NRV Rides
Home Away from Home for Humans and Horses
Text by Karl H. Kazaks Photos by Tom Wallace Sarah and Nick Canevari love animals. On their farm in Floyd, the married couple – both veterinarians at Town & Country Veterinary Clinic in Christiansburg – care for more than 60 creatures, including cats, a dog, chickens, guineas and miniature donkeys. Their Quarter Horses are provided the most sophisticated transportation: a 2018 3-horse, dual-axle, four-wheel Shadow horse trailer with living quarters. Weighing 6,500 pounds and capable of bearing an additional load of 10,000 pounds, the trailer is stout and impressive. “We had to buy a truck to match the trailer,” Nick relates, referring to a 2013 GMC Sierra 2500 Duramax with a gooseneck hitch. The couple bought the trailer new and have already taken it out west multiple times to South Dakota to buy 36
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horses, and to Colorado where they were married in 2018. On their wedding night, because the ranch where they held the ceremony was fully booked, the newlyweds slept in their new trailer. The living quarters, all things considered, are spacious. “It literally has every spec we wanted,” Nick adds. In the forward portion of the living quarters, a step-up platform leads to a California king bed, in the elevated section where the trailer connects to and rides over the bed of the truck. The middle part of the living quarters includes a living space with sofa and kitchen with a 2-burner propane stove, microwave, small fridge and exhaust fan. This section also has a slide which increases the width of the living quarters when travel has stopped and the rig is parked. “The slide was definitely a selling point,” states Sarah.
“There’s also a lot of storage space.” The rear of the living quarters has a complete bathroom with toilet and full hot water shower. The back wall is slanted to accommodate the slant design of the stalls in the rear of the trailer. Locally, the Canevaris use the trailer to take their Quarter Horses to a trainer in Hillsville, where the duo practice the techniques measured in Versatility Ranch Horse Competitions: roping, reining, cutting and more – the skills required of western performance horses and their riders. The Canevaris participate as amateurs in ranch horse competitions, having started competing about two years ago when looking for something more than just trail riding. “Competitions are intense,” Nick explains. “It’s an adrenaline rush, going full speed,
March/Apri l 2020
