Lightweight trailers

[Willow1306]

I had been hoping to pick up a Bateson Derby second hand, however they seem to be an incredibly rare beast!

Can anybody recommend an alternative lightweight horse trailer? I don't have my B+E license so need to keep weight to a minimum (travelling 1 x 500kg horse with a suitable vehicle).

Thank you!

 

[Tarragon]

I have a Cheval Liberte trailer which I love. Have had it for 10 years now, bought from new.
Mine is the pony trailer and I was able to tow two Exmoor ponies with a Mondeo, but it was on the edge of only just coping. Now I have a Rav 4 and it is perfect. The trailer is light enough for me to be able to manoeuvre around by hand, if the surface is good. I also have a friend who has the single horse trailer for her 15 hh plus horses. I am not sure how well it would stand up to a big beefy horse that kicked the sides for example, but a well-behaved one should be fine.

 

[Fluffypiglet]

I also have the Cheval from new. I use the Touring one for my 16.3hh ISH. Lovely little trailer, he likes it and I have space to tack up in there.

 

[Annagain]

The car you tow with will have a bearing on this as it's the combined GVW of the car and the MAM of the trailer that must be less than 3500kg - while still allowing enough weight to actually put that horse on the trailer. Do you have a suitable car now or one in mind to tow with?

If you can keep the car's GVW to 2000kg that would allow you 1500kg for trailer and horse. Even a IW505/6 would be ok for that - it weighs 900kg so you could downplate it to 1500kg (just a matter of ordering a new plate from IW - it's usually about £50) and put 600kg of horse on it. The other consideration is the towing capacity of the car as you would need it to be greater than the ACTUAL weight of trailer + horse. Obviously the lighter the trailer (an IW 401/3 is 770kg) the more leeway you have with horse weight and the car's towing capacity.

I've mentioned IW as they are the most popular - just to show that it's the combination of car and trailer that's important not just finding the lightest trailer out there (although that helps)

 

[MollyFell]

My 2017 single Cheval Liberte is the best trailer I've ever used, I love it! Think it's 650/675 off the top of my head.

 

[Willow1306]

The car you tow with will have a bearing on this as it's the combined GVW of the car and the MAM of the trailer that must be less than 3500kg - while still allowing enough weight to actually put that horse on the trailer. Do you have a suitable car now or one in mind to tow with?

If you can keep the car's GVW to 2000kg that would allow you 1500kg for trailer and horse. Even a IW505/6 would be ok for that - it weighs 900kg so you could downplate it to 1500kg (just a matter of ordering a new plate from IW - it's usually about £50) and put 600kg of horse on it. The other consideration is the towing capacity of the car as you would need it to be greater than the ACTUAL weight of trailer + horse. Obviously the lighter the trailer (an IW 401/3 is 770kg) the more leeway you have with horse weight and the car's towing capacity.

I've mentioned IW as they are the most popular - just to show that it's the combination of car and trailer that's important not just finding the lightest trailer out there (although that helps)

Thanks, I find it all a bit complicated to be honest. I already have a vehicle (Mitsubishi ASX with 4WD) which I *think* will work for towing with a B license, provided weights are kept low. The GVW is 1,980kg with max braked towing capacity of 1,400kg. Kerbweight 1,445kg. If i'm totally off piste with this one, please let me know!

 

[holeymoley]

I’d just double check your car is up to it. I can’t find any info in the Mitsubishi ASX other than if you want diesel it has to be automatic transmission, can’t find any engine sizes either. 1400kg isn’t a great deal of towing capability.

 

[Birker2020]

I had been hoping to pick up a Bateson Derby second hand, however they seem to be an incredibly rare beast!

Can anybody recommend an alternative lightweight horse trailer? I don't have my B+E license so need to keep weight to a minimum (travelling 1 x 500kg horse with a suitable vehicle).

Thank you!

The Pegasus trailers are very light weight, so are Bateson, Cheval Liberty and the Rice Richardson trailers, my RR trailer is 650KG. My horse is approx 675KG 17.1hh WB and my towing weight on my Vauxhall Insignia is 1650KG. I worked it out that I have around 300KG to spare what with my tack/haynets etc. I decided to keep this car and get rid of my previous towing vehicle which was a Vauxhall Vectra as the Insignia belonged to my late Father and I promised him I'd look after it, its my pride and joy. Plus its a 2010 plate but it's only done 70K miles.

I used to find it a struggle with the Peugeot 406 I had years ago, this was only on long inclines on the motorway or dual carriageway, where I'd be down to 3rd gear and still struggling with the fan on full blast because the engine and radiator was overheating! Not ideal. My present car is 150 or 160BHP and this makes a lot of difference.

 

[cheekywelshie]

I tow a downplated Bateson derby with a Dacia duster and one 500kg horse

 

[Annagain]

While you could do it legally - just - if you have a trailer that weighs less than 900kg and put 500kg of horse on it, I would be very wary of towing regularly with one with such a small capacity. They just aren’t really built for towing. I'd prefer something with a capacity of at least 1,800kg - because they are designed knowing that people buy them to tow with regularly. Some estate cars tow very well if you want to keep the GVW down - a Skoda Octavia seems to be a very popular choice - or some of the smaller SUVs like an X-trail, or a Tiguan. They tend to have GVWs of around 2100 - 2200kg so at the top end of that, you'd have to have a trailer of less that 800kg to get a 500kg horse on and be within the 1300kg you'd have left to stay within the 3500kg. Still very doable.