Hauling Cecil to California

How is training going?  OK... more below.

This is Cecil. He just moved from Yelm, WA. to Sylmar, CA.  He rode down there, 1100 miles, in my trailer. I have a 4 horse slant gooseneck. I take 1 divider out in front so it is a box stall; horses are hauled loose, they can move, turn around, put their heads down, eat, cough, sleep, travel in any direction they want.
Most horses prefer to travel backward if they are in the front stall and forward if they are in the back stall. I guess this is so they can see the other horse easily and it makes them more calm.  Cecil was very calm. He is a stallion, 5 years old and has been shown successfully by his owner. His owner, by the way, has a very well known blog, fuglyhorseoftheday, that you might have heard of.

 This cute little mare is Sly, she rode down to California with Lan & I last month with another mare that was a rescue from Oregon State University. The rescue mare is doing well at her new owners place now. Sly is learning to be a polo pony with a little buckin' bronc thrown in. She also belongs to Cecils owner.

Cathy is teaching Cecil about the polo stick and he doesn't even care. Right after this photo was taken she got on him bareback and he just walked around. He hadn't been ridden in 6 months and he was fine. Cathy did get a dirty horse butt!

When I take a trip like this one, Washington to Southern California, I like to get it done as safely and fast as possible. I make sure the divider hinges are covered in vet wrap so the horse can't rub on them. I use shavings to absorb urine, for cushion and so the floor isn't slick. I like for the horse to have hay in front of him at all times and each horse gets a bucket half full of water hung in their stall so they can drink at any time.  Hay and water are checked every couple hours.

Every time we stop I check the horses for any signs of distress or injury, I open/close windows as needed, check door locks and trailer attachments like lights & the hitch. Before I drive away I always do a walk around to make sure no ramps are down or windows open.

And now my training: Today I didn't get a chance to do any training, instead I drove 624 miles. But yesterday before I left my brothers house I ran for 45 minutes and I did it without stopping. Jeff told me of Mrs Freudensteins philosophy, which is, if you stop running then the run doesn't count. Well, I'm not wasting any more runs!  Tomorrow I'm catching another one of those 60 minute spin/strength/stability/core classes. Its going to whoop my ass but its gotta be done.