Some newer trucks also have a “trailer light testing” feature. You can just select that and stand at the back of the trailer while it goes through it’s cycle. Some also have a display system in the truck that shows it or through an app.
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I have not read good things about Shadow. I think there is a post on HorseTrailersForSale.com or similar group regarding a Shadow trailer breaking at the frame right between the living quarters and the horse area. Shadow said it was not their fault or problem. If I remember, the trailer had just been inspected.
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Edit: Edited in the wrong thread. Oops!
Yeah, this reminds me of when my friend got her trailer inspected and a few days later I walked onto the trailer and felt the floor being uneven and odd. After further investigation, that floor wasn’t fit for a horse anymore! So she had it replaced. Things get missed, and I suppose it depends on the inspection criteria, so still a good idea to look at things yourself. Granted, manufacturing defects are a thing and we’ve seen that with some brands over the years.
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That’s better than nothing but still doesn’t cover all the bases (brake, running, etc). The only way to do it right is to do it right, haha. Unless you truck has that new fancy feature @CanteringCarrot mentioned!
I’m pretty sure the hazards flash the brake lights…? Turning the truck lights on with the hazards gets your running lights up. Having a “light check” option in the truck is pretty slick, though!
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I’ve got that on my truck. I have to check the manual every time to work out how to use it…
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I haul out once a week to an arena lesson. I always test brake lights. Turn signals. Hazards running lights. Look at the tires. Double check the coupling. The chains the hitch. As I pull out my gate after I’ve loaded my horse walk around the entire trailer and touch every door ramp (I have 2) and side. Precious cargo. I have a camera inside the trailer And I drive like a freaking grandma I haul out once a month to a show about an hour and a half away on the highway And not any highway I 4 Which is a foster cluck of horrible drivers and congestion. Everyone wanting to drive 80 miles an hour construction everywhere the road torn up in pieces. I think in the end, this will probably be multiple factors. Equipment, road conditions, improper, hitching, perhaps improper driving etc. and my trailer is relatively new less than two years old. But I don’t trust anything Most of all other drivers
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They do, but it doesn’t guarantee that the signal is being sent from the brake pedal. Does that make sense?
Totally! But it’s still an easy all in one way to check that all the lights can light up. That the bulbs aren’t burnt out, and that each wire is capable of transmitting from the truck.
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I got you. I did the hazard method before and ended up not having brake lights, so doubled down on my lazy and now just hit the running lights to make sure the connecter is in. I do test the trailer brakes every single time with the trailer fully loaded though, I want to know how they grab. Depending on weather I’ll set them higher or lower.
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Yup yup, same. I wanna feel them grab before we head out and adjust as needed. I flip on the hazards on my final walk around if not right after hitching up. Lights are always on while hauling.
I was trying to remember where I learned this stuff because it’s not like they make you take a class or anything? I think it was just from being a barn rat with a trainer who had a process when hooking up and hauling out. Tough to just pick it up, unless you purposefully seek out info, but you don’t know what you don’t know. Curious how much that played into this accident.
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Once upon a time I saw a member of my hunt forget to close her trailer ramp, and she was merrily towing her horse down the road with the dragging ramp sending up sparks.
Another time, trailer with the right side door still clipped open. I guess horse had a good view and lots of fresh air. And yet another forgot to latch her coupler and the trailer tongue bounced off the ball, luckily at very low speed. Safety chains not crossed. I suspect a bit too much nipping from the flask was involved in all of these.
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One other factor to consider is tire inflation. If the weather dropped there like it did here, those tires might have needed air. Towing with insufficiently inflated tires is harder on the horses, and the tow vehicle.
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Definitely maintenance record should be checked, however, it was a Shadow and they aren’t known to be a particularly well built or quality trailer.
The driver said she’s familiar with hauling, just not horses. But when you’re pulling a boat or a travel trailer, you aren’t then adding 2k lbs of horse. it’s a static load.
I learned to pull a trailer by doing it. I was super familiar with helping my trainer when I was a kid/teen, and she was very careful and methodical. I check and touch everything a couple of times, and stop again at the end of our quiet road to triple check before we get onto busy roads. It’s super easy to get complacent.
We bought a boat this summer and I’ve hauled very few boats except our older boat and that was just back and forth on country roads to my parent’s place, like 12 times in 20 years. Thank goodness I did some reading and research. I had no idea boats needed tie down straps on the back. So the new boat has the straps. We hit a terrible spot on I 65 in Mobile and that trailer and boat bucked like a bronco. Scared us both to pieces. We stopped and checked it at the next exit, all was tight as a drum (WHEW).
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To be fair, I see a hell of a lot of people hauling stuff who clearly have zero idea it’s any different than just driving a vehicle. Unaware of where their trailer is, or how it’s following them, or how hauling changes stopping distance etc.
It seems pretty easy to “be familiar with hauling” and still have no idea how to be safe. No clue if that’s at play here but does seem common overall.
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I see so many unbalanced utility trailers or small closed trailers being pulled down my road every day. A lot of people certainly think they know how to haul
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From the FB photos and video posted above … that trailer seems to have completely disconnected from, and positively lept off, the frame it was attached to. There doesn’t seem to be one peice connected to the floor, and / or the frame.
Then, it would seem that all of the peices disconnected from each other, as well. Just from what is lying around on the road. Whole peices, lying flat, not connected to other peices.
It almost looks like what one might see on the assembly line before the trailer was put together.
It looks as if the horses were in a trailer traveling at highway speed, and the trailer just fell apart around them.
Those horses are unbelievably shot through with luck to trot away from that one. God bless them every day of their remaining lives.
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A lot of “towing packages” from vehicle manufacturers are not all they are cracked up to be, for towing horse trailers. Recollection (years ago) that the standard “package” was more for lighter towing, not horse trailers, not even close. Ok for small / medium boats, landscaping equipment, and such.
I added stuff to the “package” for my horse-trailer-towing vehicle, although that was so long ago I don’t remember the details. I do remember that the “package” had some stuff I didn’t need, and didn’t have some stuff that I did need.
It’s critical to research and get experienced, seasoned advice for what g-you really need for the job you intend to do. And not just depend on some mass-manufacturer’s “package”. Just a random remark, though, no idea if it pertains to this accident.
