Don’t get taken for a Ride (Transport

So you have polished and bathed your pony, you have chosen the show, bribed your friends with chocolates to come along and help, now to choose your transport to get you to a show.

With the advent of social media, there are plenty of pages of horse transport, self-drive or trailer hire, and with the usual dangers of social media even horse transport despite it being heavily regulated, has its fair share of scammers or illegals or legal cowboys.

So you are now asking what harm is it to give the person down the road £50 to take you to the show, or even someone on the yard to take you. Well this is not legal and whilst you might think you are saving yourself some money, when it goes wrong usually either seriously injuring your horse or worse killing your horse this is where you find out that saving this money was the most expensive thing you have ever done.

Hindsight Is a Wonderful Gift.

Legal Horse Transport is costly and rightly so. The insurances are very expensive, as well as the requirements to keep the vehicles on the road.

There are deaths of horses whose owners who did not know what to check for every single day. There is no recourse for owners who have sadly lost their horse to an illegal transporter; the only thing to do is get an equine solicitor and start civil proceedings against that person. This is very costly and when it does end up at court you will probably find the illegal transporter you used cannot pay back your costs so will pay back at £5 a month!

So how do I know my transport is legal?

DEFRA hold a database of licenced transporters, but it is a switchboard and not disabled friendly. To negotiate to get to the WIT Team to speak to someone to get the information, you will need the company name, the person’s name and the address of the transporter; not easy on social media where the illegals hide. Worse you can only access this Monday to Friday 9am-5pm. DVSA hold all the transporters who have operator licences, so that is anyone currently over 3.51t and above or 4x4 and trailer. And from May 2022, all international 2.5t and above will have to have an operator's licence, tacho fitted, and a speed limiter fitted.

https://www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-operator-licence-applications

This is available 24/7, so is a lot easier and you can tell if the lorry or 4x4 and trailer is legal.

What my Transporter should have

Must have by law DEFRA ATA T1 under 8 hours & CET OR DEFRA ATA T2 over 8 hours & ACET T2 container certificate

International must have EU equivalent of ATA T2, ACET and T2 container certificate and an office based in the country and their business also registered in the EU country.

Now a T1 has not had the vehicle inspected; they cannot do anymore than 8 hours (so a day at a show is a no straight away, or a beach ride). A T1 has taken an online test that is all the Certificate in Equine Transport! And then applied to DEFRA for an ATA T1. DEFRA do not check that the person or the vehicle is safe, they just check that the post code is valid.

T2 now the person has not only taken an online test, but they have also handled a horse with an examiner and driven the horse on test, unloaded as well and been examined on this. This is an NVQ 3 qualification Advanced Certificate in Equine Transport ACET.

A T2 can travel a horse over 8 hours so nationwide transport. (Since BREXIT these lorries are no longer INTERNATIONAL unless they have gone to the EU country and registered all over again and retaken the ACET, and had the lorry inspected over in the EU country as well and got an office registered in the EU country.)

The Lorry will also have been inspected by a company working for DEFRA. Checks will be made to make sure the partitions are safe and will not cause injury, that the fans are working, that the temperature monitors are working, that the ramp angles are no more than 20 degrees and no steps at the top of the ramp, that the on board trackers are working, that the vehicle has equipment to load horses, ferry lashing points front, sides and rear of the vehicle, equipment to feed horses and access to water and forage on board as well. Directory's need to be carried as well listing stabling, vet surgery's. This gives the T2 Container Certificate valid for 5 years. After 5 years the lorry must be inspected again.

Insurances

Must have by law hire and reward.

Optional (but if they do not have it, it is adviseable not to use them): Public and Employers Liability, Care Custody and Control, Trade Equine Breakdown Recovery.

Vehicle must have by law

3.51t and above Operators Licence (blue or green disc in the window).

4x4 and trailer must have Operators Licence (blue or green disc in the window) .

By Dr Julie Magnus

From May 2022, 2.5t and above will require operator licences for International Transport. If any of the above is missing DO NOT USE! Self-Drives Trailer Hire around £45 a day. The trailer cannot be older than 5 years old, and must be serviced every 6 months with records kept. The company hiring it out will have Public Liability Insurance for the trailer to go on the road. What you need to hire a trailer:B+E licence. Two forms of address. Vehicle to tow with, cannot have detachable towbar and must have an independent break away point. Trailer insurance - your trailer hire company will advise you on which company to use. Equine breakdown recovery trailer assist £45 (for 12 months). Deposit of £100 . 3.5t vans £100+vat per day to £150+vat per day, normally allows you up to 300 miles in that day. If you are going further it is always best to discuss this with the company, as many charge quite a lot of money per mile. You will need to go online to DVLA and give the link to your licence to the company who will print out the copy of your licence and your entitlement to drive. For all Self-Drive Hires Terms and conditions; read these carefully, especially the deposit if there is any damage caused by you or your horse. Damage deposits are required immediately and can be upwards of £1500. So, be careful and pay a little more as some do deposit protection which costs a bit more to book the van but are worth it. Always check the vehicle for damage and take photos (the company would have done this anyway, but for your peace of mind, you take photos of inside and out). Equine Breakdown Recovery Also pay attention that they have cover with an equine breakdown recovery company. Equine Rescue Services are the only company that covers self-drive vans, so ensure that there is cover in place as you do not want to be stuck on the side of the road with no way to get home! If you are hiring a trailer then it is up to YOU to cover this, and they will take the tow vehicle number plate that will be towing the trailer. Do not leave home without cover, and this cover is ADDITIONAL to your breakdown cover for the towing vehicle, so get your trailer covered with your horses! It is only £45 on top of your normal AA or RAC cover, and again Trailer Assist runs for a year so worth it when you are going out all year. You do not want to be stranded on the side of the road for the Police to organise cover as this will be super expensive! Booking Pay attention to the times you can pick up and take back and any late penalties if you are late even if caught in traffic. These vans and trailers will have trackers on and you sitting down to your lovely roast dinner whilst texting the company to say you are stuck in traffic will not go down well! Also, ensure you have cleared out and swept out the van and taken out any rubbish. Most companies allow well behaved dogs to go in the van, so make sure you have good blankets for the seats and remember their travel harness or crate. (Also ensure the show centre allows dogs - all service and assistance dogs are exempt) And finally WATCH your weight! By law inside the van will be the height, length, width and the actual payload you can put on the vehicle. A well made 3.5t will have a payload of around 1 tonne (1000kgs), now when this sounds a lot it isn’t. Start thinking of if you and a friend are hiring and you have 1 horse and a pony (weight of the horse 535kgs and weight of pony 245kgs) all of a sudden you are at 780kgs leaving 220kgs and the average person is around 80kgs so that’s the driver accounted for leaving now 140kgs and that is not a lot! Bridles and saddles, numnahs, buckets, water, haylage, feeds, your picnic, your show outfits all weigh in a lot more than you think so if you are this close to the weight consider taking a car with everything in apart from the water, feeds and haylage! Safety and Insurance at shows No matter what you hire, do remember your tack and horse is not insured unless you have horse insurance and you have listed all your tack! So, ensure you have got insurance to go out and about with and that you are covered for hiring either self-drive or a horse transporter. You hear of massive tack thefts going on at shows as no one will think twice of someone walking around in jodhpur's carrying a saddle and a bridle! Tack goes missing at shows, as well as feed and grooming kits. Hats and body protectors are not cheap and whilst you don’t think anyone would do this, when someone has emptied your van of all your tack whilst you have gone and got your cheesy chips and looked at all the photos and you return to find all your tack gone. The Police will only give you a crime reference number which is required for an Insurance claim but if you are not insured how are you going to replace everything. It is always best to leave someone that you have brought along to the show to stay with your horse and trailer or selfdrive van. Public Liability for your Horse Remember you are liable for your horse 24/7, even if he gets out of the field. So, the minimum of public liability is needed in case they damage anything. Same thing if they go out and about. You are travelling on a public road and going to a public event. Ensure you have correct Public Liability cover. Some memberships offer this BUT always read the small print as there are a lot of get out clauses. What position of travel suits my horse? Most horses have a preferred position of travel. BARTA reported in both their reports that most of the accidents with horses and ponies were the rear facing breast bars where the horse or pony jumped into the groom's section and get stuck! I WOULD ADVISE NOT TO USE ONE OF THESE VEHICLES AS THIS COULD BE THE LAST JOURNEY YOUR HORSE WILL MAKE. Coachbuilders like Oakleys, Gazeley Coachbuilders, Gem Horseboxes and Theault all make the long stall/funnel system often copied by competitors and called wrongly ‘stallion partition’.

The long stall/funnel system first appeared by Lambourn in the early 1930’s. These eliminate the problem of the horse/pony jumping anywhere and they can either travel forward or backwards quite safely. Herringbone; traditionally the horses bottom faced the driver and the head faced the back of the horsebox at an angle of 45 degrees, the partitions are H partitions and the horses can spread their legs underneath the partitions Straight Across; a lot of the professional international transporters have cages (full height partitions) so that each horse is enclosed fully and can travel safely without getting to another. The difficulty of this is you cannot get to the horses to feed or water them. Newer vehicles have little hatches along the side that you can open so you can feed each horse and water them. Forward Facing; most trailers are forward facing and racehorse transport HGVs are forward facing. The Oakley HGV’s can make up any combination with the full height partitions. Most used for poor travellers is the Foal Box 3.3m sq stable on wheels. This is more commonly used for a mare and foal at foot, so the horse can decide which way to travel. This is particularly a requirement when going to the vets with a poorly or sore horse. We all know how we feel when we have hurt our backs and sometimes sitting or standing a certain way aggravates it more, so consider this especially for lameness, laminitics and colics. Most of the HGV horseboxes can take any height and any width horse, and even the longest warmblood! It is important to recognise what your horse needs. A lot of the racehorse rehoming organisations will only allow their loan horse in a horsebox, and not a trailer. When deciding what is best, think carefully what your budget is, how big your horse/pony is, what your licence entitlements are and if you are confident at driving with a live animal on the back. Passports It is a legal requirement that you bring your horses passport on the lorry, not a copy or an e copy, it must be the actual passport. Put it in a plastic folder along with your horse and rider insurance documents to take along with you. It is also required if you breakdown as the licenced transporter that comes out requires this. Pay attention to your vaccinations as you do not want to get to the show only to find you will be turned away as you have not vaccinated your horse! Currently there are many outbreaks of Equine Influenza mostly in unvaccinated horses and ponies, but remember EI it is airborne and can travel 1.6kms. Route Planning Sat navs are not that reliable and certainly google maps should never be used on the road as they currently look at slow traffic conditions and continually re-route you. If you have never been to the show before consider doing a reccy mission a week or so before and go along when there is another show on. Look at potential hazards on the way ie HGV restrictions if you hire a 7.5t, or low bridges. Normal sat navs are for cars and they do not take into account the trailer you might have behind your tow vehicle! DVSA have just released the press release into sat navs for HGVs due to the many bridge strikes that are happening in vans and lorry’s. You can get an App which you do have to pay for ‘SYGIC TRUCK’ which is ideal if you hire multiple vehicles. You can enter height, width and length and tonnage and this will plot the best and safest route for you, avoiding all the low bridges and narrow roads not big enough for your vehicle. Use a map book and plan your route to get to the show safely. Print them out and laminate them so your co pilot can read them out. Also, if a long journey identify which services are the best for everyone, including your dog. Get a take away cup of tea/coffee/chocolate and remember the DRIVE THROUGHS are not for trailers or vans! Remember to knock off the hay and dirt on your reusable cup; most services give a 50p discount for reusable cups a bonus as services can be expensive. Make sure you have been to the supermarket and bought up crisps and sweets and bottled drink for the journey there and back. A large bag of sweets at the supermarket is usually £1 but at the services I have seen the same sweets for £3.50p. Always put shavings down in the trailer or van as this will soak up the faeces and urine which never ever should be allowed to leak out on to roads. T2 regulations are that floors should be sealed and large transporters have urine tanks so no faeces or urine ever escapes. Know the vehicle you are driving It is a legal requirement that YOU the driver of the vehicle KNOWS all the rules and regulations of the road of the vehicle that you are driving and no excuses. If you have hired a van then there is a checklist for you to tick off. Before you drive off, check the vehicle and carry this onboard. A lot of companies will do a familiarisation for the vehicle, so if you are not sure ask! The height, length and width and payload should be printed inside the cab (legal requirement), and along with this should be a speed limit sticker to let you know what speeds the vehicle can do on single/dual/motorways. If these are missing out the vehicle then something is not right! Finally, if you have followed this advice then you should have a safe trip to and from the show, and your only worry is will the cute fluffy shetland that has just turned up going to win the hearts of the judges!!! When you leave the showground, always thank everyone for being there and let them know you had a wonderful day. Leave no trace that you were parked there with your vehicle and horses!

At Warwickshire Horse Transport we offer a full professional Nationwide transportation service including self-drive hire. T: Michelle Hale: 07932 651073 E: michellehale17@icloud.com www.warwickshirehorsetransport.co.uk

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