Long distance horse transport-use your trailer or hire a lorry?

[Kate&TheHerd]

Wll IF this all does happen, I may well need to move a horse about 250 miles. Now there are 2 options here:

My friend drives my 4x4 and uses my ifor williams and we go up on or own and get said horse

OR the horse comes down in a lorry in a shared load


Thoughts pros/cons and opinions please

[jaydevon]

when we got snapper, we drove the night before, stayed in a hotel collected her than came back. on the driver its a hell of a lot of driving and concentration with a trailer on the back (you can get really cheap hotels like travel lodge etc, that also dont mind you parking the trailer up)

when i bought gizmo, as i had the money, i figured for all the driving that had to be done, fuel costs, and wear and tear on the landy id pay to have him transported, i payed, 350 from east sussex (near kent) to my yard.

oh edited to say..

it was much better jumping around awaiting the arrival of new ned then the stress of transporting!

[Kate&TheHerd]

I cant decide what to do yet. will be cheaper me doing it myself. my friend who said he will drive up and back drives lorries for a living so no probs there. also transports horses for people now and again

[jaydevon]

I cant decide what to do yet. will be cheaper me doing it myself. my friend who said he will drive up and back drives lorries for a living so no probs there. also transports horses for people now and again

it will still cost what.. about 200-250 in fuel, plus the stress plus the ware and tear on the 4 x 4, sometimes its worth paying a bit more.

[Kate&TheHerd]

my lorry driver friend said it wont cost that much on fuel. its not about saving money, but it obviously it comes into it.

Just weighing things up at the moment

[jaydevon]

one thing id say against transporters, is you dont no what journey they get.. rough smooth etc..

[susannah_x]

i wouldnt know, but im guessing that lorries have better suspension? better for the horse? maybe im wrong :o

[Iron Maiden]

My old cob came up from Sussex to Sheffield in a shared load with Nottingham Horse Transport. He stopped off half way so he didn't do the whole lot in one go. When he arrived I couldn'd have been happier, he was relaxed and happy without a mark on him :) I'd be a bit hesitant about doing that with Mrs P because she has been a PITA to load before so I'd want to travel her myself. JS loaded & travelled very well though, so I had no such concerns with him :)

[BabyBear]

I think I'd always opt for the lorry for longer distances.:)

[BIrish]

Have no problem with either so I'd use whatever I had as I prefer to transport my horses myself (only about one other person on the planet that would be allowed to do it unsupervised!)

When I had my lorry I used that (furthest journey was from Surrey to Scotland) and now I have my trailer I use that (furthest journey was Essex to Co Laois in Ireland without a horse , furthest journey with a horse was Essex to Yorkshire)

[LisW]

I prefer to use transporter over a distance like that. have done it ourselves, staying overnight etc - but were totally exhausted afterwards.

[joey_olop]

If your worried about using a transporter you could always use a self drive company & do the drive yourself :)

[Kate&TheHerd]

hmmm not sure what to do, i think im just worried cos i have seen what my girl did in the box, which wasnt pretty. so think im on edge because of that!