Horsebox vans

Tiarella

Tiarella

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Does anybody have them and what do they think about them?
How well does your horse travel, are they nice to drive?

I'm going to see one this afternoon to buy. I have a 14hh pony that'll use it so obviously no size or height issues there. And he is normally a good traveller in trailers so should see no issue him travelling in a van.

It is made by a proper company (marlborough horseboxes) so not a diy special ;)

Also any hints and tips on checking the floor for soundness.

I have my dad and one very clever motorsport engineer boyfriend coming with me so they can check the mechanical side of things :D
 
I have a renault master van conversion and love it! I was very sceptical about them prior to owning one, but when I sold my old lorry, couldn't find a coachbuilt 3.5t to replace it and needed transport asap, so took a punt!

4 yrs on I still have it and use it weekly to transport my 2 14.2hh's who travel really well in it. Mine was converted by a 'proper' company too, so has the reinforced bulk head and fully lined throughout. It has side windows, roof air vents, and an observation window from the cab. The grooms section has saddle and bridle hooks and has plenty of space to carry water, rugs, hay nets etc.

To drive it is just like driving a car, and has cost me no bills other than for routine work such as mot and servicing. Mine has a turbo engine as we live in a very hilly area, but even with 2 on board it never struggles.

My local garage maintain it for me and take it for it's MoT, so no issues with find a 'horse box' mechanic or plating either.

It is also cheap to insure (approx £240 per yr) and costs around £60 to fill up from empty, so economical to run.

The only downside with mine is the ramp is quite heavy, but still liftable. Also I have a side opening top door, so have to be very careful in windy weather as can catch and blow shut at speed (does have a catch but I sometimes do not slam it home enough)!

In terms of checking the floor, if it has rubber matting down see if you can lift it out to have a look. Also look for any rust from underneath. However if you have mechanical advice on hand, they should be able to check out these things for you,

Good luck!
 
I looked at several van conversions when I was looking. Marlborough were by far the nicest and sturdiest I saw, and several other people have recommended them to me- unfortunately with anything, quality maintains its value so they were slightly out of my budget. However if you're considering buying one, that also works on their favour as the resale value is higher than alOt of the other van conversions ours there. The market seems flooded by home-built dodgy ones. Like the other poster said, check the floor lift up the rubber matting, take a torch and look under the box to see if you can see any patches of damp or rust etc. your engine men sound like they'll know their stuff that side. My only other advice would be to ask for a copy if the mot certificate number then you can check the history on the dvla website, at least for the last five years it will tell you the mileage at MOT and the advisories/failures, I have discovered three clocked boxes by doing this - and walked away from one that looked ideal, it seems like it is very very common practise, but my feeling is and was, if they have lied about the miles what else have they lied about?

But Marlborough are very reputable and had I have had the money I would have gone for one of theirs. In the end I compromised by getting a much older coachbuilt box but one that is genuine low mileage and sturdily built.

Good luck!
 
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