7.5t horsebox dimension help

[Charlotte125]

hello

We are having a 7.5t horsebox built at the moment. I was just wondering how large your horse area is. The wagon is 20ft The options are:
10ft living 10ft and horse area to (carry 3 large horse)
9ft horse area and 11foot living.

Primarily we are going to be carrying 1 large (17.1hh) horse and are mainly getting a wagon for the living.

Do you think 9ft would make the horse area feel too confined? (We are not having tack lockers in the horse area)

Thank you! Cx

 

[MadisonBelle]

Mine is about 9ft long and can easily take 2 very large horses.

Hope it's a stunner.

 

[Charlotte125]

me too!! Does it feel spacious or seem small? just worried it will feel confined when travelling 3, not that ever will have that many in.

 

[*hic*]

Check out the width as that will make a difference to the amount of space needed for a big horse.

 

[Charlotte125]

The width is the maxium width so that isnt a prob. Just dnt know how much width to give each horse without making it feel tight for them.

 

[Joss]

We are just having one built. Ours is 20 foot long & is divided 10 foot living & 10 foot horse area. At the moment (its not finished) the living seems huge. If you intend on putting 3 full size horses in I would not go less than 10 foot for the horses (btw you will struggle to keep underweight with 3 on)

Just depends how often you want multiple horses in

 

[footballerswife]

dont know who is building yours but my oakley was built to carry 3 big warmbloods legally. the unladen weight is 5.6 tonnes. i dont think you need to worry about the payload with a new lorry. we have one small tack locker that goes into the horse area. i could do without that and i think underfloor is an option now? how you separate the space is how you want to use the lorry. we travelled a lot last year, pony club nationals and stuff and i stayed in hotels. i wanted something sexy i could sleep in and take to pony club camp. but if you dont need to stay away full on - sleep 4, cook a roast dinner in the oven (?) etc then give more space to the horses. mine travelled better in the H reg ford cargo! xx

 

[Louby]

I had a horsebox built a couple of years ago. The builder told me they allow 3ft as standard per horse but I opted for a 10ft horse area as 3ft is tiny when you have a big horse. I also like to allow more room rather than hemming them in. I only have one horse, so he got more room than that but was thinking more of resale purposes.
My wagon weighed 5.3t unladen and that was its selling point. I had lots of calls from people wanting to carry 3 legally when I advertised it..
I would do a 50/50 split if it was my lorry.

 

[Charlotte125]

its not been built by Oakley!! on the whole we are only going to be carrying 1 horse, but id like it to feel light and airy. also if we come to sell it, it should be more desirable been able to carry 3 large horses.
We are having a forward tack locker put in so it will cut into the living not the horse area. We arent having underfloor storage.
It will be used for 2-3 days away eventing. Its having a sink, hob and microwave put in, so hopefully will be lots of space. Unladen it is going to be 5.3t.
We thought it would be easy getting one built than buying a ready made one but there are so many options! thanks

 

[sprite1978]

Personally if I had a horse box built again for 17+ h horses, I would get a side loader and have 2 rear facing stalls. My big lad always rubbed his bum in my 7.5ton. They`re just not wide enough. Maximum width is 8`2" inches externally, which tends to be about 7`6" internally.

For normal layout, i had 9feet in the horse area. The partitions should give approx 32inches per horse.

 

[Charlotte125]

thanks for your advice but we have been advised by a few people not to get a side loading wagon as it adds alot of weight onto one side. Also although my big lad is tall hes quite short backed so does fit in a normal wagon fine. thanks tho!

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

dont know who is building yours but my oakley was built to carry 3 big warmbloods legally. the unladen weight is 5.6 tonnes. i dont think you need to worry about the payload with a new lorry. we have one small tack locker that goes into the horse area. i could do without that and i think underfloor is an option now? how you separate the space is how you want to use the lorry. we travelled a lot last year, pony club nationals and stuff and i stayed in hotels. i wanted something sexy i could sleep in and take to pony club camp. but if you dont need to stay away full on - sleep 4, cook a roast dinner in the oven (?) etc then give more space to the horses. mine travelled better in the H reg ford cargo! xx

To be honest, with an ulw of 5.6 tons you will have approx 1900kg of payload. You will not be able to carry "3 big warmbloods legally. A large Warmblood will weigh at least 600kg so with 3 that would be all your payload gone before you climb in to drive it. Then you will have fuel, water, tack, anything in the cupboards/lockers plus passengers. Carrying ponies would not be an issue but 3 horses would be.

There are very few 7.5 ton lorries that can carry 3 horses & all that goes with it legally, that's why 7.5 tonners with 3 horses on board are favorites for stopping by police or Ministry. 3.5 tonners with 2 on board are also favored targets.

 

[footballerswife]

thanks for that - the chances of me carrying 3 big horses is slim! i bought it to carry my big old ID and 2 ponies and the ID promptly did a suspensory ligament and has only used it as a taxi to the vet! i am gutted - the ponies could very well go in an equitrek van - i hired one last year and absolutely loved it! xx

 

[racingdemon]

i've absolutely no idea on the dimensions of my lorry, but i had it built to carry 3 big/4 small horses (in the day when payload wasn't something we talked about)

one of the best things about it is that i have total flexibility with where i can move my partitions to....so i can carry 2 horses & have a gap between them & the living door, & between them & the rear doors.... quite a few other lorry's i've seen recently have limited range for moving each partition, so if you have a particularly long horse, you struggle to travel it herringbone..... something to bear in mind if you're having it built

 

[kerilli]

Personally if I had a horse box built again for 17+ h horses, I would get a side loader and have 2 rear facing stalls. My big lad always rubbed his bum in my 7.5ton. They`re just not wide enough. Maximum width is 8`2" inches externally, which tends to be about 7`6" internally.

For normal layout, i had 9feet in the horse area. The partitions should give approx 32inches per horse.

i disagree, i've had an 18h+ horse in my Cargo many times and he never rubbed his tail. i usually put the two partitions together, one space apart, to make two spaces not three, so he had the extra long area next to the living, if that makes sense.

OP, i'd prob have the extra foot of living if you are usually going to be travelling one horse.

 

[Charlotte125]

thanx everyone! think we are going to have the extra foot in the living. we have measured up a few friends wagons and 1 foot actually isnt very much, i dnt think its enough to make it feel tight or confined. Also my horse is used to a trailer atm, so he should be grateful!