Tell me about your horse/pony transport please.

[Mirage]

I'm interested in what trailers/lorries people have,what size and how many horses and ponies they transport,and if applicable,what they use to tow with.I really need to sort out a trailer for dpony and am racking my brain what to do.We are still looking for a pony for dd2,so whatever I end up with needs to have room for two ponies,but then I'll have to change my car as it won't be able to pull the weight.My friend is selling an old style Rice lookalike,but as it has no ramp at the front,or partition,I'd be worried about backing two ponies out of a tight space and down a ramp.It looks quite narrow to me,so don't know if was designed to take two.Argghhh! I'm going around and around in circles with this,so any help would really be appreciated.

Thank you

I have no transport at the moment but I've used a trailer in the past and also owned a small 3.5 tonne lorry.
I loved the little lorry but didn't use it enough to justify taxing and insuring another vehicle. I now have a nissan x-trail which is just man enough to tow my horse on her own when I borrow my friends trailer.
You need to be very careful with weights when towing, depending on when you passed your test you might need a trailer license also. The lorry was great for shows as there was space to get changed and to put all your stuff but ultimately was a luxury I couldn't afford. There are often lots of discussions on the horse and hound forum on this topic which might help you make up your mind.

We rent a trailer when we travel (as have spent all our money on buying the horses) and tow it with our 2 litre diesel Zafira. It's fine with either of the ponies on board, haven't tried with both, but Bob who we hire from reckons it would be ok as long as there are no big hills. You do have to be careful though about kerbside weight etc. On the plus side we've found a hacking route to our nearest show!

I dream of getting a lorry! If you think about the trailer then get it checked out (esp the floor!) and I don't think you can travel two without a partition. (there is a lorry for sale for £5k on our yard, scruffy but reliable). pm me if you'd like details, but she's selling it as the ramp is difficult on your own

Good luck!

We have a 40+ year old 'Bramber Stroller' double pony trailer. It is nice and small, but didn't. One with a partition. I paid £100 for it, then my friend and I put £350 into renovating it. It would comfortably take 2 lightish roughly 13 handers, if we were brave enough. I can tow it in my c5 (Citroen, not Sinclair). It doesn't have a side ramp, but makes up for this in being small and towable.
It isn't plated, and when I rang the manufacturers, they were that it was still going, they stopped making them 35 years ago!

We have a secondhand Bateson Derby which takes 2 ponies up to 14.2hh or 1 up to 17.2hh. We tow with our diesel passat estate. It has rear load/front unload.We've taken dpony 12.2hh and friend's 13.2hh quite happily in it,including round the rather interesing lanes north of Ashbourne. We used toborrow a friend's Ifor Williams 403 but because it is only designed for 1 horse or a mare and foal dpony found it a bit wide-no mishaps but found him braced in odd positions when we came to unload! DH says both are easy to tow (I need to takemy test!) Dpony's favourite method of transport is a huge lorry that we get a lift in sometimes,he all but runs up the ramp and stands surveying the yard.....

We had to go for a lightweight trailer as when planning to buy dpony DH's final words were "Do what you want but we're not buying a bloody 4x4 just so you can take it to play with its friends".....

If you are thinking of buying a trailer, I would def recommed getting an engineer to go and look at it before you buy. I bought one earlier in the year from someone on the yard, got someone to come and service it, and the only thing that was good about it was the floor . £70 before buying would have saved a lot of heartache.

Currently we get a lift in friends lorry, but will buy a trailer again in the spring, maybe hire a couple of times over the winter

I have had a few different options.
18hh hunter - we had a Ifor 510 and an Isuzu trooper - fantastic combination and easily towed with my horse and a friends horse on a number of occasions.

Then bought a heavy weight show cob and bought a 7.5 tonne Ford Cargo wagon. Was also brilliant but after having my DD decided to sell it and went back to a trailer as no longer doing the distances and staying over night at shows. The wagon was stalled for 4 but would only carry 2 big horses or 3 ponies due to the weight of the living area.

Currently have an Ifor 401 - the single trailer which for my show cob is ideal. It has more room than a single stall on a Ifor 505 and I can tack up on board which is great in bad weather.
I would have gone for a 510 again but budget did not allow.
Currently pulling this with a Nissan Terrano which is also great.

I have had a 7.5 ton lorry
a 3.5 ton lorry
a 510 ifor williams trailer and now a 505 trailer (which incidently is for sale if anyone is interested!)
the 7.5 ton lorry was expensive for plating and repairs
the 3.5 ton was better but had no living and was still an expense
510 trailer was superb when we had bigger horses
505 trailer suits me - easy enough to tow (although reversing is still a challenge for me which is where the lorry was better) but now I have no ongoing costs

We have an Ifor Williams 505 and a Landrover Discovery. The trailer is brilliant. Can carry 2 upto 16.2...........good for when your DD's move onto horses
The Landrover is basically a comfy tractor and pulls really well. The real great towing machine is a Daihatsu fourtrack......they were built for it.
Just look into the vehicle info before you buy. Some that look like they'll be great have a really low amount they can tow.

Lots to consider here,so thank you all.I passed my test in 1989 so don't need to take a trailer test,but whatever I decide to do,I'll take car and trailer to one of my dad's fields and practice reversing around cones ect.I secretly dread towing,but am going to have to do it for the dds,and keep telling myself that when I was 15 I could drive a tractor and 20ft trailer loaded with hay around haystacks,so a horsebox shouldn't be a problem....

The annoying thing is,my dad has a defender and cattle trailer,which sits there all week and is only ever used on a Tuesday,I'm working on him to let me borrow it occasionally,but he is fretting that you can't put ponies in a cattle trailer.I've told him that dpony's old owners used one,as do my friends,but he isn't convinced.

OYW,thankyou for letting me know about the lorry,but I think dh would faint if I came home with one!

I have a Wessex trailer towed with a Toyota Landcruiser. We bought the Wessex when we had a Subaru Forester as it was light and kept within the kerb weight.

If you can, go for a more powerful car as you can do a lot of damage if the car is straining all the time. At one point the Forester struggled to get up a hill (v steep hill) with just one pony on board!

We have a 15yo Ifor Williams hunter trailer which we have serviced every other year and is still going strong. We've taken our 15.1 heavyweight cob in it and also 16hh arab.

At the moment it just takes DD's two Welshies to shows with ease. We tow with a Hyundai Santa Fe which has good torque - better than our previous Freelander.

We keep thinking about buying a horsebox because DD is desperate for some living for changing space/hanging about at shows. However whilst we have her main pony professionally produced we are hanging back because he goes to shows in their box anyway.

I should say that the Ifor Williams trailers are very light which makes them easy to tow. I also think a partition is vital as is a breast bar if you are just travelling one. They also have a front ramp which makes things very easy to unload. They are justifiably popular and you could get a perfectly serviceable one for around 2,000 pounds.

Thanks,Butkin,I entirely agree with you about the front ramp,trying to squeeze between 2 ponies and back them out of a tight space makes me feel fraught with nerves.I'm resigned to giving up my beloved and reliable Mondeo and buying a 4 x 4 and will have to do some research [and saving up].I hate trying out and buying new cars and DH is being very unhelpful when I ask his opinion.

Ifor are ok, but not geared for smaller ponies. I detest the petition, a solid strip along the middle with a hanging flap underneath. there is nothing along the centre to brace their feet against. The strip is 2/3 feet up and exactly the wrong height, there is potential if the pony goes down in the box to end up caught underneath. the breast bars are too high and so is the breeching. They arent too heavy to tow, but are definitely designed for horses.

Actually what Saggy says about Ifors makes sense to me. We usually have one when we hire and the breast bar etc is fine for our 13.3, but I think anything smaller could get underneath

Agree with what you say about Ifors - ours was bought for horses - but we've had two tinies (less than 12 hands) on without problems if you tie up well.

They also hold their value.

We bought our Ifor in the summer and we are so pleased with it. The lady we got it from (who had it from new) had put lower breast bar fixings in on one side for exactly the reason you're discussing (She'd also done the same for the breech bar). It works really well for DD's 12.2 Dartmoor, and my 14.1 Welsh x is next door with the regular height breast bar. The thing is with them is that, like Butkin says, they do hold their value and there are so many "bits' you can get to customise yours / maintain it.

Prior to the Ifor, we had an older style Rice Eventer-with no front unload. Now I know some people / horse combos use them with no issue, but from my experience I wouldn't recommend it. DD's pony took a lot of coaxing to even try it (food in trailer for weeks, etc) and got so panicky when he couldn't "go anywhere" / see around when we arrived anywhere, he tried to get out ASAP and panicked himself. He used to load happily before, but now has a "moment" every time we attempt to load.

elephantpoo,that is interesting,acoording to her first owner on her passport,dpony could be diificult to load in the past,but I've loaded her into my neighbour's Ifor with no problems,even dd can load and unload her from that.I'd definately want to avoid her loading problems reoccuring in future.We've had an 11.2 hh,12hh and 13hh in there with no slipping or going under the breast bar so far,but will check what spec trailer neighbour has and see if I can get a similar one.

I have an ifor single which i really like because it's easy to tow, more space for my mare than in a double, can tack up in it if raining and lightweight.
Dream of a lorry!!
Do think they are not designed for really tiny ponies - i had to put rosie's companion shetland in it once and he could have walked out without me removing the breast bar.

We used to travel a Shetland in the nose of the trailer and a pony on either side. This was with the breast bar in! Shettie just walked underneath!

I've always had 7.5 tonne lorries as I tend to be away several days at a time competing and I like my creature comforts. Both my horses have been on the bigger side, last one at 16.3, current is 17.2 ish and as show hunters they are generally built like the side of a house. Generally 7.5 tonners are partitioned for 3 but I find anything over 16.2 I end up taking a partition out and stalling for 2 with a steeper angle on the herringbone. I did once travel old boy in a 3 stall to a local show as we had 2 others from the yard hitching a lift, but he was a bit wedged and didn't travel as well as normal. Thankfully it was only a short trip.
Did a lot of thinking about the trailer thing, but worked out that the car I would need to tow a trailer and lard arse horse would be a land rover or some other such giant 4x4 and the day to day fuel costs for this would be astronomical. In reality the cost of keeping the wagon on the road for a year isn't too bad, £300 ish service and mot, £350 ish insurance and £185 tax plus any fuel.