Horse Trailer Safety Tips
Keeping your horse safe while traveling is the main goal and purpose of using a horse trailer. These trailers are specifically designed to help you get your horses from point A to point B without injury to the animal or to you and your family. Making sure you purchase the right type of trailer is extremely important as it will directly impact the safety of your horses. Here are a few tips to help you make sure that your trailer is safe to use when moving your animals.
One of the most important horse trailer safety tips to take into consideration is the size of your horse. This plays a huge important role in maintaining your animal’s safety. Every individual horse is made and shaped differently. Some may be very large and wide, others tall and thin. If you don’t have a trailer that suits the size requirements for your horse, you are headed for disaster. The reason for this is that horses are animals that are easily spooked by lack of light, and they are also claustrophobic. This means that horses don’t like small, confined places where they can’t move their legs. Horses need room to move their legs in order to keep their balance, and if they don’t have room to move, they scramble, and this can cause injuries. Make sure that the trailer you purchase has ample room and lighting, as well as ventilation.
Image credit: Arbyreed
Another great tip is to allow your horse to get familiar with the trailer you will be using to transport it during travel. You should do this a few weeks in advance of actually taking the horse out on the road for a long-distance trip. This will help the horse to feel relaxed and comfortable in his new surroundings and reduce the chance of the animal becoming stressed and injuring itself. Make sure that the horses hay net is close enough for him to be able to eat along the way.
Make sure that you don’t place the hay net too close to the horse as he may end up getting tangled in it and injure himself trying to get free. Pay close attention when installing the net to accommodate the needs of your animal.
You will want to check the inside of the horse trailer and make sure there are no objects inside that the animal may injure himself on. Horses often times get restless during long trips and holes, cracks, and splinters may cause the horse serious damage. Another item you can add for the comfort of your animal is padding on the breast and tail bars.
There are certain types of interiors for trailers that may actually aid in helping your horse to feel at home. By using a horse trailer with a light interior, you increase the chances of getting your horse to actually get in the trailer and not be so frightened. You may want to consider installing some lights on the inside of the trailer as well to help your horses not to be afraid of the dark.
One final important tip is to take out some insurance on your horse trailer in case something should happen to the trailer or the horse. This will help you to cover the cost of damages as well as replace any losses you have from an unfortunate accident or injury.
By following these simple safety tips, you can ensure your horse will travel comfortably, and with less chances of injury. Take the time to do the proper research and make sure that your horse trailer is safe for a long journey.