Cleaning Your Horse Trailer

Whether you’re bringing them to a show or just from A to B, your horse trailer makes sure your animals are safe, comfortable, and secure. But livestock animals aren’t the tidiest of creatures, and your horse trailer will start to reflect that after a while. If it stays dirty enough for long enough, it can do more than stink—it might become a genuine safety and health hazard!

That’s why we here at Glenn’s Trailer Sales have put together some tips for keeping your horse trailers as clean as possible. These pointers will keep your animals healthy and happy and will help to prevent any real maintenance concerns. If you want more advice, or you’re looking for a horse trailer to try these tips out on, contact our store in Hobe Sound, Florida. Our friendly and experienced staff will work with you to find what you need at the prices you want!

Preparation

Ideally, you’ll want to clean your horse trailer within 24 hours of transporting any animals—especially if the animal is sick in some way. If you suspect the animal of carrying any illnesses, avoid using a pressure washer to clean the trailer, which might just carry the disease out of the trailer and onto your property. 

Always wear protective clothing and cloves while cleaning these trailers. Include a stiff brush, a broom, a vacuum cleaner, a foaming agent, and a jug of bleach solution or some other disinfectant in your cleaning kit. Remove anything that isn’t nailed down before starting the cleaning process, like hay-nets, dividers, and floor mats. These should be cleaned separately. Once all removable items have been taken out, sweep any feed and manure out of the trailer.

Interior Cleaning

Once all that prep is out of the way, it’s time to bust out the hose. We recommend using a low-pressure stream to rinse the inside of the trailer, from the ceiling to the floor. Next, use the foaming agent to scrub the ceiling, walls, and floor. Start at the top and work your way down, making sure to cover the whole interior. Pay special attention to hinges, latches, and bars. If there are any padded sections built into the interior, clean those with a soft cloth or sponge.

Now that the foaming agent has done its work, rinse it out with a power hose, but use a low setting on any padded sections. Do a visual inspection to look for any remaining dirt and rinse again as needed. 

Exterior And Removables Cleaning

Once the interior is finished, just soap up and rinse the exterior using the same process. Make sure to include the wheels! Dirt buildup on the exterior of your trailer can cause corrosion and rust, and dirt on your wheels can alter the amount of traction they provide.

Afterwards, it’s time to work on the items you removed previously, like carpeting or floor mats. Use a broom to brush excess dirt off the carpet and then vacuum whatever’s left. Rinse the floor mats with a power hose to remove any caked-on debris. Then thoroughly scrub every mat on all sides, starting with the foaming agent and followed by a rinse. Once both sides are rinsed, apply the bleach solution or other disinfecting agent. Allow the mats to dry completely. 

Disinfecting

Once the horse trailer is cleaned, take an extra moment to sanitize every surface with your bleach solution or disinfectant. Apply this to every inch of the trailer, including doors, hinges, and the loading ramp. Check your owner’s manual for recommendations on disinfecting products that are safe to use with your trailer, or check the disinfectant’s label to see if it’s compatible with the materials in your trailer. 

Leave the solution or disinfectant on the surfaces of your trailer for at least ten minutes, then rinse them all thoroughly and allow them to dry completely. Replace all removable items within the trailer once everything is dry.

Housekeeping

Cleaning the horse trailer is much easier if you remove any and all debris after each trip. That includes feed, hay, and wet bedding. These materials can rot or mold and can damage the flooring, so remove them immediately after each use. Anything you don’t want to keep around should go in a compost pile. For help with odors, sprinkle baking soda on the floor of the trailer

We hope these tips make your next trailer cleaning easier and faster! If you want more pointers, or if you want to see the selection of horse trailers we have for sale, contact us at Glenn’s Trailer Sales. We proudly serve the people of Jupiter and West Palm Beach, Florida—let us serve you today!