Animal Trailers Safety

Keep your livestock or pets traveling safe in animal trailers

Whether you're traveling with a dog trailer, a horse trailer or a farm trailer, you need to thoroughly understand animal trailers safety. The primary purpose of trailers for animals is to keep them safe, but many ranchers and pet owners are uncertain just what they need to do (beyond buying a good trailer) to keep their animals protected. Also, few people stop to consider their own safety when using animal trailers.

Fortunately, there's ample information available about animal trailers safety. One place to start is your veterinarian. Books and magazines about animals may also offer good tips. And the Internet is full of excellent advice on the subject. When studying safety for livestock and pet trailers, consider these questions:

1. Is your horse trailer or other animal trailer safe for you and your
human passengers?

2. Are your livestock or pet trailers properly maintained to protect your animals?

3. Are there products that can improve the safety of your aluminum horse trailer or other animal trailer?

 

Keep yourself safe while driving animal trailers

Animal owners often spend a lot of time considering how their trailers are keeping their horses, cattle or other animals safe, but they don't stop to consider their own safety. Besides knowing how to drive while towing a semi horse trailer or a full livestock trailer, there are a number of important things you can do to prevent injury to yourself and your human passengers. These include keeping the trailer and hitch in good working order, replacing tires every three to five years and checking lug nuts.
Try: Doctors Tomas and Rebecca Gimenez are large-animal rescue experts who offer tips and guidance for keeping yourself safe while hauling animal trailers in "15 Horse Trailer Safety Tips" at MyHorse.com. For tips on trailer maintenance that could save your life, read "Trailer Check-Ups" at Young Rider.

Maintain livestock or pet safety in trailers for animals

Having a trailer in good condition is probably the first thing you think of when considering animal travel safety. Other important things to consider include: the weight of your animals compared to what the trailer can bear, keeping your trailer clean (animal urine can eat through trailer materials), proper placement of hay and proper loading and unloading of animals.
Try: For an excellent article on the safety of horses in trailers, read "Horse Trailer Safety Tips" at Horse Trailer Universe. For details on loading a horse into a trailer, don't miss "Horse Trailer Maintenance and Trailering Safety" at the National AG Safety Database. For a comprehensive "Trailer Safety Checklist" suitable for all livestock and horse trailer parts, visit Save Your Horse.

Consider products to increase the safety of your livestock or pet trailers

Even the most safe trailer may not be enough to keep your animals safe. Safety accessories can also be used with your new or used horse trailer or other animal trailer, including quick safety release harnesses, DOT-approved reflective materials, mirrors and cameras.
Try: For one of the most popular and safe quick release trailer ties, see Doctors Foster and Smith; they offer a tie that releases if animals fall and attaches quickly and easily to your trailer. HorseTrailerMonitor.com offers safety monitors designed just for traveling with horses and other large animals. For reflective materials, mirrors and similar products, visit Caution Horses Safety Products.

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