Small horseboxes - bulkhead - safety ?

[Notimetoride]

Been looking at small (3.5t) horseboxes. Something that I cant quite get my head around is where the horses travel immediately behind the driver with just the bulkhead separating them, and what would happen in an accident ? Would that bulkhead truly be strong enough to withstand one/two horses plus their forward momentum caused by the impact ? I feel more drawn towards vehicles with some kind of living/storage area separating the horses from the passengers, plus a bulkhead in the horse area and then the wall behind the cab, between the cab and the living/storage. Or am I being over cautious ?

 

[AdorableAlice]

Not for me either, I would imagine the coach built boxes are manufactured to high safety standards but the home conversions ex milk float types are death on wheels.

 

[WelshD]

I would be reluctant to use a horsebox (especially where the horses face to the rear) unless I was 100% sure that the bulkhead had been subject to extensive reinforcement

My very old and knackered box has a separate cab so there is the rear of that, a gap and then the front wall of the box which is metal reinforced and two inches thick wood plus a breastbar (they face forward) and with that I feel me and my ponies are safe

Ironically my box is a DIY converted box yet I feel safer in that than any 'proper' 3.5 I've hired. SO many times things get sacrificed for a better payload

the drawback is that I cant see or hear them via a little window but I do have a camera that a passenger can see or can pull over to look at the screen myself

 

[ester]

It should be well reinforced.
This one wasn't but you can see the passengers would have survived the tantrum at least. (oh and this was a pro coachbuilt version)

https://www.facebook.com/Henning-Horseboxes-902835989835201/?fref=ts

 

[Notimetoride]

It should be well reinforced.
This one wasn't but you can see the passengers would have survived the tantrum at least. (oh and this was a pro coachbuilt version)

https://www.facebook.com/Henning-Horseboxes-902835989835201/?fref=ts

some interesting videos on there. just reinforces my worries. its terrifying just what sheds people are selling as horseboxes and people are buying them for a peanuts. very worrying

 

[ester]

Research and not someone trying to produce the biggest amount of payload I think is key. When I was looking I went to see them in build so you could see what was going where etc. The side wall issue makes me smile a bit as lots of people say they would never have a van conversion, not safe, would prefer coachbuilt etc. You wouldn't have the side coming off like that with a van conversion at least!

 

[PeterNatt]

It should be built on a chassis pan cab van not a converted van (Integral container).
A chassis pan cab is a cab and chassis without a container on it. The container is built seperately so one can reinforce it but this clearly increases the weight.

 

[Nugget La Poneh]

It should be built on a chassis pan cab van not a converted van (Integral container).
A chassis pan cab is a cab and chassis without a container on it. The container is built seperately so one can reinforce it but this clearly increases the weight.

But I have seen ones like this where they have then taken out the structural back of the cab to then build into 'reinforced' bulkhead of a horsebox.

I think in reality the risks from a rouge kick are possibly higher than ones from an emergency stop.

 

[ester]

It should be built on a chassis pan cab van not a converted van (Integral container).
A chassis pan cab is a cab and chassis without a container on it. The container is built seperately so one can reinforce it but this clearly increases the weight.

Most certainly are not built on pan cab vans, even by the best of manufacturers.

 

[LynH]

When I was looking at 3.5t - 4.5t every company I spoke to said they were the only one who reinforced the bulkhead but at the same time they all had living and reasonable payloads so I wasn't convinced. I ended up going for a 6.5t forward facing with living between horses and cab. The other thing that was pointed out to me was that some 3.5t take the weight of the horses on the frame of the box not the chassis. Again I wasn't sure how I could tell which was safe or not.

 

[Notimetoride]

I'm starting to wonder if the only way to ensure the safety features meet your requirements is to have one made bespoke (£££)

 

[Bernster]

Mine has a reinforced bulkhead, or that's what I was told! Got it checked out by a horsebox mechanic pre purchase. It's withstood a fair few whacks and never suffered any damage. I tend to prefer having living in between but that rarely happens with the 3.5t types. In the smaller lorries having the living behind the driver also means the horses travel past the back wheel - I'm never quite sure if that's the safest or most comfortable design horse wise?

 

[PeterNatt]

The other thing to check is that each of the axels are not overloaded.
If they use a chassis pan cab then all the reinforcement can be put in the container and there is no need to touch the cab at all as the container is effectively completely seperate.

 

[PaddyMonty]

Not for me either, I would imagine the coach built boxes are manufactured to high safety standards but the home conversions ex milk float types are death on wheels.

How very dare you! My home conversion probably exceeds the strength on a manufactured box in the bulkhead area

 

[turnbuckle]

A properly designed bulkhead should be up to the job. Remember, the horses energy forward will depend on he sudden-ness of the stop...so if it's dead stop you're likely to be in BIG trouble from whatever you've run into!

Good point earlier about kick protection.

The problem is that there's no agreed testing regime (and introducing one would send costs spiralling and kill the small but good makers).

 

[foraday]

The BARTA report last year although not in great detail showed the massive gap in horse box safety of the rear facing breast bar 2 box and how these incidents happened.

Horse box design is of paramount importance.

If you look at Henning Horseboxes on FB you will see 3 videos of a 'rear facing 2 box' and how it has 'fallen apart' due to the poor build of the box!

https://www.facebook.com/Henning-Horseboxes-902835989835201/?hc_ref=SEARCH&fref=nf


Again going back to horsebox manufacturer and design.

The new BARTA report is being written by Nottingham Trent University so look out for their survey soon and hopefully Horse and Hound will promote it like last year.

And if you do own a 2 box PLEASE PLEASE get your box checked by a proper coach builder like Oakleys, Gazeleys or Hennings (not related to any btw) and get your box checked before your horse does become a casualty or a poorly built horse box.

The only 2 boxes on the roads today which are properly built are Theaults and GEM Horseboxes

I would put my beloved horses in either quite happily due to the head room and the build.

 

[Bernster]

Interesting foraday - I've not heard of GEM before but will check them out now.

 

[ester]

It is worth noting that neither of those manufacturers advertise, I suspect they don't need to.
When you seem the same sellers of facebook time and time again promoting their builds it immediately makes me suspicious that they have no wait list or a load of unsold stock. When I made enquiries to a local person for a van conversion (not coachbuilt) their wait time was a reassuring good few weeks.

 

[Nugget La Poneh]

Was looking at GEM yesterday and was going to email them. I have a 3.5te box already, but Nugz doesn't travel very well in it so have been looking for others.

The bulkhead is a scary thing really. And I am not convinced about the material that Equitrek are now using of their very little box - it's like eggbox material!!

 

[ester]

It is interesting with the GEMS though that they have the wheels in the horse area on their pics, something that plenty of people do not think is a good idea either.

Nugget F struggles a bit backwards, I think because he is a short arse if he eats hay he can't wedge his butt near the back. He definitely struggles in a stallion box, looks fine on the camera but comes off warm which is unheard of for him. I don't know if it is just lack of practice in his life or because of how he is built. He is in general and excellent traveller and very well balanced (Mum's horse is not!)

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

The only 2 boxes on the roads today which are properly built are Theaults and GEM Horseboxes

I would put my beloved horses in either quite happily due to the head room and the build.

Naughty! Thats a bit of a sweeping statement, I'm sure other top notch builders will take issue with you saying that there are ONLY 2 who properly build. Where did you get this 'fact' from?

For example, Kevin Parker boxes are superbly built for safety, as are quite a number of others like Foxy, JSW, Sovereign and more etc etc...

 

[PaddyMonty]

The only 2 boxes on the roads today which are properly built are Theaults and GEM Horseboxes

Total and utter codswallop.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Total and utter codswallop.

Being polite eh PM ?

 

[kevd]

Not sure how you can say they are the only 2 that are built properly, there is no way you would know that.
Yes there is alot of rubbish out there, but there are also alot of smaller builders that in my opinion build a better vehicle
than some of the top company's.