My advice is if the other half suggests a 7.5t lorry...run, run as fast and as far away as possible. Money pit is an understatement! I put mine in the garage for its annual plating before I sell it but it wants to make sure I spend at least half its value on getting it through. Stick with the biggest trailer you can get!

Huge thanks to everyone for the advice on horse trailers. I knew you’d be the folk to ask 👍

By way of an update, we ended up plumping for this:

HBX series are very nice trailers, we have an HBX511 (bloody huge horses!) and it's simply sublime, don't know it's there. As to rotten floors, all IW horse trailers for many years have had aluminium floors and I've never seen one in anything other than good nick. Drives:
2010 FFRR TdV8 Vogue - Stornoway Grey
2010 FFRR TdV8 Vogue SE - Zermatt Silver
1998 BMW E36 M3 GTII

As above, plan for a bigger beast to appear, it WILL happen sometime !
Was on the verge of buying a trailer, covid scuppered that, but my daughter wants to get back into eventing again, so it looks like we will end up with one. Probably a second hand Ifor Williams larger model.

Just to give people a laugh-
Warning, buying a horse is a lifestyle choice, not a hobby, it never ends. I even learnt to ride at 50. Bad decision, as I was then bitten by the bug,and really enjoy riding. later, first time on an amazing horse of 18 hands, thought this is amazing, worst aspect, two broken ribs when learning to jump My considerate daughter thought it was hilarious. My mother tried giving me this, you should not be jumping at your age, you have responsibilities, conversation stopped when I reminded her about visiting her in hospital when I was a teenager, she had concussion after being thrown off. As I said, it never ends

Horses have an uncanny ability to burrow into your bank account and empty it! Drives:
2010 FFRR TdV8 Vogue - Stornoway Grey
2010 FFRR TdV8 Vogue SE - Zermatt Silver
1998 BMW E36 M3 GTII

Know what you mean, just worked out rough figures and I fear that the 'running costs' for the horse ( I know, bad pun ! ) exceed those of my fatty.

In the interests of transparency, I need to invite Flyingfocrs, LiftedDisco and Merchy to say “I told you so!”

Just as predicted by the sages of the FFRR forum, one year after getting Horse No.1, Mrs D decided daughter needed a bigger, better, more horse. So a 16h1 Horse No.2 was found. With a long back apparently. So Mrs D decided that the HBX506 she insisted was the right size for us, was now considered too small. So was swapped for a HB511. I was amazed how much horse trailer prices had risen since we purchased our first one in Feb 2021.

Here’s a photo of the new to us HB511 en route to Shropshire to collect Horse No.2

That’s a cracking looking setup

How much have they risen? We paid £4700 for ours back in 2018 and it was 5 months old at the time used twice I sold it nearly a year later for the same £4700 so they really do hold their value well.

Add it to the list of things I should have never sold in recent years, including the Defender 90 we towed it with and the L322  Sold - Bell a 2015 MY16 Loire Blue Autobiography 4.4 SDV8
Previously George a 2007 MY07 Java Black VSE 3.6 TDV8
Previously a 04 MY04 Defender 90

Many thanks. I guess there’s not too many other people stupid enough to be tugging horse trailers about with a petrol V8!

On trailer prices, Well, based on my limited experience, the prices have risen significantly. When we bought our 2 year old HBX506 in Feb 2021 it was £6,700. At that time, we could have had a 2 yr old HBX511 for £7,500. Like you lot on here told me to buy!

The dealer we used in Feb 2022 gave us back the £6,700 we’d paid a year before and charged us £6,750 for the very clean 2018 HB511 we bought. He had a HBX511 but he wanted £9,000 for that (£1,500 more than a year earlier).

The dealer and our local IWT trailer dealer have told us the same thing - because the IWT factory in Wales was shut for 6 months during 2020 due to Covid, there is now a 12 month + wait for new ones, so secondhand prices have risen. 2004 L322 4.4 V8 Vogue Bonatti Grey
(205,500 miles and counting.......)

I always think it softens the blow that they hold their value so well!

The lady we sold the 511 to must be laughing now, it’s not often you make a profit on anything horse related.

I don’t remember the Derv’s being to economical 2 horses up, so I dread to think about a V8  Sold - Bell a 2015 MY16 Loire Blue Autobiography 4.4 SDV8
Previously George a 2007 MY07 Java Black VSE 3.6 TDV8
Previously a 04 MY04 Defender 90

Hahaha….

I’d forgotten that I’d posted on here and was reading the thread with a thought of, “there’s a chap who knows what he’s talking about” and was super embarrassed to read my own comments of a year ago…

So… about the ‘I told you so…’ moment, I have to confess to @chawks that our daughter has decided that the 7.5 tonne lorry has to go and she’s likely to be searching for a trailer…

Well…look on the bright side - she’s due to get married soon, so (allegedly) won’t be my problem for too much longer…



Daaaaaaaaddddd….!!!

On the subject of daughters not being your problem after marriage.
I do not agree.

Both of our girls have been left home over 12years. One has 10th wedding anniversary next month, the other has been married four years this year.

I still get the same amount of costs for fixing things etc. only saving grace is they never had horses!

Just hope that it pays dividends when they choose my care home?

TomV8 wrote:

Many thanks. I guess there’s not too many other people stupid enough to be tugging horse trailers about with a petrol V8!

Ah well you see.....im in that silly group too....and been and endurance rider its a lot cheaper to run 4 horses than the Fatty!

Nice set up Tom.

Like my 511 a lot and have put cameras in the box to keep an eye on travelling steed and a reversing camera, all hard wired to the screen in the FF, works a treat.

 If it dont work.......burn it!

If the IId tool cant fix it.......burn the FF.

If the FF cant be fixed......buy a Land Cruiser!

If the LC cant be fixed..............................................BUY a horse !!

Quote from LiftedDisco......( Also as mentioned, check floors very carefully - lifting mats is not a nice process as there can be all sorts of gunge under there but will be a sound investment of time and effort. )

If you buy a used trailer, then this is very important, if there is a ton of gunge under the floor mats, then the owner has probably not looked after the mechanics of the trailer either....then walk away. Several owners I know, have their cars serviced religiously, but do not even realise that the trailers require maintenance

I will take your 511 and raise you......

Had 510 and 511s for years, great trailers, new horse arrives a couple of years ago and won't travel facing forward !! No problem says SWMBO, we will get an Equitrek and keep the 511, horse loves the Equitrek, oh and for travelling the youngsters she bought an old 505, so now 3 trailers.

3 weeks ago the Range Rover shat its suspension and will take 2/3 weeks to sort as garage busy. No problem she says, went and bought a 7.5T Mercedes lorry, as we had a big 3 day show coming up and obviously couldn't miss that

Anyway, day after picking up said lorry she comes off at the gallops and completely smashes her fibia and ankle bone (bones through the skin), MINIMUM 6 months before she can put a foot in a stirrup

So 3 trailers and a lorry cluttering up the yard.

Women and horses