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Einstein would be proud of my Insanity...
I've held off posting about this because I've been hearing in my head the voices of posters who have told me that they talk about me behind my back saying 'look what she's boasting about buying now, with her rich husband's money'.
But I'm going to share my joy with the forum, because I am thrilled beyond describing. I've saved my own money for twenty five years, out of my own earnings and my own private pension, and finally, pushed into it by the imminent death of the first of my generation of friends and the wait for a biopsy result on my OH, I've bought this. And I love it. And I feel, today, like the cares of the world have been lifted from my shoulders, and that I am the luckiest person alive.
It's a 2.5 year old Fiat Ducato with 13,000 miles on the clock, still under Fiat warranty, with a new build box by a small company near Preston who I totally recommend. The build is of the highest quality but the price is much, much, cheaper than the big names.
We have test driven both horses in it today, one at a time. Both were suspicious of loading backwards, but neither took more than a few minutes. I had the partition set so that the horse travels dead centre between the wheels. We watched Henry on the camera and it was clear he was trying to stand against the partition and he wanted it slanted. So we stopped and slanted it so his shoulders were pushed towards the driver's side, and he was happy. Rizzle is a terrible traveller sideways, and I was hopeful he would prefer backwards. It was such a success, so much happier, especially downhill when he simply sat on the bulkhead behind us.
In the space down the driver's side next to the horse, I have a toilet. In the living, we have a fold-up stretcher bed, cupboards and seat for two. You can see there is a tack locker, but we have cut into that to put in the bed for OH to snooze on while I do the farm ride. My tack will go above the loo. My storage is the luton, which is big enough to sleep two if anyone wanted it for that. It's a joy being able to raise the ramp with one arm, or while holding a horse.
For anyone considering downgrading to a 3.5t, I would say definitely go for it as long as you can afford a relatively young one. The older ones are fairly renowned for needing work on them, they simply aren't built to last like the 7.5t are. I was afraid it would lack power, but even with the 'smaller' 2.3 engine I have a gear in hand on steep hills with the horse on board. I have wanted this for three years. I wish now I'd done it earlier.
Now I have a little van I can buzz off to all my friends and hugely expand where I can go for a nice quiet traffic free hack. It's going to change my life for the better
But I'm going to share my joy with the forum, because I am thrilled beyond describing. I've saved my own money for twenty five years, out of my own earnings and my own private pension, and finally, pushed into it by the imminent death of the first of my generation of friends and the wait for a biopsy result on my OH, I've bought this. And I love it. And I feel, today, like the cares of the world have been lifted from my shoulders, and that I am the luckiest person alive.
It's a 2.5 year old Fiat Ducato with 13,000 miles on the clock, still under Fiat warranty, with a new build box by a small company near Preston who I totally recommend. The build is of the highest quality but the price is much, much, cheaper than the big names.
We have test driven both horses in it today, one at a time. Both were suspicious of loading backwards, but neither took more than a few minutes. I had the partition set so that the horse travels dead centre between the wheels. We watched Henry on the camera and it was clear he was trying to stand against the partition and he wanted it slanted. So we stopped and slanted it so his shoulders were pushed towards the driver's side, and he was happy. Rizzle is a terrible traveller sideways, and I was hopeful he would prefer backwards. It was such a success, so much happier, especially downhill when he simply sat on the bulkhead behind us.
In the space down the driver's side next to the horse, I have a toilet. In the living, we have a fold-up stretcher bed, cupboards and seat for two. You can see there is a tack locker, but we have cut into that to put in the bed for OH to snooze on while I do the farm ride. My tack will go above the loo. My storage is the luton, which is big enough to sleep two if anyone wanted it for that. It's a joy being able to raise the ramp with one arm, or while holding a horse.
For anyone considering downgrading to a 3.5t, I would say definitely go for it as long as you can afford a relatively young one. The older ones are fairly renowned for needing work on them, they simply aren't built to last like the 7.5t are. I was afraid it would lack power, but even with the 'smaller' 2.3 engine I have a gear in hand on steep hills with the horse on board. I have wanted this for three years. I wish now I'd done it earlier.
Now I have a little van I can buzz off to all my friends and hugely expand where I can go for a nice quiet traffic free hack. It's going to change my life for the better
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