Motorway breakdown

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ALO

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I had the unfortunate experience of breaking down in the lorry yesterday with the horse on board. Managed to get into the hard shoulder and breakdown service immediately. Was told it would be a 60-90 minute wait. They then rang back and said they could get someone to us a lot sooner who would tow us off the motorway providing we were able to transfer the horse once off the motorway. I decided to do this assuming we would be able to transfer horse safely to another box in a nearby equestrian centre. The breakdown person took at least 90 minutes to turn up anyway by which time the highway agency and police had also arrived which made me feel a lot better!the breakdown person then told us that he would tow us off the motorway with my horse on but that we had to steer and that there may be a slight tilt of the box. He then said that we had to accept all risk and responsibility to the horse as he wasn't supposed to tow with livestock on board. Needless to say I declined. We then had to speak to the highways agency who decided that the safest thing to do would be to close the motorway and transfer the horse to another box on the motorway and the lorry could then be towed to a garage empty.
Is this a normal situation regarding an equine breakdown service? I was really not happy and just extremely great full that my horse was as well behaved as he was. I cannot fault the highway agency and police, they were excellent. Has anyone else experienced this? I just wonder what would have happened if we were a lot further from home and I was unable to find someone else to collect my horse. I must admit, once home I did call the breakdown service again to inform them what happened and they apologised profusely. Just pleased to be home safe and sound. Who does everyone else reccomend?
 
Hi
My understanding would be that a horsebox can not be recovered/towed with a horse on board. I am surprised the breakdown company didn't know that.
When I had breakdown cover, a recovery vehicle was sent and they see if they can fix by the road side, it they cant then a horsebox is send by your breakdown company to recover your horse and then the lorry would be moved.
I suppose it depends if you have specialist horsebox breakdown cover?
Once when I was broken down I friend picked my horse up as the breakdown company where struggling to find someone to send to me but they paid her diesel at a very good rate.

By breakdown was provided by the insurance company i had the lorry with (NFU)
 
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The breakdown guy knew perfectly well that it's illegal to tow with horse (or any livestock) on board as he admitted it to you. I guess he thinks he can get away with it by asking you to accept full responsibility blah blah as it's less hassle than closing the motorway however should there be an accident it would his company's butt on the line; not the horse owners.

Really glad you stood your ground; you did the right thing. Surprised the police/highways agency even entertained the idea of him towing you with horse on board. If anyone knows the rules; it's them.
 
Good grief the whole thing sounds awful, poor you. I must say its something that I have always worried about so glad to hear the highways agency and police were so sensible. Do you have specific horsebox breakdown cover?
 
I was recovered once with my horse on board. The driver explained to me that the front axle would be only raised a little off the ground, but because it was rigidly attached to his tow truck, it would be a very smooth ride for my horse. It was. It was on an SEIB policy and specifically said it included recovery with a horse(s) on board - it would have been pretty useless if we had had to hack home!
 
How scary, thank God you managed to get onto the hard shoulder. It happened to me once on a motorway slip road, I had breakdown cover through Anthony Evans. The police came and closed the road and we loaded the horse onto another lorry to be taken home. The breakdown recovery people then managed to fix the box so we could go home but if he had not been able to do so he would have towed us home. I wouldn't be happy letting anyone tow the lorry with a horse on board and I think you did exactly the right thing.
 
It wouldn't be much help to tow it with the horse on board as usually the lorry needs to go to a garage to be fixed and the horse back you your yard.
If the lorry cant be fixed at the road side do not have it dropped off anywhere other than the garage you want it fixed at (unless you can fix it at home) I once had mind dropped off at home as it was a Sunday and the garage was closed. When I rang the breakdown people to get them to move it the mile to the garage they wanted to charge me about £300!!!!
They said if I wanted it to go to a garage and it was closed then they take it to their yard and drop it off when its open. Once they drop it off that's it. I have to speak to the breakdown company/insurance company and get it sorted for free but it was a hassle.
 
Sounds like you are using an inferior breakdown recovery company that just subcontracts to anyone.
The only decent one is The Organisation of Horsebox and Trailer Owners and although they are slightly more expensive than the others they offer by far the best service.
www.ohto.co.uk
The others are amateurs compared to them!
 
tescoexpress said:
I was recovered once with my horse on board. The driver explained to me that the front axle would be only raised a little off the ground, but because it was rigidly attached to his tow truck, it would be a very smooth ride for my horse. It was. It was on an SEIB policy and specifically said it included recovery with a horse(s) on board - it would have been pretty useless if we had had to hack home!
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This is exactly why you need horse recovery on your breakdown cover so they send they send a lorry for your horse.
 
alex_mac30 said:
It wouldn't be much help to tow it with the horse on board as usually the lorry needs to go to a garage to be fixed and the horse back you your yard.
If the lorry cant be fixed at the road side do not have it dropped off anywhere other than the garage you want it fixed at (unless you can fix it at home) I once had mind dropped off at home as it was a Sunday and the garage was closed. When I rang the breakdown people to get them to move it the mile to the garage they wanted to charge me about £300!!!!
They said if I wanted it to go to a garage and it was closed then they take it to their yard and drop it off when its open. Once they drop it off that's it. I have to speak to the breakdown company/insurance company and get it sorted for free but it was a hassle.
Click to expand...

I foresaw this problem and asked the driver nicely to stop off at my yard to drop my horse off (it was on the way) before going on to the garage. I phoned ahead so the yard was ready (just took him off me) and to the garage who gave me the gate code (it was a Sunday). The driver even dropped me back at the yard on his way back to his depot.

Plan B was I am friends with the garage owners daughter and she lived next door and kept her horses there. So she would have chucked him in a stable until I could recover him to base.
 
Thanks for everyone's replies. This was a a special equine breakdown service through Anthony Evans. It was a very stressful experience. I did think that you shouldn't tow with a horse on and fully expected them to send transport for the horse. The breakdown guy didn't even attempt to look at the lorry or repair, just said we needed to be towed.
 
OWLIE185 said:
Sounds like you are using an inferior breakdown recovery company that just subcontracts to anyone.
The only decent one is The Organisation of Horsebox and Trailer Owners and although they are slightly more expensive than the others they offer by far the best service.
www.ohto.co.uk
The others are amateurs compared to them!
Click to expand...

Hmm, have dealt with them once (ended up collecting friends horse due to total ineptness of this organisation) and was not impressed..... but everyone can have good/bad experiences with any company.
 
I was with them 2 years ago... They left me and two horses stranded in a lay by on the way back from the beach....they wanted to recover the lorry by towing with a solid tow bar, with the horses on! That I was not having, so after waiting 3 hours by the road, a police car stopped, I said I was waiting for recovery, they were not impressed at my long wait, so my friend arranged a hunt mate to come and take horses to yard, and I got a recovery company to take lorry to local garage(clutch went) hunt man charged us £150 for recovery so I sent bill to my recovery company, with a stern letter and they paid up no worries, months later when it was up for renewal I changed , on recommendation to Equine rescue services, run in conjunction with my lorry insurance with shearwater, and had to use them once since for a flat battery at a show, they came in 40 minutes, got me going , much better service..
 
ROMANY 1959 said:
I was with them 2 years ago... They left me and two horses stranded in a lay by on the way back from the beach....they wanted to recover the lorry by towing with a solid tow bar, with the horses on! That I was not having, so after waiting 3 hours by the road, a police car stopped, I said I was waiting for recovery, they were not impressed at my long wait, so my friend arranged a hunt mate to come and take horses to yard, and I got a recovery company to take lorry to local garage(clutch went) hunt man charged us £150 for recovery so I sent bill to my recovery company, with a stern letter and they paid up no worries, months later when it was up for renewal I changed , on recommendation to Equine rescue services, run in conjunction with my lorry insurance with shearwater, and had to use them once since for a flat battery at a show, they came in 40 minutes, got me going , much better service..
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I am with equine rescue and had awful service from them a few weeks ago, two hours for a mechanic and 4 hour wait for horse transport!!
 
I've been with Equine Rescue Services and Anthony D Evans. Years ago ERS towed us home on a rigid tow bar with horses on board. Last year Anthony D Evans wanted us to drive onto a low loader with horses on board, as it happens a friend of ours who lives not far away was at the same qualifier with only one horse so she took ours home. I really didn't fancy driving a loaded lorry onto a low loader!

I'm now with NFU.
 
We had a nightmare a few years ago with South Essex, I had travelled down from Scotland to Scope and we had broken down on the motorway near Carlisle. Breakdown came out and towed us into their depot at Southwaite services. The mechanic was excellent and allowed us to stand with the pony as he gently raised the front of the lorry - pony was absolutely fine. After a few hours the mechanics thought they had sorted the problem and we continued the journey.

Sadly on the way back home we broke down again, a little north of where we broke down heading south. This time the girl I spoke to when I phoned the breakdown service told me I couldn't possibly be where I said I was and asked if I had passed Cardiff :confused3: Everytually she said the nearest listed mechanic was 3 hours away and refused to believe me when I told her the company that they had sent out 5 days earlier were just down the road.

After 5 hours on the hard shoulder the police arrived and said we couldn't stay there any longer. I ended up handing my phone to the policeman who had a huge arguement with the insurance girl - she wanted them to close the motorway to allow a transporter (who had failed to materialise despite being assured they would be there) to take the pony and the policeman refused. Instead he ordered us to be towed off by a company the police used. I felt completely helpless as by this point no one would listen to me or care about the pony's welfare. The garage owner arrived and was really rough raising the front end of the lorry and proceeded to drive like a lunatic despite my asking him to be careful. Once at his garage he blocked our lorry in with his tow truck and refused to allow me to pay him before he disappeared home to bed.

This left us stuck with pony still on the lorry and no means of getting home. I asked the insurance company to help me get home to pick up a trailer - they refused to help and as it was very early on a Sunday morning there was no public transport or taxis available. Eventually about 5am they agreed to pay the breakdown company as the garage owner was saying he wouldn't move his vehicle until he was paid (He wouldn't accept payment from me). A friend from home eventually drove down and picked the pony up and the insurance company sent another truck to tow the lorry home.

The poor pony had travelled for 21 hours before she got home and it was all the more galling when the final breakdown driver said his company would have happily come out the night before and their depot was 2 miles from where we originally broke down. Even worse he knew a friend who had a spare stable a mile up the road. Despite conplaining the only compensation South Essex would offer was 10% off my next renewal premium, I declined and changed to NFU.

Sadly I think the law about towing with horses onboard is often ignored due to the problems of getting the horse transferred safely to another lorry - the police don't want the chaos of closing a motorway
 
My lorry is with the NFU and has been for decades. Never had a problem with them attending quickly and sorting me out.

I broke down on the M25 shortly after leaving the RIHS on a Friday night at 6pm, you can imagine the traffic ! Got onto hard shoulder beneath a gantry with smoke pouring out. Engine off and fire extinguisher out. Thankfully the smoke stopped quickly.

The Police, Highways Agency where with me in minutes, 2 lanes of the motorway were closed and the lorry was protected by police cars around it. The breakdown truck arrived within 20 minutes. I was given a choice of actions. Close both sides of the motorway, bring another box on, put up a corral around both boxes and off load, the new lorry would take me home to Worcestershire and the tow truck would follow with my lorry. Or the same set up but taken to a livery yard and given accommodation over night, returning home the next day. The idea of blocking the entire M25 both ways on a Friday was not ideal - I would have been on News at 6 !

Whilst I was considering what to do the second horsebox arrived driven by racehorse trainer Phillip Mitchell. My horse is a seasoned competition horse and was totally calm and probably tired having been away from home for four days. It was decided to tip the lorry and tow it to the next secure compound, approx 2 miles further on. The front axle came off the floor by around 3 inches and I stayed with the horse to gauge his reaction as it gently came up. All the horse did was rearrange his feet slightly and continued munching his haylage. We off loaded in the compound and finally arrived home at 1.30am.

The tip and tow stressed the heck out of me, but with just one horse on a big lorry it was safe enough. I worried about the horse being stood on a lorry for hours but he arrived home, had the longest pee ever and demanded his tea as if nothing had happened. I watched him for a while and then turned him out at 4am. I went to bed for a week to get over it all ! The NFU were total stars.
 
I am with the NFU and the RAC cover their recovery work .
I have had to use them twice and each time it's been an amazing service .
No matter how capable a type of person you are a busy road breakdown in a lorry with horses is a stressful situation and each time the service was fantastic .
 
As far as I'm aware it is legal to tow the box with horses inboard to a close by safe place under police instruction,
We had it once, broke down on a motorway havin had the brake master cylinder explode on me and sever a brake line! The recovery company was instructed by the police to tow us to the next junction where there was a bird sanctuary we off loaded horses into a waiting box there and the lorry then got put on a low loader and taken to my mechanics
 
This situation appears to be a very grey area. The law has changed and recovery of a horsebox carrying livestock is illegal by either lift or straightbar. However, in an emergency situation it is permissable to recover with a straight bar to the first motorway exit or place of safety BUT only by an approved Defra transporter. I would imagine there are very few approved Defra livestock transporters that have a heavy recovery vehicle.
Years ago I worked for a recovery company who were agents for all the major breakdown companies. It was rare that we attended a breakdown with horses but it would take priority. We also had a list of horse transporters to call if onward recovery was required. Protocol then would be to disengage driveshaft (or prop?) and straight bar to a place of safety. TBH I would much rather that than sitting on the hard shoulder of the M1.
 
Yup, pretty standard! We had to have them to a box of 6 with only 2 people with them 400 miles from home, fortunately just for the trailer towing behind but a scary thought!
 
Hmm, seems like many have had similar experiences. Just pleased we are all back in one piece, going to do some more research on breakdown company's I think!at least we are all back safe and sound.
 
Gosh rules must have changed a bit. I broke down on the way to Hunters, the head gasket blew up. NFU sent out a recovery chappy, explained my horse was impossible to load on a strange box and it was a bank holiday so no one wanted to come out, in the end he straight bar towed me all the way back to Witney, couldn't lift the front wheels as the horse was stood sideways. I don't rate NFU for much, but their breakdown and recovery is very good. Another time I broke down they kept phoning me up to check I was ok and the horse was ok until the recovery vehicle got to me.
 
Some years ago I blew the engine of my Land Rover and was towing a trailer with two horses in it. We were a mile from a service station and the breakdown truck towed us to the services. We took the responsibility for this as it would have meant closing the motorway to change trailers. My friends husband then bought their 4x4 and towed the trailer home. I was then picked up by the recovery truck and taken home.

Last year the gearbox went on my truck and the recovery services sent out a horse lorry to take my horse home. We did not transfer the horse as the small lorry had a tow bar on the back and my boy travels very well.

We have also had a tyre go on the trailer and again the recovery people were very good.
 
Gosh sounds like a fair few horror stories!! Im looking to buy a wagon very soon and by the sound of it NFU are the people to go with, will defo be ringing them up for a quote :)
 
The best recovery organisation is The Organisation of Horsebox and Trailer Owners.
www.ohto.co.uk
Because they only use equine qualified sub-contractors to recover horses.
The vast majority of the others sub-contract to commercial recovery organisations that normally recover caravans or vintage commercial vehicles.
 
I broke down recently on the M62. I'm with NFU, who I think sub-contract the horse bit to OHTO above, who were great.

Since I was in a roadworks zone the traffic police wanted the breakdown truck to tow or low-load (NO WAY) me off asap, we negotiated a compromise where one of the police who had just done his towing refresher course drove my 3.5 at 5mph as it was carefully towed down the hard shoulder accompanied by a parade of vehicles with flashing lights (I lectured the tow driver and was glued to the internal TV monitor to check on ned) to the next junction, where they shut off an industrial park so we could transfer my ned to the replacement lorry. Then they put my 3.5 on a low loader and it followed the horsebox back to the yard (Sunday evening so my garage was shut).

Although the tow was a little jerky as everything on van was failing including the power steering, in hindsight I think it was safer for all concerned than trying to load up a horse on the side of a motorway.

It's my understanding that you should NEVER put a horsebox on a low loader as it screws with the center of gravity and can tip and that towing should only be a last resort for a short distance. HOWEVER, the traffic police made the very valid point that people have died in accidents caused by rapidly slowing traffic from closing the m-way so try to only close m-ways when human life is at risk.
 
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