Horse Trailer Accidents on the Road

Ive been asked to attend a number of crashes involving horse trailers over the years and doing so has convinced me that aside from colic and barn fires a motor vehicle accident involving horses is probably one of my greatest fears. The need for safe driving should always be preeminent even more so when we have precious cargo on board. Keep in mind that there is nothing in a horses instinctual response mechanism that will help him in the event of a crash this makes us wholly responsible for our horses welfare.

I believe that prevention and preparation are the two best approaches when it comes to avoiding emergencies. We can mitigate damage and even save lives by using a few simple precautions.
First of all do not cut corners when it comes to trailer repairs and maintenance. I remember coming upon one incident that was among the most grisly scenes Ive ever encountered. An owner was transporting a mare and her foal in a twohorse trailer which had the divider removed. The trailer was rather old with the expected shortcuts in repair one of which included a patch job done on the floor matting. The rubber matting had worn away at the back and the owner had replaced it with a strip of conveyor belting which had curled up at the edges. As the rig negotiated a long bridge on a very busy freeway the mare became agitated and began to paw lifting up the replacement matting. This in turn caused it to flip up against her belly to which she reacted predictably by thinking something was underneath her belly trying to eat her. She panicked lost her balance and fell over all while the driver was still on the bridge. I had come up behind the rig and watched helplessly as this scene unfolded in front of me. By the time we got off the bridge the mare had kicked through a side wall lacerating her left hind leg so severely that she had to be put down. She also fell on top of her baby killing him almost instantly. That cheap repair turned out to be not such a good deal after all.
In researching this article I was mildly surprised to learn that the biggest contributor to crashes involving horse trailers is speed and not that of the other guy but of the person pulling the horse trailer! The