Trailer Improvements and EasyCare Hi-Tie Review

I've been thinking for a while on ways that I can improve my trailer for the work that it does. Namely, I camp with it, I go to shows and I go day tripping for lessons or trail riding. It is very multiuse (and occasionally helps me move furniture). 

Gwyn knows how to high line, but not every place I camp at now has two trees or poles that I can string my kit between. I can use another trailer and mine but that's not a guarantee that I'll have an amenable neighbor. 

I also have the set of panels that I made in Michigan. They were good at first and worked, but last year at both Don't Fence Me In and at the Wine Ride, Gwyn just ignored them completely, breaking 1-2 at each ride. So now it's much smaller containment. I needed a new solution that allowed me to be independent while also being good for Gwyn.

Enter the easycare hi-tie. 

Tucked in for storage and travel

A friend had gotten two installed on her trailer and I lusted after them before finally going, "wait... I can drop the cash on this, it'll be useful and it will improve camping overall. It's not frivolous"  Yes, I have to convince myself to spend money on some things.

So when I dropped my trailer off for servicing before my work trip, I also asked them to install the Hi-Tie. We figured out the best location together and when I got back, the trailer was ready to go with a fun new addition!

I need to use a small stool just to reach it from the trailer.

It locks in two positions with a pin (parallel and perpendicular to the trailer wall). As I'm writing this I'm thinking I might want to make sure I don't lose the pin, just in case, so I might add a leash that connects to the handle. 

There's a cotter pin on the bottom as well to keep the main pin locked in. The fiberglass arm has some flexibility but not a whole lot. 

You can see most of the pieces here.

I added the line to the end so that I could see how it all worked together prior to being at a ride or lesson and feeling anxious about time. I'm glad I did. I'll need a mounting block to get the black piece up on the arm. It velcroes on with fairly sturdy velcro, and I consider that to be a safety feature because it will release if enough force is on it, given how my trailer safety ties have worked. 

This is about at its longest length. Gwyn likes to lay down and this would let her.

I'll come back with more feedback once I've used it, but I'm very excited to have it now. I think it'll give me a lot more flexibility for ride camp options. Camping in the middle of a meadow? NO PROBLEM! :D  Do I want Gwyn to have a little more room to move during a long show day if she's tied to the trailer? Boom, movement.  It also lets me tie her to a different place than her hay and water, which is absolutely a safety feature.  I don't think I'll use it for grooming at a trailhead just because the time spent at the trailer is minimal and this is one extra step to set up versus just using the tie ring.

Claire (Erica wanted a name less like her deadname) tells me that the whole unit is very satisfyingly engineered. That's high praise coming from a non-horsey engineer. She was impressed by it. 

I have other projects. Like reflooring the dressing room of the trailer. I long since pulled out the carpet due to mildew and mold and the wood here is dry but warped a bit. I want to put something like vinyl flooring down instead. I'll need to sand it to level it out first though.

The warped bits are just to the left of the tire along the seam line.

The interior of my trailer also needs a good powerwashing. I don't intend to use the trailer for at least a month so I've got the mats pulled out. I've swept and now it's ready to be scrubbed. We'll call these pictures "before" so I can revel in the after pictures when they come. 

You can see the mat lines. That's not rust (it's aluminum on the floor) it's just super caked dirt.

After I got done doing a 360 deg inspection of everything on the trailer AND figured out how to fix something that's been majorly bugging me, it started to rain, pour then hail. After that ridiculous weather was done we were treated to a brilliant rainbow! It's a double rainbow AND a supernumerary one (where it starts repeating within the inner curve of the primary rainbow)  So pretty!