Are Horse Shuttles Really Safe ?

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With the structural changes made to each vehicle to convert it into a horse shuttle, are the finished products at least as safe as the original vehicle?

• Does each completed horse shuttle conversion have to be examined for structural integrity by an approved examiner such as a County Engineer?
• Are certificates issued with each vehicle to prove their suitability to survive even a medium crash?
• We all know that the original vehicles have been thoroughly crash tested by their respective manufacturers, but how extensively, if at all, have any of the horse shuttle conversions been tested in crash conditions?

The horror of horrors would be if a horse shuttle conversion just folded on impact due to the structural changes that had been made to it. Hence the importance of testing under crash conditions.

The safety of your family, your horses, other road users and yourself is far more important than any perceived savings or convenience of the use of such vehicles.

There are several companies manufacturing vehicles that are designed, or converted, to transport horses. When considering the purchase of any of these vehicles, be sure to take into account the safety factor and the increased insurance costs of any vehicle which could rise considerably each year if there are any significant rises in fatal horse shuttle accidents.

Another concern of vans that are converted to transport horses is that they make it much easier for people to steal horses and transport them, as they would be much harder to spot than a conventional horsebox. Neighbours will more readily recognise a strange horsebox in the area than they would a converted white van which, unfortunately, are so commonplace.

 

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