equi·trav·els /i-ˈkwe-ˈtravəls/ noun equestrian journeys, typically of some length and distance, with your horse traveling by trailer
While EquiTrekking (traveling to remote destinations to ride horses) takes off as the newest hip equestrian trend, there are those of us who would prefer to travel with our own gear, our own saddles, and more importantly our own horses. You don’t need to leave your mount behind to ride in once-in-a-lifetime destinations.
Traveling with my own horses is a huge part of the horse ownership experience for me. Over the past decade as I have traveled on my own as well as escorting clients to locations across the Eastern United States. Hitching up the trailer and packing for my horse has become a routine for me.
However, for many horse owners the idea of traveling with their own horse is daunting. It can seem near impossible to load up a trailer, find horse safe accommodations along the way, plan trekking routes and drive miles with a rig to destinations unknown.
This is where EquiTravels steps in with one simple goal: to make traveling with horses in tow accessible to all horse owners.
How do we help?
Tips and Advice on How to Travel with Horses
Our posts will provide specific advice on various topics as well as stories of our own journeys that explain how traveling with horses is done. From planning routes to setting up camp to horse health advice to products we prefer, these posts will help you to unravel the mystery of vacations with your own horse and help to prepare you for your own adventures.
TrailWise Academy Clinics
The goal of the TrailWise Academy is to help small groups of owners and their horses get out into the world and feel capable of new adventures — with a little bit of support.
We have all heard people demean this kind of riding as “just trail riding” but we all know that it is much harder than it looks. Trail riding requires a level of athleticism and knowledge that is akin to any equine sport. Additionally, what trail riding may lack in apparent structure of arena sports, it makes up for in levels of creativity, problem solving and freedom.
Heading out on the trails comes with its own sets of rules, etiquette and expectations as well. The skills needed for a trail ride are often just as important as those needed for rated shows – and it is the lack of these skillsets that often become a barrier to entry for many horse and rider pairs.
We realize that for most people they and their horses can feel confined in a relatively small world in which the obstacles to leaving their home base and herd and heading out into the “real world” can feel like dangerous territory. Sometimes if a trail ride becomes a routine it can start to feel easier but when you leave the routine, ride with new horses or in different locations the obstacles start to accumulate. And when this feels overwhelming, the rider who had the idea to go on the adventure becomes the problem and not the trusted leader they need to be.
Coordinated Equestrian Travel Trips
We regularly offer a variety of trips across the Eastern United States to some of our favorite destinations. These coordinated trips are all inclusive and user-friendly adventures.
The trips are a great opportunity for equestrians who are new to traveling far from home and need some help kick-starting their travel bug; but they also are a perfect fit for those who want to travel but don’t want to go through the planning hassle.
When you hitch a ride, you get to travel with your own horse but we will provide all of the transportation to get your equestrian buddy to where we are going.
If you have your own horse and trailer, but need some help coordinating the trip and would like support along the way, we also offer caravan packages for people who want to follow our rig on these adventures. We’ll help you get where you are going and prepare you for future independence.
Based out of the Painted Bar Stables our travels are uniquely equipped with a herd of safe horses used for public riding, lessons and endurance races who are guaranteed to be fit and sane for any of our travel adventures. These horses are available for use on EquiTravels, however there are a number of pre-requisites and requirements to ride a Painted Bar Stables horse in order for you to get to know your horse before the trip.
Our Finger Lakes EquiTreks are our local rides based out of Painted Bar Stables. While these rides are still catered towards seasoned riders, these rides are hosted in the FLX (short for Finger Lakes) and therefore have less pre-requisite requirements for these rides as we can always substitute out a horse without much hassle.
As the owner of Painted Bar Stables, the premier public riding facility in the N.Y. Finger Lakes Region, Erika hosts over 5,000 trail riders and lesson students per year on her herd of 30+ horses.
An avid horsewoman and traveler, Erika has spent the past decade combining those passions and repackaging them into adventurers for all levels. From walk only trail rides to EquiTreks through the Finger Lakes National Forest to endurance races with seasoned riders across the Biltmore Estate, her goal is to craft personal experiences and memories for the riders sharing her love of the trails and the adventures to be found out there
Erika has received numerous honors for her work, including the Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2014 by the U.S. Small Business Administration for the Syracuse N.Y. District. Erika is the organizer of the annual Schuyler Equine Conference and serves on the marketing advisory board for the Finger Lakes Tourism Association as well as the Schuyler County Cornell Cooperative Extension Pro-Ed Committee.
