A Fine Horse in New Country

Staying somewhere overnight is one of the items which can require the most planning on a trip. You certainly don't want to wake up to find your horse has got bored and gone home.

Some horses find it hard to settle somewhere strange; others (like our Highland ponies) frankly tend to be 'tied by their teeth' - as long as there's something to eat, they're quite happy.

Basically, these are your choices:

1. Stay at a ' Horses Welcome' or similar establishment where they are geared for visiting horses;
2. Arrange to keep your horses overnight in a farmer's field;
3. Corral them on open ground;
4. Tether or picket them;
5. Hobble them.

1. Horses Welcome or similar. This is probably the simplest option, especially when you or your horse are starting out. You know that the facilities are hopefully of a good standard; there is easy access to feed or hay if you need it; and the owners are likely to have a good understanding of your horse's needs.

Of course it depends on finding one near where you are riding! (And beware, in the summer months they can get booked up well ahead.) If there's not one nearby, don't overlook riding schools, livery yards, members of breed societies or people who belong to an organisation such as riding clubs, endurance riders or BHS members. I've generally found them willing to help - either to put up your horse or recommend somewhere locally.

Hopefully it goes without saying that your horse must be vaccinated and up to date with worming before you stay at yards where there are other horses.

2. Farmer's fields can be another good option, although be aware that there may well be barbed wire (if it's a stock farm) or generally indifferent fences. Farmers can't be expected to be horse-aware, so don't be surprised if they kindly offer you the use of a 50 acre field knee deep in dairy-quality grass (eek). Sometimes there might be a barn or other building available - great if it's raining, and it somewhere your gear can dry out too.

Personally, I always offer to pay (rarely accepted) or to make a donation to the farmer's charity of choice. A wee note when you get home is appreciated too.

3. Corralling. Although I've used all the methods here, this is probably my preferred method. It depends on you having a horse who is respectful of electric fencing though! It also really is much easier if you have a pack horse, or someone to meet you with a vehicle, or dropping off your corral at your planned overnight stop beforehand. I use a lightweight Pel fence charger (runs off torch batteries) - lugging car batteries about is a pain (especially for the horse).

Carrying a corral on your riding horse is not really an option, although I am currently working with a British electric fence company who are looking at designing a folding lightweight corral which will pack into a saddlebag - will post details when they become available!

The advantage of corralling is it gives you much more flexibility: you can obviously use any kind of convenient ground - you can stop anywhere, and it's also useful if you find yourself somewhere where the fences are a bit rickety or you can restrict grazing, as in the case of the 50 acre dairy field above.

4. Tethering or picketing. A good option for the traveller without a pack horse (but you have to train the horse at home first.) You will need a 30 foot (minimum) soft rope (yachting ones are good) with a swivel snap on both ends. Personally I prefer picketing by a front leg to tethering by a halter - I have found they get less tangled up that way. You can buy commercial picketing boots (on the internet from the USA is your best bet) but, being a canny Scot, I bungled one up from an old Wwoof boot which was lying around, and that works very well.

Horses tend to get very clever with ropes, if you put in the time to train them properly, and will shake the rope off and step out of it without panicking.

The picture shows a picket pin which a local agricultural engineer made up for me out of scrap - (I think it was a fiver!) It works well, although sometimes it can be hard to find somewhere to drive it in satisfactorily in the rockier parts of the Highlands.

When tethering more than one horse, make sure the horses can't get tangled up with one another (duh).

5. Hobbling. Hmmm. Personally I wouldn't, unless you have the lead horse tethered. Horses can move a very long way, surprisingly fast, with hobbles on! (I had a Friesian cross gelding who could jump out of a paddock with his on).

My other objection to hobbles is that, in the hills, if a horse steps into bad ground overnight, or goes into a stream, they might need all their legs to extricate themselves.