I’ve mentioned my truck tent a lot on this blog, but really haven’t devoted much time to talking about it in detail since I started using it. Today we finally get down to the nitty gritty, pros and cons, and everyone’s favorite: dollar amounts.

To start off with, I have a Napier Truck Bed Tent and an Airbedz Truck Bed Air Mattress. Both were purchased from AutoAnything for about $350 total (fun fact – that site will price match, so do some research!). There are lots of different styles and brands of tents and mattresses… Bobby has a fancier tent with a canopy, for example, and there is a lite version of the heavy duty mattress that I have. Cost wise, my set-up is probably slightly on the higher end of “middle of the road”.

The real question is: has it paid off?

Dollars-wise, it definitely has. Last year alone I spent 14 nights at shows in the tent (most of those being at Coconino of course). If we figure that, on average, I’d have been spending $80 per night at a probably semi-questionable hotel, that would have been $1,120 alone in hotel costs.

By the time all was said and done, the air mattress and the tent paid for themselves plus left an extra $770 in my pocket last year alone. That’s a couple more shows worth of entry fees! It has undoubtedly been my best money-saving purchase to date.

You also have to factor in the gas it saves by not having to drive back and forth, considering that at a lot of our venues the closest hotel can easily be 20 miles away. I didn’t pull numbers for that, because it would have purely been a guess, but it would be safe to say you could also toss in a couple hundred more bucks in gas savings.

But what about comfort? Usually when people see the truck tent, the first reaction is “That’s so cool”, followed about 3 seconds later by “but I don’t know if I could camp, I like having a bed and a shower”. I get that. Camping isn’t for everyone. To be honest, that was my initial biggest turnoff about the whole setup as well. But over time I’ve come to much prefer the tent for a few reasons:

1. Hotels are kind of gross. I have a really over-inflated irrational fear of bedbugs and other people’s filth, so usually I spend at least an hour every night in a hotel imagining that things are crawling on me.
2. I like being close to my horse. Usually I’m able to park within 50′ of his stall, so if he were to get cast or something, I would hear it and be there immediately. I can also easily get up and check on him if need be. It makes me feel a lot more relaxed.
3. You get to sleep more. Less time driving back and forth equals more time sleeping! I can also stumble out of bed, go feed, and then stumble back to eat/change before heading back up to the barn. It’s definitely a time saver to stay on-site.
4. The peace and quiet. I usually don’t sleep that well in hotels because of the noise. Cars, slamming doors, people above you that sound like a herd of elephants, people talking on the other side of thin walls… it all keeps me awake. At shows there’s usually very little to no noise after 10pm when everyone else leaves.

I’ve found that as long as I have the appropriate linens/blankets/sleeping bag, I’m quite comfortable. It got down to 40 degrees at night at Coconino and was 85 at night at MeadowCreek, but I slept well at both extremes (especially as I’ve learned how to adjust my blanket and clothing choices based on temperature, which was admittedly a bit of a learning curve). I’ve also learned that if it’s super humid, I’ve got to leave more ventilation open in the tent to prevent condensation. And if there’s a chance of rain, definitely put the rainfly on (it works, but only if you remember to put it on!).

My mattress is a full size queen, so I have plenty of space to spread out and flop around, or it can easily accommodate two people. When we went to Coconino I snagged the memory foam mattress topper from our guest bedroom for extra comfort, since we were camping for so many days in a row. It was SO COMFORTABLE.

Ah, but what about a shower?

The great thing is that, for us at least, most of the venues we show at have some kind of shower access. The only place we stayed at last year that didn’t have showers was Coconino. Luckily we had people with living quarter trailers and rental houses that would let us come use their shower. I think next time, if we were spending an extended period of time at a venue with no showers, I would buy a solar shower. But all of our regular venues have a shower, so I just bring a towel with me and I’m good to go. If it’s just one night and the weather isn’t too hot, I’m also not opposed to a “baby wipe shower”. No one is pretty at horse shows, anyway.

The lack of nighttime entertainment hasn’t been an issue either. Usually I socialize until a bit before bedtime, check on the horses, and then read for a while. It’s ridiculously relaxing, and I certainly do not miss having time away from a TV or laptop for a couple days.

Food-wise, camping does require a bit more planning. Usually once I’m at the show I don’t leave again, so I have to remember to pack a cooler with whatever food I need to get through the weekend. It would be a PITA to have to take the tent down just so you can drive into town for food. Usually I’m ok at remembering to bring food, although sometimes I forget until the last minute. I’m still adjusting to this part. I personally don’t bother with any kind of heating elements or cooking, so I tend to bring stuff that does not require heating. I’ve found that this actually saves me money too, because I’m not eating out at restaurants anymore while I’m at shows. If you like to indulge in some gourmet eats at shows, it’s probably easier to find a friend to take you and bring you back rather than putting up and taking down your tent repeatedly.

Which, speaking of, doesn’t actually take that long. When I first got it I had to practice putting it all together a couple times at home so that I could learn where everything went and get all the straps adjusted, but now I can put that thing up in less than 10 minutes. It’s pretty simple, just a few clips down each side of the truck bed to keep the tent in place, then 4 tent poles. Trust me, I am an idiot when it comes to things like this (an engineer I am NOT), and even I think it’s easy once you “get it”. My mattress has a battery that you just plug in, turn a dial, and it inflates itself in just a few minutes (deflates itself the same way, too!). Very simple and pretty quick.

The only accessories I’ve added to my truck tent lifestyle are a cool little fan/light combo (an awesome gift from Hillary!) that clips to the roof of the tent, and a cheap bathmat that I put down in my trailer so I have somewhere to stand and change clothes.

There are so many great camping accessories out there now, though, you can have just about anything you want.

I know the truck tent camping life isn’t for everyone, but for me it’s worked out great. The dollars saved, and the convenience of staying on-site, have proven to be really worthwhile.

I love Henry to pieces, but a great mover he is not. His canter is by far his best gait, and indeed his canter is the reason I bought him. His walk and trot, however, definitely leave plenty to be desired. Especially if you watch him from the front.

 

His legs aren’t super straight… his cannons twist outward a bit just below the knee. This really hasn’t caused him any trouble physically, aside from the one very short-lived farrier who tried to make his feet LOOK straight and caused him to pop a splint. In the realm of crooked legs, his aren’t so bad. I’ve seen and owned worse.

Henry’s crookedness mostly just shows up in his movement. His front legs have a more circular articulation–a bit like the classic over-exaggeration of a bowlegged cowboy walking around in fringed chaps.

Of course, the very first impression a dressage judge gets of him is trotting up center line, and the front view is where it’s most obvious. We will never get great gait scores. Otherwise, the only issue it has really caused for him is that he interferes up front. A LOT.

I had to go through a few brands of front boots before I found some that didn’t spin on him. And because he does interfere so much, he’s very very hard on his front boots. He also has to wear bell boots 24/7 because I’ve never seen a horse that can pull a shoe like this one can. He steps on his own feet a lot.

But I also don’t think I’ve ever had a horse that was so consistently good with his knees over every. single. jump. There’s no such thing as a bad jumping picture of Henry; if you get the timing right, his style will be good. Maybe loose below the knee depending on how unimpressed he is, but the knees are always up and even, crooked legs be damned.

In the grand scheme of things, his crookedness has not mattered much. He’s not a pretty mover, and his legs aren’t perfect, but he doesn’t know that. I just keep him very well-booted (yes, his “everyday” boots are XC boots) and make sure we have a good farrier.

Anyone else have a crooked-legged creature, or are crooked legs a dealbreaker for you?

It was 110% as miserable as I expected, but it is done.

Next time I’m all “Maybe I could do another half marathon!”, please someone slap me. You have permission. Here’s a breakdown of how it went:

Start Line – WOOOO LET’S GO!

Mile 1 – What a gorgeous day.

Mile 2 – This is actually kind of fun, look at all these people!

Mile 3 – *playing air drums to Anti-Flag*

Mile 4 – Wow, are we still on the north side of town?

Mile 5 – The halfway point has to be around here somewhere…

Mile 6 – Yeah, halfway!! That was easy!!

Mile 7 – It’s getting a little warm.

Mile 8 – I’M SO HOT, WHY AM I SO HOT.

Mile 9 – I think I have a blister, but I can’t really feel my legs, so who knows?

Mile 10 – Jesus Christ, there are still THREE MORE?

Mile 11 – Kill me. Anyone. Someone. I will pay you.

Mile 12 – Ok, one more. I can do one more. Just keep moving, legs.

Mile 13 – *don’t pass out, don’t pass out*

Finish Line – Praise Jesus, Zeus, Allah, Buddha, and Vishnu! OMG never again.

Was it fun? No. It was the opposite of fun. But we did it, so there’s that.

I would have finished in my goal time, but I stopped at the 100m to go mark to wait for my dad. Because you just don’t leave people behind, goal time or no goal time. My dad, my sister-in-law and I all started together, so we all finished together too. I can’t wait to see the finish photo of all of us looking equally miserable together.

And THEN in the afternoon I went and got a new tattoo with Beka! She was in town for the weekend, and what better way to do some blogger bonding than via new ink? Beka got a really awesome new piece that I’ll let her show you (you’ve already seen it if you follow her on Insta), and I got the last two lines from the poem Invictus:

The left side of my body needed something, since all 3 of my other tattoos are on the right. Originally it was gonna be ribs, but I think I want something bigger there, so arm it was!

Then I stuffed my face with Mexican food and fell asleep pretty much the moment my head hit the pillow. Today I’m definitely a bit stiff all over… mostly my right hamstring, and I have a pain in my left knee that probably isn’t good. The chafing is also next level. Otherwise though, I survived!

It was great to meet Beka and her husband too, she is just as cool as she seems. I did a completely terrible job of taking pictures… as in I took none. Oops. Next time.

I’m not a big talker while I’m riding. Some people can ride around, chattering forever either to themselves or their horse, and seem to be able to ride just fine. I am not one of those people. I’m not very chatty to begin with, plus let’s be honest it takes every ounce of concentration and ability that I possess just to be able to ride. There’s no room for chit-chat.

But I have noticed that there are a few things I find myself saying to Henry quite often. “Good Boy” is the most obvious one, and he loves that. Anyone who has watched a Henny helmet cam video has seen how he reacts to an enthusiastic “Good Boy!” after a great effort. “Oh my god she’s right… I AM A GOOD BOY! ME HENNY!” as he gallops away, ears pricked. I’m a big believer in the power of a well-timed “Good Boy”.

There’s also “Sorry” – another obvious one. He hears that from me probably a lot more often than he’d like. “Sorry” is sometimes used in conjunction with “Good Boy”. Such is the life on an amateur horse. Sorry Henny. Good Boy.

Then there’s the one he gets from me A LOT… at least a few times a week. His feet get to moving too fast and then he starts tripping a lot, which prompts the reminder “Slow your feet down so your brain can catch up!”. It’s valid, trust me. Those hamsters in his brain can only spin their wheel so fast.

In the barn the most common is probably “I felt teeth”. He likes to rest his head on me, or lick me to death (it’s kind of disgusting how much he likes to lick), but it’s inevitable that he’ll start testing the limits. First he starts pressing his teeth against you, then he’ll tap you with them. If you don’t give the stern “HEY!!! I FELT TEETH!!!” reminder at that point, he’ll happily go one step further and take a nibble. Such a cheeky little shit.

What about you guys with your horses? What phrases do you find yourself repeating all the time?

One of the first things I noticed when I switched to eventing from h/j-land was how the sharps containers at events were a) very sparse b) never had anything in them. At the bigger events there were maybe 3 of them scattered across the stabling area and they always appeared untouched. At the smaller events you may or may not even see one at all. Yet at h/j shows it seems like there’s a sharps container on every other aisle, and they’re full pretty much from the word go. We have enough of our own problems in eventing, but sticking lots of needles into our horses isn’t one of them.

As most of you know, I grew up doing h/j and spent plenty of time in the hunter ring. For a long time I thought that the A/O hunters were my ultimate fantasy. I bred Sadie specifically hoping that she would grow up to be my fancy hunter. Yet by the time she was 4 I had already grown very weary of the hunter ring, and it didn’t take long for that weariness to turn into complete and total disillusion. I had a great trainer who was one of the “good guys”, but I noticed more and more that the good guys were awfully damn few, and often at a disadvantage. Needless to say, I was not disappointed when we re-routed Sadie to the jumper ring.

I was hopeful that when the derbies started getting super popular, good changes would come about and some of the demons of the hunter world would fall by the wayside. They didn’t. Before a derby class at one show, a horse dropped dead because of an incorrectly administered magnesium injection. It wasn’t the first, nor would it be the last. But that’s the day I wrote the sport off, for me personally anyway, as lost.

When I saw Mary Babick’s facebook post earlier this week, I thought here, finally, was someone saying exactly what I’ve been thinking. Judging by the way it went viral almost immediately, I’m obviously not the only one. There was one part in particular that really stood out to me:

“As I sat in the airport, I was joined by two fellow USEF directors. The talk turned quickly to the shocking statistic which was presented in Murray Kessler’s Strategic Plan. That statistic? That almost 60% of all doping violations are in the hunter sport. The two directors (an active athlete from dressage and another from Morgan) expressed horror at our transgressions. The dressage athlete told the two of us that people in dressage are embarrassed to be part of a doping violation. She asked why we were not.
Her question rang true with me. Why aren’t we embarrassed? Have we lost our love for horses? Do we love money more than our honor? I don’t know the answer but I do know that this lack of integrity is both a sickness of people’s souls and our sport.”

This is exactly what I’ve been wondering for a long time. So many BNT and BNR have had doping violations, some of them on a pretty damn regular basis. And these are only the ones getting caught using testable substances… what about all the others that have found their way around the tests? Yet it doesn’t seem like a big deal to anyone. These people still show, they still win, they still sell horses, they still have a barn full of clients, they still have good reputations, and they still make plenty of money.  This is what has always been so shocking to me… the level of acceptance that seems to exist, and the number of people who are seemingly okay with it.

The fact that Mary, USHJA president, was willing to come forward and state her opinion in a very public way gives me some hope. Hats off to you and your lady balls, Mary. I really hope that this is the beginning of some good conversation and some positive changes within USEF and USHJA. I’d love to be a hunter fan again.