If you have brakes, use them. They are there for a reason. In an emergency, it would be like locking up the front tire on a motorcycle.

(quote).... I have seen and heard of alot of people disconnecting the brakes on a 2 horse trailer.

Must be a whole different breed of folks there in Arkansas.... Kinda livin' on the edge are you? Here in eastern North Carolina, I can't say I've ever heard of anyone "disconnecting the brakes" on a two horse trailer.... Or any trailer for that matter. "I don't think my '87 WW's brakes are working." Check your brakes, make sure they are working properly, or don't leave the yard!!!

I see the same here in OK. I remember looking at a used two horse one time and asked about he brakes. He told me they were new...then added that he had never hooked them up on the truck. I have seen people with a 4 way plug on two horses (no brakes at all) and some of it goes back to 6 way plugs. Some trailers had the brakes on the center and some had the hot wire on the center. Some people would disconnect them and leave them that way. Many people do it. Many people drive drunk too. Either way, it is an accident waiting to happen. Sooner or later, an accident will happen.

They disconnect here in Georgia too.  I bought a 1996  2h bp Ponderosa this summer from the people who bought originally.  They disconnected the brakes as soon as they bought it and the brakes had NEVER been used. They were using a 4 pin plug to hook it to their truck for lights.  I took it straight to my local trailer folks, had the wiring redone and a 7 pin plug put on it.  They pulled the wheels and checked the brakes and agreed that they had never been used.  So I bought a 1996 trailer with brand new brakes!! Good for me.  Had everything serviced and I should be good to go for a while.

There are quite a few older horse trailers with 4 pin wiring down here too.  There are no trailer inspections, so I guess they can get away with it.

Yes Ive pulled a few like that, no you dont want to make it a habit.

You would think that people with some semblance of intelligence, would realize the danger in which they are placing themselves and everyone around them.

Driving without brakes is like drunk driving, and yes, Sooner or later, an accident will happen. The results will be worse than they had to be, if they had to happen at all. The driver should be held legally responsible for all damages. He is willfully negligent, and contributes a majority of the responsibility for the incurred damages.

Gard

Well, if you want to get technical - here are the state laws regarding trailer brakes

I live in an area where we have some small hills, less than 2000 feet as a rule.  Last week, was coming home on I-70 west bound and coming down  the back side of South Mountain and a Chevy Avalanche passed me pulling a BP enclosed, dual axle trailer.  No sooner than he got past me, the trailer started fish tailing and I saw the brake lights come on and it getting worse.  Finally lost control of the rig, jack-knifed in the middle of I-70, slid down an grassy slope into the median area.  When he was leaving the pavement, the tires on the Avalanche were smokin', but not the trailer brakes.  Slid to a stop upright and stopped before sliding into a deep wooded area.  Stopped to make sure he was o.k. and a trooper pulled up right behind me.  I asked the driver if he had his trailer brakes working and he said, "I don't know, never looked at them."  That accident was just waiting to happen and he made it all the way to the scene of the crash. (Ron White)

deranger

A couple of years ago I was involved in an incident, where the trailer brakes saved me from a serious accident. Without them working as well as they did, there would have been major damage to our rig and certain personal injury.

The weight of a trailer adversely effects the handling of the tow vehicle. Even with a basic 2H BP trailer and a couple of horses, you can be pulling an additional two or three tons of weight. If this is added to your vehicle's weight, the brakes that were originally engineered for the tow vehicle and a normal load, now have to provide braking capabilities, for almost twice the tow vehicle's original weight.

Without any trailer brakes, the tow vehicle's braking distances will now be extended by anywhere from 25% - 60%. What you were able to stop for originally,  is now impossible. If any hard braking is performed while turning, the possibility of a jackknifing is a distinct possibility. On a slippery road, this becomes a probability. On long down hill stretches, it is very easy to over tax the braking system and end up with brake fade. This can result in the total loss of any braking effect.

The trailer's brakes were design to stop it and its load. For your safety, it is critical that every component is working as well as it's designed to do.

For the cost of a $100 controller and a $12 plug, some people are playing Russian Roulette with theirs and your lives. This is unconscionable.

Gard

Some people are so smart they think they know it all, but lack the common sense to understand what they don't know can kill them and others.  That's why we have laws to protect us from poeple that don't have any common sense.  People with common sense don't usually have a bad driving record, spend time in jail and/or stand before a judge too often.

deranger

Three Arabs will fit side/side in an 8' wide horse trailer.  Three Percherons won't.

deranger