Many people are being caught out by horse shuttles, as once you add the weight of your horse
you will more than likely be over 3.5 tonnes. If you had an accident and were found to be exceeding this
weight your insurance would be invalid.
It's no good believing that the police have more to do than look out for 3.5 tonne horse
shuttles. What about the traffic division, they are assigned to look for overweight vehicles as part
of their daily work.
An overweight horse shuttle is dangerous for the driver and the horse, as it's
not designed to be over that weight. A 3.5 ton horse shuttle is fine for a pony but with a
big horse on board there is a risk you'll be overweight and breaking the law. If you are involved in
an accident, the weight of your vehicle and it's load will be measured and taken into account for legal and
insurance purposes! Penalty points?
These days, it's also likely that your insurers will claim, that as your vehicle was overweight, you
weren't covered by the terms of your insurance and any costs, including compensation to injured parties
will be out of your own pocket!
The only way to check the weight is to borrow a horse shuttle, load in your horse, tack,
lunch, rider, driver, diesel, kids, dogs and all the other stuff you take to shows. When you
visit your local weighbridge, your horse shuttle and all its' contents are very unlikely to
fit in under 3.5 tonnes on a 2.6 tonnes unladen vehicle!
A 7.5 tonnes horse shuttle, that is partitioned for 4 horses, plus passengers, driver, tack
and everyting else, is a nightmare when driving rounds corners. Two adults, four kids, 4 14hh
ponies makes a horse shuttle, dangerously overweight.
You're not necessarily any better off with a bigger 7.5 tonnes horse shuttle though, because the
living is, generally, so fancy that the payload can be less than on a 3.5
tonne vehicle. Furthermore, there are issues about being over axel weights, as the weight isn't
particularly evenly distributed.
A professionally built 3.5 tonne horse shuttle, has a 1200kg payload capacity. So, even though it's
partitioned for 2 horses, carrying two two horses in it, with everything else loaded,
is pushing the legally permitted weight to it's limit, or beyond! The payload includes the driver and
passengers as well as any horse, tack and associated luggage.
Police officers are not really your only concern, because the Ministry can
legally impound your vehicle and its' contents as well as issue you a very hefty fine and some penalty
points.
Check, check and check again that a horse shuttle is not going to get you into trouble. Don't ask the horse
shuttle sales people, ask other horse shuttle owners, the Ministry, the Police and your own insurers.
