# Richardson Supreme Treble/Rice Beaufort Treble



## Rowreach (9 March 2008)

Does anyone have any experience of these trailers please, I am considering getting a 2horse/1pony trailer and prefer these to the Ifor Williams (actually, it's because every Tom, Dick and Paddy over here has an IW and I simply cannot be like everyone else!  and I like Rice/Richardson for their build quality and stability). 
	
	
		
		
	


	





Any thoughts or advice would be really welcome, thanks!


----------



## mememe (9 March 2008)

i used to have a richardson supreme (only 2 horse) before changing to a lorry and it was great. while looking for a trailer i found out lots of things about Ifor williams and (please dont shoot me down) IMHO Ifor williams are down right dangerous and i wouldnt touch one with a barge pole! 
	
	
		
		
	


	








! 

i would definitaly go with the richardson ... they are great! 
	
	
		
		
	


	





ETA: also the suspension on them is great and gives the horses a really smooth ride!


----------



## Mrs_Wishkabibble (9 March 2008)

Ooh, go on tell, what did you find out about the Ifor Williams!


----------



## mememe (9 March 2008)

hmmm, ... the ramp is (looking from the back) on the right which means if you have to unload on the road u will have to unload into traffic, it also means that if you travel one horse and you dont want it on to have to travel in the gutter you will have to travel it on the same side as the ramp which severly overloads the one side and has caused some to tip over going round corners. also the floor is made out of aluminum and which corodes in small patches due to urine and eventually there are so many holes the it just collapes under the weight of the horse (apparently this can happen as quickly as 1 years old! 
	
	
		
		
	


	




) the suspension on them is also really bad and i have seen some horses just refuse point blank to go in them!

wow, bit of a rant! 
	
	
		
		
	


	




 they frustrate me some what!


----------



## Rowreach (9 March 2008)

Thanks for that, it very much echoes my own thoughts.  Practically all the people I teach have IWs and I really don't like them.

I do like the Rice (had one years ago) because they are so well built and have a real quality feel about them, but the Richardson would be just under £2k cheaper.  I have always liked the ride they give the horses too.


----------



## Bosworth (9 March 2008)

Avoid the Richardson.I had a horse go mad in one - he ripped it to pieces - and I ended up with a 3ft square hole in the side where he had pushed down on the breast bar as he bucked and kicked out the roof. The ramp had chunks missing and actually fell off as we pulled it down to get both horses out. I was totally horrified with how poor the manufacture was and how easy it was to destroy. No one can blame the manufacturer for the horse going mad - but for the trailer to fall apart around them was appalling. I have moved to an Ifor Williams and would buy one every time in preference to any other trailer on the market. 

I did have a Rice trailer - but it was quite old and very solid - the new Rice trailers are made by Richardson and have the same problem. Find out how the breast bars are fastened into the trailer. The one we had had one anchor point at the front - and having had the accident we discovered it is not strengthed around the anchor point and under pressure it just ripped right through the trailer.


----------



## Louby (9 March 2008)

Ive had both IW and Richardson.  I know everyone loves Ifors but I reckon my Ifor may have made my horse a trailer phobic and I think it was the Aluimium floor.  Aparantly some horses just do not like the play in an ali floor and travel badly, like he did scrabbling all over (no partition so enough room).  A lady we knew upgraded her old ifor for a new one with ali floor and her horse went down, it travelled in an ifor for years.  She contacted IW who said they'd never heard anything like it!!! so she boarded over the floor and her horse is now fine again.
Build - I loved the Richardson but my horse wouldnt stay in it and freaked when we tried to get the ramp up (he was fine before the Ifor incident).  The Richardson was so airy and loads of room to unload unlike the IW, I had the grande but to honest when my horse was pratting on the ramp it was bending and did end up a bit warped.  The IW did seem stronger built.
Suspension - no comparison, the Richardson was 100% better, we didnt know it was there whereas the Ifor bounced a bit empty.  Before towing the Richardson I wouldnt have noticed the massive difference.


----------



## Rowreach (9 March 2008)

Thank you all for some really interesting answers - I'm going to look at Richardson and Rice this week, and will bear all these things in mind, especially about the breast bar mountings.  Really grateful


----------



## JillA (9 March 2008)

Any experience of the rear facing Richardson? I am seriously considering one but ideally would like to hire one to see how my horse loads in it. He will go in the IW (an older one with wooden floor btw) but not stay in while I put up the ramp, and as I am normally on my own that is a real problem - I daren't go anywhere where I can't rely on help to load to come home.


----------



## Louby (9 March 2008)

How strange, JillA, Ive got the same problem.  My boy totally freaks when I go to put the ramp up.


----------



## SpruceRI (9 March 2008)

I've got an IW 505 and although I find them a bit lacking in space at the front for when you've got 2 cobs in and can barely get in to tie them up, and getting the horse out from the far side when you want to leave the one on the trailer in the partition by the ramp, I do find they're nice and sturdy.

My mare travelled in my friends Bateson and managed to snap the breastbar fitting off, she's never done that in my IW.

Mine's quite old and had a new wooden floor a couple of years ago, but all my ponies travel fine in it and having never towed any of the other makes I can't vouch for the feel of the suspension being any different, but it seems to give a perfectly good ride for the ponies whether there's one or 2 inside.


----------



## JillA (9 March 2008)

I don't think mine has a problem travelling, he travels quite well, he just can't see a reason to stay put! I thought with the Richardson rear facing, they load and turn, so he couldn't run out backwards, and he might find travelling that way more comfortable too.


----------



## Louby (9 March 2008)

Mine travelled well too the first time in the Richardson then decided he'd load no problem but just wouldnt stay in it  
	
	
		
		
	


	




.  What about an Equitrek?


----------

