Why Using The Best Horse Float Brake Controller Matters For Safe Horse Transport

It’s crucial for anyone who works with horses to do everything possible to reduce the stress experienced by the animals during travel. The smooth, proportional control offered by Elecbrakes horse float brake controller  helps to keep horses comfortable and relaxed. This is vital for ensuring that there is no impact on the horse’s performance after the journey. Avoiding stress for your horses also helps prevent any potential impact on fertility, performance and general wellbeing.

What does a horse float electric brake controller do?

Any trailer fitted with electric brakes which has a gross trailer mass above 2,000 kilograms requires the use of an electric brake controller. This is a device that regulates the activation of the electric trailer brakes. Without this device, a trailer with electric brakes fitted will act in exactly the same way as an unbraked trailer, the brakes won’t function at all.

An electric brake controller activates trailer brakes by controlling the supply of electricity to them. This electricity can be supplied in either a timed or a proportional manner. This means that the brakes can either be turned on at a set intensity or the braking intensity on the trailer can be matched to the braking activity of the tow-vehicle.

In either case, the purpose of the brake controller is to safely slow the trailer when the tow vehicle brakes are activated. This ensures that the momentum from a heavy trailer doesn’t pose a safety risk – or in the case of a horse float – agitate your horses.

The benefits of using Elecbrakes’ horse float brake controller for safe horse transport

Elecbrakes electric brake controller has several key features which make it especially suited to the safe and convenient transport of horses and other livestock.

1. Proportional Brake Control
2. Trailer Mounted Electric Brake Controller
3. Customisable preset programs for fine tuned electric brake control
4. Manual override for easy trailer stabilisation

1. Proportional Brake Control

Unlike a timed brake control device, Elecbrakes uses advanced technology to achieve smooth proportional brake control. This means that when you apply pressure to the brake pedal of your tow vehicle, a proportional degree of pressure is applied to the trailer’s brakes.

Proportional brake control provides a superior towing experience due to the smooth driving experience it helps create. For horse owners this seamless brake response is particularly important because it helps to keep the horse float steady and your animals relaxed.

2. Trailer Mounted Electric Brake Controller

One of Elecbrakes main points of difference from other electric brake controllers is the fact that it’s mounted on the trailer and powered by existing standard trailer wiring. This means that any tow vehicle can be used with the trailer with no modification or installation necessary.

Conventional electric brake controllers are mounted in the cabin of the tow vehicle and require modifications made to both the dashboard and the rear of the vehicle. When mounted in this way, hard-wired electric brake controllers are required to be installed in every vehicle that is going to be used to tow a trailer or horse float.

The multi tow vehicle flexibility offered by Elecbrakes means that you can use any capable vehicle in your fleet to tow a horse float, with only one brake controller installation required.

3. Customisable Preset Programs For Fine Tuned Electric Brake Control

Depending on the weight of individual animals being transported you may not legally require an electric brake controller in every horse transport situation. For instance, when towing a single small horse you may find that your gross trailer mass does not exceed the 2,000kg limit and therefore you’re not technically required to activate your trailer brakes.

Regardless, many horse float owners find that due to the precious nature of their cargo a proportionally braked horse float is the best option for their animals’ comfort and health regardless of the overall trailer weight. At other times you may need to tow several horses at once, putting the gross trailer mass well above the requirement limit for an electric brake controller.

While the brake response is calculated automatically in proportion to the tow vehicle’s braking, this response can be tweaked using the wireless in car remote control or smart phone app. Elecbrakes allows the user to adjust brake response within each program via its unique adjustment system. You can use the scroll bar in the app or single digit adjustment in the remote to finely adjust the brakes till they are so smooth you can barely feel them activating. This provides the calmest possible ride for your animals.Other controllers are not as sensitive. Turning dials and sliding levers does not allow the user such fine adjustment and in the case of horse transport, near enough is not good enough.

Elecbrakes makes this process easy by providing five customisable braking programs. Once you have tweaked the brake response to perfectly match one specific circumstance you can save these settings in one of the brake programs with its own name – i.e. “One Horse” – and then easily use those same settings when towing under the same conditions in the future.

4. Manual Trailer Override For Easy Horse Float Stabilisation

In some circumstances, such as when driving in high wind conditions, your horse float may begin to sway. This can be a distressing and sometimes dangerous occurrence when towing any type of trailer. When towing a horse float carrying live animals, trailer sway is of particular concern.

An easy way to stabilise a trailer in this situation is to gently apply the trailer’s brake independently of the tow vehicle. To achieve this, Elecbrakes provides an easily accessible emergency override button on the remote and phone app. With a simple tap on the remote you can stabilise your horse float and keep your animals calm and safe.

Our manual override on the in-car remote control is intuitive and pressure sensitive. It allows the user to apply manual brake pressure in proportion to how firmly they press the button. The softer you push the lighter the brakes, the harder you push the harder the brake application.

Competitors systems are a set value override. Which means, If the brake controller dial is set at “5” then the brakes are applied at that value when the override is pushed. This does not provide the same control and therefore the same ability to keep your horse’s ride smooth and stress-free.

We know that the first priority for every horse owner is the wellbeing and comfort of their horses. Road travel can be upsetting for any animal at the best of times, and that’s why Elecbrakes is passionate about making this experience as stress-free as possible. We do this by providing the best horse float brake controller with the smoothest proportional brake control. Protect your precious cargo with the best electric brake controller on the market.