If you own a horse trailer, chances are you might have been treating it badly, and odds are that the trailer is on the verge of breaking down. Or there might be occasions at which you decide that maintenance is not needed, and hence you let problems propagate year after year. If the above resonates with you, then you probably got to ditch the trailer and purchase a brand new one. While this might not be painful to some, it will be extremely painful if the horse is harmed during the breakdown phase of the trailer.
To prevent further problems, or potential problems, from developing, you will need to know the ways you are compromising your horse trailer.
Ways You Are Compromising Your Horse Trailer
I am pretty astonished, as most of the items listed here can be avoided if most horse owners use a little bit of common sense or logic to decipher what is needed by the horse.
Rusty Parts
Almost all parts of the horse trailer are made of metal unless you decide to heed our advice to install wood flooring for the horse trailer. And as per most metal, unless specified to be stainless steel, will rust. Even when it is not specified, most metal will succumb under the weather, and will eventually rust. When this happens, all you have is an old squeaky trailer that is not fit for horses at all.
When items are rusty, they tend to be in a pretty bad condition, and this might cause harm to your horse. Imagine a rusty metal part injuring your beloved horse. The amount of rectification that you will need to do will be huge.
To prevent this, we urge you to maintain your horse trailer at least twice a month!
Changing Trailer Too Often
While it might be a good idea to change your horse trailer when it is time for an upgrade, we do not recommend you to change the horse trailer just because you feel like it.
It usually takes the horse some time to get accustomed to a horse trailer. If you keep switching it around, the horse will get confused, and this will cause uneasiness and discomfort to the horse itself. What happens when the horse gets all nervous while they are in an unfamiliar trailer? The horse will wreck havoc inside the confines of the trailer itself. Worst case, they might just barge out of the trailer via the exits. This is when even leg wraps will not be able to keep the horse in its position.
To circumvent this, we urge you to familiarize your horse with the trailer before they use it. Try not to change trailers too often. It helps to save some of your hard earned money too.
Slow Down
Most owners always forget that while driving while pulling a trailer, they are actually pulling along a deadweight. When this happens, any sudden movement will have a big effect on the trailer itself. When owners ride too fast and hence turn at a faster than usual speed, the horses in the trailer will feel extremely uncomfortable. In some cases, the horse might even throw up!
We urge all owners to be mindful of this and slow down for the sake of the horses.
Wrong Hitch
Ok, this might not be a common sense problem. It is a problem attributed to the ignorance of the owner. The hitch, which is the connection between the truck and the trailer, comes with a rating. You have to ensure that the rating is good enough to handle the trailer plus its load. The load means the weight of the horse trailer, the horses itself and the tongue weight. An incorrect hitch will spell catastrophe to your entire set up.
No Ventilation
During those long rides, it is very common for heat to build up inside the trailer itself. To prevent this from happening, heat must be allowed to escape from the trailer itself. However, not trailers are properly equipped with proper ventilation materials to circumvent this issue.
This is particularly true if the horse trailer is made entirely out of metal, especially aluminum. Metal is a good conductor of heat, and it does trap the heat in the trailer pretty well, turning into an oven during summer itself. When this happens, your horse will start to suffer from the effects of excessive sweating, which will lead to dehydration and hence heat stroke. Yes, horses can develop heat stroke too!
To prevent this from happening, do ensure that your horse trailer will have proper ventilation. Also, you should always choose trailers that an additional layer in the roof that helps to insulate the entire trailer from the glaring heat. Paint the ceiling with a white paint too as it helps to reflect heat away from the trailer.
Proper Hay Nets
Some owners tend to fill the horse hay nets for trailers to the brim. Actually, you really do not need to do so. Also, ensure that the hay net do not have loose ends that might tangle or impede the horse’s movements.
Some hay nets tend to be an overkill too in terms of size and quantity. Try to get a hay net that is befiting for the horse’s size as well as proper for the journey. It is really pointless for you to purchase a large hay net for an hour’s journey.
Use Shipping Boots
Always use shipping boots as compared to shipping wraps. Nothing else needs to be said about this.
Conclusion
As above, if you follow our guide, your horse will not feel uncomfortable during those rides in the horse trailer!
