Here's some more pictures from the recent Marching Through History Event that I took Max to a few weeks ago. This was really a major achievement for me and it was five years in the making and required the putting together of a lot of pieces: successful trailering, getting a truck and access to a trailer, getting the necessary saddle and tack for a pre-WWI/WWI US Cavalry impression, getting the necessary personal uniforms and equipment, et al.
The day started off at about 5 am when I left the house. Because I had a social engagement the night before, I was unable to pre-load the tack room in the trailer that I was going to borrow so this would all have to be taken care of in the morning. I managed to load up my personal equipment in the truck the night before (with certain exceptions) so it didn't take too long to get out of the house.
I arrived at the stables at about 5:30 am and then spent the next 20 minutes or so hitching up the trailer, a process made more difficult than usual because of the dark. After several attempts, I managed to hitch the trailer up and make sure that everything was working right. I then had to load up saddles, tack, water, food, and other sundry stuff. It's quite a lot to get ready to transport horses, whether it's one or several.
Finally, after I checked and double-checked that I had everything I'd need (the LAST thing I needed was to leave a bridle or saddle blanket behind!), I proceeded to load Max. That went without a hitch- all the practice and places I've taken Max to since the beginning of the year really paid off!
Finally, after one more check of everything, I departed the stables- 7 am. I then had to stop at a friend's house to pick up a horse for another friend of mine who was already out at the event (he's the guy dressed as a German Uhlan in the pictures). I loaded up the second horse with no issues and finally made my way to the 210 Freeway.
In driving on the freeway, I travelled mostly at the 55 mph speed limit and took everything VERY carefully. Driving while pulling a horse trailer is very different than just driving the truck alone and even other sorts of trailers- for one thing, the center of gravity is much higher because of the horses.
I tested the trailer brakes and everything seemed to be functioning correctly and as I ascended the first set of hills towards La Crescenta, everything seemed fine. When I begain the descent into La Crescenta, the trailer brakes and transmission (the Ford F-250 has a special transmission setting for towing) did their job perfectly.
I slowly made my way down the 210 Freeway and transitioned onto the 134, which ends and Pasadena and becomes the 210- basically it means having to slowly drive through a tunnel and then be prepared to move over three lanes because of disappearing lanes. This can be tricky when the freeway is crowded but it wasn't a problem due to the freeway being empty at 7:30 am on a Saturday morning.
The rest of the journey was uneventful and the trailer brakes and transmission worked excellently as we descended into Pomona. I finally arrived at Prado Regional Park at about 9 am and quickly found a place to park the rig (hopefully no idiots would block me in when the time came to leave at about 5 pm).
I quickly unloaded both horses, tied them up and got hay and water for both of them. Now we were ready for the day...
To be continued...
The day started off at about 5 am when I left the house. Because I had a social engagement the night before, I was unable to pre-load the tack room in the trailer that I was going to borrow so this would all have to be taken care of in the morning. I managed to load up my personal equipment in the truck the night before (with certain exceptions) so it didn't take too long to get out of the house.
I arrived at the stables at about 5:30 am and then spent the next 20 minutes or so hitching up the trailer, a process made more difficult than usual because of the dark. After several attempts, I managed to hitch the trailer up and make sure that everything was working right. I then had to load up saddles, tack, water, food, and other sundry stuff. It's quite a lot to get ready to transport horses, whether it's one or several.
Finally, after I checked and double-checked that I had everything I'd need (the LAST thing I needed was to leave a bridle or saddle blanket behind!), I proceeded to load Max. That went without a hitch- all the practice and places I've taken Max to since the beginning of the year really paid off!
Finally, after one more check of everything, I departed the stables- 7 am. I then had to stop at a friend's house to pick up a horse for another friend of mine who was already out at the event (he's the guy dressed as a German Uhlan in the pictures). I loaded up the second horse with no issues and finally made my way to the 210 Freeway.
In driving on the freeway, I travelled mostly at the 55 mph speed limit and took everything VERY carefully. Driving while pulling a horse trailer is very different than just driving the truck alone and even other sorts of trailers- for one thing, the center of gravity is much higher because of the horses.
I tested the trailer brakes and everything seemed to be functioning correctly and as I ascended the first set of hills towards La Crescenta, everything seemed fine. When I begain the descent into La Crescenta, the trailer brakes and transmission (the Ford F-250 has a special transmission setting for towing) did their job perfectly.
I slowly made my way down the 210 Freeway and transitioned onto the 134, which ends and Pasadena and becomes the 210- basically it means having to slowly drive through a tunnel and then be prepared to move over three lanes because of disappearing lanes. This can be tricky when the freeway is crowded but it wasn't a problem due to the freeway being empty at 7:30 am on a Saturday morning.
The rest of the journey was uneventful and the trailer brakes and transmission worked excellently as we descended into Pomona. I finally arrived at Prado Regional Park at about 9 am and quickly found a place to park the rig (hopefully no idiots would block me in when the time came to leave at about 5 pm).
I quickly unloaded both horses, tied them up and got hay and water for both of them. Now we were ready for the day...
To be continued...
Max doing what he does best...grazing!
Max and I with our German compadres
Max and I...We're really here at last!!!!
2 comments:
Very cool! I don't envy you pulling a trailer in CA. No adventures coming home again?
Actually, the ride home was pretty uneventful, except for having to be aware of idiots attempting to merge on the freeway and not paying attention to you- the rig is like a supertanker and is not the easiet to stop in a hurry (not to mention how unpleasant that is for the horse).
This was much better than my first outing hauling horses- four horses in a stock trailer with no trailer brakes in a rainstorm.
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