Check your Trailers!

[Millstone Farm]

Now that show season is (almost) upon us, I want to remind everyone how important it is to check out your trailers -- particularly the floorboards of your trailers!

Few people think about their floorboards until you hear about a tragic accident. Last night on a major highway in New York City, a horse (full-sized) put its foot thru' the bottom of the trailer. The hoof was touching the spinning tire. Think about that. The horse had nearly fallen thru' the trailer floor before the driver heard the horse flipping out. Of course the horse had to be put down right there on the highway. What a nightmare for the horse.

So everyone PLEASE take a few minutes and check to make sure your trailer's floorboards aren't rotting or cracked. It could save your horses' lives.

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

How sad for all involved

A very good reminder for everyone thanks!

 

[wildoak]

That was always my worst nightmare with wood floors in a trailer, it's happened down here before too. Horrible.

Another reminder - less gruesome but can have dangerous results too, check the inside of your trailer for wasps, bees, etc before you load a horse, esp if it's been sitting awhile. I have a big mare who cannot be tied in a trailer now because of what we suspect was a wasp sting.

Jan

 

[Marty]

It's not just the wood. People go in a trailer and jump up and down on the floor to test it and think that's enough.

It's not hardly enough.

Look under the trailer at the angel iron. That gets rusty and nasty. And there is not nearly enough of it to hold up a large amout of pounds in the first place. Look at the way it's builit under there. My pet peeve. We always added extra angel iron under the floor and make extra cross pieces and welded them. A new weld holds better than factory...........add more iron.

 

[txminipinto]

Like Marty said, definately check that metal frame! We had an old 2 horse bumper pull for just pulling around town and almost had a really bad accident! Fortunately for us, we were at home when it happened. We needed to change a tire and when my husband jacked the trailer up, the metal frame of the floor seperated from the body of the trailer! Had I been going down the road when that happened, I would have lost a horse or two. :new_shocked:

 

[targetsmom]

Check the ramps too. I once had a half-Arab mare have both front feet go through the ramp of someone else's pick-up they were loading her into. Her feet went all the way through the ramp and onto the ground. Luckily she did not panic and we were able to extricate her safely. But it could have been a major disaster.

 

[bfogg]

My husband does that and also pulls all the tires and checks and greases the bearings I think there called.

He says because a lot of the trailering is done by women,no one seems to take care of them.

people don't tell us women what should be done every year. Also check out the lights see that they are all working.

Thanks for this thread!

Bonnie.

 

[Warpony]

I have a home made ice pick that I used to use to jab at the wood to see if it was good and solid, I'm not a small girl but when I tried jumping up and down on the floor boards of the trailer i used to have they felt solid but when I poked at it with my ice pick it was spongy and soft and it got ripped out and replaced right away. When we ripped the wood out we found that the frame was rusty and we had to add supports.

I bought a walking horse mare years and years ago (Foxy) who had been in a trailer accident long before I bought her. She had a nasty scar on both front legs from where her front feet had gone through and she had been dragged along the pavement. She would load and trailer without a fight but when ever you got where you were going and unloaded her she would be covered in sweat, trembling from head to toe, and would colic that night every single time. That made me paranoid about checking the floor.

 

[liltnt]

I have commented on this several times especially when people buy an older trailer. You can get metal fatigue. My dad lost a trailer full of race horses this way. The front part that hooks to your bumper had metal fatigue, broke going down the road and the trailer flipped and rolled down an embankment.

 

[CLC Stables]

Excellent reminder. None of us truly think about these things until we get a smack in the face.

 

[Minimor]

He says because a lot of the trailering is done by women,no one seems to take care of them.

Well I have to say that some of the worst hunk-of-junk trailers I've seen have been owned & towed by men, not women! I guess I just don't fit your husband's stereotype of women haulers, because I do take care of all that stuff (and he might be surprised to know how many times I've had men tell me 'aw, you don't have to worry about that stuff, I never do any of that with my trailer & it's still in great shape')
I do keep an eye on the floor supports & the welding that mounts them to the trailer. I don't want to see floor supports less than every 24"--our first trailer had supports every 12", so 24" looks awfully far apart in comparison! But every 2' is the accepted standard. There are trailers that have supports at the front, back and middle of a two horse, nothing in between, and IMO that's just too far apart.

I check my floorboards with a hammer. A good solid blow should produce a sharp, ringing sound. If all you get is a dull thud, it's time to replace the flooring.

 

[justjinx]

Something else people forget about---check to make sure the bolts on your BUMPER of your truck are fastened tight! I had a bumper pull trailer i almost lost because the one half the bumper came off--luckily there was no horse in it! VERY scarey! jennifer :saludando:

 

[remington]

This is more for big horses than minis, but worth repeating...remeber that some horses think that WINDOWS are EXITS! I have heard some tales about leaping out windows in the past.

 

[whitney]

My vet just stitched up a horse that fell out of a trailer. The pin that holds the latch popped out and the door came open. Lucky they were stopped at a light and turning a corner when the door came open. Make sure your pins are the LOCKING kind. I just replaced mine, they weren't.

 

[Devon]

Eeek makes you paranoid.

Poor Horse

:

 

[Joyce]

How awful and so sad. The owner must be devastated but yes, it is very very important to check out your trailer from front to back and down under before you load it.

Joyce

 

[Mulligans Run]

OH my gosh - this is one of my biggest nightmares - how awful for that horse and it's owner.....

Thank you for posting this as a reminder....... :no:

Locking the doors - securing them...is my other and I have a very dear friend that just lost horses from that happening.......

 

[PaintedPromiseRanch]

not a problem with the trailer itself but please also check your hitch EVERY time your trailer is out of your sight... i know someone who knows someone who lost 2 horses because a disgruntled hiker didn't like horse poop on the mixed-use trail and deliberately UNHITCHED their trailer while they were riding! it came off on their way home and flipped... some people should just be :new_2gunsfiring_v1:

 

[Minimor]

Oh yes, I meant to add that about always checking your hitch--I check that before I head out on the road, every time, and I also give it a quick check when I stop for gas

Bumper hitches--I don't believe in towing with the bumper, unless it's been specially reinforced. I will only tow with a hitch mounted on the frame. I've heard of more than one bumper coming off the tow vehicle.

The disgruntled hiker sabotage story I heard last year was the angry hiker loosened the lug nuts & when the trailer got going down the highway the wheel came off & caused a serious wreck. I admit I don't check lug nuts every time I stop or before I take off down the road, though I suspect I would if I were to have any disagreement with anyone on the trail or at a show if there was any possibility that person could get to my rig. Nothing paranoid about me

: I'm just careful.

:

 

[sedeh]

Great reminders! I had heard about using an ice pick to check for rot in floorboards before. I've also had problems with wasp nests also. I'm major paranoid about my trailer! I do a walk around before I leave to make sure its hitched properly, all the doors are latched and the tires look okay. It's a 1/4 mile to the main road and I often jump out and make one more check......especially if I have any new-to-trailering horses aboard. Minis are pretty smart though....haven't had too many problems.