Tips For Staying Overnight In A Horse Hotel

Cross country travels with your equine pal? We’ve got all the tips for you! 

Traveling with horses is stressful enough as it is! Traveling cross country with your horse? Oh! Even more stress! However, stopping at a horse hotel can help to break up the trip for your horses and give them the chance to stretch and settle. With some preparation, your stay at a horse hotel will be a success!

1. Research and plan on a horse hotel beforehand. This prevents the stress of looking for a place at the last minute! Once you look at your trip’s route, find a horse hotel near your stopping point. “Call before you haul!” is the best advice here! Make sure they have an available stall and that they have an ETA.
2. Ask your horse hotel if they allow overnight parking. Not all horse hotels allow for you to camp overnight, so you might have to find somewhere else to stay for the night. Also, ask if they have hookups, so you can plan accordingly. 
3. Save their number into your phone. This way, you can easily contact them to let them know if you are running late. Some places have you call once you arrive on site. 
4. Make a copy of all your necessary hauling papers. Before you leave, make copies of your coggins, health certificates, hauling papers, and more! This way, you can give the copies to places that might require them without worrying about it being your only copy. 
5. Have your hauling papers ready to pull out when you get there. Once you’re there, the place will most likely require a Coggins and Health Certificate. Check in will run super smoothly if you have your money and papers readily available to hand off. 
6. Make sure your feed is easy to access for the night. Instead of tarping down every hay bale on top or stuffing your feed in the very back of your trailer, make your evening and morning feed easy to get to! This way, you can avoid tearing your trailer apart or having to unload and reload feed when you stop. Your horses will be thankful for the early dinner, too! 
7. Once there, ask where they keep their manure and if they expect you to clean your stall. You can clean out your trailer and have it ready to go in the morning! Each place is ran differently and has different expecations. Communication is the key to a good stay! 
8. Constantly check to see if your horse is drinking water. Some horses are picky about their water and may not like the water at your horse hotel. If possible, fill a tank from home, so they have water from home. Other life hacks to have your horse drink, include electrolytes, gatorade in their water, soak their feed and more! A healthy horse is a hydrated horse!