Husband won't let me buy a trailer

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So I could afford to buy a nice 1 horse trailer that the MAM with Bree would be well below the towing limit of our big diesel car, or I'd be wiling to part ex my little sporty number for a 4x4. But hubby says I'm not to risk her in one as they always look really unsafe when he passes them.

Now I would never risk her either, but there's no way I could afford a horse box and there doesn't seem to be many companies that hire them out in the midlands.

The hacking locally seems a bit limited and it would be great to be able to take her a little further afield next summer.

I guess he's right though.

Paula
 
Someone I know has a one horse Ifor and her 'baby' is quite an expensive arab that she adores - her trailer seems very safe and she boxes him up in it regularly to go for lessons.

They aren't any less safe than a 2 horse trailer and they are used by thousands of people every day.....
 
The single trailers I always think look less stable, whereas the double IMO is better, and more roomy.

You could always hire one, and see how she travelled, or you can hire small wagons for about £110 a day.
 
Your husband is right - 1 horse trailers are not terribly stable - especially with a big clumsy Friesian on board (please don't take that personally Bree ;)). Also towing with a non 4x4 is always risky especially when the ground's soft.

You could pick up a 3.5 t lorry which would be perfect for her by putting the trailer money plus the sporty number and a few years of birthday and Christmas presents towards it.

It's worth it; honest :)
 
Paulag said:
But hubby says I'm not to risk her in one as they always look really unsafe when he passes them.
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If that is the argument he is putting forward, do you hack, jump, turn your horse out?
If you take it to the nth degree, many a horse has died/been injured doing the above.
 
Nor would mine, so I cashed in just about all my savings and purchased the best box I could afford- 13k worth-(so fingers crossed,I don't keep having mechanical failures), downsized my car to a small eco one with road tax of less than £40 annually and that does alot of miles to the gallon, and so far so good.
Got the box fully checked over by my (horsey) mechanic and 3 years on, its the best thing I ever did. Infact, this is the second box as I had to buy a 7.5t when our horses increased as my lovely original 3.5t would have been illegal. If you only ever plan on taking your mare and nothing else, a 3.5t box is super. My little citroen(which I had made to my own spec) did over 50mpg! And was cheap to run/tax/insure. Sailed through her MOT too.
 
I have no idea how I'd persuade him. I'm not above putting my foot down over certain things - but the fact that he's concerned about her welfare makes me less inclined.

Hiring might be an idea - although the maximum towing weight if the car is 1600kg (as much as many 4x4s because it's a 180hp 2.2l diesal) so I think most double MAMs would be beyond this. Can't really buy a 4x4 just to try a trailer.

Buying a double might be more challenging as I dont think one would fit down the side of the house where it would need to be kept. Ive also nowhere to keep a horse box.

Paula
 
Paulag said:
So I could afford to buy a nice 1 horse trailer that the MAM with Bree would be well below the towing limit of our big diesel car,
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If you are not restricted by the B licence towing rules and have a B+E licence then the MAM of the trailer can be as much as 3500 kgs no matter what the towing capacity of the vehicle

It is the actual weight of the load plus the empty trailer which should not be more than the towing capacity of the vehicle
 
Nicnac said:
Your husband is right - 1 horse trailers are not terribly stable - especially with a big clumsy Friesian on board (please don't take that personally Bree ;)
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Are you accusing my lovely horse of being big and clumsy? I think you may be right - she struggles to trot in a circle at present.
 
ROG said:
If you are not restricted by the B licence towing rules and have a B+E licence then the MAM of the trailer can be as much as 3500 kgs no matter what the towing capacity of the vehicle

It is the actual weight of the load plus the empty trailer which should not be more than the towing capacity of the vehicle
Click to expand...

I was a little confused by this, but yes I am old and have a B+E licence, but no experience of towing. Have driven up to 7.5t though.

Paula
 
Depends what your little sporty number is worth! I bought a Kia Picanto (hated it to start with, love it now) to run around in-60 to the gallon and £30 to tax. Also an old Fourtrack to tow my Ifor 510. My hubby was also strangely concerned about the horse being in a single trailer so was more amenable to the purchase of the Ifor.
I kept talking about it and then leaving it so eventually I think he thought it was his great idea :D:D:D
 
Paulag said:
I was a little confused by this, but yes I am old and have a B+E licence, but no experience of towing. Have driven up to 7.5t though.

Paula
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This senario would be a legal and safe set up for you on a B+E licence:-

Vehicle with a towing capacity of 1600 kgs towing a double horse trailer with a MAM of 3500 and an unladen weight of 900 kgs which is loaded with a horse weighing 600 kgs

The actual weight being towed will be 1500 kgs (900+600=1500) leaving 100 kgs to spare for the vehicle towing capacity limit
 
There is nothing wrong with s single horse trailer. What makes you think they are unsafe? Why not do a search on here to see how many have overturned???
 
ROG said:
This senario would be a legal and safe set up for you on a B+E licence:-

Vehicle with a towing capacity of 1600 kgs towing a double horse trailer with a MAM of 3500 and an unladen weight of 900 kgs which is loaded with a horse weighing 600 kgs

The actual weight being towed will be 1500 kgs (900+600=1500) leaving 100 kgs to spare for the vehicle towing capacity limit
Click to expand...

Thanks - its certainly possible then.

I also noticed that you can get converted Renaut Master Vans - one of those would fit on the drive (just), although I'd be reduced to a cheap runabout for work.
 
You should def try taking to the YO first as its a far cheaper way of finding out if you would use a trailer or box. But if you decide to go down the purchasing route I have had 2 x Ifor single trailers which were great (and really stable) - in fact horses seemed to travel better in them as the space they do have is wider than the space they get in a partitioned double. I now have a Marlborough 3.5 ton and would highly recommend them for build quality.
 
wench said:
There is nothing wrong with s single horse trailer. What makes you think they are unsafe? Why not do a search on here to see how many have overturned???
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^^^This^^^

A couple of friends have these, to keep in line with regulations etc, and to give them a chance to get out and about.....never see either of them have an issue with one.

We have a double because we have more than one horse, but I'd have a single if circumstances dictated it...

If your trailer is set to the correct towing level (so many people don't even check this out, we had to add a plate to the towbar so the towball could be lowered to the correct level height) and people drive sensibly, there shouldn't be issues with towing. I have towed horses, and other trailers for years, never an issue.
 
i have a single , my mare hates other horses too close anyway and she gets much more room in the single ifor than half of a double. It's very stable, good to tow and is the same width as my car so fits down our drive. I love it - it was a pressy from dh about 5 years ago and is still is in virtually as new condition.
prior to that i hired trailers, or borrowed other peoples and it is just as stable as any of the doubles i used.
 
I looked at the Ivor Williams single horse recently at a show they are great , solid looking and very spacious ,the horse has far more room than in a 511 with a petition .
Nothing beats beIng able to take your
Horse somewhere at the drop of a hat on your own .
 
Except maybe being stabled somewhere you don't need to - I didn't realise how lucky I was as a teenager.

Will work on hubby and maybe hire one. It's a bit academic at the moment since she needs a good deal more training before I can just take her out somewhere strange on her own.

Will pluck up courage and talk to YO.

Paula
 
My OH bought me a single trailer last month and it's amazing! It's an old bayhill and has the same dimensions as the IW mare and foal trailer. It's a dream to tow and is more stable than my yo's double that I towed. My mare has more room in than when she's in the double and she travels really well. It's doing wonders for us, we are out and about a few times a week mainly schooling sessions at friends arenas but she is really coming on. I tow with a Kia 4x4 and I have a picanto for commuting and running around.
 
I know where your OH is coming from. But I knew a woman a few years ago who overturned her 2 horse trailer, which resulted in one horse falling out of the opening above the ramp at the back & out onto the road. The other was stuck in the trailer on it's side until they could work out how to get him out. There are risks with anything with horses.

However, I did eventually manage to listen to different conversations & find out between the lies that she'd been racing her friend in a lorry :( I was disgusted with her & no longer have anything to do with her.

My point is, accidents will always happen, but if you're careful with your loved ones, you should almost always be able to keep them safe. Weigh up some options patiently & I'm sure you'll come up with a good solution :)
 
If you are stopped with a higher capacity trailer than your vehicle the police and VOSA possible will, because they can be ignorant of the finer point of this, fine you. You would have to go to court to prove your innocence. It's not right that this happens but it does and personally I wouldn't want that stress! You can get Ifor Williams to down plate the trailer for you and then you will have covered that base. It says on their site somewhere they will do this via a dealer.

Single trailers are not as I understand it half the size of a double, the horse has more room in a single than half a double and probably it is more stable than a single horse in one side or moving around with no partition on a double. Have a look on IW website and you will see the specifications and be able to compare them.
 
FfionWinnie said:
If you are stopped with a higher capacity trailer than your vehicle the police and VOSA possible will, because they can be ignorant of the finer point of this, fine you. You would have to go to court to prove your innocence. It's not right that this happens but it does and personally I wouldn't want that stress!
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THAT DOES NOT HAPPEN

To be fined or charged the offence in law must be specified

There is no such offence in law


So far I must have had 30+ people on the internet spout this rubbish/myth and not one has provided any back up for this
 
One of my collegues was fined by the police in a Vauxhall combo van towing an empty but over weight trailer which lead to our work place having to do training and a whole policy on trailers. It's not rubbish but I'm afraid I am not giving out any personal info to prove it to you!
 
quirky said:
If that is the argument he is putting forward, do you hack, jump, turn your horse out?
If you take it to the nth degree, many a horse has died/been injured doing the above.
Click to expand...

I'm with this . I think lorries are a total waste & always use trailers. If they were unstable they wouldn't be allowed on the roads. PLUS:D. What do you mean he won't let you, it's your money, nothing to do with him.
 
FfionWinnie said:
One of my collegues was fined by the police in a Vauxhall combo van towing an empty but over weight trailer which lead to our work place having to do training and a whole policy on trailers. It's not rubbish but I'm afraid I am not giving out any personal info to prove it to you!
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YES they could be because they probably had a B licence and the total MAM weights added up to more than 3500 kgs - that does happen fairly often

I will guarantee 100% that it was not because the MAM of the trailer was over the vehicle towing capacity

If you really want to prove your point then all you have to do is to state what the law was which they were charged with .....
 
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