the show grounds, you can shower/clean up (if there are showers there) after your classes before going out to dinner without extra drive time, etc.

I wouldn't have it any other way!

Oh, and our barn does camp for a WEEK every year for the fair! That is fun. And yes, people camp in everything from their vans, to tents, to campers, to horse trailers.

[Alterageous]

When I had a Honda Element, I happily slept in the back (the seats converted to a pretty comfortable bed, actually, and I threw a foam mattress topper over it for the benefit of my back). I wish I still had that car, I'm thinking about buying one again.

[archieflies]

Hubby & I slept in a tent at a dressage show last fall, and everyone thought we were crazy. Lots invited us to join them in RVs and LQ's, but Hubby likes his own space, and likes it to come cheaply. Once, we found a campground very nearby to avoid the strange looks- with the added bonus of a nice lake to cool off in! I have also seen folks tenting at events, but my trainer (with her big ol' RV) and barnmates seem to find it rather strange. I can always catch a recliner in trainer's RV if hubby's not around, and I don't mind the back seat of the truck (although if my dogs are with me, the back seat is all theirs). Never had a tack stall, so never slept in one. I honestly don't see folks camping much, and I tend to shy away from things that get me noticed. :) Hubby, however, is immune to whispers and staring.

[mypaintwattie]

I have a Pleasure Way van that works wonderfully! It's a van conversion RV complete with a bed, couch, tv's, table, toilet, shower, sink, stove, and oven! The nice thing too is it is built on a 1-ton chevy chassis, so it tows a little 2 or 3 horse bumper pull like nothing is behind it!