We have a dealer who serves GA for Haul-A-Stall and I like what I see.

http://www.horse-cents.net/Pricing+Options.htm

I would probably ask for one for my birthday in February, but before Mr. C'Mare lays out that cash for me, I wanted to get the stamp of approval or disapproval. I would also be getting the canopy for it.

Thanks!

I can't see it as being worthwhile. It's heavy, so it's not easy to set up. Plus, it's expensive, and I can't imagine that it would be easy to take w/you on a trail ride. When I go on an overnighter, I have some step in posts, a battery operated charger, and some electric fence. It takes almost no time at all to set up, and Sprite is quite comfortable in it.

Thanks. Not considering it for camping but regular "day trip" use. Sure I can just tie Penny to the trailer to much hay while we relax/etc. but I was just considering an alternative for her to be more comfortable.

I like it!! I would buy one. I'm leary of putting my horse on a tie all night, I wouldnt get any sleep!!!

That's why I made the portable corral. I can adjust the size according to where I am. And, if they're calling for rain overnight (like on our last weekender), I just put a rain sheet on her. If I'm at a show, or a clinic, there's normally stalls available for a small fee. I think the most I've ever paid was $30 for overnight.

I do realize, however, that not all horses can be put in a portable corral. I have a friend who's horse realized that he can knock over the step posts and get out.

I saw a rodeo queen at our local fair who made her own version of this. She just had 4 priefert panels and a awning that you would find at like walmart or whatever. I thought it was pretty ingenious!! I didn't know that there was a company who made fancy ones! I would do like the queen did though cause the ones you want are expensive!!

One trail ride I went on, someone had brought 4 panels w/them. I actually felt sorry for the horse cuz the panels were only 8' long, and it was a fairly large horse.

I have been going on multi-day trail rides for about 25 years and have tried a number of things to keep my horses comfortable and I have seen people haul a lot of things for that purpose. In those 25 years I have seen a lot of loose horses in camp, including my own. All of those horses came out of electric fence corrals. I have seen horses on a high line get their hind feet caught and badly rope burned. I have even seen one horse get cast in a portable steel corral. As far as I can tell there is nothing used to contain a horse that a horse can't get hurt on or loose.

I usually use a high line when there is a tree close to where I can park my trailer or string the line between my trailer and a friends. I make sure that the line is tight and the lead rope with a swivel is the right length so the horse won't catch his feet.

I live and ride in Arizona, so the ground is usually dry which makes an electric fence iffy. However at a ride last month I saw an electric corral that I really liked. First off it looks substantial so the horse inside and any loose horse would probably respect it. Most importantly though the return line is in the tape and doesn't depend on the ground to make the circuit for a shock. You touch that tape and you get shocked. http://www.zarebasystems.com/products/kits_equine.aspx

A friend at the last ride had one of these which she likes a lot. http://www.carrilitecorrals.com/product.shtml There are a lot of portable corrals on the market, some less than what you listed and some more.

I have, and have used a portable corral. Since I too live in the desert, and usually camp where there is "iffy ground" the electric tape that grounds itself will work, but the step in posts DO NOT. the ground is just too dry most of the year. Fortunatly our two horses don't lean on fences and are pretty calm overall.
I put our Qtr/Arab cross gelding and my straight Polish Arab mare in the same area and they do well overnite.
Lots of folks have those hilines that attach to the trailer also, but I don't think I would get any sleep with the movement of the horses.

you might also check with your local campgrounds for horses, many have small stalls or corrals!

Steve

Make sure and check the regulations where you ride. Most of the places we ride don't allow the portable corrals, which is the only reason why I haven't invested in getting one myself. I sleep so much better at night when I know the horses are locked in and not going to get loose off the highline or hitching post.

Personally I much prefer a highline. I tie them long enough to barely reach the ground if I am close and watching and they aren't 'horsing' around. At night or when not under close surpervision I tie them so their nose must stay at least a foot off the ground to keep them from stepping over the rope. Much simpler and a whole bunch less 'stuff' to carry along.

We use a picket line or electric fencing, both easy to transport! :)

We made our own panels out of PVC pipe. They are very lightweight. We did add plastic
mesh so they can't put their head thru. We used 3 velcro strips to fasten the corners.
Also, we put a strand of electric around the top. They go up fast with 2 people.

The problem with electric fence at night is that other "critters" can knock it down and
then you are looking for horses.

We also use highlines and never allow the horse to get their head down too low. We had
a friend that forgot to shorten the rope at night and the horse almost strangled.

Between the years of CTR and Endurance, I've seen almost everything.

I don't have room to haul enough panels for the 4-5 horses I always bring. So I have to find other solutions.

I like the HiTies on the side of the trailers. They buffer the horse movements. Between the fiberglass rod and bungie I hardley feel the horses at night.

Plus they work well in the desert where I don't have anything else to tie to.


We also pack in an electric fence on many of our camp outs. Often we will put up two 1/4 mile rolls of poly string around a meadow and turn the horses out to graze. But only during the day. We high line at night because we've had too many deer and elk run thru the meadows at night and carry off the string.
Horses in high elevation meadow with hot wire around meadow


Back Country Horsemen have built lots of corrals at various trail heads across the state. I use those of we are at one of these trail heads and are staying at the trailer.



But most of the time I just high line the horses between trees.



And I always carry hobbles with me so I can just turn the horses loose to graze. during lunch stops are around camp.

Utah,

I saw a guy at Mule Days in Calvary Ga. who had those HiTies on the side of his trailer along with a manger that folded up flat against the side of the trailer. The manger was made out of steel for the frame with plywood inserts and was probably 12' long. It sloped out at about a 30 degree angle from the trailer when the struts were locked in. He had three hiTies and mangers on both sides. Very cool.

Forgot to add that he also hobbled his horses when tied to the hiTie. All his mules were hobble broke. he told me that ALL of them learned how to hop off with their hobbles on.

I like those light weight aluminum panels. If I ever were going to stay somewhere overnight where I didn't have the use of a pipe or regular stall, I would get those.

We considered portable panels and electric rope but the panels are too akward to haul and we usually have at least three so that would make it even more akward. Electric rope would probably work if we only had horses, but the mules just walk right through it so no go there.

Hobbles are also not an option as the mules and one of our horses have been habbled so much that they can move just about as fast in hobbles as they can without them! They have learned to keep front legs together and back legs together and take huge leaping bounds. Not fun!

Now we just tie to the trailor or highline. Our LQ trailer is heavy enough to absorb any movement and we sleep just fine.

Not much help huh?

My horses can run faster in hobbles than I can. But they tire quickly so they don't go real far.

I'll tell you a story. We had packed into a high mountain location. We were at least 10 miles from the trucks. One of the ladies let her horses out to graze. No hobbles, not tied. Just loose, she was confident they were hungry and wouldn't stray. We were setting up camp and getting dinner ready when she saw one of her horses heading toward the trail back to the truck. She grabbed a lead rope and headed after it. Well several hours went by and no Melissa. We were wondering where she had gone and what to do. She is a very confident horsewoman and outdoors person. So we were not too worried about her. It got dark and we were wondering if we should send out a search party. About an hour after dark she come riding in bareback with the lead as her bridle. She had chased that horse ALL 10 miles back to the truck. When it got to the trailer it stopped and allowed her to catch it. She had no saddle or tack, So she just jumped on and rode back to camp in the dark. She hobbles her horses now.

My horses my run 100-200 or even 300 yards with hobbles. But they will not run 2-3 miles with hobbles. So I can catch and retrieve them.

I'm a light sleeper, I can't sleep if I tie the horses driectly to the trailer. They wake me up all night with their tugs on the lead ropes. My horses don't pull back, So when they feel the resistance from the HiTie Fiberglass rod, they release the pressure. That's just enough buffering, that I never feel them during the night and I get a great nights sleep.

UTR, that reminds me of something that happened on a trail ride I went on. We had stopped for lunch. We all carried lead ropes w/us so that we could either tie the horses if there was a tree handy, or hold it in one hand while we ate w/the other. One lady put the lead on, and just turned the horse loose. The horse grazed for awhile, then took off. 3 of us mounted up pretty quickly, and took off after it. This horse went thru a stream that it had balked about going thru, thru the woods, down a dirt road to the driveway of the property we were on, and down to the street. Someone saw the horse, and was able to catch it. But, they were also concerned that someone might have been hurt, so they got out a truck all set to come back and check on us. We were quite glad it wasn't needed.