Emergency escape
Emergency escape
Emergency escape
78 www.EliteEquestrianMagazine.com TRAINING & Showing
SAFE EMERGENCY
ESCAPE
Handler can safely
disconnect the breast bar
and lead the horses out
Horses can see the open
door or ramp.
Horses can safely jump
down and out of the trailer
or side ramp in emergency
UNSAFE EMERGENCY
Horses facing rear impact
No access to horses heads
Horses need to back and
turn to escpae
Handler has to get behind
the panicked horseS
EE
It makes sense that a natural, effortless balance
is maintained by a forward lean… but …horses
can most easily maintain their balance facing
away from the direction of travel? Does that
seem a bit of a leap? If the comparison is rearfacing
vs. front facing in a straight load trailer
of the same size and open-ness, how are horses
traveling standing front to back any different
than standing back to front as to how they
balance and what muscles they use? When
the tow vehicle accelerates and decelerates,
aren’t the horses balancing the same, just in
the opposite directions? And Numerous studies
of horses in transit recorded horses showing
fewer falls and fewer impacts with partitions…
travel facing away from the direction of travel.”
What studies? Who did them? Where are they
that we can look them up? What style trailers
and brands were used for the study since the axle placement
has to be different for a rear-facing trailer, and were
they driven the same distance on the same road with the
same driver?
But let’s say that you have concluded that if horses can
balance the same whether facing forward or back, you
determine that you do like the idea of walking them into
the trailer from the side and have them exit through the
rear. At this point, you need to ask the most important of all
questions, “What if?”
What if the trailer is hit in the rear? Given it’s a fact that
rear-end collisions have increased because of distractions
caused by electronic devices such as cell phones, texting,
and GPS systems, do you want your horses facing the point
of possible impact? What does your instinct tell you? What
if the rear doors and/or ramp and tail doors become inoperable,
can you safely reach your rear-facing horses? Will it
be possible to back them out a side door or ramp that they
can’t see? But what if they are facing front. Since a horse’s
natural inclination is to move toward an opening that they
can see, and you have a trailer with large doors on each
side at the head area, or a side ramp, or both, wouldn’t it
be safer and easier to guide them forward through the side
doors or safely out the side unload ramp.
ESCAPE
Tom Scheve, with wife Neva have been advocating
horse trailer safety since 1984. Both have
given safety clinics at many horse expos around
the country and have written numerous articles
for national magazines about horse trailer safety.
Their nationally acclaimed textbook, The Complete
Guide to Buying, Maintaining and Servicing a Horse
Trailer and Equine Emergencies on the Road (with
Jim Hamilton DVM) have been adopted by most
National Horse organizations. Tom is also owner of
EquiSpirit Trailer Company with corporate offices
in Southern Pines, NC. For more information on
horse trailer safety, visit their website equispirit.
com or email Tom at tom@equispirit.com. Toll free
number is 1-877-575-1771.
Emergency
If you search further, you will discover that no manufacturers
in the US offers a rear-facing trailer in their standard
model line-up. That means it’s not widely accepted. What
will that do to your resale/equity value when you decide to
sell or trade?
You can see easily see how one can be led astray. Don’t
accept opinions, videos, articles, and information at face
value. Always ask Why, When, Where, What, How, and
especially What if. Remember, it’s you that has to make the
final decision as to what’s safest for you and your horses.
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