Trailer Safety - Best Practices for You and Your Horse

You have been training for months. Taking your horse over obstacles, building their confidence, and getting ready for your first endurance ride. Driving the three hours to get there with your best friend in the trailer is the next big step.

Loading your horse and driving off is an exhilarating moment. Whether you are going to a show, an endurance ride, or a relaxing human/horse camping trip. Preparation is the name of the game.

Plan for a smooth and safe trip. In this blog we will discuss trailer maintenance, helping your horse load and travel safely.

We are assuming that you have purchased a trailer that can be pulled adequately with the vehicle you have and that you have conquered backing up.

Trailer Maintenance

For most of us, we use our trailers on weekends during nice weather. So, the trailer spends a considerable amount of time sitting in the driveway or parked off behind the barn.

Keeping your trailer clean will help it go a long way towards it lasting longer.

Before parking the trailer between uses you need to clean out any manure and rinse off the mats. Lift up the mats and make sure the floor has time to dry out.

We use WERM permanent flooring and have found it to be a big improvement over the standard rubber mats. They are much sturdier and provide a slip-free surface.

Remove any hay or grain from the hay manger and any bags of grain from the storage areas. You don’t want rodents to take up residence in your vehicle.

Before heading off you should perform a safety check on the trailer

• Make sure the tires have at least ¼ an inch of tread and the lug nuts are tight. Check the air pressure in all tires You can finding the rating on the tire side wall.

• You have a working jack, lug wrench, wheel chocks, and orange cones or triangles

• If your trailer has a wooden floor it should be inspected before every trip. Never use a trailer that has a compromised wood floor.

• Double-check that all lights on the trailer and the vehicle are working

• Hitch ball should be greased

Getting Your Horse Travel Ready

Don’t expect your horse to jump in the trailer, fasten their seat belt and holler lets go. Remember your horse is a prey animal. They don’t trust confinement. Their instincts tell them Run! Get Away!

 Always take time for your horse to get used to the trailer! Load your horse prior to travel day. Ensure they are comfortable getting on and off, as well as standing in the trailer.

Werm flooring helps protect the floor of your trailer.

The Loaded Horse

Your horse is successfully loaded and you are on your way!

Trailers, especially the smaller two-horse trailer can be very unstable. Never unhitch a trailer with horses inside. Remove the horses and then unhitch if you need to.

Obviously one of the advantages to a horse van is that it is more stable. Still place the emergency break on and use wheel chucks for additional safety.

Use wheel chucks to secure the wheels and a hitch lock to secure the hitch from movement.

Unloading

Open the trailer. Talk to your horse as you do. Untie your horse from the front. Then do the butt strap.

Your horse should back up slowly and off the trailer

In a horse van lead the horse slowly down the ramp. Never let them go down on their own.

While traveling the windows can be closed and the screens exposed for ventilation. While at the campground or show you can drop the outside window for more ventilation and access to the feeding shelf.

For the Horses Safety When Moving

• In a two-horse trailer, the horse should always ride on the left side. This is because a road is smoother in the center.

• Always use a break-away halter for trailering. A horse that falls or is pulling back can choke itself if the halter does not break away.

• When using a stock trailer tie horses on the left so they are more stable and don’t lean up against each other.

• Use the butt brace so they don’t back up.

• You may choose to wrap the horse’s legs while they travel to prevent them from nicking themselves. This is necessary for a horse that tends to move around a bit.

• Do not trailer your horse with tack on. A saddle especially can make sores or shift during movement. A bridle with a bit is just uncomfortable. You want to offer some hay to give your horse when traveling for their comfort.  

• You may have bedding in the trailer for additional comfort and easier cleanup. Remember the bedding can be blown around while on the highway so placing a fly mask on your horse can help keep dust out of their eyes.

• Susan doesn’t recommend medicating a horse that is going to be trailered as it can affect balance. Talk with your vet if your horse is experiencing above-normal anxiety.

• Often traveling with a “friend” is helpful.

To Wrap or Not to Wrap

If done correctly wrapping a horse’s legs can help protect them. This is common when shipping thoroughbreds between tracks. Your horse may inadvertently step on their coronary bands or pasterns.

The protection given is from nicks and scraps the horse may occur while moving. The bandages are not as likely to provide support for the tendons and other muscles.

You can purchase shipping boots or wrap your legs. The advantage of shipping boots is that they are stiff and will stay in place.

Shipping boots make a “sound” when the horse moves. Give your horse time to get used to them before a trip.

Doing the wraps yourself takes practice. The wraps need to not slide or bunch up as well as being consistent pressure and not too tight.

Before applying wraps the horse’s legs should be clean. The wrapping material should also be clean and in good repair.

Stop and Check!

So my funny but potentially not so funny story. My mother and I drove from Lexington, KY to Middlesboro, VA with my Connemara, Mocha, in tow for a 3-day Event. She was always an unsettled traveler and moved around quite a bit.

Ironically on the second leg of this trip, she seemed more settled but we had several people honk at us. Not one to stop my mother kept going as I looked anxiously in the rearview mirrors.

Well, Mocha had taken off her halter and turned around in the trailer and was happily hanging her head over the tailgate. While we laugh about this many years later it had the potential for my horse to become seriously injured.

Never allow your horse to hang their head out the windows (and especially the tailgate) because rocks or other debris in the roadway can be sent flying upwards by the tires.

Of course, the moral of this story is just to stop and check when something may not be right. Your horse’s safety always trumps you being on time.

What Paperwork Do You Need to Travel?

Whenever you leave your farm to go to an event, public trails, or horse camping you will need a health certificate and a negative Coggins test.

The Coggins test is when your veterinarian draws some blood and sends it to a certified lab to test for the disease Equine Infectious Anemia. This disease still has no cure and is very contagious. The disease is controlled by strict management techniques.

Read our article What is a Coggins? And Why Should You Care?

Take Away

Safety is so important. Not only are your horse and trailer financial investments but your horse is your friend and you are responsible for their good care.