There’s nothing fun about having an emergency on the road, but if you know what to do and have the right tools already on hand, you can minimize the distress of the moment.  Whether you’re packing your current trailer for the road or looking at replacement horse trailers for sale, you’ll want to make sure these items are on board:

• Emergency flares or triangles.  Pulling over to check on horses or dealing with a flat tire are par for the course when you’re traveling with a trailer.  Make sure cars give you plenty of room by setting out emergency markers to keep the traffic a safe distance away.  This will help keep your horses calmer, as well as making a repair less stressful.
• Extra feed, water and hay.  There’s no such thing as carrying too much fresh water, feed or hay.  If you don’t have room in the trailer, move your hay overhead with a HayRak.  Grain and water need to be stored in air-tight containers, protected from the sun.  Many experts recommend bringing an extra week’s worth of food and water for each horse you’re transporting on a long trip.
• Back-up batteries and bulbs.  Things like your marker lights and emergency brake are vital to your horse’s safety while on the road, so always make sure you’ve got spare parts for them.  Build a kit full of extra batteries, bulbs and fuses for every little part of your trailer’s electrical system and you’ll be sure to avoid a serious accident.
• Trailer tool kit.  A basic mechanic’s tool kit, plus some heavy gloves, trailer jack, tire tool, flashlight, duct tape and WD-40 make a fine trailer toolkit.  Now, no matter what goes wrong on the road, you’re ready to fix it, tape it or replace it.  Duct tape and WD-40 are also great at quieting those little creaks and the banging equipment sounds that are unnerving your horses.
• Equine first aid kit.  Even in a small accident, your horse can get pretty seriously injured, so always keep a stocked medical kit on board.  Include absorbent bandages, leg wraps, disinfectants and boots, along with enough extra halters and leads for each animal on board.  A long, thin knife is good for releasing tied horses if your trailer topples, shorter blades are handy for cutting bandages to size.

No one wants to have a trailer emergency, but the fact is that horses fall down and tires burst abruptly, even when you’re taking the greatest pains to avoid these situations.  Before you leave for a trip, it’s important to check your trailer from top to bottom, keeping an especially close eye on those tires and floors.  As awful as it is to think about, the floor is the only thing saving your horse from the pavement.

So save yourself some sanity, keep your trailer in good working order and make sure you’re prepared for an emergency.  Many horse owners also carry an equestrian motor plan that will help get a horse involved in a trailer accident help from a nearby vet, no matter where they are, as well as providing towing and roadside repair services for the driver.