Horse Box. Is there an Autotrader equivalent website?
Discussion
In the very very early days (like last 20 mins) of looking into possibly buying a Horse Box for next year. There must be loads for sale, but very few on Autotrader. Is there a go-to website where people advertise these?
I doubt Pistonheads is the place to ask for advice on horse boxes but if anyone has any to share it would be most appreciated. Cheers
I doubt Pistonheads is the place to ask for advice on horse boxes but if anyone has any to share it would be most appreciated. Cheers
We just bought a 6.5 tonne Iveco. Took ages to find one. But obtained via word of mouth from competing. From my short time listening to the Mrs and daughters before handing over the money it appears that’s they stay within families or small circles of British Eventing or Pony club. We got ours from some BE friends friends friend..... Loads of old stuff knocking about but with terrible wooden rotten floors! Good luck
Edited by oldaudi on Saturday 19th September 21:23
We've had a Marlborough 3.5t box for 15 years (before 3.5t were common). it's based on a 2001 Vauxhall Movano (ex Alliance Healthcare vehicle, with about 90,000 on the clock when we got it) and was built to our specification - nothing too flash, but has the luxury of a toilet in the back! No suffering the delightful portable loos at showgrounds... Cost about £16k new and, even now, is probably worth about £9k-£10k.
It's been brilliant - has taken us from Essex to Lincoln, plus even take a friend's horse to compete at Olympia on a couple of occasions and has never let us down.
The company started off making 3.5t horseboxes for use by racing stables, so focused on safety and reliability, given the value of some of the animals they transport, so everything is well engineered and sturdy.
Might be worth having a chat with them - they use a mix of new and used chassis for their builds, so may have something suitable.
It's been brilliant - has taken us from Essex to Lincoln, plus even take a friend's horse to compete at Olympia on a couple of occasions and has never let us down.
The company started off making 3.5t horseboxes for use by racing stables, so focused on safety and reliability, given the value of some of the animals they transport, so everything is well engineered and sturdy.
Might be worth having a chat with them - they use a mix of new and used chassis for their builds, so may have something suitable.
Look at horsequest.co.uk too.
Do check weights carefully: I understand why 3.5t are popular, but if you’re putting 2x horses on then you don’t want to be overweight.
We’ve run a couple of 7.5t: a cheap dog of a wagon, and now a nice one. If you buy one that’s cheap then it’ll cost you on maintenance *and* suffer from concerns about whether it’ll be reliable enough to make the trip anywhere (which will then mean it won’t get used as much as you expect). Having somewhere to sit makes things much more pleasant if you have to go along too.
Oh, and there will be lots of good reasons why “we” still need a trailer as well as a wagon, so don’t expect to release any cash from selling that...
Do check weights carefully: I understand why 3.5t are popular, but if you’re putting 2x horses on then you don’t want to be overweight.
We’ve run a couple of 7.5t: a cheap dog of a wagon, and now a nice one. If you buy one that’s cheap then it’ll cost you on maintenance *and* suffer from concerns about whether it’ll be reliable enough to make the trip anywhere (which will then mean it won’t get used as much as you expect). Having somewhere to sit makes things much more pleasant if you have to go along too.
Oh, and there will be lots of good reasons why “we” still need a trailer as well as a wagon, so don’t expect to release any cash from selling that...
idealstandard said:
Equitrek themselves and their dealer network are good, we bought our recent Night Treka XL brand new from a main dealer this year (Cutlers) but them, Equitrek, and their other main dealers have used trailers and boxes for sale all the time.
Do their boxes still have the ramp on the "wrong" side? It's on the right, so should you break down and have to unload at the roadside, you'd need to unload into traffic.oldaudi said:
Good luck
Cheers rscott said:
We've had a Marlborough 3.5t box for 15 years (before 3.5t were common). it's based on a 2001 Vauxhall Movano (ex Alliance Healthcare vehicle, with about 90,000 on the clock when we got it) and was built to our specification - nothing too flash, but has the luxury of a toilet in the back! No suffering the delightful portable loos at showgrounds... Cost about £16k new and, even now, is probably worth about £9k-£10k.
It's been brilliant - has taken us from Essex to Lincoln, plus even take a friend's horse to compete at Olympia on a couple of occasions and has never let us down.
The company started off making 3.5t horseboxes for use by racing stables, so focused on safety and reliability, given the value of some of the animals they transport, so everything is well engineered and sturdy.
Might be worth having a chat with them - they use a mix of new and used chassis for their builds, so may have something suitable.
Sounds a good vehicle which has more than paid for itself! I'll take a look at what they have to offer, thank you.It's been brilliant - has taken us from Essex to Lincoln, plus even take a friend's horse to compete at Olympia on a couple of occasions and has never let us down.
The company started off making 3.5t horseboxes for use by racing stables, so focused on safety and reliability, given the value of some of the animals they transport, so everything is well engineered and sturdy.
Might be worth having a chat with them - they use a mix of new and used chassis for their builds, so may have something suitable.
LooneyTunes said:
Look at horsequest.co.uk too.
Do check weights carefully: I understand why 3.5t are popular, but if you’re putting 2x horses on then you don’t want to be overweight.
We’ve run a couple of 7.5t: a cheap dog of a wagon, and now a nice one. If you buy one that’s cheap then it’ll cost you on maintenance *and* suffer from concerns about whether it’ll be reliable enough to make the trip anywhere (which will then mean it won’t get used as much as you expect). Having somewhere to sit makes things much more pleasant if you have to go along too.
Oh, and there will be lots of good reasons why “we” still need a trailer as well as a wagon, so don’t expect to release any cash from selling that...
Cheers. re weights - it's for my daughters 14.1 Pony (Cob) but will want to occasionally return the favour of taking along a friends pony too - so potentially 2 ponies max. I am aware of the weight issue so looking for a 'compact' one without living. Do check weights carefully: I understand why 3.5t are popular, but if you’re putting 2x horses on then you don’t want to be overweight.
We’ve run a couple of 7.5t: a cheap dog of a wagon, and now a nice one. If you buy one that’s cheap then it’ll cost you on maintenance *and* suffer from concerns about whether it’ll be reliable enough to make the trip anywhere (which will then mean it won’t get used as much as you expect). Having somewhere to sit makes things much more pleasant if you have to go along too.
Oh, and there will be lots of good reasons why “we” still need a trailer as well as a wagon, so don’t expect to release any cash from selling that...
I've had my fair share of breakdowns and throwing money at repairs from running snotter vans from my late teens when i was as a market trader. I was a regular face with the RAC until I convinced my HSBC bank manager for a loan to buy a brand new van. Which is why I want to ideally buy as new as I can. A girl from the stables has a Bloomingfields One which can be built on a Renault or Nissan base - the Nissan coming with 5yrs warranty. I'm half tempted to take a loan and buy one of these knowing it will still be worth 75% of it's purchase price after 3or4 yrs. I want something the missus can just grab the keys too and go without any worries of it letting her down. I appreciate it's going to cost though
idealstandard said:
Equitrek themselves and their dealer network are good, we bought our recent Night Treka XL brand new from a main dealer this year (Cutlers) but them, Equitrek, and their other main dealers have used trailers and boxes for sale all the time.
Cutlers isn't too far from me. Good to hear you are happy with yours, I did a Google search that brought me to a forum where the Equitreks got quite a slating for build quality issues. Maybe they have improved in recent years 
rscott said:
Do their boxes still have the ramp on the "wrong" side? It's on the right, so should you break down and have to unload at the roadside, you'd need to unload into traffic.
Yes most of their boxes are side loading (on the right hand side) but it's for road camber / weight I think, I mean let's say if your horse is loaded on the left as it should be - presuming you're one up - if you were broken down in a terrible area and wanting to unload, how could you unload into a wall, or into a ditch? Most motorways don't have proper hard shoulders anyway now. If you're buying new you an specify on some of their models.Phooey said:
Cutlers isn't too far from me. Good to hear you are happy with yours, I did a Google search that brought me to a forum where the Equitreks got quite a slating for build quality issues. Maybe they have improved in recent years
Really happy with it, excellent piece of kit and got a great deal. Build quality is decent, better in the horse area than the living area which to be fair is probably what should count..! If you speak with Cutlers, chat with Jack, really nice guy.
Alex
idealstandard said:
rscott said:
Do their boxes still have the ramp on the "wrong" side? It's on the right, so should you break down and have to unload at the roadside, you'd need to unload into traffic.
Yes most of their boxes are side loading (on the right hand side) but it's for road camber / weight I think, I mean let's say if your horse is loaded on the left as it should be - presuming you're one up - if you were broken down in a terrible area and wanting to unload, how could you unload into a wall, or into a ditch? Most motorways don't have proper hard shoulders anyway now. If you're buying new you an specify on some of their models.Phooey said:
Cutlers isn't too far from me. Good to hear you are happy with yours, I did a Google search that brought me to a forum where the Equitreks got quite a slating for build quality issues. Maybe they have improved in recent years
Really happy with it, excellent piece of kit and got a great deal. Build quality is decent, better in the horse area than the living area which to be fair is probably what should count..! If you speak with Cutlers, chat with Jack, really nice guy.
Alex
rscott said:
I believe the advice is that if you have one horse on board, it should be behind the driver, so nearest the centre of the road. Any camber in the road will unbalance the box more if the horse is on the left, plus if you drop a wheel off the edge of the road (easy enough on some country lanes) the box will be more likely to tip/dig in if the weight is mainly on the left.
Yeah I got that completely the wrong way round, always on the right to balance the box. either way, right hand door = better in most circumstances in event of a breakdown in a left side of the road country.Phooey said:
In the very very early days (like last 20 mins) of looking into possibly buying a Horse Box for next year. There must be loads for sale, but very few on Autotrader. Is there a go-to website where people advertise these?
I doubt Pistonheads is the place to ask for advice on horse boxes but if anyone has any to share it would be most appreciated. Cheers
Can I just say that I am delighted your career as a jockey is finally taking off. It demonstrates what can be done with a lifetime of trying.I doubt Pistonheads is the place to ask for advice on horse boxes but if anyone has any to share it would be most appreciated. Cheers
Loads of stuff changes hands on the horse groups (local clubs etc) on Facebook OP, it’s actually how we found our RV
As has been said, don’t be worried about something older if it’s been cared for, particularly if you’re not going to sleep in it, but make sure the floors are solid, it’s a safety issue for the horses.
Also be wary about the 3.5 tonne converted vans, they’re popular because they don’t need additional licensing but they’re less than ideal in terms of design.
They all have the same issue that the horses face backwards, and the bulkheads are rarely very strong, Mrs Wookie has been at a show where vets have been called to an upsetting scene where a horse has kicked out through the bulkhead when driving into the event and got stuck. Thankfully it missed the occupants in the front but not by much. By all accounts not an uncommon occurrence.
To keep the base weight down some of them also have little or no reinforcement in the floors, which in a standard van aren’t up to there high point loads of a horse.
As has been said, don’t be worried about something older if it’s been cared for, particularly if you’re not going to sleep in it, but make sure the floors are solid, it’s a safety issue for the horses.
Also be wary about the 3.5 tonne converted vans, they’re popular because they don’t need additional licensing but they’re less than ideal in terms of design.
They all have the same issue that the horses face backwards, and the bulkheads are rarely very strong, Mrs Wookie has been at a show where vets have been called to an upsetting scene where a horse has kicked out through the bulkhead when driving into the event and got stuck. Thankfully it missed the occupants in the front but not by much. By all accounts not an uncommon occurrence.
To keep the base weight down some of them also have little or no reinforcement in the floors, which in a standard van aren’t up to there high point loads of a horse.
The Wookie said:
Loads of stuff changes hands on the horse groups (local clubs etc) on Facebook OP, it’s actually how we found our RV
As has been said, don’t be worried about something older if it’s been cared for, particularly if you’re not going to sleep in it, but make sure the floors are solid, it’s a safety issue for the horses.
Also be wary about the 3.5 tonne converted vans, they’re popular because they don’t need additional licensing but they’re less than ideal in terms of design.
They all have the same issue that the horses face backwards, and the bulkheads are rarely very strong, Mrs Wookie has been at a show where vets have been called to an upsetting scene where a horse has kicked out through the bulkhead when driving into the event and got stuck. Thankfully it missed the occupants in the front but not by much. By all accounts not an uncommon occurrence.
To keep the base weight down some of them also have little or no reinforcement in the floors, which in a standard van aren’t up to there high point loads of a horse.
Although in our experience, horses tend to be happier travelling backwards. There are 3 converted 3.5t, 2 trailers and 2 7.5t horseboxes on the yard we're at and everyone has said their horses are calmer in the rear facing boxes. As has been said, don’t be worried about something older if it’s been cared for, particularly if you’re not going to sleep in it, but make sure the floors are solid, it’s a safety issue for the horses.
Also be wary about the 3.5 tonne converted vans, they’re popular because they don’t need additional licensing but they’re less than ideal in terms of design.
They all have the same issue that the horses face backwards, and the bulkheads are rarely very strong, Mrs Wookie has been at a show where vets have been called to an upsetting scene where a horse has kicked out through the bulkhead when driving into the event and got stuck. Thankfully it missed the occupants in the front but not by much. By all accounts not an uncommon occurrence.
To keep the base weight down some of them also have little or no reinforcement in the floors, which in a standard van aren’t up to there high point loads of a horse.
I know the Marlboroughs have reinforcements in the bulkheads and extremely sturdy floors. But that's why their payload is relatively low (about 1,100kg) compared to some.
Also worth considering are some of the small Alexander boxes - they have an extremely wide rear door and the breast bar can be dropped so it's possible to unload a horse out the rear in an emergency.
idealstandard said:
rscott said:
I believe the advice is that if you have one horse on board, it should be behind the driver, so nearest the centre of the road. Any camber in the road will unbalance the box more if the horse is on the left, plus if you drop a wheel off the edge of the road (easy enough on some country lanes) the box will be more likely to tip/dig in if the weight is mainly on the left.
Yeah I got that completely the wrong way round, always on the right to balance the box. either way, right hand door = better in most circumstances in event of a breakdown in a left side of the road country.Only time I've ever had a police escort accompany the horsebox
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