Now there is James May and then there are caravans and then there are damned HORSEBOXES!!!!

Sat behind a 20 year old Volvo behind a Land Rover behind a bl**dy great horsebox doing between 25 and 35 mph for 6 miles alang the A272 today in the rush hour.

Do they have to travel that slowly? Do they have to travel in the rush hour? Do they not think about pulling over from time to time?

Apologies if any horse lovers have been offended by this rant...

 

Squeak may be slightly offended

 

Good job they were in a box, they go even slower being ridden.

 

Yes, they have to travel slower than everyone else. They are limited to 56 MPH. Many horses are worth more than our families put together, so taking care and driving sensibly is of paramount importance.

Yes, they have to travel in rush hour because they are severely restricted in driving hours, and their customers want them at a race, at a certain time, and home in a reasonable time so the stable lads/lasses can put them to bed. The drivers also deserve a social life, which isn't helped by the hours that they have to do. Many horseboxes travel from afar, which compounds the issue of driving hours. If they pulled over all the time, they wouldn't get home without breaching the law.

No offence taken here btw, just pointing out the facts

 

Did you just say more than our families put together??? Now some might find that offensive.
56MPH (or even 45MPH) would have been just fine - the highway code discusses 'making reasonable progress'.

 

Oh please; you know what I mean

Yes it does. It also states that you should drive in a nature whereby you take into account the conditions; one of those conditions is the size of the vehicle.

 

Sorry but I didn't know what you meant.
Where you driving the lorry by any chance?

 

I meant that the driver has to take into account the size of their vehicle when driving, especially when it's got several tons of horse onboard, and the Highway Code states that you should consider the state of your vehicle and drive within the constraints.

I know the A272 well, and appreciate that it's not the best road for maintaining speed. Horseboxes have to slow down for bends, otherwise the GGs in the rear fall over and sustain injuries...which would cost the driver their job. It then takes a long time to speed up, mainly because of the lack of power, but also because any sudden acceleration wouldn't bode well for the horses.

No...it wasn't me

 

Why don't they just keep the horses at the tracks? And only use the horses at that track for that race.

problem solved!

Revo delivers.

 

It's easy to stress a horse and get it panicing, and you don't want one thrashing about in a horse box, if it's a big box with four in that panic is infectious and at speed very dangerous. And when you think of it 6 miles at 30mph as opposed to 60mph put all of 3mins on your journey.