Travelling in a trailer with your horse

[sprytzer]

I’ve seen it but now can’t find it… the legality of travelling in a moving trailer along with your horse on a public highway.
Can anyone remind me where to look for it. TIA

 

[Red-1]

It is not legal. Not to travel in any trailer. Not to travel without a proper seat. Not to travel without an approved seat belt.

 

[Red-1]

General requirements​

Although it is not specifically illegal to travel in the accommodation area of a campervan, you should bear in mind that this area would not have been specifically designed for use when travelling and Regulation 100 of the Road Vehicles (Construction & Use) Regulations 1986 (SI 1986 No. 1078) may apply. This requires:

• a motor vehicle, and all its parts and accessories;
• the number of passengers carried, and the manner in which any passengers are carried in or on a vehicle; and
• the weight, distribution, packing and adjustment of the load of a vehicle

to be at all times such that no danger is caused, or is likely to be caused, to any person in or on a vehicle or on a road.

Further to this, Section 40a of The Road Traffic Act 1988 (as amended by Section 8 of the Road Traffic Act 1991) Part II, Using a Vehicle in a Dangerous Condition, states that:

A person is guilty of an offence if he uses, or causes or permits another to use, a motor vehicle or trailer on a road when:

• the condition of the motor vehicle or trailer, or of its accessories or equipment; or
• the purpose for which it is used; or
• the number of passengers carried by it, or the manner in which they are carried; or
• the weight, position or distribution of its load, or the manner in which it is secured;

is such that the use of the motor vehicle or trailer involves a danger of injury to any person.

Our advice is that passengers are safest in a forward or rearward facing seat equipped with a three-point seat belt. Seat belt anchorage points should be designed so that they will be capable of withstanding the high forces of an impact and seat belts must comply with the latest British or European standards and be marked accordingly with either the ‘e’, ‘E’ or BS ‘Kitemark’. We strongly recommend that they are professionally installed by qualified persons (such as a commercial garage or seatbelt specialist).

Although side facing seats, with or without seat belts, are not illegal, we would not advise that they are used. This is because seat belts are not designed to be used with such seats. In the event of an accident, seat belts on these side facing seats may help to prevent the wearer being thrown around the vehicle or from being ejected, but in a frontal crash they can increase injury risk by subjecting vulnerable parts of the body to higher loads than seat belts used on forward facing seats.

If you intend to carry children aged 12 years or under, the seat belt wearing regulations require them to use a suitable child restraint. You should bear in mind that child restraints cannot be fitted to side facing seats. In order to fit the required child restraints, you would need to have forward or rearward facing seats with full three-point seat belts.

Whilst there is no specific legal limit to the number of passengers carried, the manufacturer will probably specify the maximum number that the vehicle is designed for and if that is exceeded, Regulation 100 of the Road Vehicles (Construction & Use) Regulations 1986 or Section 40a of The Road Traffic Act 1991 may again apply. It is therefore important that you also confirm the number of passengers and the manner in which they will be carried with your insurance company.

Buying copies of the regulations​

Consolidated versions of national regulations can be found in Sweet and Maxwell’s Encyclopaedia of Road Traffic Law and Practice (Construction and Use) which should be available at most main reference libraries.

Copies of national legislation can also be purchased from:

TSO Orders/Post Cash Department
PO Box 29
Norwich
NR3 1GN
Telephone: 0870 600 5522
Fax: 0870 600 5533 Email: customer.services@tso.co.uk
Website: http://www.tso.co.uk

Legal information​

 

[Red-1]

Transporting horses in horseboxes and trailers

The licences and qualifications you need to transport horses and how to keep your horses and vehicles safe.

www.gov.uk

 

[millikins]

My daughter travelled in the horse area of the box when our sick foal went to Liphook but that was a medical emergency and at the request of the vet. She said she'd never felt so ill in her life

 

[HappyHollyDays]

Warwickshire police pulled over a woman driving a trailer which was full of party goers on their way to the hunt ball last year. They weren’t charged with anything but the woman driving was.

 

[sprytzer]

Thank you. When telling someone it was illegal and would invalidate their insurance I was told ‘to get a grip’ and they weren’t concerned

 

[Red-1]

Thank you. When telling someone it was illegal and would invalidate their insurance I was told ‘to get a grip’ and they weren’t concerned

Although I'd never recommend it, I had one paddling around in the back and I did go in just to get him the last mile home. I knew it was wrong. I must admit, if someone had come up and told me I shouldn't I may have told them to buzz off just because it wouldn't affect them, unless they were the driver.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

I've always known it to be illegal but to be honest have never actually checked. Sooo dangerous!! I did have to travel 30 mins or so in the back of a lorry as one horse kept scrabbling and lifting the partition between it and the other horse out the lorry floor. It was the longest 30mins, I was young. Would I do it again? Absolutely not!!

 

[Barton Bounty]

I must admit, I was going to travel in the back with BB when he had to go to horsepital with colic. I didnt want to him to get stressed out but hubby said no, dont be silly

 

[babymare]

I did travel in the back once when worked for a horse charity. We were transporting a seriously ill horse to Liverpool vet hospitaL. It was before they got the horse ambulance with slings so he was supported with straw bale.

 

[Carlosmum]

When I was a child we would travel in the back of the lorry, usually because there wasn't enough room for everyone in the front. We are talking 50 years ago!

 

[Orangehorse]

When I was a child we would travel in the back of the lorry, usually because there wasn't enough room for everyone in the front. We are talking 50 years ago!

And me, and in the trailer with the ponies.

 

[Tiddlypom]

When I was a child we would travel in the back of the lorry, usually because there wasn't enough room for everyone in the front. We are talking 50 years ago!

And us. Packed the ponies in the cattle lorry hired to get us to a show, and we kids would all cram together in the luton. Plus I travelled in my friends trailer with her + 2 ponies up.

Different times...

 

[Birker2020]

Dad and I both did that when I had my lovely WB Biggles.

The horse and trailer was new to us so Mum and Dad used to drive behind me to and from shows just to make sure we were ok. They noticed that during transit Biggles bum kept disappearing behind the tailgate and they couldn't understand why.

So Dad and I went to a local industrial estate one quiet Sunday morning and Dad stood the other side of the partition to see what Biggles was doing, I was towing around this deserted trading estate really slowly. Dad who was in the back with Biggles said his legs were all over the place so we swapped and Dad drove whilst I watched stood in the trailer the other side of the partition. Dad came to a T junction and turned left (literally crawling along) and Biggles went down in the trailer and sat like a dog. Not panicking luckily but just sat there like a dog would sit with it's back legs by its fronts.

Dad came in through the jockey door and pulled him to his feet by his headcollar. He was a sensible old 'been there done that' soul so wasn't in the least bit fazed! He just had a surprised look on his face.

Luckily there was no damage but it shook me up. Dad engineered the breast bar to bring it forward, we installed rubber matting and altered the configuration of the partition and the horse stood like a rock after that.

We think that prior to installing the rubber matting the wooden floor was gathering a film of condensation which was forming a thin layer of ice.

its a very dangerous practice- travelling with a horse in a trailer. Obviously we didnt know Biggs was going to go down in a heap that day, he hadn't before but he could have panicked and seriously hurt or killed me.

 

[mum_gone_rogue]

Hello! Ex roads policing officer checking in

If caught ( and hopefully no one has been injured), the driver could be liable for driving with an insecure load, which would be an endorsable offence (ie. Points in your licence)

 

[meleeka]

I’ve done it twice, when I thought it was necessary. I did however stay on the phone to a passenger in the car the whole time and it was only a short journey. I was aware it was illegal so kept my head down. It does give you a good idea of how tiring it must be for a horse to balance properly.

 

[MurphysMinder]

I travelled in the back of a trailer once , bringing our pony back from loan after she had been kicked and had a star fracture of tibia . We moved her on vets advice as loaners didn’t have facilities for her box rest, but knew it was illegal . Despite only travelling around 25:/30 mph it was a horrible bumpy journey , and made me very aware what horses have to put up with .

 

[MurphysMinder]

And us. Packed the ponies in the cattle lorry hired to get us to a show, and we kids would all cram together in the luton. Plus I travelled in my friends trailer with her + 2 ponies up.

Different times...

We did this , sitting in the Luton with sandwiches, singing 10 green bottles ! We were all ages 10 and under, can you imagine that happening now