Horseboxes- which one is best?

dominobrown

dominobrown

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My landrover is now leaking water and oil and since nor the handbrake or the footbrake barely work I no longer think it is suitable for towing. Despite my dad being a so called 'mechanic' it is beyond repair now (its already set on fire on the A66 when we were towing and had the engine rebuilt , and recently when I was deleivering the horse I sold all the electrics went funny, so if you saw someone driving down the M6 with a trailer and all the hazards light going for no apparent reason, that was me :)

So, anayways I was looking at those little van type horseboxes, though I know there has been some nasty accidents with them, so I wondering which ones are best and what to avoid. Anyone got one, and anyone got any tips what to look for?? It doesn't matter if it is LGV or not.
Thanks db
 
I think the lack of replies tells you a lot!

I haven't a huge amount of knowledge about them except that the home conversion types I've seen look terrifying so I would go for a professional job.

I've seen ones which have the horse's hind legs directly behind the driver's head (!),separated by thin plywood.

They seem more suitable, size wise, for ponies than horses - I've seen 15.2 TBs coming out of one, looking squashed.

And if you buy a purpose made new/newly new one, they seem very expensive for the money, compared to a "proper" ie more conventional lorry.

Only my opinion as I have said, I've never owned one and only seen friends with them.

I'm sure you'll have someone more knowledgeable than me along soon!
 
Depends how much you want to spend really. I really rate the Equi-trek 3.5t box, it's called the Sonic I think, they are made in Huddersfield on a Peugeot Boxer van. Really great to drive, great horse area, couldn't fault it. They are expensive though, even second hand.
 
I have a Renault Mascott conversion - 5.5 tonnes with 2.2 tonnes of payload. Gives a very good ride (double wheels at back) and small but practical living.

I have a 16.2hh heavyweight cob and he travels like a dream in it with plenty of room.

But I wouldn't have anything smaller.

Where are you based?
 
I am based in cumbria. Sorry to ask if this has been up before!
It is to take my 16.3hh tb, and maybe occasionally another horse. We were looking at Disco 3, and they are around £15,000-20,000 2nd hand so around that mark would be ok.
I don't want a big box because I will have no where to park it.
 
Sounds familiar i had a toyota surf it smoked ninety miles away from home pulling a trailer id bought, had it sold for spares . I have trailer but a little runaround car at the moment looking for something suitable to pull my ifor which is not too old , have looked at boxes on ebay or to get a 4x4 , i do fancey the van conversions but think you have to be careful and know what you are buying so ill watch this thread
 
dominobrown said:
I am based in cumbria. Sorry to ask if this has been up before!
It is to take my 16.3hh tb, and maybe occasionally another horse. We were looking at Disco 3, and they are around £15,000-20,000 2nd hand so around that mark would be ok.
I don't want a big box because I will have no where to park it.
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Unfortunately, there are very few 3.5t wagons that will carry your 16.3hh horse plus another (and all the necessary equipment, people, water, fuel etc) legally as there is insufficient payload.

It has been said before but many manufacturers state two big horses in their ads but although there is the room to carry them, there is not the weight allowance. I saw one ad this week for a 3.5t box with a huge square luton, living for three, cooker and fridge. Not only that but the chassis it was on is notorious for their lack of payload. Sorry but that is ridiculous and people are naive enough to fall for it until they get stopped and found to be overweight. Not only is being overweight illegal, it is extremely unsafe.

However, I live in Cumbria and Evolution at Blackpool built ours for us on a Renault chassis. If I can assist in any way, please PM me.
 
I have a van conversion - a movano, stalled for two.....believe me it won't take two horses. If you want to carry two, I would look at getting a 5.5t or 6t.....
Regarding the issue about accidents, these tend to happen when ponies get their legs over the breast bar at the rear and the breast bar isn't collapsible and then the back doors aren't wide enough to get the horse out. This is easily solvable by putting weaving grills on the breast bar to stop the horse getting over.....also a big horse can't get over because it can't get high enough - if your breast bar is high enough....they are no more unsafe than any other horsebox if they are properly converted.
 
I recently went through these dilemmas myself and ended up with an equitrek trailer, because of the weight of the horses I carry. I was originally looking for a 5- 6.5t but there are not many of these around. I use to have a renault master coachbuilt by champion horseboxes which I adored but it was only a 3.5t. My sister had a van conversion built by Marlborough, I understand they offer a good quality build with proper bulkhead reinforcement, they can also up the weight to 3.9t to up your payload although I understand the paperwork is a bit painful.
 
I agree that unless you get it uprated to 3.9t, you are really going to struggle weight wise. I have a conversion by Bonnington Horseboxes which I LOVE, the bulkhead between me and the horses is steel reinforced (an absolute MUST!), and I find Genie (15hh Welsh cob) and Milly (currently 13.2hh yearling) travel very well in it, although after this year I will probably have to choose which one to take out in it due to weight.

Genie in the box - she has PLENTY of room.

25593_579741398440_200900908_34652875_5503338_n.jpg
 
xena_wales said:
I think the lack of replies is more likely due to this topic popping up on a very regular basis ;)

I wouldn't be without my Renault Master, which is a TruLeisure conversion :)
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I'll second this. I have a Renault Master with a Tru Leisure body. Its brilliant, we had it from new, its now 3 years old. Go on their web site and have a look,they will make it to your design. They are perfectly safe, the trouble is people will go off and leave their horses stuck in the box at shows and leave the back door open, the horse gets fed up and tries to climb over the front partition. Our partition is solid by the way and quite high.

Its more a case of common sense with your horse than a problem with the box. We never leave our horse on her own, someone stays with her always.
 
irishdraught said:
Unfortunately, there are very few 3.5t wagons that will carry your 16.3hh horse plus another (and all the necessary equipment, people, water, fuel etc) legally as there is insufficient payload.

It has been said before but many manufacturers state two big horses in their ads but although there is the room to carry them, there is not the weight allowance. I saw one ad this week for a 3.5t box with a huge square luton, living for three, cooker and fridge. Not only that but the chassis it was on is notorious for their lack of payload. Sorry but that is ridiculous and people are naive enough to fall for it until they get stopped and found to be overweight. Not only is being overweight illegal, it is extremely unsafe.

However, I live in Cumbria and Evolution at Blackpool built ours for us on a Renault chassis. If I can assist in any way, please PM me.
Click to expand...

Renault Master and Vauxhall Movano are the only chassis that will do the payload. We only travel one horse but had a 2nd one up once and could really feel the difference. You can just about do it inside the weight but try not to carry too much other stuff or people.
 
I think its obvious that I need an LGV licence. The equi-trk Sonic is too small, I would need the bigger ones like the victory or valiaent. I really don't know much about this- I will get my dad on the case. He knows all about payloads and stuff.
 
my company Northern Horseboxes make the RunStar on either the Master or Movano vans and are based over the A66 in Darlington. Feel free to come to our workshop and have a chat. We have a vehicle coming in part exchange which might be of interest to you.

We have lots of people who have use our vehicles with horses up to 17hnds, quite happy to put you in contact with them so you can hear their views.
 
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