Has anyone out there ever transported horses across the continent for a living?Am considering trying to get on a course and maybe do something a little more interesting than the usual freight stuff but the companies i’ve approached,understandably require some actual horse welfare experience,which i don’t have on account of being on the road for the last 10 years or so.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
I don’t think that the horse transportation business has escaped the hard times.
A friend of mine who lives in Germany, regularly transports horses between Switzerland and all areas of Germany. He has been using a Dutch company for a few years now, and bit by bit (due to competition) the price has been coming down. For the last year or so it has been costing less that half price to send by the company than he could do it himself with his horse trailer & car/4x4.
He gets a quick and good quality service, that he is well happy with price wise so I’d imagine it will not be easy to break into that market.
BTW, you’re right about the requirement for horse experience. It took him ages to find a new driver that had the correct combination of enough horse & truck experience. 
my mate does. i see him taking his missus shopping every week.
god she’s ugly. 
limeyphil:
my mate does. i see him taking his missus shopping every week.
god she’s ugly.
Niegh Neigh
Take the general hassle of running a basic haulage business and treble it… and you might be about half way there. I touched on the idea briefly for myself, before reading up.
New legislation was introduced in 2007 in line with the animal welfare act, that just generally makes everything a massive logistical and paperwork nightmare.
You need to be qualified to handle the animals in question, and you will need an animal transport authorisation for movements. When its in connection with economic activity it is made all the more complex.
On top of all the drivers hours rules to keep VOSA happy, you would need to abide by all the additional regulations to keep DEFRA happy.
Here is a link to get you started.
defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/farman … /index.htm
It’s a while since i’ve looked at it, there was a lot to trawl through, and I soon binned the idea. Would be a better idea to get yourself in with a family run type business that has been doing it for eons, and knows the score. Starting up on your own would be a one in a million shot.
There are maximum hours for transport, approved resting places to allow the animals to rest, approved vehicle specifications, and it goes on and on.
From a personal perspective, given that I work with and around horses in the current job (feed and bedding delivery). I can think of no more difficult animal to deal with. They can be an absolute nightmare if they want to cause a problem in a situation, and often the owners are no better. A lot of them are overly sensitive to everything (due to nurture as much as nature, the ownership doesn’t help), nevermind a big scary truck, if they decide to flip out and bolt, there isn’t a lot you are going to do about it. If they cause damage to themselves, everyone within shouting distance will be blamed and threatened with legal action, bar the animal itself.
I don’t know where abouts in the country you are, but I live close by Lambourn, Berkshire which is a centre for racehorse breeding, and transport naturally goes with that. It would be a good place to start investigation of such things.
I think it would be a giant headache from start to finish, but thats just my opinion.
thanx for your advice there old friend sounds about right from subsequent research by my good self.i was thinking in terms of working for other firms as opposed to starting up my own situation but it seems,as you say,fraught with forebodings and will prob shelve the idea.thanx again for your input.
Didnt Reptons missus used to do it, if not her, there was certainly one of the laydeez from these forums carried hosses
She did indeed. 
Cant see the point in spending all that money on a specialist vehicle…couldnt you just offer to ride them to where ever they are going and then get the train home…simple… 
Even though there is a lot of legislation to deal with, the horse trucks are amazing!
Grasshopper:
Even though there is a lot of legislation to deal with, the horse trucks are amazing!
but you can perv over the grooms, depending on your persuasion on the stable lad
Wheel Nut:
Grasshopper:
Even though there is a lot of legislation to deal with, the horse trucks are amazing!
but you can perv over the grooms, depending on your persuasion on the stable lad
MY brother inlaw works for parkers he loves it,never home though,He goes all over europe.He moves anything from mega bucks race,stud horses to wild donkeys.
I don’t know where you live,but they sometimes are after 2nd drivers to go out with the lorry so they can get the job done.
Parkers are based down at hythe in kent.
Regards
Tony
My cousin passed her class one, not long after me as she was an international showjumper and drove her own horses, she had a proper trailer built but used to borrow or hire a tractor unit. I remember she was most put out with all the fuss in a society magazine about Princess Anne having passed her HGV. They used to ride in the same events but no one interviewed Amanda
repton’s missus did indeed spend a number of years transporting horses all over europe.
The work is varied and an incredible experience but you will only get your foot in the door with a lot of exerience both at the wheel of a truck and at handling horses. You are away for weeks on end, which suited me when I was doing it and you get to handle some amazing horses. You need to be aware though that it is the chosen career of a lot of ex jockeys who got their driving exerience behind the wheel of a horse box ferrying racehorses about and you have to be very good at it to compete against them for the jobs. Heronden Int don’t need as much exerience from their drivers because they specialise in transorting the household cavalry about where the horses are handled by the squaddies that ride them but they are an interesting company to work for. If you could tell us your location and what specifically you are looking for then I could make a better job of answering your questions. I have worked for a number of the bigger names in Int horse transport. (Not Parker). The pay is poor, the hours are very long but if you love horses then it is an adventure everyday.
Sorry, but without any experience in handling horses you don’t stand a chance of getting a horse transport job 
Sadly Dennis is right. It is hard to come at the industry, even if you are very willing, without a lifetime with horses behind you. Much of the work is through the British Bloodstock Agency and involves airport work. A horse which has spent exhausting hours on a wagon in Argentina then got on a plane and now is tired and confused but it has to get on a wagon at Stanstead airport because there really is no other option. Need handling quietly and confidently by someone who knows what they are doing.
Horse boxes…overweight, underpowered, poorly maintained and driven by a bit slip of a lass!
Well, the ones I get stuck behind anyways. 
cheekymonkey:
Horse boxes…overweight, underpowered, poorly maintained and driven by a bit slip of a lass!Well, the ones I get stuck behind anyways.
but the ones that you cannot catch are normally driven by high class totty
There is a huge difference between a lass you see on a weekend in her ancient Bedford TK and a commercial operation.
i am having serious deja vue her linds… 