Whilst on ebay...
23 May 2008 00:50Whilst on ebay the other day
sleepsy_mouse spotted a surprisingly cheap, if old and battered horsebox. The sellers were very frank about it's failings and suggested anyone interested should come and see it before the auction ended- they could do any day but Saturday as they were going off to Guildford that day for a show. Guildford being about ten miles from us we figured it might be worth a look.
When someone says they are bringing their horses to a show, you don't necessarily expect them to be doing this with them:

Or this:

Or this:

Let alone climbing right around ( as in down the side, under the belly and back up the other side ) an Andalusian stallion at flat-out gallop.
All of this to a classic rock soundtrack. Basically you are looking at
sleepsy_mouse's dream show.
Turns out our sellers were members of the Rocking Horse Productions display team.

The outcome being that we got to watch some genuinely outstanding stunt riding, then check out an old but solid horsebox that they picked up as a stopgap and has been taking them round the country to shows and filming gigs for the last year.
That was last weekend. Today I have just driven said lorry back here from Yeovil. It's noisy, the steering is an object reminder of exactly power-steering was invented, the gearbox is like stirring porridge, the fuel guage moves in time with the indicators and the whole thing is just a little nervewracking, but it got us home and it's a horsebox and we could afford it. That adds up to a small to medium sized miracle and removes one of the biggest problems we have had with our horses over the last few years. No more having to phone around desperately looking for transport or having to do everything to someone else's timescale. No more feeling anxious if the pony looks like taking a few minutes to load. It won't be cheap to run and I'm sure there will be plenty of other things to worry about ( I find driving horses around pretty stressful at the best of times ) but we have our own box and that is pretty much awesome.
When someone says they are bringing their horses to a show, you don't necessarily expect them to be doing this with them:

Or this:

Or this:

Let alone climbing right around ( as in down the side, under the belly and back up the other side ) an Andalusian stallion at flat-out gallop.
All of this to a classic rock soundtrack. Basically you are looking at
Turns out our sellers were members of the Rocking Horse Productions display team.

The outcome being that we got to watch some genuinely outstanding stunt riding, then check out an old but solid horsebox that they picked up as a stopgap and has been taking them round the country to shows and filming gigs for the last year.
That was last weekend. Today I have just driven said lorry back here from Yeovil. It's noisy, the steering is an object reminder of exactly power-steering was invented, the gearbox is like stirring porridge, the fuel guage moves in time with the indicators and the whole thing is just a little nervewracking, but it got us home and it's a horsebox and we could afford it. That adds up to a small to medium sized miracle and removes one of the biggest problems we have had with our horses over the last few years. No more having to phone around desperately looking for transport or having to do everything to someone else's timescale. No more feeling anxious if the pony looks like taking a few minutes to load. It won't be cheap to run and I'm sure there will be plenty of other things to worry about ( I find driving horses around pretty stressful at the best of times ) but we have our own box and that is pretty much awesome.
no subject
Date: 24 May 2008 12:07 (UTC)no subject
Date: 24 May 2008 22:56 (UTC)Actually, what sounds really hectic is the plating process. Doesn't sound like that is fun at all and apparently we need to be booking it quite urgently because although it's not until August apparently they all tend to come up at that time of the year cos that was the time that registration used to happen.
Also we'd have to not tell anyone because The hire and reward laws are fucked up. (http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/article.php?aid=101474&cid=397)