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Lakota’s Lasting Adventure
A Hard Lesson in Trailer Safety By Frank Bell

The end of October was closing in fast in southwestern Montana. The color change had taken place weeks earlier, and the feeling of winter, short days and gray weather followed by extreme cold and snow, was in the wings. “One more trip into the park. I’ve just got to do it one last time,” I thought to myself repeatedly as the days ticked by. Then one bright morning I just couldn’t resist. The forecast was for a magnificent fall day in the mid-sixties, light winds from the south. I hurriedly gathered my gear and loaded Lakota, my five-year-old Anglo/Arab gelding, into my open two-horse trailer. I put a heavy blanket on him, as the morning was brisk, probably below freezing. I gobbled some breakfast down and with a piece of toast in my mouth, kissed my lady a farewell for the day.

Into the Wilds

It was about a hundred-mile trip into my favorite haunt at the edge of the Tetons in western Wyoming. I’d made this trip dozens of times and the excitement of riding my horse into wilds never abated. The lure of this magical place was its remoteness. It was truly wild and hadn’t changed in eons. No buildings or barbed wire.
No sign of man save for the lightly traveled trails and odd fire ring. A piece of paper or a can would catch my eye from time to time and always go home with me. The grasses, especially the high- meadow timothy, were chest-high on my horse this time of year. He’d just take the tops off without even dropping his head. He loved this place as much as I. And the fishing? Cutthroat trout to ten pounds and the odd brown even bigger, but the huge browns are seldom caught. Too wily. They die of old age. But they do keep the smaller cutthroat on their toes since they’re cannibalistic. It was the big cagey cutthroat trout that had my attention. They would happily rise to a well-presented dry fly.
Did I mention the bears? Both grizzlies and black bears inhabit this part of the world. For this very reason food items like bacon are a no-no. In fact all food must be hung up high in the trees. The experts even suggest hoisting up the very clothes you cooked in as well as anything that smells, like toothpaste, deodorant, spices, etc.. I’m careful about it, sensible would the right
word. Traveling on horseback is a great insurance policy. A horse will catch the scent or sight of a bear a long long time before the human will. Horses just plain don’t like the smell of bears.

Dropping into Idaho

All these thoughts were drifting through my mind as I drove along and we crested Raynolds Pass into Idaho. Henry’s Lake shined brilliantly in the foreground with the sharply etched Centennial Mountains rising straight up on the other side. The day was shaping up perfectly for a wonderful trip with my best friend, Lakota Breeze. As the grade began to level out toward the bottom of the pass and the odd house appeared in the distance, suddenly I felt a swinging sensation behind me. I glanced into the rear view mirror to see the trailer whipping back and forth wildly. My heart lurched. I couldn’t just jam on the brakes, but had to ease down for fear of tipping the already precarious trailer. But it was too late. By the time I got the truck stopped in the middle of the highway, the trailer was on its side horrifically.
“Oh my God. Oh no,” I yelled out. I jammed the gearshift into park and was digging for my knife as I exited the truck. With my knife open, I ran around to the back of the trailer to see my terrorized horse pulling back hard on his lead. There was blood dripping from his knees and the right side of his rump was hamburger from being dragged along the roadway in the open -designed trailer. I quickly sawed through the lead as he pulled back. I stayed right with him.
“Eaaaaaaaaasy big fella. Eaaaaaaaaaasy,” I cooed over and over, as much to calm myself. My heart was thumping wildly as my adrenaline shot sky-high. I was completely freaked out figuring I’d probably killed my best friend.
The rope now sliced, Lakota and I shot backwards as far as he needed to get away from that awful turned-over trailer. Eventually he stopped and allowed me to stroke him and survey the damage. A trail of bright blood led to our place of regrouping at the edge of the road. His knees weren’t gushing blood but were both pretty skinned up and the blood was dripping onto the pavement. I moved to his right to take in his exposed upper leg/rump area and suddenly realized I was looking at the blanket insulation. The heavy blanket had protected him from the terrible burn of the pavement. I lifted the edge of the blanket high enough to see a round darkness about ten inches wide on his whitish hair. The impact hadn’t broken his skin. What a relief!

Tears welled in my eyes as I began to settle and take all this in. I was in shock and reeling from the reality of what had taken place, and how much worse this really could have been. We began walking over to a fence about fifty yards to the south through heavy sagebrush. I tied Lakota to a post and laid my head against his neck.
“I am so sorry, Big Guy. You trust me so much, don’t you? And here I’ve messed you up. I am so sorry,” I repeated as tears dripped from my nose onto his neck. The knees were still bleeding but less now and he in reality seemed pretty calm, all things considered. I heard the sound of an engine and looked up to see a truck stopping behind the overturned trailer. I waved, hugged my horse, and began walking back up to the highway.
“You just relax for a few minutes, Lakota,” I called back. “I’ll be back and you’ll never have to ride in that *&%#@! thing again. I promise.”

Help at Hand

By now the driver was out of his truck and shaking his head in disbelief as he took in the scene.
“Is your horse okay?”
“Skinned up his knees and bruised his hind end pretty bad, “ I admitted, shaking my head and looking down at the pavement in sheer shame and disbelief. The tears blurred my eyes again, but I fought them back.
“What the heck happened, Mister?
“Well all of a sudden the trailer was whipping back and forth and by the time I got it stopped, it was too late. It had gone over on its side. I guess the hitch broke or came loose or something. God I don’t know what happened. But I’ve got a real mess here.”
We walked to the front of the trailer. The heavy safety chain had prevented an even more horrendous accident. It was tight to the underside of the trailer hitch.
The stranger took calm control of the situation. “Back up your truck a few inches. That’ll take off the pressure and we can remove the chain. I’ve got a good length of towrope with a hook. I’ll bet we can latch onto the side of the trailer and upright it.”

This angel was suddenly in charge and I was at his beck and call. I was still in such shock that I couldn’t really think clearly. I backed up my truck and removed the safety chain. In the meantime, Mr. Schultz (I found out his name later) was positioning his truck to the side so he could pull from ninety degrees. He hooked the chain to his hitch, then to the heavy metal angle iron on the side of my trailer.
“Okay. Now stand back,” he coached. “If something snaps or gives, we’ve got a lethal chain flying through the air.” From in front of my truck I watched as he very gently righted my trailer. With a loud thump and groan the trailer rocked back and forth a time or two and then settled.
With a firm handshake I introduced myself as Schultz was recoiling his towline. I dug into my wallet for a twenty, but he wouldn’t think of taking it.
“You’ve got enough on your hands. Think he’ll get back in that thing?” My new best friend, Dave Schultz, plied with a doubtful look in his eye.
“I have no idea,” I sighed, still reeling from the accident. “I figure I’ll walk up to one of those houses and call a friend with a big stock trailer. Might need to have the vet come along as well. Man I just don’t know what I’m going to do but can’t thank you enough. You’ve really pulled me through a whole lot of this mess already.
You and the Misses have a wonderful day. Heck it’s only 7:30. You’ve got this whole glorious day in front of you. Thanks again, Dave,” I reiterated with a strong, heartfelt handshake.
Schultz drove off in the direction I was originally headed and I contemplated my next move. There were three or four houses a half-mile away. But my truck and trailer were right in the middle of the road, so I focused on cleaning up that situation. The hitch on the trailer seemed fine, as did the ball on the truck, so in a few minutes I had the rig safely on the side of the road.
Go for Help or See if Lakota will Load?
My eyes went from Lakota, standing quietly at the fence, to the houses and then back again at least a half dozen times before I decided to walk over and have a visit with my beloved horse. I was still pretty hyped up and not thinking too clearly. Lakota watched my approach with eager ears forward. The knees had stopped bleeding. Relief. I stroked his neck reassuringly and untied the short lead rope. As we walked back toward the trailer, he dropped his head to eat grass several times. I was not about to stop him.
“Very good sign,” I thought to myself in a sense of wonder. Only a relaxed horse eats. He just wasn’t that freaked out. In fact, hardly at all. We walked right up to the steep trailer ramp.
“Now you need to understand something very clearly, Lakota,” I began. “If you don’t want to enter that trailer ever again, well, that’s fine with me. This is your call here.”
Lakota looked at me as if he completely understood what I was saying, then looked at the trailer and put a foot on the ramp, and then looked quizzically at me again.
“Your call here, Big Fella. You’re running the show now.”
And Lakota walked right up that ramp as if to say, “Okay Dad, let’s get where we’re going.”
In hindsight I realized that he had no idea anything was ever wrong. Heck we travel across the whole darn country with dozens of horses and then spend our winters in South Carolina. We go into the wilds and deal with rattling cooking gear, llamas, bears and moose. We swim across rivers. And now we turn over trailers. I trust you. You’re my Dad. We do it all!
Again the tears were just streaming off my nose onto the pavement. I could not believe the trust this animal had in me. That same trust only forty-five minutes earlier had almost gotten him killed.
I hoisted the ramp back into closed position that in reality formed the back of the trailer. Then I checked and rechecked the hitch, but still didn’t trust it. I found some wire and secured it 1000% this time, knowing full well that I hadn’t done this procedure right to begin with. I had not clipped those two little ears down securely and heard that telltale snap that told me it was locked. Nor did I have a lock in the hole on the hitch that would have prevented this horrible occurrence. And I will always feel guilty about that to the end of my days.
Lakota forgave me, but I could never forgive myself.

Headin’ Home

I drove downhill to the nearest house and called my lady friend.
“We’ve had an accident and I turned the trailer over. Lakota’s a mess with bleeding knees and a badly bruised upper leg. Call Doc Leslie and have him there. I’ll be there in an hour,” I panted into the phone and left with a quick thanks.
It was a bit less than an hour when I pulled back into Indian Creek Ranch. And no Doc Leslie truck. Sherrie came running out when she heard me honk.
“Where’s the Doc?” I called out.
“He just didn’t seem terribly worried if the horse would reload. Let’s see Lakota,” urged Sherrie, who was a very cool head and had years of horse experience that included some pretty grizzly situations herself.
I lowered the ramp and led my buddy down onto the flat. The knees were skinned, but had already begun to scab over.
“Let’s see his side. Sure trashed the blanket, Frank. That probably saved his hide ya know?”
Sherrie had taken the words right out of my mouth. I removed the blanket and she pushed and probed into the discolored hair. He hardly flinched.
“He’ll probably be pretty sore. Bute him up and clean up those knees with some betadine. Then put some of that Corona ointment on his knees. He’ll be fine, Frank.”
“You sure he doesn’t need to see Doc Leslie? Come on, this is serious, Sherrie. I’m pretty freaked out about this.”
“Heck, he’ll be fine,” Sherrie reassured. “That’s just a scratch, little road burn. It’s nothing, really. You’re the one who needs help, Frank. You’re all white and pale. Probably in shock from this. But your horse will be fine. I promise. I’ve seen far worse. You know that. Go take care of him and then lie down for a while.
You’re the one we need to worry about.”
I led my friend Lakota into the barn and tied him to a hitching rail, then buried my head into his neck and just wept long and hard. Heavy sobs.
“I am so sorry, my friend. I am so sorry,” I repeated, hugging Lakota fiercely until I was finally okay. He was fine. Had been. It was all about me apologizing to the friend who trusted me the most.

Trailer Safety

Oh the lessons we all learn in this horse journey. They’re endless. And about the time you kind of think you’ve seen it all, yet another will appear. That is my promise to you: Curve balls forever with horses. My hard lesson was about checking and double-checking when trailering horses. I cannot stress enough how taking some time at the front-end can save a potential disaster somewhere down the road.

15 Steps to Trailering Safety

·Is the trailer safe? Sharp objects inside and out? Check the floorboards. With years and urine,
manure, and moisture, they rot. There could be a thousand pounds or more on any one board at any time. You must remove the mat to check the board. Use a nail or ice pick to check the board for dry rot.

·Good tires with correct pressure. Use a gauge. These tires support the whole rig plus your horses. Incorrect or uneven tire pressure is generally responsible for most towing problems and too low tire pressure is a frequent cause of tire failure. Check wheel lug nuts and bolts, which should be torqued before first road use. Check and re-torque on a new trailer after the first 10 miles, then 25 miles, and again at 50 miles. Check periodically thereafter that they are secure.

·Lighting and brake systems. Don’t wait for the day of the trip. Check these components well before the trip. Then you have time to fix the problem before you leave, not enroute. Don’t just wing it.

·Understand just how the hitch itself works. There are many different configurations. Learn yours thoroughly. This is your horse’s life at stake. Make sure the ball on the towing vehicle is the correct size for the trailer. This is especially important to check if you have different balls for several different trailers, or if you are using a new or borrowed trailer.

·All trailers have a safety chain or cable. A heavy chain is best and needs to be secured well at each end. Attach it properly. It saved my horse!

·Secure all the doors and windows. Double check. Don’t allow the remote possibility for a lead to get outside the trailer or a door to find its way open while traveling or otherwise. You don’t want to hear that story.

·Is the footing inside slippery? Urine and manure on a wood floor = slippery surface. Ridged rubber mats are the best insurance for good footing.

·Secure the dividers. Far too often dividers come loose. Be absolutely certain the divider is locked in place.

·When horses are loaded, make sure they are comfortably tied. They should be able to turn their head ninety degrees is the rule of thumb. In stock trailers untied horses are okay, but don’t overload or have incompatible horses together.

·If you are hauling just one horse in a two horse straight load, put the horse on the driver's side of
the trailer. If you are hauling more than one horse, put the heaviest horse on the driver's side. Roads are usually raised in the middle, so by putting the heaviest part of the load on the higher side, it will help to balance the trailer better.

·If driving a trailer is a new experience for you, practice driving the rig before you put a horse in the trailer. Know well how to park and back up before you head out on the road with a horse in tow.

·Stop often and make sure all’s well back there. Don’t load your horses, hop in, and head for your 500-mile trip. Stop early in the trip to make sure all is well. Feel the wheel bearings for undo warmth. Hitch look good? Safety chain? Door and windows? Are the horses traveling ok? Everyone getting along?

· Remember when driving that you’ve got animals behind you. At corners and stops give them a slight brake a little ahead of the actual stop. This helps them prepare for that change in speed or direction.

·It’s a good idea to take along a cell phone with a fully charged battery (or use a car charger) or have a CB radio in case of emergency.

·Having trouble trailer loading your horse? Check out my “Trailer Loading” video. A variety of horses, trailers, and weather conditions are used to demonstrate my gentle solutions approach to helping horses accept trailers as part of life and basic horse training. Learn how to help your horse want to be in the trailer and look forward to the next adventure. Proper tying, securing the butt bar and door, backing out, driving, safety tips, and more are covered in my video, which was filmed throughout the U.S.A. Learn how to do it right and actually enjoy the process while heightening horse and trainer/handler confidence.

I won’t spend too much time discussing some of the tragic stories I’ve heard that didn’t turn out as well as mine. Rest assured, some absolutely horrible things have taken place in which horses had to be put down because of an owner’s very simple trailering negligence. My goal in writing this piece is for you to avoid such an incident. These animals trust us implicitly. They literally place their lives in our hands. Really. We owe them the certainty that we have done every single thing possible to make the trip a safe and rewarding time.

Frank Bell and his accredited instructors have been helping horses with their people problems for several decades. He writes interesting and educational stories about these horses and their challenges. He also helps people better understand how to communicate with these magnificent creatures by answering their vexing questions on his website. Frank has designed a logical set of exercises that immediately places both parties on higher ground . . . without the need for a round pen. Suddenly both parties are riding in confidence instead of fear. Frank Bell’s 7-Step Safety System has been featured in horse magazines and ezines throughout the world including a three-part series in Western Horseman magazine. Frank’s video “Discover the Horse You Never Knew” fully outlines “the system” and is available in the audio/video library that includes thirteen works. Join Frank Bell’s Gentle Solution Revolution and breakthrough your training barriers now!

Contact: Frank Bell
PO Box 819
Rexburg, Idaho 83440
Phone: 800-871-7635
Email: Frankbell@horsewhisperer.com
Website: www.horsewhisperer.com/

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