Stress free horse loading
Have you ever witnessed a horse struggle during loading? Our approach ensures that every journey begins with confidence. Designing a horse area and ramp specifically for safely loading horses is an art that requires decades of experience to perfect. By considering a comprehensive range of safety and behavioural factors, our innovative methods focus on delivering the best possible outcomes for stress-free loading. We lead through rigorous research, design, testing, and innovation, setting ourselves apart with unique solutions tailored to enhance horse safety.
Our Research Findings
To aid us in designing from the ground up for the easiest possible loading of horses, we started with a considerable list of items to include and items to be avoided. To help us visualise the project, we then put it in an order of absolutely essential items at the top with a wish list of innovations to incorporate at the bottom.
Along with our list, we also have a wealth of experience repairing horseboxes from across the industry… and we’ve encountered a wide range of design and safety concerns. As you can imagine, we have seen some questionable issues that would simply put any horse off loading. Some have been clearly dangerous, and others have been poor design or corner cutting to save costs.
Below are just a few of the considerations we have investigated:
1. Large curved rear corners – They can be aesthetically pleasing; however, they considerably constrict the loading width, making the ramp narrow and the opening to the horse area uninviting. This a common way to save on ramp size!
2. Lowered opening to the horse area – Lowering the horse area opening makes the ramp easier to manufacture whilst making the entrance uninviting for horses.
3. High load height – High horse floor height from road makes the ride uncomfortable at best, at worst they can make horseboxes rock when cornering and braking. Subframe designs tend to be copied from what has gone before. Anther detrimental effect is it makes ramps too steep, hampering loading.
4. Extended ramp feet – Ramps with large extended feet to reduce steep angles are common. This is a way to reduce steep ramp angles and most definitely hampers loading.
5. Step onto the horse floor – The step up from the top of the ramp into the horse area floor is another problematic area and we have seen dangerous steps as high as 250mm! it makes horses jump up or jump off and again hampers loading.
6. Ramp grip – This is probably the most important aspect of loading and unloading and we have seen every surface from aluminium treadplate to coconut matting.
7. Horse area grip – Another important aspect of loading and unloading horses is the grip on the main horse floor and again we have seen some extremely unsuitable, frankly dangerous finishes.
8. Inviting horse area – It seems like such a simple point, but the colours and finishes in the horse area impact greatly on how horses load. If the area is dingy or has colours horses simply hate loading becomes problematic.
9. Head room: This is another major point worth considering as it impacts loading your horses in a big way. If there is little headroom inside the horse area, horses will not want to enter the horse area. It also impacts on so many other areas of transporting horses safely from heat build up to poor air quality.
10. Horse area lighting – Many horseboxes feature inadequate lighting designs that can compromise horse comfort and safety during travel. Internal stall lights often shine directly into horses’ eyes, causing discomfort and leading to problematic loading behaviour.
11. Ramp lighting – Horses have superb nighttime vision, and it is on a level way above ours. When loading horses in conditions where spotlights illuminate the ramp, few consider the implications of sudden changes in lighting, as horses take significantly longer than humans to adjust. This can increase the risk of accidents due to confusion and stress.
Designing the Horse Area and Ramp
Apart from the relatively simple engineering issues involved in manufacturing the horsebox, horse area, and ramp, designing one for safe loading adds a whole new level of complexity. There are many challenges to consider and overcome. The whole aim of our design is to further promote stress-free and safe loading of customers’ precious horses.
This is how we have overcome a few of the bigger issues:
1. Ramp openings – We have designed these to be as wide and high as possible making the entrance inviting for horses.
2. Ramp width – We have made these as high and wide as possible to give horses confidence stepping in and out of our horseboxes.
3. High load height – We have reduced load heights considerably, making our horseboxes stable whilst cornering and braking and our ramps are shallow for easy loading.
4. Ramp feet – We have designed these to be an absolute minimum making a very low step onto our ramps.
5. Step onto the horse floor – We design this to be an absolute minimum, and, on some models, we have removed it completely!
6. Ramp grip – All of the ramps we manufacture benefit from our groundbreaking Coat-X protective coating and we designed this product specifically for grip.
7. Horse area grip – Just like our ramps, we spray our Coat-X protective coating on the horse area floor for superb grip in both wet and dry conditions.
8. Inviting horse area – By design our horse area are light and airy with few colours and predominantly white is used wherever we can.
9. Head room – Our horse areas are designed to be spacious and welcoming, accommodating even the largest horses. With headroom starting at 2.4 meters, our largest HGV builds offer up to 2.6m.
10. Horse area lighting – We design our horse areas for horse vision comfort during travel, paying special attention to how their vision actually works. Lighting is behind the horses and at an appropriate brightness.
11. Ramp lighting – Given that horses have superb nighttime vision, we have installed more discrete lighting on our ramps to aid safe loading and unloading.
Food for thought…..
We hope you can see how our approach to horse loading prioritises safety and stress reduction through innovative design and extensive research. By addressing key issues such as ramp width, load height, grip surfaces, and inviting interiors, we’ve created horse areas and ramps that instil confidence in both horses and handlers. Our Coat-X protective coating provides superior traction, whilst spacious, well-lit interiors with ample headroom make loading a more pleasant experience. These thoughtful design elements, combined with our decades of experience in horsebox manufacturing and repair, ensure that every journey begins on the right foot. With our commitment to continuous improvement and rigorous testing, we’re setting new standards for safe and stress-free horse transport
As always, safety—primarily horse safety—is at the forefront of everything we do. Thank you for being part of our journey! We would greatly appreciate your thoughts on this blog post.
If there’s anything we might have overlooked or if you have additional insights to share, we would love to hear from you.
Please feel free to send your feedback to kevin@kphltd.co.uk
Thank you for helping us improve.