Once you have your horse trailer and tow vehicle properly sorted out, it’s time to give some thought to how to drive safely – for you, your horse, and other road users.
Horses often get stressed in a trailer; this will be reduced if you provide a comfortable and safe ride.
Speed
- When driving in a straight line, the only limitations are safety factors and the speed limit. On a well set up tow vehicle and trailer, you will probably be able to cruise comfortably at 60mph/100kpm when the roads permit it.
- Similarly, you can accelerate normally, providing you are doing so in a straight line.
- Try to drive at relatively consistent speeds, rather than repeatedly speeding up and slowing down. This is much easier if you allow yourself extra distance to traffic ahead of you. (see Braking)
Roads That Aren’t Flat
Roads are not flat. They’re built with a camber (slightly curved surface) to allow water to drain off quicker.
- It’s best to put a single horse on the roadside (the driver’s side) as the trailer will be more stable. When there are two horses in the trailer, the heavier one should be on the roadside.
- Slow down on roads where there is a large camber, and slow down even more so for badly-cambered corners.
- When exiting driveways, drive very slowly and be aware of the road’s camber.
- Be aware of the extreme camber at some intersections.
- Roundabouts have some of the worst cambers, drive slowly.
- Rumble bars, speed humps – anything sticking up that you must drive over, take it very slowly.
Braking
Your horse won’t be too enthusiastic about harsh braking.
- Always leave extra distance to the car in front to allow for slower braking. At suburban speeds give yourself 6-8 car lengths, while at highways speeds, you need to more than double this.
- Like accelerating, try to brake only in a straight line when possible. Plan ahead for corners.
Corners
- Corners must be taken much slower when towing a laden horse trailer. How much slower will depend in part on the camber of the corner. If the road “leans in to the corner” like a racetrack, your horse may be comfortable at the recommended corner speed. However, on a flat road, or worse, one where the camber “leans out of the corner”, you do need to slow down considerably to keep the ride comfortable for your horse.
- Brake far enough ahead in a straighter section so that braking is either not required within the corner, or only minimal braking pressure is required to maintain a steady speed.
- Try to steer through the corner as smoothly as possible. This is easier if you have gently braked down to the desired speed before you reach the corner.
- Wait with accelerating until straightening out after the corner. Any combination of a corner and sudden acceleration or deceleration makes life difficult for your horse.
- Drive on the correct side of the road! Although cutting corners can make for an easier ride for your horse, it’s a very dangerous practice. Slow down a little more instead, you’ll get the identical results.
Watch the Wheels
As your horse trailer most likely has a wider wheel track than your tow vehicle, there are some things to watch out for.
- Take care passing though gates and entrances, especially if not in a straight line. A miscalculation may not hurt your horse, but it won’t do your wallet much good.
- When cornering especially, remember the wider track so you don’t drag your horse trailer along the rough road shoulder. Not comfortable for the horse, not stable for the trailer, not good for tyres, not good for fuel efficiency!
Consideration of Others
When on major highways and freeways, you may often be comfortably travelling at around 60mph/100kpm, with ample opportunity for faster drivers to pass you. However, on secondary roads you will probably need to slow down quite a bit, and no doubt hold up traffic somewhat. Plan mentally ahead for what’s coming up ahead, that would give you the chance to let other drivers by safely.
- An overtaking lane – slow down slightly, to let more cars pass, they’ll appreciate it. Never increase speed just because you can for this short stretch, it’s a source of anger for other drivers, when slow drivers prevent them from overtaking by speeding up in overtaking lanes.
- Rest areas. You may not want a stop, but you can drive slowly in and then continue straight out again, giving all the traffic caught up behind you a chance to slip past.
- Help others overtake. On good stretches where you consider it’s safe for other to overtake you, stay towards the kebside to allow the driver behind better forward visibiliy – but not so far your trailer is “riding the broken shoulder”. You can put on your overtaking-side blinker for 2-3 blinks, then turn it off. This is visual signal to the following driver that its OK to overtake. Once the other diver starts overtaking, slow down just slightly; this will allow the vehicle to complete the overtake much quicker, and they will appreciate that.
If those towing Horse Trailers are courteous to others, others will return the courtesy.
