Our largest unit is mainly utilized for live ambulatory hauling and emergency evacuation. Tori and Justin spent over 8 months collaborating with the owners of Equispirit Trailers, Tom and Neva Scheve, who authored the book "The Complete Guide to Buying, Maintaining, and Servicing a Horse Trailer", to design this modified trailer and then after receiving the finished trailer, we purchased and installed some additional safety features and accessories.
Our trailer is a 2011 EquiSpirit "modified" Safeload. It is a 40-foot gooseneck trailer manufactured with superior materials, highly durable construction, and unparalleled safety features by the company that puts the equine’s safety and welfare first. The trailer, at 7 feet 6 inches in height and 7 feet in width, allows for plenty of head and body room for even the larger breed equines. It is fully insulated and can be configured on the inside to haul one to three equines (one equine in the 51 inch wide slant stall in the front and two straight load in the individual box stalls at the back), or two equines in separate 10×7 box stalls (suitable for mare and foal), or four-five equines without slants or dividers when all interior dividers and stalls are removed which is reserved for emergency evacuation only. This trailer has 4 entry /exit access points, including rear full height doors with ramp over and side split doors with ramps. Multiple entry / exit points not only make loading and unloading easier but they decrease the risk of potential injuries that can happen by allowing for access to one equine at a time and providing a larger open area for the equine to enter by eliminating the rear support post and manufacturing a retractable swinging slant stall divider.
The entire interior construction of the trailer is equipped with quick release pins on all divider hinges, bars, and front center post which allows for removal of all interior structures within minutes, in case of an emergency. There is a safety catch on both butt bars which prevents equines from backing out before they are locked in place with the wall mounted pin. The breast bars are designed to be released under the weight of an equine if it rears up over it. The center divider, overhead rear entrance, and butt and breast bars are padded with thick foam and vinyl. All equine area side walls are lined with rubber.
The trailer four dual sided roof vents and multiple large sliding windows made from tinted shatterproof glass to provide ventilation when open and protection from the elements when closed. The trailer is equipped with three 12V vans and four 19-Volt rechargeable battery operated fans affixed to the interior walls near the roof and an indoor/outdoor wireless temperature indication system to better monitor the ambient temperature inside the trailer during transport.
We are proud to be transporting equines in an EquiSpirit Trailer!
This trailer is an 32-foot EquiSpirit 2+1 gooseneck trailer. The trailer, at 7 feet 6 inches in height and almost 7 feet in width, allows for plenty of head and body room but is not as large as our other transport trailer. Typically this trailer is configured with a single box stall at the rear with a smaller area at the front which we reserve for side-loading or storage area but can be used as a box stall for smaller equines (13-hands and under). We prefer to only transport one equine at a time, however we can transport two for a single client depending on the size and behavior of the equines being transported. This trailer has 2 primary entry /exit access points (rear ramp and drivers side ramp) along with an emergency escape door on the drivers side and an access door to the rear box stall on the passenger side. There is a dressing room area at the front of the trailer that is used to store emergency equipment and supplies (tire changing tools, winch, buckets, halters / leadropes, manure forks, water containers, etc.) and to haul cargo that is transported with the equine upon the clients request. The entire interior construction of the trailer is equipped with quick release pins on all divider hinges, bars, and front center post which allows for removal of all interior structures within minutes, in case of an emergency. There is a safety catch on both butt bars (front and rear stall areas) which prevents equines from backing out before they are locked in place with the wall mounted pin. All equine area side walls are lined with rubber. The trailer has a single roof vent in the front and double roof vents in the rear with multiple sliding windows made from tinted shatterproof glass to provide ventilation when open and protection from the elements when closed. The trailer is equipped with two large 19-Volt rechargeable battery operated fans affixed to the box stall doors to increase the air-circulation during the warmer months. There is a trailer camera system with two interior cameras (one viewing the front stall and one viewing the rear) as well as a back-up camera. This trailer allows us to access areas for pick-up and delivery that our larger 40-foot trailer does not.
This custom trailer is our primary equine ambulance unit and was originally designed to be a stand-alone field hospital unit for basic triage and medical care during deployment to natural disaster zones. Over the years, it has transitioned to a state-of-the-art equine ambulance. Unlike typical horse trailers and other equine ambulance units, this trailer is extra-wide and extra-tall to accommodate the largest of equines without them feeling “closed-in” and still leave room for personnel to work around the equine safely. We utilize this unit primarily for equestrian event emergency stand-by (equine ambulance) services but it can also be used to respond to emergency and non-emergency requests for assistance from emergency responders and veterinary professionals, end of life services, natural disaster rescue and recovery operations, and emergency equine transports.
Our equine ambulance unit is a 25-ft long, 8-ft wide, and 8-ft tall custom-designed horse trailer. It is our primary event stand-by trailer due to its configuration, however due to the oversize height, we must ensure that there is a minimum of 12-ft clearance, so it can respond where needed on the course or inside an enclosed arena. This unit houses a multitude of basic and specialized equipment, including but not limited to three different types of slings (Anderson, Liftex, and Becker) and a large, mobile, steel frame which can hold the Anderson Sling with the equine in place completely suspended or only supported during transport. The frame can be removed from the unit and remain outside in a secure location if not expected to be used in an emergency. A microwave, sink with hot and cold water, and a refrigerator can serve several purposes during in-transit medical care or transferal of blood or other samples for diagnostics. The unit’s air conditioner/heater unit powered by an on-board generator makes a semi-climate controlled environment for evaluation and treatment during transport to a veterinary facility.
There are three options for transport, box stall, sling, or glide, as described below…
· If equine is ambulatory and able to stand unassisted the equine can be transported in a box stall configuration where the equine will be transported either loose or in cross-ties. There are three ramps for easy loading and unloading… an 8-foot wide ramp at the rear and a 4-foot wide ramp on each side. If the equine is ambulatory and able to stand or support itself unassisted, but may be in a questionable state or adversely affected by a medical condition, a release letter from your veterinarian on official letterhead and signed by the veterinarian stating the equine is capable of being managed and/or transported in the manner requested may be required prior to services being rendered.
· If the equine is not ambulatory and is unable to support itself or stand unassisted then the equine must be sedated by a licensed veterinarian and either supported by our Anderson Sling suspended within the secured steel frame or sedated by a licensed veterinarian and secured with straps and hobbles in a lateral recumbent (laying down on side) position on our glide.
In addition to being a specialized transport unit, this trailer is also equipped with some equine first-aid supplies and technical rescue equipment necessary for response to emergency incidents and service calls to assist emergency responders and veterinary professionals.
This Sundowner trailer is the newest addition to our fleet and although it is a 1992 model, it is in great condition for its age. It is 33-ft long, 7-ft 6-in tall, 8-ft wide, and has plenty of room for all of our equipment along with our ATV and can even haul Merle (our training mannequin) and our Häst Rescue Trifecta System (Monopod, Bipod, Tripod) at the same time when necessary for training courses. It has a large horse area which was originally configured to haul 6 horses in slant stalls. We still have to add a custom swing gate to create a rear box stall for ambulatory or rescue glide transport to keep the horse from accessing the equipment area of the trailer and that will be added in the near future. The horse area has a rear and side ramp which will allow horses with lameness issues to walk-on the rear ramp and off the side ramp without having to back off or turn around. The horse area is loaded with the equipment most likely to be used on large animal rescue incidents, with the exception of the Glide Accessory Bag which is kept in the front of the trailer. The side ramp is perfect for loading our ATV from the side instead of the rear. This eliminates the issue of having to winch the glide all the way to the front of the trailer just to load the ATV behind the horse to have access to the ATV to unload the glide...now we can winch the glide in just inside the doors and then load the ATV in from the side. The dressing room area of the trailer is loaded with human safety and rescue equipment as well as large animal rescue equipment that we don't use as often but still need to keep in our cache' in the event it is needed. The primary use for this trailer will be large animal rescue response.
This trailer is the large animal technical rescue response unit that is based in Johnston County, North Carolina at Archer Lodge Fire Department. This unit is a response unit only and not capable of animal transport or equine ambulance services. There is a rescue glide, slip sheet, Becker Sling and Spreadbar, rescue rope, webbing straps, strap guide, mud lances, along with some other basic and specialized large animal rescue equipment. Currently the unit is a 6-ft x 12-ft enclosed cargo trailer but in the near future, this trailer will be replaced with a larger, 7-ft x 16-ft enclosed cargo trailer and more equipment will be added. This unit will be under the direction of our team members Richard McLeod and Christopher McLeod along with local fire chiefs Paul Zias (Chief of Thanksgiving FD), Phillip Driver (Chief of Archer Lodge FD), and Bentley Powell (Chief of Wilson's Mills FD). This group of individuals responded to several large animal rescues in Johnston County since a training course was held there in 2018. They performed the rescue operations with minimal equipment, yet managed to complete the operations using the large animal rescue training they have had and a little creativity and ingenuity to make what resources they had on hand work as large animal rescue equipment. It was decided that with the increase in large animal incidents in their area a response unit and better equipment options were needed...thus the formation of the 4HLAS Johnston County LAR (Large Animal Rescue) Response Unit.
This unit primarily responds to large animal related incidents within Johnston County, however if there is a need for a response outside of Johnston County, those responses will be handled on a case by case basis when personnel is available at the discretion of those team members.
This bumper-pull trailer is our primary End of Life Services transport unit. The smaller size makes this trailer easier to maneuver around farms and facilities to position the rear ramp near the deceased for ease of loading. There is a 12,000-lb winch in the front of the trailer that allows us to easily pull the deceased up the rear ramp and inside using our large animal relocator (glide).
The trailer houses a small cache' of large animal technical rescue equipment for simple large animal technical rescue operations which allows our team to use this trailer for emergency response and stand-by services at equestrian events.