Ifor Williams Horsebox Accident

My horse was saved from injury by the rivets giving it would not have been great if they had not .
£150 was a new half petition and the trailer was good to go again.
I remain firm in my opinion you are at risk unloading a horse from the the front but it is a choice you personally take ,it's easy to teach healthy horses to rear unload.
 
LittleRocketRider said:
ok thank you I think I may have been getting a bit confused I think by reading through all the other posts:o ...now it makes more sense and all i have to say is sorry if I have caused any offence in any way and strong HHO vibes for your wives recovery.:)
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I can understand your confusion from previous posts! No offence but some people just haven't looked at the partition in detail. Pictures on a recent blog give a very good idea of the result of partition collapse.
 
Goldenstar said:
My horse was saved from injury by the rivets giving it would not have been great if they had not .
£150 was a new half petition and the trailer was good to go again.
I remain firm in my opinion you are at risk unloading a horse from the the front but it is a choice you personally take ,it's easy to teach healthy horses to rear unload.
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I'm delighted that your horse escaped, the rivets pulling out of the alloy can leave, as they did in our case, razor sharp edges on the alloy. These could have cut your horse very seriously.

Our partition fell when the other rear breach bar broke under the strain. Our horse had expensive fitted travel boots that were seriously cut but the alloy edges but the horses legs were OK, the coronet area and the hoof itself suffered serious cuts. The remaining edge of the partition on the centre post cut the side of the horse, we were moving when this occurred and the damage was undoubtedly worse due to the movement. We stopped at the first possible spot but found a 'bloody' mess when we dropped the ramp!

Personally, I see no more danger in opening the front ramp as opposed to the rear ramp. If the horse is able to move rapidly due to failure of parts inside the trailer either ramp can be exploded outwards due to the pressure exerted by the terrified animal desperate to escape. All can look calm until you release the catches and then you find out the problem if you are still in one piece.

We all accept that moving large animals involves risk both to the horses and the handlers but you should be able to trust that the equipment is properly made and designed. With these trailers it appears that this is not the case.

You were lucky once but I think you need to consider the possibility that it could happen again without the same fortunate result. 150UKP will not seem inexpensive then!
 
My wife has now recovered to the point where she can now ride a horse again but obviously not in the manner that she used to. She has a large (approx. 100 x 60) titanium plate fixed to her skull to cover the bone removed to effect surgery. Her motor skills are much reduced, physically she is totally different, unable to concentrate for long periods etc etc
She is, however, alive which under the circumstances is a minor miracle.
The result of this accident was very serious, as previously stated, and all caused by a poorly designed partition failure exactly the same as seen in a more recent post from another owner. This type of failure is not unique - the question is how many other failures have occurred with a less serious end result and why have so many trailers of this era had partitions replaced with the current ( slightly more robust) design.
 
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