Or put the truck in park, set something heavy against the brake, and run behind the trailer to see if the lights are on. 
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I have a short length of 2x4 and jam it between the edge of the seat and the brake, then run around and check my brake lights are working.
I was once given the advice to keep two spares on board; if you run over a hazard on the road, chances are it can get both tires on that side. Alas I received that advice after I encountered that scenario overnight on the other side of the country…
I also keep onboard a breaker bar, truck floor jack, hazard kit (triangles and flares), and one of those wheel ramp things, which can be used as a chock to stabilize the trailer too.
A note: if you have to change a tire, loosen the lug nuts while the trailer is on the ground. Afterwards, you can jack it up just enough to spin off the nuts by hand and swap out tires. No rocking the trailer while it’s on the jack.
I also keep an extra halter, lead line, lunge line and stick, fleece sheet, basic first aid kit, shavings, water and buckets. And hay.
And somehow I still have room for the horses too.
greys
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I also like to keep a “spare” spare tire (two spares) on board. I’ve experienced the double failure in my trailer, and while riding along in two different friends’ rigs. My husband has experienced it with his cargo trailer, and our flatbed.
My theory is that, once a blowout of one tire occurs, the other tire (either the same axle, or the tire on the other axle/same side as the first failure) is overloaded, and wham! second failure.
I’ve seen this happen almost immediately afterward, or a little way down the road (looking for a place to pull over, for instance), when road debris was not involved in the failure. I’ve seen it happen soon after the original tire has been replaced by the spare.
This theory is entirely my own, and something else entirely might be involved. For whatever reason it happens, so we (and a couple of my friends, too) began carrying two spares in our trailers.
These have been trailers with good tires (especially in the case of my husband and my trailers). The only thing all these incidents had in common, we believe, is the sudden overloading after the first tire blows.
Besides, I don’t want to be without a spare anyway, which is what happens when a tire has to be replaced on the road and the spare used, even without a second tire failure – then I’d be hauling without a spare, which I wouldn’t like.
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For future, they actually sell water cans for camping that hold 5-7 gallons and have a handy turn spigot on the bottom end. That way you don’t have to turn the can upside down to get the water out, or fiddle with the push-lock thing on the nozzle. They are usually cheaper than gas cans, too.
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It is safer to use potable water bottles for potable water, not other kinds of cans that someone may make a mistake with if there is other than expected in them.
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I use a couple of 5g water cooler bottles filled with barn water. Plenty for 2 horses to drink and have a quick wipe down.
All it takes to seal them is a sandwich bag and a hair elastic. A rubber band works too, but fat hair elastic are easier to handle and last longer.
The jugs stay upright and have a handle for easy pouring.
In a pinch, a 5 gallon bucket with a garbage bag in it, filled with water and tied/elastic banded shut will not spill.
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When I broke down with my trailer, my horse wouldn’t drink. I started keeping syringes in the trailer so I could squirt water in his mouth if that happened again. I gave a syringe to a friend who thanked me as she had reason to use it on a trip with her horse.
Come to think of it, keeping some flavored powder to entice drinking might be a good idea. I have packets for apple cider, though never mixed it with cold water before.
Also from my breakdown experience: always bring an extra day’s hay and grain.
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We added a little glug of apple cider vinegar to horse water buckets in our race training stable.
When traveling and at the track, we kept that up.
Horses were less apt to object to funny tasting or smelling water if it had that bit of apple cider vinegar in there, or so we thought.
dont let them eat grain in the trailer due to choke. Hay is fine, and recommended.
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This not just for trailers. Use this for vehicles too. Makes it much easier.
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You can buy snap on covers for standard 5-gallon paint/pickle buckets pretty cheaply, which give you a lot more options for bringing water with you. I have some water jugs, but every few years they need to be replaced because the plastic cracks. Then I just whip out a bucket cover and go on my way. I think I got them at Walmart in the painting aisle.
I LOVE those covers. Do you mean the ones where a rim snaps on, and then allows you to screw on the actual lid? I have those. I convert all my 5g supplement buckets into reusable ones without the hassle of the original pry-off covers.
Those are great too. We get them at TSC up in the GWN. Handy for so many things!
Has anyone actually used the traileraid with horse(s) on board?
My mare does not stand quietly and it just seems sketchy. I do love it for unloaded situations.
Yup, but mine and her buddies know enough to stand in trailers like it’s their job.
You should be fine if the good tire is seated well in the cup. As an added security, you can always chock the other side really tight, and set the parking brake on the tow vehicle.
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I use it all the time with horses on the trailer. That’s kind of the point of the thing
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Yes. If you have a blowout on the freeway you really do not want to unload the horse.
This brings up another point: Make sure your drive-on jack is tall enough to lift the other wheel off the ground when the trailer is loaded. Some of them are quite short, and may not do it.
Unless the horse is really pitching a fit I don’t see it shifting the trailer off of a drive-on type jack. And if it’s that bad, you have bigger problems than a flat tire. I would not use a bottle jack with the horse on the trailer. Definitely chock the wheels on the ground while you’re working.
24’ trailer, 8 horses, flat tire, downtown interstate in Atlanta, very narrow shoulder. Not a place you want to linger. Whatever your plan is for changing a flat tire have that available the second you open your trailer door. You don’t want to go digging through years of hoarding to find what you need. Reflective triangles are also a good idea.
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