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Painting.
Vehicles are painted with metallic paint, in a colour of your choice, chosen from the current range of colours offered by Range Rover. We sign write "Horses" on the front and rear of the vehicle. Additional writing can be provided, if required at cost, should you wish this to be done. If you require the box painted in other colours or to a different design, we can arrange for this to be done and will let you know the extra cost before painting.
Price.
Prices quoted are ex factory at Preston. Road tax is not included. We will arrange for the box to be taxed before collection or delivery if asked.
Delivery.
We can arrange delivery, quoting the cost beforehand.
Ordering.
We require a deposit of £1000, when ordering. If we do not have a suitable vehicle in stock, we will locate a vehicle to match your requirements. When we have your vehicle and before making your box, we will require a stage payment of £5,000, upon which you will receive the vehicle documents. No further payment is required until the box is delivered.
Warranty.
The box itself is warranted for 12 months.
A Vehicle warranty can be arranged.
Keys.
Not all vehicles have two sets of ignition keys, but you can purchase a second set, if required, from the vehicle manufactures.
We provide two sets of keys for the ramp, rear door and lockers.
Servicing.
Vehicles require an oil service every 12,000 miles and a full service every 32,000 miles. The Timing and accessories belts, Brake Fluid, and Coolant need changing every 72,000 miles or 5 years. Your box will be serviced before you receive it.
MOT.
All vehicles will have a new 12 months MOT
3.9 tons Gross.
For a cost of £450. the box can be up rated to 3.9 tons Gross. This increases the carrying capacity by 400 Kilos to about 1.6 tons. This would then entail the annual Mot being done at a Goods Testing Station. It will also mean that anyone passing the driving test after January 1 1997, will not be able to drive unless they take and pass the C1 Driving test.
Immobiliser.
All vehicles have a Renault / Vauxhall factory fitted key operated immobiliser.
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REARWARDS OR FORWARD FACING?
The effects of transporting horses either forwards or backwards were compared by transporting six thoroughbred horses in pairs in a lorry on one journey facing in the direction of travel, and on another journey facing away from the direction of travel, on a standard one hour route. Heart rate monitors were used to record their heart rate before, during and after the journey and the horses’ behaviour was recorded by scan sampling each horse every other minute. The average heart rate was significantly lower when the horses were transported facing backwards, and they also tended to rest on their rumps more. In the forward facing position, the horses moved around more and tended to hold their necks in a higher than normal position. They vocalised more often. The horses seemed to find being transported less physically stressful when they were facing backwards than when they were facing forwards.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that transporting horses while they are facing backwards. 180∞ away from the direction of travel, induces less stress. The method possibly has three main advantages over conventional forward facing travel: It’s broad fleshy hind-quarters are presented to the potential impact area during braking and deceleration, instead of it’s more fragile head and chest. The horse therefore doesn't feel the need to carry it’s head in an unnaturally high position and it can become more balanced because it can lean over it’s forequarters because it no longer fears injury on sudden braking. It has also been proposed that horses are more able to cope with the changes in acceleration and deceleration when traveling backwards because they can stand with their weight more correctly distributed. The forelegs are better adapted to swaying than the hindlegs, because this is part of natural grazing behaviour, and the shoulders therefore tend to provide better support in response to lateral forces than the haunches which tend to give way so that the horse has to side step with it’s hindlegs. It is therefore advantageous to have the forelegs placed where lateral accelerations are greatest, that is to the rear of the axle, as is the case when horses are transported when facing backwards.
Rear facing transport does seem to have it’s advantages, these include less physical effort by the horse, because the horse can maintain it’s balance more easily and adopt a more natural stance, and so less concentration and muscular work are required by the horse whilst being transported. As a result, the performance of the horse, when it arrives at it’s destination is less likely to be compromised by the stresses of the journey. Rear facing transport should also be safer in the event of a frontal impact with another vehicle, because the fleshy rump of the horse would dissipate the shock more effectively than the head and chest, which would be more likely to sustain serious injury.
Extracted from a paper titled,"Effects of transporting horses facing either forwards or backwards on their behaviour and heart rate." as supplied by Dr. Natalie K.Waran at the Institute of Ecology and Resource Management. At The University of Edinburgh.
Published in The Vetinary Record, July 6th, 1996.
DOWNLOAD A PDF OF REARWARDS OR FORWARD FACING INFO
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