Welcome to the forum.

As to your towing "only a couple times" without trailer brakes... a fatal crash only happens once to the unfortunate soul.  You are taking a risk with your life and everyone's around you by towing without a brake controller.

Since you won't have a brake controller you won't have working trailer brakes.   Most states require horse trailers to have "working" brakes"  (I said horse trailers since the actual requirement varies by weight.  Horse trailers will weigh several thousand pounds)

I hope you're several states away from me when you're on the road without trailer brakes.

Yep, you need a brake controller. The most basic one will work fine.  If your Parents Chevy is an 04 or 5 and has the "tow" pkg already, it should have the necessary wires already there and the controller will simply plug in. The details should be in the owner manual of the truck.

Yes you can pull that trailer without brakes but its safer to have them and since you have access to such a nice new vehicle with a tow package already installed, its very simple to be safe and connect the controller. As already stated, that one accident can happen in a split second.

A basic brake controller is like $20-$30.  That's rediculous to even question weather to get one or not.

-Phillip

The questions was can she trailer without it? Not how much does one cost.

HWBar, you often have some good info to add here, but I disagree with you 100% It appears to me that your just arguing for the sake of arguing, which is your right of course…

Can you pull a trailer with a horse in it without brakes, of course you can.

Can you punch Mike Tyson in the mouth, why yes, yes you can.

Is either in your best interest, probably not….

I didn't take it as sport. It is an excellent point. Why is it safe with a boat and not horses? What if it was a 1,000 pound single place trailer and a 700 pound Icelandic.? In HWBar's example, a trailer under 3,000 pounds without brakes WOULD BE legal in most states. I agree the most cautious approach would be to have a brake controller, however that does not mean it is the only SAFE choice. Without knowing the weight of the trailer, ratings of vehicle/trailer etc..., and most importantly how the rig is driven it is impossible to say what is safe. The best we can do is determine what is legal, and given the lack of details we can't even do that in this case.

Again I agree going with a brake controller is the most cautious approach, and what I would recommend for the highest safety margin, but it often amazes me how close minded horsey-trailering people can be.

If it ain't a gooseneck behind a diesel its usually considered unsafe on the horsey forums.   The true irony is a big percentage of those diesel/gooseneck folks exceed their GVWR, breaking a law put in place for safety reasons!

Be safe!

Yes, of course I think teaching caution is a good thing. I think teaching people to understand the laws, ratings, capabilities, i.e. factual stuff is the best way to determine how cautious you are being. I think HWBar's post was intended to due just that. Get people (newbies included) to think about what does my trailer weigh? What do my state laws and vehicle require for trailer brakes? Maybe I should stop towing my 4,000# boat with no trailer brakes?

On that note: Eventer, One other thing you need to be aware of is you tongue weight. Most hitches are only rated to 500lbs of tongue weight unless you have a Weight Distribution Hitch. If you have a heavy trailer, and no Weight Distribtuion Hitch you may exceed your ratings and not have a safe setup. Regardless if your trailer is "heavy" or not, you should verify the hitch rating is sufficient.

I'm not trying to scare Eventer, but it is serious business and the more questions you know the answers to the better off you are. I think everyone can learn by asking questions like this.

I just don't buy into taking the blind "cautious" approach. Unless you know more about the setup, like how much it weighs and if the trailer actually uses surge brakes, how can you say adding a controller is safer? Yes, most likely a controller is needed but you need more info to say that for sure.  

 Personally I would feel much safer driving in front a fully prepared driver in a 1/2ton pickup pulling a horse trailer who knows exactly what his limits are (and stays below them) than some fool driving a one-ton diesel with a big ol' trailer who hasn't a clue how overloaded they are and how to properly prepare their rig. Of course the diesel driver thinks they are being cautious, since their buddies told them you need a one-ton to be safe!

Really don't want to argue, but I think HWbar made a thought provoking post, and to me it was not encouraging risks, it was the opposite it was encouraging education.

-Flush

Thanks Flush for getting my point.

"unless you are towing a weight that is dramatically less than the tow vehicle, you could be asking for trouble. HWbar used a ridiculously light trailer to try and make his point"

Hav2ride, the trailer I used for discussion is most likely what she is going to tow. The Suburban should weigh somewhere around 6000lbs. Trailer and a single horse is under 3000lbs. What do you consider "dramatically less".

Hey, Watch out for that mowing crew, 3 zero turns, 2 push mowers, weedeaters and fuel. Weighs more than what we are talking about. It's a utility trailer with no brakes.