What vehicle for towing a horse box?

Mazda CX 5

Horses are heavy so you’ll probs be looking for something that can pull 2000kg

You’ve got to think outside the (horse) box.

Get a small horse. That way virtually anything will pull it.

Hell you can virtually get a Shetland pony on the back of a motorbike.

The last gen XC90 and XC70 are the standard for towing horseboxes round here, probably every third horsebox has one in front of it. I also live in the middle of horse country, probably 2 dozen stables within 10 km of me at home, and probably twice that at the office. So i see a  _lot_ of horse boxes.

Planes are light though, ‘cos …. flying!

I move our [2 tons] boat around with the mower!

Yeah, the plane used was a bit more challenging…

One of these ? You can convert the horse into lasagne or crispy pancakes when you’ve finished.

Horses are heavy so you’ll probs be looking for something that can pull 2000kg

You’ve got to think outside the (horse) box.

Get a small horse. That way virtually anything will pull it.

Hell you can virtually get a Shetland pony on the back of a motorbike.

Can’t you use the horse to pull the box ? Like they did in the good old days ?

A van?

Then you get something for biking trips too. The mirrors are plenty big for reversing the trailer, generally 2.7t+ tow capacity. Iveco Daily for the full 3.5t from memory.

A van?

Then you get something for biking trips too.

In an ideal world I would do that, but I have to sell our car to help fund the new vehicle purchase and I don’t fancy nipping to the shops in a 3.5t van.

Just get a normal medium size van? Transit Custom, Trafic etc.

Crew cab van can even give you six seats.

Did a quick straw poll during the commutes of the last 24 or so hours.

Seen 28 horse transport devices (i counted).

About a third vans/lorries, all but one were 3.5/2.7t sort of things, the 8th one was a full on coach built thing like a motorhome.

6 or 7 of the old XC90 and XC70/V70 families. Also new shape XC90 and XC60 (one each IIRC).

3 Subaru Forresters, couple of Passats, and 2 or 3 VW SUV/MPV (Tiguan/Touran i think).

The rest were pick ups/double cabs.

Based on this, I think you should get the coachbuilt motor home with built in horsebox for £200 grand. This is STW  after all… go big or go home.

Might need to upgrade your driving licence though.

Starmer has changed the double cab pick up tax bracket that the Tories had to back pedal on. There doesn’t seem to be the backlash this time though as it wasn’t announced, just snuck in through the small print in the budget

So prices will sky rocket until the April cut off then probably drop off is my guess. They went up a good few grand last time it was announced

Interesting reading about that (sort of), but this only a BiK increase and only really affects people financing/Leasing them for business purposes Right?

Interesting reading about that (sort of), but this only a BiK increase and only really affects people financing/Leasing them for business purposes Right?

I haven’t read much about it, but wouldn’t it also affect VAT? Ie, before the change, a self-employed builder could buy one and claim 100% VAT back (or 50% if used for personal journeys). Isn’t that why commercial sales usually show commercial vehicles for sale excluding VAT?

Yeah, the plane used was a bit more challenging…

Yep…. I’ll give you that!!

Although didn’t Geoff Capes or someone manage to pull a 747??

Have I missed something – why are double-cabs suddenly going to be cheap?

bloody awful things anyway. cross between a car and a cart to be towed by the horse.

useful on a farm for moving farm things .Currently a tax dodge otherwise.

as for lorrys vs towing ….

The running cost of even the cheapest to run lorries will far exceed that of a trailer – If you cant tow a trailer get some training – youll need some for the lorry anyway.

Bloody hell, Touraregs are huge :O

They come with a 5.0 V10 diesel as well, capable of towing an airliner… 

most things with a tow bar could – its stopping it thats the issue.

My neighbour uses a Kia Sportage to tow horses in a trailer.

How about another horse, they could take it in turns to pull each other

How about another horse, they could take it in turns to pull each other

Bin dun.

kormoranFree Member
Deux cheveaux

Discovery 4, V6. Find a clean one thats been well looked after. Regularly pull an Ifor with two irish draughts in with no problem.

 didn’t Geoff Capes or someone manage to pull a 747??

Don’t talk about Mrs Capes like that.

Just get a normal medium size van? Transit Custom, Trafic etc.

Crew cab van can even give you six seats.

have you ever tried to get a horse into a seat ?

This is something i’ve been looking at too.  We have recently got a pony and he’s unlikely to need a lot of transporting about at the moment, but i’d like our next car to be tow capable in case we need to rent a trailer to go to a show / move him etc.

As it wouldnt be a regular thing, am not keen to buy a land rover or similar which would be a pain for the rest of the time.

Through lots of searching, there are a number of vehicles that appear as though they should be able to tow and cant, and then some other surprises.

New SUVs like the Sportage and Hyundai SantaFe can only now tow about 750kg braked! This is apparently something to do with the hybrid systems and making the slightly older petrol / diesels more desirable.

The STW favourite Octavia estate looks to be able to tow 1500kg, but i’m not sure that would be enough?

And then from some more searching, most of the Volvo V60 can pull 2000kg, and the XC40 can do similar.

Any other recommendations for ‘normal family car that can tow a surprising amount?’

The thing with towing a horse-box compared to a caravan is the weight is moving. And sometimes the weight is going bat-shit crazy!!!

IME you need the weight of a SUV type 4×4 to keep things stable and you don’t end up with the trailer pushing the car.

And yes – many new hybrid SUVs can’t tow. I think the latest Kuga can tow 2100kg though.

https://www.ford.co.uk/cars/new-kuga#kuga

Don’t forget that you need a car that can tow the MAM of the trailer

Don’t think this applies to cars, I have heard the same but it was when I was taking my CE license and applicable to commercial vehicles.

Tow vehicle and trailer are also dependent on horse weight, ‘hers’ is rather large so we have the heavier HB511 trailer but a smaller horse in a smaller trailer would bring RWD saloons into play.  Also regarding 4×4, I tow ours with an Iveco campervan (3.5t limit) It’s only RWD but it’s only needed a tow once in about 12 years, out of a field where the lorries had sunk to their diffs and the landowner subsequently stopped running eventing there!  I reckon we would have got out but the trailer had grounded out on a hump) So a 4×4 isn’t essential (m&s tyres are though)

I don’t fancy nipping to the shops in a 3.5t van.

Better than taking a horsebox though!  That’s the reason I tow with my camper, it’s still useful as a bike van, holidays, nipping to the shops when my wife’s car is not available.  It’s only a metre longer than a Discovery and probably does similar mpg.

I reckon one of these ought to do the trick, always fancied one myself as a holiday/festival camper – could earn a few bob towing the unfortunate souls stuck in the mud at going home time!