Equipment Details | Description and Recommendations for Trail Riding

Equipment Details Ultra light

This page explains in detail which equipment is recommended and the reasoning behind these recommendations.

The equipment presented here is not based on trends or theoretical models, but on practical experience in long-distance trail riding.

Horse and rider

Camping

Navigation and SOS

Rain Gear & Night Security – What Actually Works

It rains a lot more in Northern Europe than in Colorado, so proper rain gear isn’t optional—it’s survival equipment.

My proven setup:

Waterproof socks
Original NATO poncho
Double S saddle slicker

In heavy rain, the poncho goes on the horse first, protecting the saddle and saddlebags. While riding, I pull the poncho around myself in addition to the slicker, which keeps my legs and boots dry.

At camp, the poncho does double (or triple) duty:

as a ground sheet under the tarp
or as a cover over my sleeping bag if I don’t set up the tarp

Double S slicker and poncho are highly functional—but let’s be honest:
✔️ you stay dry
❌ you also sweat inside
That’s the trade-off with real rain protection.

Fencing – Letting Horses Feed Themselves

I don’t carry extra hay. My horses must be able to graze for themselves.

Hobbling alone only provides limited security—mine once took off more than 10 miles overnight. Lesson learned.

Today, I use a portable electric fencing system with:

a battery fence charger (runtime: up to 10 weeks)
fence wire
carbon poles

Setup:

square enclosure of 60 × 60 feet
normally sufficient for up to 3 horses

In the Rockies, I bring double the wire to fence a much larger grazing area.

The entire system is available through my store.

Keeping My Horses Safe at Night

Moose and elk are often the reason horses get restless at night. To avoid morning search-and-rescue missions, I rely on a three-layer security system:

Electric fence
Tractive GPS tracker
Dog tag tied to mane or halter

GPS Tracking – Reality Check

The Tractive GPS tracker provides:

live coordinates for up to 30 days
a virtual fence that sends an alarm if a horse leaves the set area

⚠️ This works only if:

there is cell reception
your phone is on and connected

If there’s no reception, you’ll need a backup person who also has access to the Tractive account. They can check the location online and tell you where your horses are.

Redundancy is not paranoia—it’s how you sleep through the night.

My Recommendation

Exped DownMat
This is my go-to sleeping pad. It’s fully waterproof, so you can sleep directly on snow without waking up in a cold puddle. It insulates so well that in summer I can use a very thin down sleeping bag—or even just a down quilt. In winter, I combine the sleeping bag and the quilt, and that setup has kept me warm on seriously cold nights.

If you add a sleeping bag liner, you can easily gain about 10°F (≈5–6°C) of extra warmth—cheap weight, big comfort upgrade.

Tarp vs. Tent

My tarp is 10 × 10 feet, large enough for 3–4 people to sleep under, and it weighs only 1.3 pounds. Because I don’t always have trees available, I also carry two lightweight tent poles to set up the ridgeline anywhere.

If you prefer an enclosed tent:

Spend the money once
Get a 2-person ultralight tent (Durston X-mid 2)
plus 2 tentpoles from ESVO NL.

Cooking & Camp Gear

Mini grill plate
Jetboil stove for coffee and freeze-dried meals in the evening
Haferl (plastic mug) and a titanium fork
Water Filter (plus Spare filter unit)

Additionally, I often carry:

a small axe
a storm lighter
fire starters

Because sometimes firewood is wet, stubborn, or just having a bad day.

Safety Gear

Bear spray, depending on where you’re traveling
In snake country: a rigid plastic tube to keep on hand—this can be critical to prevent a horse from suffocating after a snake bite

Lightweight gear, clear purpose, no luxury fluff—just things that work when it matters.

Why Garmin GPSMAP 65s

I want full control over my battery life, without depending on a power bank. Out in the wilderness, I depend on this device.

AA batteries → predictable, replaceable, reliable
Physical buttons → work with gloves, in rain, cold, dust—always
Rock-solid navigation → made for the outdoors, not for scrolling Instagram

About the letter codes from older models (still helpful to understand):

C = Camera → not needed
S = 3-axis compass → needed (especially for elevation profiles and orientation at standstill)
T = Topo maps included → useful, but you can often buy topo maps cheaper from third-party providers

No matter which device I use, one thing is non-negotiable:
➡️ I always carry a large paper map covering the entire area I’m traveling in. Additionally, you can download offline maps onto your phone.

Planning the Ride

Before a ride, I study my route on online topo maps such as:

AllTrails
Gaia GPS
COTREX map (Colorado)

Garmin BaseCamp is also an option—but honestly, I don’t find it very user-friendly.

On these online maps, I:

Plan my track (not a route—constant beeping at every turn drives me crazy)
Check the terrain in Google Earth for water sources and grazing
Download the final track to my Garmin

Once on the trail, the GPS tells me:

When to turn left or right at intersections
if there are alternative trails
where nearby POIs (points of interest) are

But make no mistake: the GPS helps—but the map tells the story.

SOS & Satellite Communication

Out in the bush, without mobile coverage, you must have satellite communication.

I still use my Garmin Explorer, but if I were buying today, I’d choose the Garmin GPSMAP H1. I’ve found that the maps in the Garmin inReach ecosystem are more accurate in Canada than those on my older GPSMAP 64.

Garmin inReach Mini 2

The inReach Mini 2 is a lighter, cheaper alternative that does one job extremely well: emergency communication

, it has no map function

I would use it in areas with no cell reception

to send an “all OK” message to my family every evening
to stay in contact with the person driving my trailer (they carry one too)

Small device. Big peace of mind.

Emergency SOS – Important Reality Check

Satellite SOS is powerful—but not magic.

⚠️ You must have a clear view of the sky.
Dense forest, deep canyons, or steep walls can interfere with communication. This applies to all satellite devices.

The good news: