Here is, IMHO, an example of overloading a horse trailer and everyone's worse nightmare - it looks like a 3-h slant load bumber pull was hauling 4 horses and then the nightmare happened.  The SUV flipped, the trailer flipped, one horse was ejected, the other 3 managed to escape, one crossed the major interstate highway (I-95) just as rush hour traffic was starting.  Final outcome as of Thursday morning - 2 horses put down; 2 horses scrapped, minor cuts but ok; 1 driver uninjured but feeling really low; 1 totaled SUV; 1 totaled bumber pull horse trailer.

http://wjz.com/topstories/local_story_165154830.html

My heart goes out to the horse owners for their loss.

Good Lord,,,,,,,,,,,how horrible.  Unfortunate lesson to be learned.  Brings tears to my eyes.

Sometimes you don't even need a truck and trailer to screw up

http://www.ktvz.com/story.cfm?nav=news&storyID=13136

BUMMER,I HAD JUST DROVE THRU THERE ABOUT A HALF HOUR EARLIER, COULD HAVE BEEN ME.

THATS ALSO WHY I ALWAYS CARRY A FIREARM WITH ME.SOMETIMES IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO PUT A HORSE OUT OF ITS PAIN.SO FAR I HAVE ONLY HAD TO USE IT ONCE FOR SOMETHING LIKE THIS.

IN THAT CASE IT WAS TOO MUCH WEIGHT FOR TOO SMALL A RIG AND THE BRAKES WENT OUT ON THE TRAILER.THE SUV COULD NOT STOP THE BIG TRAILER AND TURNED OVER.NOT PRETTY. MY HEART GOES OUT TO EM.

I can't believe that the owners of the three horses valued at $35000 each didn't get them in a safe stall.  Surely there would have been stalls at the fairgrounds. 

These owners seem to be as non blessed in the brains department as the one hauling with an SUV.  Neither deserve to have horses. 

From a newspaper report the vehicle was a Ford Excursion. Ford towing guide says maximum trailer weight is 11 000 lbs for the V10 or diesel, and as low as 6100 lbs for the V8 with a 3.73 axle ratio. There were 3 passengers with the driver and I agree it looks like a 3H angle haul.

For a brief while I used a Suburban to pull a 3H angle but very quickly moved to a dually/gooseneck combo as I felt very unsafe. IMHO you can never have too much truck.

possibly a link to that newspaper report please?

As far as the MD trailer accident goes........I used to see Suv's pulling 3 & 4 horse trailers all the time when I lived in the Balto/DC area. Most of the commuters drive aggressively and act like their time is worth more than yours. They don't care about other people's kids much less live cargo. I use to ride with a family that pulled 4 horses off the back of a 1/2 ton Suburban. I could not follow them as they were all over the road and made me a nervous wreck. 

Several times a year, we would  go pick up horses that were involved in trailering accidents in our area. For every one picked up live, there would be one or more drug off to the side of the road. Some say it is economics, I say it is stupidity.

As far as the 2 Sister Rodeo incident goes.....The owners had a temporary pen set up beside their rig. The owners are at fault clearly for not securing their horses properly. Three in one pen is a recipe for disaster.

Alot of the portable corrals on the market are not strong enough to hold most horses with a heartbeat. They are not made to house more than one at a time and those folks had 3 in the same pen. It is not rocket science, it is survival of the fittest. How many times have y'all awaken to commotion in the middle of the night and found loose horses in camp that had escaped their temporary corrals? Have any of y'all gotten up in the morning to find loose horses in camp that escaped during the night from a temporary pen?

Have any of y'all gotten up in the morning to find loose horses in camp that escaped during the night from a temporary pen?

  Yes I have, that's why I believe that the grounds should have been fenced.  If they had been the horses wouldn't have been able to get on to the road. 

I'm going to climb up on a soap box here running the risk of some angry feedback, but it never ceases to amaze me as to how many people out there continue to think that rules, laws, manufacturer specifications and recommendations are meant to be ignored and/or broken.

So many of us seem surprised to find out about these accidents and mishaps.  We're truly indignant about the ways in which some horse owners/handlers, neglect the welfare of their animals.

Somehow this never surprises me anymore.  So many people are ignorant when it comes to dealing with the safety of their children. How can we expect them to treat their animals any better. 

Yes, I too feel for the owners of these animals, but what were they thinking when they allowed them to be loaded in this trailer/vehicle combination?

And Chadsalt, the driver lost control of that vehicle when he got behind the wheel in the first place.  It was an accident waiting to happen.

If it was a large SUV with the towing capacity sufficient for the size and weight of a 3 horse slant load bumper pull I might not have a problem either, but loading a 4th horse in that rig probably exceeded the capacity/safety recommendations for both.

What makes people think they know better than the people who built the vehicle and/or trailer????  I've asked this question before on another thread and certainly didn't receive any convincing answer.

Terri, I have to differ.  Maybe having that extra horse crowded in there caused the trailer to swerve.  Maybe the extra weight added too much tongue weight and the stability of the front end of the vehicle was compromised.

What's the justification for pushing the envelope?