By guest author DoubleDTrailers.com.

What Are 5 Reasons Horse Trailer Lighting Matters?

Owning a horse trailer is a delicate dance between use, maintenance and repair.

If there’s one thing beyond the basic that can’t be ignored, it’s your lighting system.

Horse trailer lighting makes a huge difference to both your and your horse’s travel experience. No matter if you’re looking at new horse trailers for sale or simply intend to upgrade your old one, there are lots of reasons to pay attention to the lighting, including:

Safety. Above all else, lots of bright lights means safety for you and your horse during travel. If the other traffic on the highway can’t see you or incorrectly believes they’ve managed to pass you on a dark highway, disaster is in the making. Swap out old bulb-based lights for bright LEDs -- you’ll spend a little more, but you’ll never have another bulb go bad and other drivers will always know exactly where your horse trailer begins and ends.

Security. A study at the University of Queensland in Australia found that horses much prefer to walk into a bright trailer than one that is dimly lit. Many horses, in fact, can be cured of their nervous loading simply by adding more light inside your trailer. White LED strip lights running along the ceiling in the horse area can greatly increase your horse’s willingness to get inside their stall and help them stay more relaxed while they’re traveling in the horse box.

Visibility. More lighting increases visibility, of that there can be no doubt. But it also makes it easier for both you and your horse to make decisions about whether to move into or out of the horse box. Increased visibility helps decrease accidents and missteps that can cause serious injury to both horse and handler. The more light the better, so keep wiring new bulbs to those old switches.

Loading and Unloading. It should come as no surprise that both farms and horse events are often sparingly lighted. If you’re doomed to load or unload after dark, it may be in near inky blackness, with only the interior lights and flashlights as your guide. Bright halogen loading lights coupled with your interior LEDs can greatly improve loading and unloading in the dark. Your horse will feel much more confident in the lighted area and you’ll be able to better tend to his needs.

Convenience. Stopping in the middle of a long trip to check a strange sound or feed your horses can be both frightening and challenging without ample outside and inside lighting. Sure, you can handle these chores with a flashlight, but it would be much better to have that hand free to tend your animals or fix your trailer.

Your tires, floor and trailer suspension are valuable parts of your trailer, but the lighting on your horse box is equally valuable. Consider upgrading your lighting to LEDs and halogens and add lights where they should have always been, especially if you tend to unload after dark. Your horses and the other drivers on the highway will thank you.