| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Miska |
Posted - 20 Feb 2011 : 6:37:18 PM
It was a month ago that we bought Enys and on our way back home with him in the back of our 3.5t horsebox he reared up and went over the front partition. This design is in most small horseboxes, though some have anti-weave bars and wide doors. Unfortunately ours didn't, so our horsebox had to be cut up to get Enys out. To cut a long story short Enys is fine and we've just got our horsebox back after improvements have been made. To see my original post for the full story follow the link:
http://arabianlines.com/forum1/topic_new.asp?TOPIC_ID=44333&whichpage=1
I thought I would post this up here, so that people can see the dangers of these small horseboxes and see how we've changed ours, hopefully for the better (there are other ways). There are dangers with every horse transport and we will keep our horsebox even after what happened.
This is the only photo I have of our box before the accident happened:
- you can see it is a solid partition (not removable)
Here is our horsebox after being cut open:
Enys was actually in the far section (the one of the right of picture, but they cut the left side)
Anyway we paid for our horse bit to be sectioned off, it didn't cost too much and although we have lost space it actually seems alot better. Our other horse, Ella, (who is a problem loader) loaded into it fine. It doesn't feel any smaller in the horse bit and we can still sit in the living, thankfully both me and my mum are short!
Horses used to put there head over into the living - i thought they might find it awkward with ledge but apparently not. We had a window put it, but this slides shut when travelling. It's a bit more difficult to tie a haynet up but it's doable.
Now the tack area (with window closed):
(with window open:)
Not the best photos, as is difficult to photograph. Just thought I would show you all in case people thought they might like the same done. You can also put in anti-weave bars.
Now the next step is seeing whether Enys will load and will travel. Fingers crossed!
Thank you for reading .
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| 8 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| sab2 |
Posted - 21 Feb 2011 : 1:53:26 PM
Thanks for posting the photos now all the work is done. I have one of these boxes and wondered what you were going to do so great to see it in photos, sadly for me this would not work as i couldnt have the shelf type thingy as mine are all different sizes and it would mean they couldnt hang their heads over so would have to rest their chin on shelf which would not be very comfy for them, think the anti weave grills may be the way forward for me.
Old Hand the little door is so you can go into horse area and for me is great as i always travel on my own and makes life so much easier than going outside especially when there are two horses in.
Thanks again for posting the photos and i hope that Enys likes his new box and travels fine. |
| Jingo |
Posted - 21 Feb 2011 : 1:41:10 PM
Can you tell us how much extra weight this has added to your box and if it is still within the 3.5 ton limit with two horses and all their equipment.
We are fitting anti weave grills to ours for safety sake. Thanks for sharing your photos. |
| OldHand |
Posted - 21 Feb 2011 : 07:46:33 AM
Why the tiny door ?
This looks to open into the tack area with a bottom and side catch to hold it closed.
What happens if a horse kicks it and the bottom part of the catch snaps leaving the middle still locked ?
If horses leg slips through the gap and leg gets stuck the results are not nice !!!I would lock that off solid,its hardly big enough to be any real use anyhow from the look. just a thought ! |
| Judith S |
Posted - 20 Feb 2011 : 10:17:58 PM
Doug, you will find that most of the 3.5T boxes are built that way as they are shorter in length and do not have space for a tack area and solid bulkhead. We managed to find one like this, but you have to compromise a bit on payload to get the extra length. I think most of the manufacturers are becoming aware of the potential problems as more weaving grills are being put in. |
| xsara |
Posted - 20 Feb 2011 : 9:21:52 PM
wow it looks great and so much safer thanks for sharing the pictures and your experience |
| doug ault |
Posted - 20 Feb 2011 : 8:18:42 PM
do you think the original builders should be told of the dangerous design fault so that they can make improvements ? they might thank you for it. |
| suneagle |
Posted - 20 Feb 2011 : 7:35:57 PM
WOW so much better with it seprate now :D
shocking to see what happened tho :/ |
| Geena |
Posted - 20 Feb 2011 : 7:27:23 PM
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences. If we can all learn from what has happened to you, your ordeal will not have been in vain. |
