Month: October 2025

Businesses can only succeed when they are in constant motion, and many agricultural firms rely on their trailers in order to transport goods and perform a range of tasks on and off the land.

Not only does this mean that you need to pick the right high-quality trailer for the needs of your business, but you also need to make arrangements to ensure it is professionally serviced and repaired.

We can provide that complete service, offering tailored advice to ensure you get the right equipment customised to meet your exacting needs, whilst also offering maintenance and servicing to ensure it lasts as long as possible.

The biggest reason why this is so important is that driving an unsafe trailer is against the law, but the reason why the Highway Code is particularly strict is that an unsafe vehicle has the potential to cause serious accidents on the road.

Whilst anything that is a cause for concern should be checked, here are some of the most common causes of trailer accidents, and how a regular maintenance routine can help avoid them.

Brake Fade

Worn and faded brakes are a potential danger with any vehicle, but brake fade can be particularly problematic and difficult to diagnose with trailers, as a loaded trailer can lead to unexpected braking properties and longer stopping distances.

Brake fade can cause accidents for a range of reasons, not only due to brake failure, but also due to poor brake alignment or synchronisation between the towing vehicle and trailer. These issues can lead to a loss of control, which can increase the risk of a collision or crash.

Effective maintenance will not only replace brake pads and shoes, but also examine particular wear trends to ensure that the brakes are functioning evenly and thus will be balanced and consistent in an emergency braking situation.

Decoupling

A potentially particularly dangerous accident, if the trailer is not hitched correctly to the towbar of the towing vehicle or there is a problem with the attaching equipment, it could potentially lead to the trailer detaching. If this happens whilst on the road, the unpredictability of the trailer could cause a collision with other vehicles on other lanes.

There are multiple failsafe systems in place to ensure that the trailer stays attached, and frequent inspections of the mechanics will help to minimise the risk of a failure of the coupling system.

Poor Visibility

The lights on the back of a trailer are linked to the towing vehicle and are even more critical than they are on a standard car.

A lot of accidents are caused by poor visibility, as the car behind cannot properly see where the trailer is in relation to the rest of the vehicle and thus cannot adequately anticipate where it is moving on the road.

Checking to make sure all of the lights work, including the tail lights, brake lights, turning indicators and hazard warning lights, all work and work quickly. 

As well as this, make sure that the reflectors are in good condition, are undamaged and remain clean. They are an easy and vital way for cars to see the trailer and where it is on the road.

Snaking And Jackknifing

A common cause of trailer accidents that is typically associated with the trailer itself is swerving and snaking, which is where the trailer begins to oscillate behind the towing vehicle.

A degree of snaking can happen for several reasons, particularly in situations where a car is dealing with strong winds, high speeds and the effects of aerodynamic wake, but excessive levels of snaking are not only a serious hazard but could be the result of a mechanical issue.

At worst, it can cause a jackknife, a serious incident where a trailer whips around the towing vehicle, often causing a significant loss of control and the potential for serious accidents.

All of these issues can make a car and trailer more difficult to control at high speeds, whilst driving straight ahead and whilst turning.

They are caused in part by imbalances with the trailers’ braking and suspension. This can be detected through wheel balancing and inspections of the wheels and springs. They can also be the result of damage or rough terrain that affects the wheel, suspension or chassis.

Drivers can also help to minimise the risk by evenly distributing loads and gently slowing down to regain control of a snaking trailer rather than locking up the brakes or turning sharply. It also helps to take some time to get accustomed to how the trailer feels both empty and with a typical load.

There are few equestrian businesses that can create as potent a mixture of emotions as horse racing. You need to have the love, care, affection and equipment to take care of a horse and ready him for meets, but also the ability to look past sentimentality to know when a horse lacks what it takes.

The most interesting horses are often the exceptions to the rule; these are horses who lack the temperament, discipline or talent to win but become beloved simply because they enter the horse box trailer and continue to try their hardest even if they do not succeed.

In the United Kingdom, Quixell Crossett was so popular that he had a website and fan club in 2001, decades before social media made that more common, but in America, the ultimate lovable loser was Zippy Chippy.

This was a somewhat ironic moniker, given that Zippy’s behaviour was anything but beloved on the tracks that he would ultimately be banned from during his famous 100-race losing streak, but to explain why, it is important to explore how he got the chance to be banned in the first place.

A Grand Pedigree Sold For A Pickup

Zippy Chippy was born to racing royalty, with a lineage including the likes of Count Fleet and War Admiral, who both won the American horse racing triple crown.

On paper, the story should have been different to that of the undersized Hara Urara and the hapless Quixell Crossett. However, after 20 consecutive losses, he appeared to be just as doomed to failure and early retirement.

That was, at least, until he met Felix Monserrate, a trainer who loved horses far more than he loved winning. He saw a lot of himself in Zippy, and when he heard of the plan his current owner had, he decided to buy the horse off him.

What was the price? One seven-year-old pickup truck that had been used as a makeshift horse cart for years.

In some respects, Felix knew what he was buying, but thought that a thoroughbred from a family of champions was surely going to find that big maiden win sooner rather than later.

Zippy’s first course of action when he stepped into the barn was to bite Mr Monserrate and prove him very wrong.

The Lovable Rogue

Unlike other lovable loser horses that tended to be relatively friendly and primarily known for their performance on the racetrack, Zippy Chippy was seen as almost untrainable.

Whilst he loved to race, he hated being harnessed for races, disliked having a saddle and would generally defy authority. He would stick his tongue out, bite the hats off of spectators and steal food. He would even grab people by the collars and lift them up.

He had a mean streak, and several streaks of refusing to leave the gate got him banned from several racetracks, including his local Finger Lakes in Farmington, New York. His antics allegedly got him banned from every track except for Massachusetts’ Northampton Fair.

However, it was important to note that, unlike Quixall Crossett, Zippy Chippy actually showed flashes of this potential; he placed third 12 times and second eight times, including two back-to-back runner-up positions that highlighted that he could run when he wanted to.

The problem was that he ultimately never did, but this did not stop him, which in turn did not stop him from being a success in other ways beyond the $30,000 he won in prize money.

Loving A Loser

Zippy Chippy has far from the longest losing streak in the world, and indeed was five races away from the US record held by Thrust. However, a horse with his character and profile had not had such a long losing streak before, and this gave him a remarkably large following.

Part of the reason why he lost so many was that he was entered in a lot of races that he had little chance of winning; in America, the lowest level of horse racing is claiming races, where horses can be bought or sold for a specific price, and Mr Monserrate had no intentions of selling him for any price.

His unpredictability also made him an attraction for audiences, who would either see an astonishing underdog performance or a carnival of chaos, depending on the day.

He managed to get onto a People Magazine list of the most interesting personalities of the year 2000, there were plans to make a film of his story, a children’s book was made featuring him, and sales of Zippy-themed merchandise kept his Old Friends farm open for years.

Whilst he never won a race, he won a lot of hearts and used that to bring awareness of the welfare of retired racehorses, ensuring they would receive good care for the rest of their lives.

Success in equestrian businesses requires encyclopaedic knowledge of horse breeding, training and racing, as well as a deep compassion for horses, an eye for talent and the right horse box trailer to suit their needs.

The latter is important for all horse-related businesses but is especially critical for horse racing, where every component of preparation could give a particular racer the edge over the other runners and riders.

It is rare for a horse to win a race, let alone go undefeated the same way Eclipse did. However, what is perhaps even rarer is for a racehorse to continue to pursue that maiden win for months, years, even decades in some cases.

However, whilst many horses are judged by their record on the course, there are plenty of other ways to succeed that do not necessarily require a horse to win. In fact, it is possible for a horse to be successful without consistently placing.

Whilst the Japanese racehorse Haru Urara is perhaps one of the most famous maiden horses, she is far from the only one. In fact, one Japanese horse has lost twice as many races as her.

Who Is The Maiden of Maidens?

A maiden horse is simply a horse that has not won a race and typically competes in maiden races with other non-winners.

Typically, the career of a maiden is relatively short; great horses step down from the ramp of the trailer, demolish the competition and graduate before they step back into the trailer. Horses that do not have the potential to win tend to be retired fairly quickly. Not every horse needs to be a champion.

However, there are some horses that are good enough to win a race but are not lucky enough to, and these serial losers and long-running maidens lose for so long that they become a rarer breed than a lot of consistent winners, and can sometimes end up becoming folk heroes.

Haru Urara was credited for saving Japanese horse racing following the Lost Decade, even though she famously did not win a race until she was 18 years old, a race that did not even count on her official records.

However, whilst she was a famously lovable loser who came awfully close, the true maiden of maidens is the far more obscure Dance Saber, who lost a total of 229 races between 2013 and 2021, an average of well over 20 losses a year with just three runner-up places.

This sheer number of races is typically explained by the regional nature of Japanese horse racing. As the Japanese racing scene is relatively smaller than Australia, the United States or the United Kingdom, there are some local horses who have the opportunity to keep trying again and again before finally retiring.

Alongside Dance Saber, there was Namino Hana (198 starts without a win), Meine Attrice (192 starts), Speed Over (189 starts), Kammuri Holder (179 starts), Osan Tsuyoshi (164 starts) and 

Hakuho Queen (161 starts), all of which are Japanese horses who would regularly compete, show promise but ultimately fail to get that first win.

However, whilst Japan has perhaps the most prolific maiden horses in terms of starts, one of the first horses to get the same level of mystique was originally bred in Yorkshire.

Who Was Britain’s Lovable Loser?

Named rather ironically after the speedy footballer Albert Quixall, Quixall Crossett is typically considered to be the single worst racehorse in British history, with a total of 103 starts without a single win.

This was briefly no longer the case when the Irish horse Celerity reached 105 starts without a win, only to finally graduate with her maiden win on the 106th time of asking.

Quixall Crossart rarely even seemed to come close, with his two second-place finishes still multiple lengths behind the winner.

Whilst described rather cruelly as lacking any racing ability, Quixall was a very good jumper and a safe horse to ride, even if his running speed left a lot to be desired.

What made Quixall Crossett a success was far beyond the track. He was treated as much as a pet and a therapy animal as a serious racehorse, and his sheer joy at racing was infectious. 

He also had a fan club, run by assistant trainer Geoff Sanderson, who also remarked that the horse often did not realise he had lost, given the crowd’s cheers. 

According to Geoff Sanderson in a 2001 BBC Article, Quixall Crossett has covered his costs through prize money, and he continued to race up until injuries started to sap his joy of racing in 2001.

To this day, Quixall Crossett is often mentioned when it comes to alternative ways to be successful as a racehorse, even if you do not win. Try your hardest and live for the joy of life.