Driver's Ed
You know how you know when you've chosen the right woman?
When you're sitting on the side of a busy highway with twoobliterated flat tires, hazards flashing, and no clue what the next step is and your girlfriend turns to you and says "Well, at least it'll make good blog content!"
A couple weeks ago when I wrote about my 'new ride' I should've mentioned - I did not drive that monstrosity to Flora Lea myself. My trainer, who is used to whipping around the five horse head-to-head like a piece of paper, drove it. I have driven one trailer in my life, a U-Haul pulled by my dad's SUV with, like, 250 pounds of home stuff in it. A 2+1 gooseneck, that is not.
I made Indy an appointment at the clinic to get scoped for ulcers because... I am highly suspect of his recent attitude towards grooming and weight gain struggles. I think most Thoroughbreds have them so I figured it was just time.
Pre-putting my most prized posession in this giant trailer I've never driven before, I took it for a test drive down the road and back to get a feel for it. On the 'back' part, within view of the farm, I heard a "tssssssssssss" noise. And then I saw the smoke/exploded tire.
Scratch that, smoke and two exploded tires.
I have NO IDEA what happened but I somehow managed to blow both tires on the drivers side. We limped the last little bit back to the farm and seeing as it was almost nine PM I parked my dead trailer and went home to deal with it another day.
It sucks that I had to get new tires, and reschedule my appointment for Indy's tummy. But these things tend to have a habit of happening and I have to take it as a hint to slow the f*ck down. So I'm putting myself on notice, and in drivers ed. For horse trailers.
- I have to complete several hours of empty driving. These will be short trips through the neighborhood and parking lot negotiation. They will be supervised. I may get cones and tennis balls like a combined driving test.
- Midterm practice trip to the clinic (empty).
- Trailering Grand Master Final to a predetermined location (also empty. Maybe Fair Hill?)
Then I'm going to print myself out a certificate and haul my horsie.
Maybe that's overkill. But I'm a nervous person and just got two flat tires on my first outing. It was a rude wake up call that I need to listen, and I need to slow down. I want to know this thing inside and out before I put the (other) love of my life on it.
When you're sitting on the side of a busy highway with two
A couple weeks ago when I wrote about my 'new ride' I should've mentioned - I did not drive that monstrosity to Flora Lea myself. My trainer, who is used to whipping around the five horse head-to-head like a piece of paper, drove it. I have driven one trailer in my life, a U-Haul pulled by my dad's SUV with, like, 250 pounds of home stuff in it. A 2+1 gooseneck, that is not.
 |
| Pictured: going big or going home. |
Pre-putting my most prized posession in this giant trailer I've never driven before, I took it for a test drive down the road and back to get a feel for it. On the 'back' part, within view of the farm, I heard a "tssssssssssss" noise. And then I saw the smoke/exploded tire.
Scratch that, smoke and two exploded tires.
I have NO IDEA what happened but I somehow managed to blow both tires on the drivers side. We limped the last little bit back to the farm and seeing as it was almost nine PM I parked my dead trailer and went home to deal with it another day.
 |
| Speaking of people worth their weight in gold, this guy is right up there. |
- I have to complete several hours of empty driving. These will be short trips through the neighborhood and parking lot negotiation. They will be supervised. I may get cones and tennis balls like a combined driving test.
- Midterm practice trip to the clinic (empty).
- Trailering Grand Master Final to a predetermined location (also empty. Maybe Fair Hill?)
Then I'm going to print myself out a certificate and haul my horsie.
Maybe that's overkill. But I'm a nervous person and just got two flat tires on my first outing. It was a rude wake up call that I need to listen, and I need to slow down. I want to know this thing inside and out before I put the (other) love of my life on it.
Hauling the trailer around empty for a while is definitely a great way to get acclimated! When I switched to a standard transmission for hauling I drove the empty trailer around for like a month, even though I'd been hauling it for years with my previous truck. Nothing like feeling confident in your ability to maneuver *before* loading up a live animal, particularly one you love, in the back! ☺️
ReplyDeleteI think it's a great plan! My husband made me drive my empty trailer around EVERYWHERE before I hauled with Dino inside. Also he made me back it up. A lot. And park it. A lot. It was annoying but now I'm happy that I took the time to learn properly.
ReplyDeleteuh yeah, definitely
Deletei dunno why i'm so goddamned impatient!!!
So...you definitely chose the right woman ❤️ That much is obvious.
ReplyDeleteThe first time I ever hauled a trailer was when I bought dear little Hawk in 2011. I was in a Michigan for a family vacation and it was for sale right down the road. So my first time hauling was back to North Carolina 1000 miles away in my new (to me) truck that I’d just bought a month prior. Go big or go home!
Through the hills of WV and the construction of OH, we travelled. Sure, a trucker had to help me park it when I stopped at Burger King, but I was almost a pro 17 hours later when we pulled into the barn.
You got this!
oh my god. talk about going big or going home. but that's great to get it all out of the way in one (terrifying??) go!
DeleteSounds like a great plan! If you happen to know anyone who has driven a semi - that's who taught me how to park and it was like angels sang.
ReplyDeleteincidentally over easter i had a long haul trucker teach me how to back up and omg so true.
DeleteI probably need to join this bootcamp myself, because I have done so many stupid things in an attempt to not have to back my trailer... because I can't. It's pathetic. It's probably high time I grew up!
ReplyDeleteNote to self find a long haul trucker to teach me because I'm pretty terrible at backing up.
ReplyDeleteI did a lot of empty hauling before I drove with a horse in mine. I love how my truck pulls my trailer but I am still quite cautious while driving it. I'm not sure I would feel comfortable with a big rig like yours for a while, but you gotta start somewhere right?
ReplyDeleteI can relate to this. If you have any competent self hauling friends see if some of them might be willing to haul with you a few times. Bribe with beer? candy? something. I jumped head first into hauling and now am super comfortable. Practice makes perfect. Freak accidents happen though so I would try not to beat yourself up. A lot of my friends that have a front blow out end up with both tires on a side going and some have lost the fender too.
ReplyDeleteI would def practice parking and backing in and out of tight spaces. I never get freaked about gas stations any more because I have gotten comfortable with how long my trailer is and how tight I can and can't cut it. Cones would be good for this because if you hit it no big deal while you are practicing. You will get used to it!
That happened to my mom and ever since then she and I always have 2 spare tires in our trailer!
ReplyDeleteAlso when I first started driving a trailer I had one of the trainers at the barn drive with me. She made me practice driving off the road (the trailer was empty) so I would be comfortable handling the trailer in various scenarios.
Great plan. I did a lot of driving with an empty trailer for my first month. Then short loaded trips. Anything longer than 15-20 minutes I had an experienced passenger with me so I could wuss out if I needed to lol. You'll get there in no time.
ReplyDeleteit is actually easier to drive a trailer with horses in it than empty but i know you want practice first. it makes a lot of noise empty so dont freak out is all :) You will be fine after some practice and pretty sure you didnt make the tires blow they must have been almost gone already. Yes you got a keeper both in horse and girlfriend :) But yes great blog fodder :)
ReplyDeletePractice never hurts! But I'm guessing the tires weren't up to par to begin with. Glad that happened before you were en route with Indy to the clinic!
ReplyDeletelook at those ribbons tho! but also, yea, i have never ever regretted taking a little bit of extra time with anything at all related to horses for practice and familiarization. good luck!
ReplyDelete