Usrider Equestrian Motor Plan Your Quarterly Guide to Trailer Safety
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USRider Equestrian Motor Plan TM HITCHFall 2011 UP! Your Quarterly Guide to Trailer Safety & Travel Published by AIM Equine Network Keynotes This issue: In-transit long-distance hauling guide; how to merge; railroad-crossing brochure PDF; 5 trailer-storage tips; and more. 5 Member Story Stuck & Alone. This lone traveler was stuck on the road with her three horses, until she remembered to 9 call USRider. Trailer Clinic Tie a Quick-Release Knot. Here’s how to secure your horse in the trailer with a knot you can quickly 12 untie in case of emergency. Step-by-step photos! Destinations Ride the Rockies! Hitch up, and haul out to Transfer Horse Camp, located in the San Juan Mountains near 1314 Mancos, Colorado. Bonus slideshow! Road Savvy Rig Security. Here are four products designed to help keep your rig secure, from a locking 16 trailer jack to a key keeper. 14 On-the-Go Gear This issue: Leather head bumper; portable safety cones; all-in-one GPS unit; trailer-door organizer; 18 supplement paste; hay-and-gear bag. 20 Hauling Hints Trailer Weight Demystified. Here's what you need to know about your trailer’s weight, so you can 20 select the right tow vehicle for safety and control. USRider Community This issue: Sign up for AutoRenew; be cautious on limited-access roads; know your location; 22 save the dates for large animal rescue training. At USRider, the safety of our Members and their Horses is our top priority. To help us keep the focus on, as well as show our respect to, these invalu- able components of USRider, we capitalize the words “Member” and USRider Benefits “Horse” where these words relate to our membership program. USRider recognizes benefits partners in the money-saving Winner’s Circle Advantage 24 Benefits Program. Bonus video! COVER PHOTO BY HEIDI NYLAND MELOCCO 2 USRider Equestrian Motor Plan CLICK CORNER Welcome to Hitch Up! TO TURN PAGE Welcome to the Fall 2011 issue of Hitch Up! KEYNOTES magazine, brought to you by the talented staffs FallHITC 2011 of Active Interest Media Equine Network, USRider DESTINATIONS Your Quarterly Guide to Trailer Safety & Travel H Equestrian Motor Plan, and EquiSearch.com. UP! TM In this issue, you’ll learn how to tie a quick- release knot, keep your rig secure, and determine Ride the MEMBER STORY your trailer’s weight so you can select the right tow Rockies! It´s vehicle. FREE to We also take you to a heavenly horse camp in Subscribe! the Rockies and relate a story about a Member who Not a subscriber? ran out of fuel while hauling three horses. Click on the sub- TRAILER CLINIC Plus, don’t miss our safety tips, trailering gear, scribe icon on any USRider Community news, USRider Member benefits, and more! page, or see page 26. Safety News • Published by AIM Member Equine Network Story • On-the-Go Gear • DESTINATIONS Road Savvy • USRider Community • USRider Benefits • Functionality Communication Navigation ROAD SAVVY Click to Zoom E-Mail Us Turn Page Click to enlarge Click this icon. Click any corner any element on the page. to turn the page. Subscribe ON-THE-GO GEAR Click to Click for your free Home Start Video subscription to Hitch Up! quarterly Click here to online magazine. return to the table of contents. Click to Stop Video Navigation Bar HAULING HINTS PLUS! More ways to make the On every page is a direct link most of Hitch Up! to each section. Just roll your Information Use the new tools below each page to: mouse over a selection and • Go to any page in this issue. click! Click for More • Send this issue to a friend, or to your Click to view the favorite social network. USR COMMUNITY rest of the story and/or more • Download a PDF. information. • Save or send a clipping. These tools This publication may briefly summarize some of the benefits of USRider Membership. In the event of a conflict between this publication and the appear on USRider Service Contract, the Service Contract shall control. Copies of the Service Contract are available at www.usrider.org. USRider does not every page USR BENEFITS endorse products featured in this publication; they are presented only to provide information to horse owners. USRider receives no income from advertising that appears in this publication, nor does it endorse any advertisers or products that appear. USRider® Equestrian Motor Plan Hitch Up! e-Magazine • Fall 2011 E-MAIL US SUBSCRIBE RETURN TO 3 NOW FREE! HOME PAGE Carri-Lite Corrals Carri-Lite Corrals provide a safe resting area for horses who work hard. This One year portable stall collapses down to 1/6th its Manufacturer size and is convenient to transport in the Warranty! mid-tack area, bed of truck, even a back seat! Our corrals are made of high-impact engineering grade HDPE resin, ultrasonically welded and hydraulic pressed. The portable stall can stand alone or be secured to a horse trailer with the included brackets. Free Shipping! Made in the USA! Ships UPS ground www.carrilitecorrals.com • 1-888-337-77874 (SPUR) • [email protected] Keynotes•Safety News KEYNOTES The Long Haul KEYNOTES Last issue, we gave you long-distance hauling preparation the risks can outweigh those benefits.. Wearing shipping tips. This issue, we’ll give you important guidelines for long- boots/bandages for several hours may decrease blood distance travel. flow, increase heat, and cause sores. Thus, generally it's • Arrange overnight stabling. If you’ll be traveling more not advisable to use shipping boots/bandages for long- MEMBER STORY than 24 hours, make arrangements for overnight stabling distance hauling. for your horse. • Drive with care. Standing in a horse trailer takes a lot of • Reduce grain. On the day of travel, prior to loading, the effort. It’s a constant balancing act for your horse, as the horse’s normal routine should be followed with one excep- transport vehicle increases and decreases speed, and ma- tion: Grain intake should be reduced or eliminated imme- neuvers into and out of traffic. It’s especially important to TRAILER CLINIC diately prior to and during transport. gradually increase and decrease speeds, change lanes, and • Provide bedding. Make and maintain a good layer of turn corners much more slowly than with a non-towing bedding in the horse compartment throughout travel. This vehicle. Even with good driving, your horse will get tired will help absorb moisture from urine and manure as well during transport and need a break. as reduce the likelihood of slipping. • Take a break. Take a parking break of 20 minutes or more • Provide hay. Your horse should have the opportunity to roughly every four hours. The stopped break gives your DESTINATIONS eat his normal hay as he travels. The act of chewing will horse an opportunity to relax in the trailer and “unlock” his help keep your horse occupied and digesting to help main- legs. Park in a well-shaded area and, if safe, increase ventila- tain gut function. If hanging a hay net, hay bag, or feeder, tion by opening drop-down windows and upper doors. make certain that it is at chest height or higher (preferably • Keep him onboard. During parking breaks, keep your higher for hay nets). horse in the trailer for his own safety. ROAD SAVVY • Avoid a nylon halter. Your horse should wear a well- • Check him over. Also during breaks, check your horse’s fitted leather halter or a nylon halter with a breakaway overall health and demeanor. Carefully check him for signs feature during all transport. Consider adding fleece halter of colic, heat/cold stress, and dehydration. Offer water, tubes to help prevent rubbing and sores. refill the hay supply, and adjust your trailer’s ventilation, as • Avoid shipping boots. The use of shipping boots/ban- necessary. ON-THE-GO GEAR dages can be of benefit as they protect the horse’s lower • Stop for the night. During overnight offloads, monitor leg during transport. However, during lengthy transport, your horse’s health carefully, and allow him free choice ac- cess to water. Continue to reduce or eliminate his grain intake, and Take a parking break allow him to eat ample HAULING HINTS of 20 minutes or more amounts of the hay roughly every four to which he’s accus- hours. The stopped tomed. break gives your horse — Reprinted with an opportunity to permission of the USR COMMUNITY relax in the trailer and Kentucky Horse “unlock” his legs. Park Council in a well-shaded area. If safe, increase ventilation by opening drop-down windows and upper USR BENEFITS doors. BETSY LYNCH PHOTO More Keynotes ➽ USRider® Equestrian Motor Plan Hitch Up! e-Magazine • Fall 2011 E-MAIL US SUBSCRIBE RETURN TO 5 NOW FREE! HOME PAGE Keynotes•Safety Tips Blend Right In Failing to use merge lanes and exit When you start to ramps properly not only disrupts traf- merge, signal and fic, but also contributes to numerous accelerate, use accidents. Safe travel on a freeway is all your mirrors, and about flow, and anything that disrupts adjust your speed the flow of traffic can cause an accident. to match the traffic While driving too fast is a problem, driv- flow. ing too slow can be, as well. Driving safely is important for everyone’s safety and welfare, but it’s particularly important for vehicles that are towing trailers. “Merging into interstate traffic with a horse trailer is a part of trailering that requires full concentration,” said Tomas Gimenez, Dr. Med. Vet., a noted expert in large-animal emergency res- at the vehicles cue. “It can easily take a quarter-mile ahead of you to on level ground for a heavy truck and make sure they trailer to reach 65 miles-per-hour, and HEIDI NYLAND MELOCCO PHOTOS CLiX PHOTO aren’t stopping or most access ramps aren’t that long, so slowing unexpect- you may be going 40 to 50 mph when sides are a must for checking traffic in edly.