Is 300 miles too far to tow, for horse or car?

catembi

catembi

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I *might* have the opportunity to get Adrian back from his loaner 300 miles away & the journey would be S Cambs to Somerset & back.

Car: 3.4 litre petrol V6 Landcruiser.
Trailer: hired 2-horse Ifor Williams. (I sold my lorry a year ago to pay for structural work on the house)
Horse: 16.1 ISH.

I last towed pre-lorries maybe 15 years ago, & that was a single & I used to do a max of 10 miles or so, so this expedition is quite a step up.

O/h & I are ancient enough to be able to tow on a car licence.

I am worried re either the car overheating or the horse getting distressed. We would be driving there with an empty trailer & back with Adrian on the same day.

T x
 
I think it will be perfectly fine. A lot of motorway miles, so makes for a smoother ride/journey for car and horse.

Having said that, for the drivers sake, I would suggest one tow on the way there and one on the way back, or go down the night before!
 
No, thats fine - I wouldn't think twice about it.

Re the car, make sure you check all the fluid levels, tyres etc before you set off, and ensure everything is topped up, and as it is ment to be.

In all our cars we also keep supplies of things like brake/clutch fluid, screen wash, distilled water etc, just incase! If something went, it might just be enough to get you to a safer place than the hard shoulder
 
I would make sure you have adequate breakdown insurance which will recover the horse if you breakdown only because it's hideous and expensive to be that far away from home and have a breakdown but that's nothing. I tow a trailer full 300+ miles on a regular basis :)
 
Do your sums first - by the time you hire a trailer, add BD insurance and fill up a thirsty beast like a Landcruiser for 600 miles, it might work out to be the same price as a transporter especially if you can be flexible on pick up and drop off times...

Personally I prefer a lorry for longer journeys and you can hire 3.5T lorries for £100 a day, more expensive than a trailer but possibly more economical on fuel than a LC? I know Manningtree Hire in Essex supply them - just a thought?
 
H'mm, thanks for that...

There is a lorry hire place up the road which is £75-ish per day... Might be less stressful than towing & better for the horse.

(I hired it for 2 days, then Trev wouldn't load *at all* which is a whole other story...!)

The Landcruiser is a rather thirsty beast, but is fab for fetching & carrying, fitting 2 rotties in the boot, etc! Worth its (considerable) weight in gold...and passed its MOT 1st time today!

T x
 
I often tow for 200 - 300 miles to compete.

Use the motorways and A roads as much as possible.

I take a number of breaks to give both the horses an myself a rest.

Make sure you carry plenty of water and hay. The horse may not want either.

Do not rug the horse ,he will be warm enough.
 
paulineh said:
I often tow for 200 - 300 miles to compete.

Use the motorways and A roads as much as possible.

I take a number of breaks to give both the horses an myself a rest.

Make sure you carry plenty of water and hay. The horse may not want either.

Do not rug the horse ,he will be warm enough.
Click to expand...

This :)
 
Thank you, everyone... what you've said is pretty well what o/h has said, i.e. that it's no biggie & I should stop flapping!

We did briefly have an old Rice that towed very badly indeed so that even the Landcruiser was labouring to tow it *empty*, & I think it's that which has worried me a bit.

Looks like we may be getting Adrian on Tues or Wed next week... v excited to have my boy back home. Altho the excitement will probs wear off when I rem how much work & ££££££ it is having three...!!

T x
 
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