No breast bar in horsebox

domsmith

domsmith

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Just bought a 3.5t horsebox. It doesnt have a breast bar. the groom area is separated by a full bulkhead wall. the horses are rear facing, facing this partition.
Alexanders do one for proffesional racehorse transporters and this is a copy of it. It has been used on a race yard for a while and they report no problems.
But i just wonder if during exceleration the horse could head butt the rear wall. or will that never happen. i like the idea of not being able to get over a breast bar into the grooms area but dont want my horse to get upset hitting the wall!

This van was a good buy and can afford to do some adjustments to get it to work for me. just wondering what everyone thinks?

d
 
I would hope you drive slowly enough that there is no sudden acceleration or braking, except in an emergency, horses usually balance themselves if driven carefully and don't lean on the breastbar or partition, although some learn to, I have driven lorries where they face different ways, most never use the breast bar or breech bar if they are comfortable on their own 4 feet.
 
Think about a horse in a 7.5 ton without a tack locker no difference really is there .
Take it gently and I am sure it will be find .
I saw one of the alexanders boxes without a bar when I was down looking at mine which they have built , I liked it having a horse go over the Brest bar in a trailer I liked the idea of having nothing .
 
I have seen these boxes upgraded with a ifor Williams bar put in to replace the bulk head. I have heard that horses can jump over. This is what I have heard, this does not make it correct. I would not be happy with this arrangement, but that's me not you, but then my horse has jumped over a bar before.
 
Sukistokes2 said:
I have seen these boxes upgraded with a ifor Williams bar put in to replace the bulk head. I have heard that horses can jump over. This is what I have heard, this does not make it correct. I would not be happy with this arrangement, but that's me not you, but then my horse has jumped over a bar before.
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Suki, the bulk head is the bit behind the driver between the driver and the horse - do you mean replace the breast bar?
 
I agree it looks odd , but it's a lot safer than being able to attempt to jump out and I totally understand why racehorse trainers like them .
It also means you can put the hay on the ground .
 
Id not drive without one - i had to scramble about at 10PM the night before i picked up my mare to make one because i wouldn't drive the next morning without one lol
 
equi said:
Id not drive without one - i had to scramble about at 10PM the night before i picked up my mare to make one because i wouldn't drive the next morning without one lol
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If OP's box is like the one I saw it's designed to be used with nothing there's no where to fix a bar .
 
We have a small pony who was rearing up over the breast bar and getting us both very stressed out. We discovered (with help from trainers) that she was genuinely scared of being restricted. We therefore adapted the trailer so she could travel loose, blocking off the breast bar with a grill - she can still see through the windows but can no longer try to rear over. She is much happier travelling now. We have a camera on her and so far have not had any issues with her head butting the flat wall, I do drive very slowly though. I too was worried about her not having a breast bar to lean on but for her she is much happier finding her own balance.
 
There is nowhere to fix a breast bar at the minute. I would have to make one and i would have to do a bit of redesigning the dividing gate, but anything is possible.
It has a camera fitted and i think i will have a trip and see how my mare travels.
I like the idea of not having something to get there front legs over.
 
I just had a Bloomfields' Professional built, and deliberately chose one with no breast bar. There is nothing in the stall for my horse to get caught up on.

You do not specify, but the boxes with no breast bar should only be the rear facing ones, or the larger herringbone lorries. The breast bar is needed in a front facing box, this is because you never know when you need to do an emergency stop, and you don't want the horse to head butt the front wall.

In a rear facing box you are unlikely to ever accelerate at such a rate. Even an emergency accelerate is not likely to be as severe as an emergency stop.

No-one seems to question the large herringbone boxes with no breast bar.
 
I've been looking at 4.5 ton rear facing boxes and actually like the ones with no breast bar. I've spoken to a number of manufacturers and transporters and none have reported any problems with not having the breast bar for the rear facing lorries.
 
I had my box bespoke made as I was so worried about the issue of them going over the breast bar.

When it was first put into build they built it with a vertical partition which I hated for the very reasons you describe above! Just thought the horse would be squished in, especially with the addition of the haynets etc.

I had them change it - my partition goes up to just above breast height, then back horizontally towards the back of the van to make a shelf, then up to the ceiling. This means there is a shelf for them to put their head on, also room to tie haynets. You do lose a little bit of standing space in the back, but you can attach the spare tyre underneath the shelf with saddle racks either side which works really well. Also saves getting any hay in the back, keeps your stuff clean and stops horse trying to make a break for freedom! Still ample space to stand and get changed etc.

4599802160.jpg
 
Red-1 said:
I just had a Bloomfields' Professional built, and deliberately chose one with no breast bar. There is nothing in the stall for my horse to get caught up on.

You do not specify, but the boxes with no breast bar should only be the rear facing ones, or the larger herringbone lorries. The breast bar is needed in a front facing box, this is because you never know when you need to do an emergency stop, and you don't want the horse to head butt the front wall.

In a rear facing box you are unlikely to ever accelerate at such a rate. Even an emergency accelerate is not likely to be as severe as an emergency stop.

No-one seems to question the large herringbone boxes with no breast bar.
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OP did say they were rear facing. Herringbone you there aren't likely to be any direct forces heading in that direction.

^^ that set up makes more sense to me, and is what paddy&monty put in his box, unless I suppose you have something that likes to jump up on tack lockers and alike ;)
 
I have had one horse who liked to stand on tack lockers and it's not fun .
If I had been buying a lorry for him I would have had one of these .
 
ester said:
^^ that set up makes more sense to me, and is what paddy&monty put in his box, unless I suppose you have something that likes to jump up on tack lockers and alike ;)
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It's much higher than your average tacklocker so I would think the risk of this is minimal. Perhaps smaller ponies would have a chance if they were seriously determined, but in my case I only travel large horses in it... my current mare is 15.3hh, she wouldn't have anywhere near enough headroom to get her head/chest up in order to get her legs up that high.
 
that's interesting montanna. Ive only seen ones with solid breastbar or solid wall in real life not your sort of version.
 
Just been for a test drive, and it went really well. My horse never looked likely to hit the grooms compartment division. i could see here bracing against the drivers bulkhead . she seemed to travel really well and i think i am pleased with it!

we will see how it works over time!

thanks for all the discussion.

d
 
ester said:
that's interesting montanna. Ive only seen ones with solid breastbar or solid wall in real life not your sort of version.
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Yep my dad didn't understand what I was getting at either, hence why they originally built it with the wall going straight up. They sent me a pic of it after they had done the framework, and I was like nooooooooooo it's all wrong! I knew in my head what I wanted, and it has worked really well. The one in the pic above is actually my friends lorry, not mine, she had seen mine and travelled her horse in it and copied it like for like.

The best part is that there is no hay in the back! Also in the 'living' area, there is space to put your saddles and spare tyre, which is normally a struggle with these conversions. You can't put the saddles there if you have a normal breast height partition as the horses will chew them, if you put them on the sides then you can't use the wheel arches for seats, and if you put them on the back doors you have trouble with the hinges, as the doors aren't built to have the extra weight of tack on.

I love my little box, had it over 2 years now and it's just fabulous.
 
montanna said:
I had my box bespoke made as I was so worried about the issue of them going over the breast bar.

When it was first put into build they built it with a vertical partition which I hated for the very reasons you describe above! Just thought the horse would be squished in, especially with the addition of the haynets etc.

I had them change it -
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I guess it depends on how long the partition is designed to be. My partition is 8ft9ins rump to nose, and 4 ft wide, so no scrunching up. I would have liked a set up like yours for the convenience, but I know mine would have been up on the locker. Besides, having it long, wide and free of intrusion is great for tacking up in the lorry, as I can still go under the neck to gat from side to side.

OP, I am glad yours travelled well, mine has not had a problem either.
 
Red-1 said:
I guess it depends on how long the partition is designed to be. My partition is 8ft9ins rump to nose, and 4 ft wide, so no scrunching up. I would have liked a set up like yours for the convenience, but I know mine would have been up on the locker. Besides, having it long, wide and free of intrusion is great for tacking up in the lorry, as I can still go under the neck to gat from side to side.

OP, I am glad yours travelled well, mine has not had a problem either.
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Think that's the beauty of having them built - it's definitely horses for courses! I only have one horse now, so I've actually removed my partition and cross tie her, so I have a bit more room for tacking up on board and she has more room when travelling.

They are fab little boxes as long as they are used correctly :) :)
 
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