The OverNighter– Story By Tom Scheve
C
amping with your horses
When counting down the days to that overnight or weekend camping trip with your horse(s), wouldn’t it be nice to cozy up in your trailer after a long ride? 21 ½’ 7’
Full doors with ramp over doors
7 ½’
4’
Storage
Clothes and Change Area
Bed Storage ILLUSTRATION 1
In my experience, most horse owners who enjoy taking their horses out for a night or weekend take one horse unless taking a friend. Since two-horse trailers are more readily available than passably designed one-horse trailers, most campers end up with an empty stall – a great place to store hay and tack, if secured safely. However, a two-horse trailer with an OverNighter package poses a problem for bumper pulls. With ten feet for the horses, three for tack, and six for the living area, the length of a bumper pull is longer than what I consider safe. Conversely, a two-horse gooseneck trailer easily handles the length, giving you more living area space since the bed is in the gooseneck. If you’re leery about the size of a gooseneck trailer, remember that the length of the gooseneck portion doesn’t add to the overall length of your rig since it overlaps the truck bed. A twenty-one-and-a-half-foot gooseneck horse trailer is a little over fifteen feet long behind your truck.
ILLUSTRATION 1 If your truck can handle it, adding more footage gives you a separate tack area and a more extensive personal area. Items such as a storage seat, a chest of drawers, and a dinette sleeper might catch your fancy, with enough room left for an enclosed portable commode room or for additional storage. ILLUSTRATION 2 As I mentioned, most who camp with their horses only take one horse, which makes sense – you can’t ride two at once. If that happens to be you, you, consider what I call a two-minus one. But you’re thinking, “Isn’t that a one-horse trailer?” In a sense, it is since it only carries one horse. But in reality, it’s a two-horse trailer that converts the extra stall space into a room for a separate tack and a living area. Our design allows for a weekender package to work efficiently in both a bumper pull and a gooseneck, providing a separate space for tack and a space for your overnight needs. Utilizing the extra stall space also allows for a shorter and, therefore, lighter trailer, making the bumper pull trailer a viable and safe option. ILLUSTRATION 3 & 4 One final word of caution. Be judicious when researching a trailer that will contain an OverNighter package. Not all horse trailers make good living quarters. Choose one that comes standard with insulated walls to ensure a comfortable environment for you and your horses. Check out the roofs for overlapping material and rivets that can eventually leak. Most importantly, always consider your horses’ safety and comfort first, then go from there.
www.EliteEquestrianMagazine.com
80”
If there happens to be an outside 110 outlet nearby to supply power, a breaker box with 110 interior electrical outlets and lights can come in handy for charging phones, a space heater, a fan, phone and iPad chargers, a small refrigerator, or other convenience devices you might need. If those hot summer days are getting to you, about eighteen hundred dollars can buy you an air conditioner, but that means investing in a portable generator that can deliver thirty watts.
TRAINING & Showing
Vent
Commode
The essential criteria for an OverNighter should be a place to sleep, store your clothes, have some room for tack, and provide a place to change clothes. Of course, you can’t see in the dark, so an RV battery(s) will keep your lights on until they run out of juice. Suppose you plan to stay out more than a couple of days. In that case, solar panels are now available at reasonable prices, keeping your battery(s) charged for extended periods.
68
3’
Vent
With an OverNighter camping package in your trailer, you can toss your tent into storage and quit worrying about the weather. The good news is that you can get an affordable camper package if you keep it simple. However, if you start thinking, “Maybe I’ll just add a shower,” costs quickly skyrocket. With the shower comes plumbing, pipes, a water tank, a grey water holding tank, a water heater, electric wiring or a propane tank with gas lines, a sewer hose with a storage container, and paneling to hide the pipes and wiring. So, then you think, “If not a shower, how about just a toilet?” An operating toilet needs a black water tank, plumbing, water access, a freshwater tank… Well, you get the picture.
