Oops! What have I let myself in for?
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- Oops! What have I let myself in for?
Oops! What have I let myself in for?
20-05-2018 10:43 PM
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Last week I agreed to help my daughter get a rescued horse from Maidstone to her stables near Herne Bay and got roped into agreeing to drive the horse box similar to the one here.
Apparently it's a 5.5 Tonne vehicle and I have never driven such before
Any hints or tips regarding driving this would be greatly appreciated.
Forum Moderator and Customer
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear - Mark Twain
He who feared he would not succeed sat still
Re: Oops! What have I let myself in for?
20-05-2018 11:26 PM
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Depending on when you passed your driving test, it is likely you have the necessary C1 class - which allows you to drive a "van" up to 7.5 tonnes.
On a practical level, take it easy, try a practice down a quiet road, and use the mirrors to help judge the width, make sure you allow a bit more room on corners for the extra legnth.
When the horsey is on-board, take it easy going round corners, no sudden acceleration or braking.
Oh, and did I mention, use the mirrors to help judge the width - its not a natural thing for car drivers, but all truck drivers learn this one very early!
Re: Oops! What have I let myself in for?
20-05-2018 11:59 PM
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Thanks, @Mustrum, seems like sound advice.
Forum Moderator and Customer
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear - Mark Twain
He who feared he would not succeed sat still
Re: Oops! What have I let myself in for?
21-05-2018 8:23 AM
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As @Mustrum says.... take your time........ one other piece of advice....
If she is travelling with you... make sure you DO NOT appear to be enjoying it.. put on a miserable face... pull into as many lay-by`s as often as you can.. this is two fold... it gives the traffic behind you a chance to overtake you safely... and also it gives you time to recover your nerves since the previous stop..... : moan contiuously, keep saying how scared you are,... and how unsure you feel about it...
This should negate any future trips ! ! !..
Re: Oops! What have I let myself in for?
21-05-2018 11:47 AM
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Best advice I can offer; Don't crash...
Re: Oops! What have I let myself in for?
21-05-2018 11:55 AM
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If the horse offers directions, ignore it.
They have a different agenda.
Be aware of the extra height of the vehicle if low bridges are likely to be encountered.
Horses haven't generally been trained to duck.
Customer and Forum Moderator. Windows 10 Firefox 84.0.2 (64-bit)
Re: Oops! What have I let myself in for?
21-05-2018 12:03 PM
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Alternatively, Plan B;
Hire one of these
Get yourself a bag of carrots and a stick
Maybe a tent if overnight roadside stops will be necessary
Bobs your uncle.
Re: Oops! What have I let myself in for?
21-05-2018 1:10 PM - edited 21-05-2018 1:11 PM
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Yep, that does sound like a plan. But my daughter says I'm miserable anyway so how will she know
Kinda high up my list anyway
My worry is if the horse veers to the left or right the van will, too!
One of these may be better and make some money on the way
I used to call him Uncle bob till I got older and realised he was just a family friend
This is the horse. Filthy dirty at the moment as he had been dumped in a field a few weeks ago. It's estimated he is about a year old.
Forum Moderator and Customer
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear - Mark Twain
He who feared he would not succeed sat still
Re: Oops! What have I let myself in for?
21-05-2018 1:22 PM
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@Mav all the better ! ! ! ! ! ..
Your veggie patch will do well next year, though !
Re: Oops! What have I let myself in for?
21-05-2018 2:02 PM
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She's now got four horses. One of which I am hoping to ride when she is old enough next year.
Forum Moderator and Customer
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear - Mark Twain
He who feared he would not succeed sat still
Re: Oops! What have I let myself in for?
21-05-2018 6:16 PM
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The most useful phrase in these circumstances is: "What part of 'No' do you not understand?"
Re: Oops! What have I let myself in for?
28-05-2018 6:18 PM
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Yesterday was the day and I found the horse box (it was the one in the OP link) very easy to drive. In fact, it drove just like a car in most respects just needing to remember it's longer and slightly wider than my Zafira.
It took over 4 hours for 5 people (not including me) to catch the damn horse in what seemed the hottest day so far. After 2 hours I gave them a suggestion about using the horse box to 'box' the horse in between a fence with the only place to go being inside. An hour later they finally listened to me and 20 minutes later all done
During the journey back I could feel the weight of the horse but driving was smooth and kept breaking to a minimum and early and speed to a max of 50. There was one point where it reared up against my daughter and her friend sitting in a separate compartment but it didn't affect the driving at all.
So after various round trips and an 8am start I finally got home around 10pm - exhausted! But was a fun day all in all.
Thanks for all the advice - most helpful.
Forum Moderator and Customer
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear - Mark Twain
He who feared he would not succeed sat still
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