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What do you keep in your horse trailer?

After selling my second trailer I told myself I wouldn’t get another one because I had no need but here I am with my third trailer. i’m not going to be using it much but still want to have all the essential things in it for emergencies. when you look at the Internet they recommend keeping everything plus the kitchen sink in your tack room, so I wanted to see what everyone else kept in theirs.

Also curious if you all have roadside assistance for your trailer, and if so is that through your regular car insurance or separate?

Last question. This is my third bumper pull and I’ve never used a load distribution bar, however I was recently told that I should always pull with one? Do you all use one?

I keep an emergency first aid kit for horses, and another for humans. Water containers, Buckets, extra lead ropes and halters, a lunge line and lunge whip, folding chairs, a Jiffy Jack and lug wrench that fits my trailer’s tires. Manure fork, garbage bags, horse treats, rain slicker, bridles, breast collars, extra saddle pads.

I have US Rider insurance. I’ve used it both when hauling and just in my personal car.

I pull a gooseneck now, but when I had a BP trailer I didn’t use a distribution bar.

I have a bumper pull trailer and I do not use load distribution bars. It really depends on your trailer and your truck.

What do I keep in my trailer:
Always when I am taking a horse - Water and buckets (in case I get stuck somewhere), manure bucket, manure fork, first aid kit (horse and human), extra halter, extra lead, lunge line, lead with chain, scissors, bailing twine, small tool kit, Trailer-aid (that tire changing ramp), lug wrench, cooler (horse), copy of my horse’s current rabies and negative coggins. I also carry a bunch of stuff that is in there because I like to be overly prepared like extra girth, some spare bits, crops/bats/whips/spurs, couple of extra saddle pads.

I have AAA-Plus. But more importantly I try to keep a good library of horse people’s phone numbers.

The only things that live in my trailer are a portable tack rack that hangs on a wall, mini muck fork, broom, a plastic tote full of ratchet straps & pieces of foam mattress (used to secure & pad my carts) & a moving quilt also used to protect the carts.
When I haul a horse, I add a plastic tote with grooming & medical supplies (wound dressing, vet wrap, banamine & syringes), water & muck buckets. Add pre-bagged grain if it’s an overnight trip . Bales of hay go in the nose.
My hitch lives in the hauling vehicle, along with a tire iron, tools I use for the hitch, jumper cables, folding chairs & small wood folding table < my “show setup”. Add a small cooler & I’m good for a weekend.

ETA:
BP stock trailer. The live-in stuff goes in the point of the nose & stays dry.
Even in a downpour & through (Midwest) Winter.

Oh goodness, what doesn’t stay in my trailer? :joy:

Usually I have at least one spare show coat, a rain coat, a spare plain bridle, a plain snaffle, a whip or two, a few saddle pads, a halter and lead or two, my good show-only Eskadrons, a pair of standing wraps, buckets, water jugs, my ring bucket (fly spray, brushes, hoof oil, rag), WD40, the spare tire and lug wrench, some vet wrap, a sun hat, a fleece jacket, a wool dress sheet, a fly sheet, a bunch of old ribbons, and a bunch of old numbers in the dressing room. In the trailer in the stall I don’t use, I keep the muck bucket, pitchfork, and broom. I keep a basic first aid kit and a portable compressor in my truck.

The only thing I have to put in the tack room when I go to a show is a saddle, bridle, and helmet, usually!

I have AAA+.

The only time I needed help when hauling, I had Triple A plus. They wouldn’t help because I had no living quarters. I don’t if AAA+ is the same thing. I now have US Rider; it works for everything.

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do you need both a jiffy Jack and a trailer aid or is it a one or the other kind of deal?

I use weight distribution bars on my trailer because it helps prevent swaying on long trips or in windy conditions.

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i use the load distribution bars on my bumper pull. I keep a big steel block and also one of these https://www.bigdweb.com/product/code/72JJ.do?gclid=Cj0KCQjwrJOMBhCZARIsAGEd4VFKA9wBzLrgO5BeHAGLupD1WPdEig7ZBQxwGjbkUwNcduj1aLRd-SoaAjTOEALw_wcB in the back of my truck. Trailer is a stock trailer…wide open, no closed compartment in which to store stuff.

With no dressing room, I travel relatively light: mini muck bucket and mini fork, grooming kit, extra halter and lead, a crop, one bandage, water jug and bucket, a trailer jack, and a pony club style utility kit (knife, zip ties, baling twine, pliers, etc). Then I just add whatever I need for the outing. I do carry a full human first aid kit in the truck, so there are some additional items there that could be used on a horse. Remember, you only need first aid supplies good enough to stabilize things until you can get home or seen by a vet, you don’t need everything there with you.

I have US Rider for roadside assistance. It also covers any other vehicle you’re in, so no need to double up with AAA or anything.

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Trailer aid for a flat tire on the trailer.
Jack for a flat on the tow vehicle.

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You have to unload to use a jack on a trailer.

Depends on the weight rating on the jack. Mine has a beefed up one that can handle a fully loaded weight.

it’s not just the weight though, it’s the potential of motion aboard.

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I use weight distribution and anti-sway bars (I have the Equalizer) on my bumper pull and LOVE THEM. I’ve pulled mine without and, for anything other than one horse, just around the corner local hauling, I wouldn’t haul without them. For starters, with two horses, the weight distribution hitch dramatically increases the towing (i.e., pulling and braking) capacity of my truck. So better road handling right there. Secondly, the anti-sway bars keep the trailer right where it should be. In windy conditions, on curvy roads, etc., it still pulls like a dream. It’s such an easy way to increase towing safety, why wouldn’t I use them?

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i borrowed a trailer with them and had them put on mine. Haven’t looked back!

When i think about one little ball and one little cuff over it being responsible for the lives of my babies in back all those years, i shivvvver.

edit: heck, not a solid cuff either! There is a hinge…a tiny little hinge at the top…at the pressure point in the front of the ball hinge upon which every thing behind ‘hinges’… it’s a scary thought to me.

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Agreed!

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I have an Equalizer hitch which is weight distributing and has anti-sway bars. Makes a huge difference.

I have a trunk in my dressing room with spare everything – bridle, stirrup leathers, reins, wraps, halter, girth, bits. During hunt season I keep my hunt saddle in there too. Nothing worse than showing up to a hunt and discovering you’ve left your bridle in your tackroom. I did that once and had a very interesting hunt in a loaner bridle with a full cheek snaffle instead of a kimberwicke.

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thanks everyone. i think i have most everything i need, except the bars and the jack im still kind of lost on. i have the US Rider, and i wouldn’t even know how to change a tire if i needed to… should i till throw a jack in there? i have the trailer aid and lug wrench…

My list is similar to most people’s lists. Expanding on the utilities, in addition to a trailer aid, is a 4 way lug nut wrench and basic tools and maintenance items for the trailer. This includes screwdrivers, wrench, pliers, a rubber mallet (use this constantly), axle grease, WD40, tire gauge (many don’t go up high enough for my trailer tires), wasp spray (used more than you would think in the summer), small orange cones if I have to stop on the roadside, duct tape, zip ties, etc.

I have US Rider but they left me stranded along the roadside in my personal car the only time I tried to use them. They gave me 2 months free as a consolation. Unfortunately I keep them because options are limited.