Horseboxes (someone knock some sense into me!)

[Foxaunt]

I'm back again (again)

right, currently at 2 horses, will have 3 by the end of the year. All Cleveland Bays so all easily over 16.2 (though the third will be a baby, he/she will definitely make height). Between us we wouldn't likely have any more than 5 at any time.

I very rarely travel 2 together, but might in the future and don't want to be limited, so 3.5t out the window.

I'm not overly keen at staying away, I'm not competing to a level where I would need to, and likely wont. therefore living is not a problem, payload is my main concern.

So what follows are multiple questions:

- where to start? I feel like I want to get a rough Idea of what I want to buy and get the corresponding licence, which means looking at boxes I can't drive yet.

- do *I* get the license or my other half? I am not keen on driving them myself, but I also don't want to rely on him being free, he has his own life. he has assured me he is always happy to take us out and support us but that's besides the point. should we both do it?

- what does everyone travel their horses in? 6.5t? any brands to steer clear of? someone once called equi-treks "equi-wreck" to me and its stuck with me ever since. I feel like it's going to be a nightmare trying to get a 23yo insured on anything heavy.

- buy outright or finance? I know this is a personal question regarding personal financing but if anyone has any pros or cons feel free to throw them in.

 

[Zuzan]

I have a large 7.5 and travel one part bred CB ... I do have living in it, the box is about 24 ft long and divide in two.. I had the equine half fitted out when I bought it and have slowly been fitting out the human bit. I bought outright / not financed it and done it in stages.

I think you would be best going for a shorter HGV and look at those that only have a grooms / Tack / kit area rather than full living.. it wont be that much bigger than my 7.5 but will have a payload that will cater for 3 CBs / large horses.

It's surprising what even my part bred actually weighs.. on a weighbridge in fit condition (no extra lardy bits) she weighed in at circa 670kg .. she is only about 16.1 and you would think looking at her she would be circa 550 - 600Kg .... ppl on my yard fell over backwards when I told them what she weighed. which makes the payload of any lorry you buy critical. Plus it's not really worth getting your licence for a 7.5 over an HGV. In terms of driving .. Lorries are much easier to drive and manoeuvre than trailers.

 

[Equi]

I’m a great advocate for anyone wishing to go out to get the tests even if you aren’t keen on it, you get confidence from the lessons etc and at 23 you probably still remember some basic car driving test skills ?

 

[milliepops]

I’m a great advocate for anyone wishing to go out to get the tests even if you aren’t keen on it, you get confidence from the lessons etc and at 23 you probably still remember some basic car driving test skills ?

this, this is why I did the HGV test instead of the 7.5t one - most places do the 7.5t test in a large van but I wanted to be confident driving a bigger horsebox around. considering you have to the theory/medical etc anyway it was not a lot of extra bother to do the test in a bigger truck.

 

[RachelFerd]

7.5t work truck - look at Tristars. You can get loads of payload and travel 3 big horses at once if you needed to.

And get the license yourself - never rely on the OH to drive!!!

 

[The Xmas Furry]

Dont discount having a small living area, even if it's a bed on the luton and a small bench seat with a double kitchen unit opposite, with a camping gas stove. In a year or 2 you might well want the extra space at an all day event, a weekend RC camp or to stay in at the yard.
Your budget will be what you need to examine 1st, then folk can recco manufacturers who meet your criteria

 

[Cowpony]

I am on my second 6.5t and I really rate them for 2 horses. They aren't too big that you need to worry about routes too much, and they have so much payload you don't need to worry about being overloaded. I have a small living area which has a bench seat with 2 seatbelts - handy for taking a groom with me and a friend - bed over the luton which will sleep 1 realistically, cupboards for all my stuff, and a sink with calor gas hob (never used it yet).

My first lorry had a tiny living area and it was a pain not having somewhere to sit between classes when the weather was bad, other than behind the wheel.

 

[humblepie]

Years ago I had one that more cattle truck design - sounds awful, wasn't! It was sort of what you would call a hunting box back in the day, so plenty of horse space and had a little grooms area. I "camped" in it at away shows. Nothing flash to look at but loads of payload and somewhere to stay out of the wet for humans other than the cab. Then I went to a 5 tonne, very small grooms area but amazing payload when we had it weighed even though it was well built. Although I never took the test I did have some professional training at lorry driver school as thought it was a good idea. To ensure you have payload, don't necessary go for flash looking but ensure safe, well constructed and well maintained. For example our current one doesn't have skirts (just the legal under run bars) so not as pretty to look at as some, but no wasted weight and much easier to work on if you need to get underneath to the batteries for example.

 

[Frumpoon]

Good luck booking in to do your tests at the moment though

There's a fair old backlog from the last 3 months of cancellations....

 

[Annagain]

As someone else said, Tristar make some very good "no frills" boxes. And absolutely do your test as well as OH - not only will it mean you don't have to rely on him, sharing the driving is a godsend sometimes, e.g. if it's a long (add on at least 20% to journey time for a lorry) journey or one of you falls and is unable to drive home. I too would go for a very basic living - just somewhere to get changed and have a cup of tea is lovely, it needn't add a huge amount of weight or expense.

 

[sport horse]

I would strongy suggest you bite the bullet and do the full HGV ie not just the 7.5 tonnes. It is not much more expensive and leaves you with loads more options in the future. Insurance of large lorry, if you hold HGV, is surprisingly not too bad. I added a 20 year old onto my HGV policy and it cost zero extra!

 

[Foxaunt]

thank you helpful people! have got in touch with a few people, no responses yet but as you say above, going to be chocka for a while as things calm down. not the best time to be doing it but would like to get something going for may hopefully.

updates:

• both of us will do the licence, thank you to all your helpful suggestions.
• we arent looking at anything flashy so would definitely like to keep under 30k, something older or a "first" box would suit us just fine, any retailer suggestions would be great, had a look at tristar as above, they dont have a lot of stock but I hope by the time we get the licence that will change. what they do have looks good!

thank you kind equestrians for your great advice

 

[Cowpony]

If you are in the South have a look at Peper Harow. Their new builds are ££££, but they often have a few second hand boxes to sell. Mine is one of theirs, but second hand that they were selling for a customer.