# Ifor Williams Horsebox Accident



## Craig Jones (23 February 2012)

*In November 2010 my wife suffered a serious head injury whilst unloading her horse from a 510 model Ifor Williams trailer.*

Her 16hh horse had managed to tear the rivets from the front partition and climb over the breast bar before the side ramp door was opened and the force of the horse against the door resulted in a near fatal head injury. She has subsequently made a good but as yet not complete recovery.

The trailer was a 2005 model and the purpose of this post is to find others who may have experienced or even heard of this kind of accident with this particular make of trailer.

Of interest it is noted that on more recent and current models the partition location has been redesigned and is now much more substantial.


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## marmalade76 (23 February 2012)

Never heard of an accident like that before, have heard of people being squashed under rear ramps when a horse has stepped back as they were putting the ramp up but these were probably older trailers without breach bars. 

I have heard of horses climbing over breast bars, happened to a friend recently, but in this case the horse was squashed up against the nose of the trailer (a 506) and not the ramp.

Just sounds like a freak accident and your wife was just unlucky.


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## Meandtheboys (23 February 2012)

Firstly very sorry to hear about your wife and I do hope she makes a full recovery...... if you have done your research you will see my 16:3 mw gelding climbed the partition and front breast bar to escape through the top door of the side ramp - obviously got stuck as not phsically possible. Despite his size and weight  and he was totally weight bearing on both the partition and breast bars and they remained in place, if anything in this case it stopped a serious injury as it held him in place whislt he was being freed.

Again sorry for the accident but sometimes these things just happen as horses are so powerful and some people may challange that actually the partitions should give way under such circumstances.


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## rockysmum (23 February 2012)

I'm sorry about your wife.

However I have to say that she ignored the most basic safety measure that most people learn before ever loading a horse in anything.  That is never stand in front of a ramp, whether back or front.  Half a tonne of horse behind a ramp is always going to do some serious damage.

I have only ever seen an accident with a rear ramp but the potential is there with either.

No trailer or wagon will stand up for long if a horse really goes crazy in it.  I also find it hard to believe that she didn't see, feel or hear what was happening.  I would never open a ramp with a commotion going on inside, thats what jockey doors are for.

Hope she makes a full recovery


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## Cuffey (23 February 2012)

Sometimes horses come out of jockey doors which are left open as well.

As above hope your wife makes a full recovery

Many of us dont think 'straight' in a stress situation and often the horses owner is the wrong person to attempt a rescue

Think all of us could do with more education on what to do when things go wrong


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## ew1801 (23 February 2012)

i really hope that this post isnt about gathering information to sue ifor williams?
like previous poster said the ramp should never had been opened.
horses are big strong animals and ACCIDENTS happen and im sorry but if you cant come to terms with that without looking for someone to blame other then yourselves then i suggest she takes up knitting. but i wouldnt attempt to sue the knitting company if she stabs her finger with the knitting needle


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## rockysmum (23 February 2012)

Cuffey said:



			Sometimes horses come out of jockey doors which are left open as well.

As above hope your wife makes a full recovery

Many of us dont think 'straight' in a stress situation and often the horses owner is the wrong person to attempt a rescue

Think all of us could do with more education on what to do when things go wrong
		
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I agree about the jockey door, once saw a Dales pony go out of one.

Its a good point about education, most people dont have any training or understand the risks before travelling horses.

I think the OP is looking for evidence for legal action against the manufacturer though.


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## katherinef (23 February 2012)

ew1801 said:



			i really hope that this post isnt about gathering information to sue ifor williams?
like previous poster said the ramp should never had been opened.
horses are big strong animals and ACCIDENTS happen and im sorry but if you cant come to terms with that without looking for someone to blame other then yourselves then i suggest she takes up knitting. but i wouldnt attempt to sue the knitting company if she stabs her finger with the knitting needle 

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I think that is a bit harsh as the OP's wife has clearly suffered a severe possibly life changing injury.  Perhaps a kinder more sympathetic response?


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## el_Snowflakes (23 February 2012)

I dont have much experience with these trailers but just want to give my best wishes to your wife. Sounds like a terrible ordeal and Im glad to hear she is on her way to recovery


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## rockysmum (23 February 2012)

katherinef said:



			I think that is a bit harsh as the OP's wife has clearly suffered a severe possibly life changing injury.  Perhaps a kinder more sympathetic response?
		
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Why, it appears to be someone who has joined simply to find evidence to sue, not one of the regular posters reporting an accident.

I think its fair to point out that horses are large and unpredictable so:

a)  Was she travelling an inexperienced or highly strung horse
b)  Failed to follow basic safety measures in standing in front of a ramp
c)  Possibly failed to wear a safety hat when handling horses in difficult situations
d)  Obviously had no training in what to do when something went wrong.

Even if the OP could gather evidence against the manufacturer wouldn't this come into effect


Contributory Negligence - definition 
This where a court decides that you have contributed in some way to the accident you have suffered at the hands of a third party. The more responsibility a court decides you have, the less compensation you will receive. For example, where a driver crashes a vehicle and a passenger was not wearing a seatbelt. The passenger will receive damages (compensation) for any injuries received, however the amount will reduced by their own negligence, in not wearing a seatbelt at the time.


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## marmalade76 (23 February 2012)

ew1801 said:



			i really hope that this post isnt about gathering information to sue ifor williams?
		
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Have to admit that I thought that too.

I was also taught from a child never to stand under a ramp.


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## Honey08 (23 February 2012)

katherinef said:



			I think that is a bit harsh as the OP's wife has clearly suffered a severe possibly life changing injury.  Perhaps a kinder more sympathetic response?
		
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Totally agree.  I'm the  first to criticise when someone sues after slipping on ice and breaking an arm. or something else trivial, but this is a different matter that could result in big lifestyle changes.

I've got a similar trailer, and have never had any problems, despite having a huge 17h ISH that sits on the rear bar it has never loosened at all.  Perhaps there was a fault with this particluar trailer, or perhaps it was a tragic accident.

Most people know what you should and shouldn't do when handling horses and loading etc, but I bet we've all made mistakes now and again.  Most of us get  away with them...


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## Craig Jones (23 February 2012)

The accident happened due to the front partition collapsing at the hinge point


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## Craig Jones (23 February 2012)

To answer your queries-:

The horse was a 16 year old gelding which had been regularly travelled.
My wife was originally standing to the side of the ramp.
She was not wearing protective headgear at the time - I wonder how many people do when loading or unloading a horse?
She has been travelling horses regularly for nearly 40 years.


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## Louby (23 February 2012)

So sorry to hear about your wife, I hope she makes a full recovery.

Unfortunately I think the incident was a tragic accident too.  Sadly these things can happen and if a horse wants out, theres often no stopping it despite what is in its way.  Lots of accidents have happened in the 3.5t horseboxes too with horses going over bars and coming through the rear of the door at the back.  Ive heard of horses coming out of the sides of 7.5t horseboxes, going under partitions or there heads coming through the roofs, in a bid to get out.
They are so big and powerful, I dont think anything would stop them if in a frenzy.  IMO the bar in a IW is to prevent the horse going forwards, not take the full weight of a manic horse coming over it.
Sorry


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## Dubsie (23 February 2012)

I am sorry to hear of your wife's accident, and hope she is recovering well.  

I am rather surprised though that she didn't notice anything was amiss before unding the pins to lower the side ramp, but then we have a 505 similar age, and perhaps it's different?

On ours, before opening the side ramp, one has to undo the smaller flap that fastens above the ramp, as this overlaps the ramp, meaning you cannot lower the ramp before this flap is opened.  I'm fairly sure most people would take a moment or two to secure this back before tackling undoing the pins that hold the ramp handles shut, otherwise there is a big chance especially on a windy day that it will fly back and slap your pony in  the face as you unload (BTDT!) .  

Now our pony is only 14h but always sticks his head out to snort at you once that top flap is open  so I would expect, unless your wife is very unusually short, that with a bigger horse that she would have been able to see the horse before undoing the ramp, particularly if he was raised up higher than usual, being  as he was presumably hanging over the breast bar (can't think there's be room totally over the breast bar for a whole horse).  I'd also expoect her to have noticed that he seemed distressed by his antics and having got stuck. I'm also surprised he didn't scrabble about as soon as the upper flap was opened. All of which leaves me very confused as to why your wife didn't think 'that's odd' and the proceed with caution on lowering the ramp by standing to one side, or even take a look in through the little front window which most IWs seem to have.  I'm just extremely surprised this didn't seem unusual to her prior to undoing the ramp to have extra bits of horse close up the front end, and cannot think why she wouldn't have let it drop to one side of her rather than stand so very close to it ?  But maybe it's only super-cautious me thinking these things?  I can only think she may have been distracted by others, was she talking to someone?


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## Dubsie (23 February 2012)

Just re-read following your comments she was stood at the side of the ramp, was it the ramp or the horse that hit her on the head?


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## Louby (23 February 2012)

Maybe Im wrong but Im thinking the horse was on the bar that broke under its weight and the weight of the horse also somehow forced the front ramp down injuring OPs wife??


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## rockysmum (23 February 2012)

Craig Jones said:



			To answer your queries-:

The horse was a 16 year old gelding which had been regularly travelled.       _Then what made him go nuts, perhaps you would have a case on that _
My wife was originally standing to the side of the ramp.      _ Obviously not when it happened, unless the ramp broke and went sideways_
She was not wearing protective headgear at the time - I wonder how many people do when loading or unloading a horse?     _Not the point, BHS recommend we do_
She has been travelling horses regularly for nearly 40 years.        _Accidents happen to the most experienced people, and they can get complacent along with the rest of us _

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Just playing devils advocate.  But I wouldn't expect an Ifor Partition to do more than stop the horse going forwards.  A old Rice one might but they weight 10 times as much.  When I bought my Ifor I traded strength for weight, my choice, I knew what I was buying.


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## ew1801 (23 February 2012)

was the trailor brand new?


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## luckyoldme (23 February 2012)

hi craig,
I hope your wife is ok.
sorry about the onslaught here on h&h.


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## ew1801 (23 February 2012)

i hate this wheres theres a blame theres a claim society we live in. people who doe this is the reason why everything is surrounded by red tape.
the accident happened two years ago so it is obvious this man is trying to collect evidence. Also how did your wife manage to sustain a head injury if she was to the side of the ramp?
health and safety states protective clothing must be worn when handling horses. yes 99% of people dont dont do this but that is their own choice not to do so, so if they incure an injury its no ones fault but their own

If the trailor was brand new and lets say for example the floor fell through then thats when a claim can be made because the only party at fault would be the manufacturer. in your case it was the horse freaking out that caused the accident and no hinge will hold half a tonne of horse that is in a blind panic


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## katherinef (23 February 2012)

You have to differentiate. This is not someone who has fallen on ice and bruised their backside or whatever. This is someone who has suffered a significant and I would guess life changing injury. In that instance if there is blame to be apportioned that is rightly so. It may be that there is "no case to answer" on the other hand IF there is and IF there is an inherent fault surely there should be be accountability.

Anyway the OP has simply posted to try and find out if there is anyone who has experienced a similar incident I am not sure that criticism should be levelled at this point.


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## Honey08 (23 February 2012)

katherinef said:



			You have to differentiate. This is not someone who has fallen on ice and bruised their backside or whatever. This is someone who has suffered a significant and I would guess life changing injury. In that instance if there is blame to be apportioned that is rightly so. It may be that there is "no case to answer" on the other hand IF there is and IF there is an inherent fault surely there should be be accountability.

Anyway the OP has simply posted to try and find out if there is anyone who has experienced a similar incident I am not sure that criticism should be levelled at this point.
		
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You beat me to it again!  Exactly what I was thinking.


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## luckyoldme (24 February 2012)

katherinef said:



			You have to differentiate. This is not someone who has fallen on ice and bruised their backside or whatever. This is someone who has suffered a significant and I would guess life changing injury. In that instance if there is blame to be apportioned that is rightly so. It may be that there is "no case to answer" on the other hand IF there is and IF there is an inherent fault surely there should be be accountability.

Anyway the OP has simply posted to try and find out if there is anyone who has experienced a similar incident I am not sure that criticism should be levelled at this point.
		
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and me.. i just couldn t put it so eloquently!


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## Business (24 February 2012)

luckyoldme said:



			hi craig,
I hope your wife is ok.
sorry about the onslaught here on h&h.
		
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This!


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## Business (24 February 2012)

katherinef said:



			You have to differentiate. This is not someone who has fallen on ice and bruised their backside or whatever. This is someone who has suffered a significant and I would guess life changing injury. In that instance if there is blame to be apportioned that is rightly so. It may be that there is "no case to answer" on the other hand IF there is and IF there is an inherent fault surely there should be be accountability.

Anyway the OP has simply posted to try and find out if there is anyone who has experienced a similar incident I am not sure that criticism should be levelled at this point.
		
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And this - plus if there is an inherent fault IW need to be alerted so they can recall trailers with the same fastenings and thus hopefully prevent a similar accident happening in the future.


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## EstherYoung (24 February 2012)

Some of the older Ifors have partitions that come off really easily at the 'hinge' point if they lift upwards - the later models have a different fixing on the partition to stop that happening. The back half of the partition came to pieces while the horses were on it on one that we hired, because one of our TBs managed to dislodge it with his hock. Luckily our horses were very calm and let us right the situation but it could have been nasty.

I'd be tempted to speak to a reputable trailer servicing place as they will know all about the different models and which ones had which fixings. After our experience the hire place had the fitting on the one we used amended to make it safer, so it's likely that a servicing outlet will have come across any issues with the various models and ages of Ifors.

Hope your wife is OK.


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## Craig Jones (24 February 2012)

To answer  some of the queries.

The trailer was not brand new but one owner and very well maintained.

The metal loop which stops the ramp from touching the ground was the object which caused the head injury. This is located on the edge of the door and one would only need to be marginally inboard when the ramp suddenly comes down to be struck.

The whole episode was caused by the horse managing to pull the rivets out of the partitition allowing the breast bar to move downwards and the horse to escape.

My purpose in posting this issue is to find out if any other owners have experienced a similar problem in case a modification needs to be made so that this kind of accident cannot happen to anyone else.
Bear in mind my original advice that the current trailers have a revised (and very much stronger) partition location.


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## Paris1 (24 February 2012)

Im sorry to hear about your wife, and yes it could be any one of us. I'm unsure as to whether the rivets were under extra stress if a lank king horse if simply broke in every day use. I'm confused as to whether the ramp was freed without knowledge of the horse being loose but presumably tied and the horse forced the ramp down if if the ramp fastenings failed?


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## Black_Horse_White (24 February 2012)

My breast bar has fallen down at the rear of my trailer before, but I've not had a problem with the partion. I travelled my horse yesterday and was only thinking how easily the pins come out. Luckily I unloaded from the front. So he could have easily stepped back onto the rear ramp had I opened that, mine too is a 2005 505 model.


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## wes (24 February 2012)

A very unfortunate accident.....but how could it have been avoided?

Obviously the first safety rule is to wear a protective hat at all times when loading/unloading, but a horse could get upset at any time, not just during loading/unloading so the first thought maybe to help the horse and not get a hat on if your horse is in distress.

It would be interesting to hear thoughts on what procedure should be followed....sure you can open the jockey door, but you'll just get a better view of a horse in trouble and not calming down either. You can't do any action...if you climb in you risk getting squashed.
Opening the rear ramp wont help much..so the only option is to open the front ramp to get the horse out, and even knowing some weight of the horse is on it....there really isn't much of an option, except to try and stand back but the ramp could burst down at any time whilst trying to undo the catches.
Then even with a hat on you risk injury.


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## Paris1 (24 February 2012)

I nothing else, I for one will now think twice if a horse is in distress and make time to put a hat on. The extra thirty seconds might give the horse a chance to calm down too. 
 A horse got stuck over the breast bar, owner was panicking and wanted to get in, but there was nothing to be done but wait, the breast bar lifted up so we couldn't do anything. The breast bar eventually bent and longed itself free, and the horse was only scraped a little. In total incident took about a minute but if I hadn't stopped the owner opening up and entering trailer it could have been a whole lot worse. I think this also highlights a need for a Breaking point in designs.


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## Ranyhyn (24 February 2012)

Genuine question, can someone explain how you close a ramp alone, without being stood under it?


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## Ranyhyn (24 February 2012)

And I should have said first, OP, sorry to hear about your wife.  Thanks for sharing, makes everyone more aware of what they are doing.


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## lachlanandmarcus (24 February 2012)

BoolavogueDC said:



			Genuine question, can someone explain how you close a ramp alone, without being stood under it?
		
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Closing a ramp you can see that the horse is safely tied up and calm and not squashed against a door. So it would be relatively safe to do that alone.

It is opening it after the horse has been in there where the big risk lies:  I have had a situation where my horse got his front half over the breast bar and was wedged there. The breast bar only removed by being lifted and the horse was 17hh HW and weighed 650kg+ and was stuck on top of it.

I have to say we were well aware before we opened the trailer that there was a big problem, there was a lot of commotion and thumping that made the trailer move about as we were driving. So we were very much forewarned.

We opened the jockey door and saw what the problem was. We did put hats on before doing anything else. Horse unable to move backwards or forwards. The only way he was going to be able to get out was by jumping from a standstill out over the breastbar and out through the front side ramp. 

Neither the partition nor the breastbar gave way. And this was probably approx 2003, so pre-upgrades by Ifor to their trailers. So I wouldnt support the contention that the design was inherently weak and not fit for purpose.

We stood well back and two people opened the ramp, both standing as far to the side as possible. Result: Horse saw daylight, jumped out over the breastbar and out down the ramp. Unhurt apart from small blood blister which healed after about a week. 

The design flaw was in there not being any quick release mechanism in the breast bar in this case, altho how you would design that without weakening the strength I dont know, it's impossible to have it work both ways - never give way under panicing horse attack but be able to be released when we need it to. I

ts the sort of thing where I would be writing to Ifor to tell them and suggest improvements but I didnt blame them for an accident.

The cause of the accident was all down to us: we had hired the trailer and didnt see it was on the lower of two breast bar heights, we thought it looked high enough but we should have put it on the higher one. 

The reason noone was injured I believe was that we took appropriate precautions (hard hats, several people) before we opened the ramp.


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## wes (24 February 2012)

When closing the ramps, I think there is little you can do to avoid standing under it as you close it. But you need to be aware of the state of your horse, and if it's calm or not.

I have only started boxing recently, so keen to hear of advice for loading/unloading or lessons learned.  Luckily, our boys seem quite good at it....though I did make the mistake of walking the first one to the rear of the box  before unloading the 2nd and the one left in the box got rather anxious his friend had left him. So now, one of us unloads the first one and keeps him in view...though it does mean me/the wife has to unload the second on their own.

Be good for posters to put as much effort in advice etc. as pointing fingers at the O/P for possible legal claims.


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## scarymare (24 February 2012)

rockysmum said:



			I'm sorry about your wife.

However I have to say that she ignored the most basic safety measure that most people learn before ever loading a horse in anything.  That is never stand in front of a ramp, whether back or front.  Half a tonne of horse behind a ramp is always going to do some serious damage.

I have only ever seen an accident with a rear ramp but the potential is there with either.

No trailer or wagon will stand up for long if a horse really goes crazy in it.  I also find it hard to believe that she didn't see, feel or hear what was happening.  I would never open a ramp with a commotion going on inside, thats what jockey doors are for.

Hope she makes a full recovery
		
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100% agree with this.  The most fundamental safety measure is not to stand in front of a ramp whilst unloading (or indeed loading).  Riding is a Risk sport.


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## scarymare (24 February 2012)

wes said:



			When closing the ramps, I think there is little you can do to avoid standing under it as you close it. But you need to be aware of the state of your horse, and if it's calm or not.

I have only started boxing recently, so keen to hear of advice for loading/unloading or lessons learned.  Luckily, our boys seem quite good at it....though I did make the mistake of walking the first one to the rear of the box  before unloading the 2nd and the one left in the box got rather anxious his friend had left him. So now, one of us unloads the first one and keeps him in view...though it does mean me/the wife has to unload the second on their own.

Be good for posters to put as much effort in advice etc. as pointing fingers at the O/P for possible legal claims.
		
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Wes if you cant put up your ramp by standing at the side then you need to get it resprung.  Its absolutely vital that you do so.  I've been travelling in Ifors for years now and have had horse over front breast bar and been doubled-barrelled down the ramp too.  But I would never stand under any ramp.  Any reasonable trailer servicer will sort your springs.


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## ester (24 February 2012)

I had similar happen with Frank but that was due to operator error but it also might clarify a few points. In essence I do not think I had the clip in the front breast bar properly when I left and it lifted coming free on the journey. Pony is a v good traveller so I didn't really hear him banging about etc he just stood there. 

I opened the top door on arrival and he stuck his head out as usual (as per dubsie!), at 14.2 he didn't really seem to be in a diff place than usual. Went to open front ramp at which point he pushed forwards and I realised the situ, shouted at him to get back and put it back up quick (thankful for sensible 14.2h) as he wasn't distressed just stood in the wrong place I went in the jockey door and got a fellow hunter to let down the ramp when I said so to unload. 

I do imagine the situation might have been worse if I hadn't such a sensible boy. 

Craig on one post you mention that the partition broke at the hinge point, by that I take it you mean off the central post but later you state that the horse pulled the rivets out of the partition allowing the breast bar to move downwards. Is that the rivets holding the  breast bar or holding the hinge I am a little confused but guessing that it was the rivets holding the hinge so that the partition moved down taking the breast bar with it?


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## m1stify (24 February 2012)

Can you not undo the breast bars from the outside using the Allen key?? Has no one thought of doing that when the horse has gotten stuck on the bar?


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## Black_Horse_White (24 February 2012)

My previous horse reared up on the breast bar and it did give way somehow, no damage to the horse or trailer.


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## Double_choc_lab (24 February 2012)

I am somewhat shocked at the reactions of some to the OP whose wife has suffered a life changing injury.  We're not talking about breaking a finger or a bit of muscle strain and claiming.  Do we know if he's sueing IW.  If he is - well that his choice - we're not the judge and jury.  There will be far more qualified legal brains to decide about the risk element, the design factor and whethere there was any negligence.  It's all very well do say in hindsight how we would have managed the situation but when all hell is kicking off many people react different.  Best wishes to your wife OP.


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## Stinkbomb (24 February 2012)

I cant beleive some of the reactions here on HHO either!! The OP has NOT indicated he is suing ifor williams. If he IS then thats his business. His wife has suffered a terrible life changing injury. If youve suffered one yourself then you will understand that you want answers as to why/how this could have happened and how it could be prevented from happening again to someone else ( yes i have suffered a life changing injury and went through all these emotions myself ) have some compassion!
OP i hope you get the answers your looking for and i hope your wife recoveres well. x


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## ester (24 February 2012)

m1stify said:



			Can you not undo the breast bars from the outside using the Allen key?? Has no one thought of doing that when the horse has gotten stuck on the bar?
		
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you can but that was not the issue here, the breast bar had already dropped or come down meaning that the horse was no longer behind it. It wasn't, if I understand correctly that the horse had got 'stuck' over the breast bar.


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## Big-Brother (24 February 2012)

Double_choc_lab said:



			I am somewhat shocked at the reactions of some to the OP whose wife has suffered a life changing injury.  We're not talking about breaking a finger or a bit of muscle strain and claiming.  Do we know if he's sueing IW.  If he is - well that his choice - we're not the judge and jury.  There will be far more qualified legal brains to decide about the risk element, the design factor and whethere there was any negligence.  It's all very well do say in hindsight how we would have managed the situation but when all hell is kicking off many people react different.  Best wishes to your wife OP.
		
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Couldn't agree more


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## meesha (24 February 2012)

OP soo sorry to hear about your wifes horrific injuries - the description of the metal part of the ramp hitting her head made me gasp.

I have an equitrek which has a large side unloading ramp - there is no way that you can realistically lower or raise this without being in front of it - I have never thought about this before but before pulling the ramp down to unload will now ALWAYS look through the window first to check all is ok - I will also warn my friend to do the same.  These things do happen and cant always be avoided - if there was a fault with the trailer or its design then I would be looking for compensation.

I hope she makes a full and speedy recovery.


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## CBFan (24 February 2012)

OP, I am really sorry to hear of your wife's accident. And Yes, I have hearn of various accidents involving horses getting over and indeed UNDER and STUCK on / under breast bars etc. It seems the manufacturers really cant win - as someone else said, the components need to be man enough to do their job but easy enough to dismantle in the event of a crisis... unfortunately there isn't a satisfactory middle ground. Bottom line is, Horses do stupid things... especially when put in stressful situations like being put in a confined box on wheels and being trundled about the countryside. I would not like to aportion blame at all in this situation... it was just an accident.

As an asside - Am I the only one who ALWAYS opens the Jockey door first or looks over the tailgate to check all is ok before attempting to unload??


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## Ranyhyn (24 February 2012)

CBFan said:



			As an asside - Am I the only one who ALWAYS opens the Jockey door first or looks over the tailgate to check all is ok before attempting to unload??
		
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Nope, I always get in through the jockey door first and do what I need to, then drop the ramp.  I find, personally, dropping the ramp makes mine eager to come out, so I leave it up til we're actually unloading.


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## rockysmum (24 February 2012)

CBFan said:



			OP, I am really sorry to hear of your wife's accident. And Yes, I have hearn of various accidents involving horses getting over and indeed UNDER and STUCK on / under breast bars etc. It seems the manufacturers really cant win - as someone else said, the components need to be man enough to do their job but easy enough to dismantle in the event of a crisis... unfortunately there isn't a satisfactory middle ground. Bottom line is, Horses do stupid things... especially when put in stressful situations like being put in a confined box on wheels and being trundled about the countryside. I would not like to aportion blame at all in this situation... it was just an accident.

As an asside - Am I the only one who ALWAYS opens the Jockey door first or looks over the tailgate to check all is ok before attempting to unload??
		
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No, I do this too.  Due to a design fault on the 510 (never said it didn't have them) the only way to tie a haynet most horses can reach is to stretch a leadrope between the tie ring by the breast bar to the tie ring at the front and hang the net on that.

I have to go in the jockey door first to undo the haynet, then I open the top door above the ramp and only if everything is calm does the ramp come down.

I can lift my ramps easily with one hand from the side, no way I have to stand under them, but my trailers are always serviced every year.


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## TBB (24 February 2012)

As an asside - Am I the only one who ALWAYS opens the Jockey door first or looks over the tailgate to check all is ok before attempting to unload??[/QUOTE]

I travel mares and foals a lot of the time and l look through the front window before opening the top door above the side ramp, then I look over the ramp to check the position of the foal before lowering the side ramp. (mare and foal travel without partition but with a full breast bar and the foal loose) I wouldn't open the Jockey door first in case I got double barrelled by a foal with his backside under the bar.
 I have a friend who had a horse get over the front bar of the partition and they pulled in to the side of the road when they heard the commotion. They opened the Jockey door and the horse fell out on to the side of the road but got caught in the door (not designed for a 16.1 3 year old to come out through). With hindsight, they'd have been better opening the top door over the ramp and on seeing the situation, letting down the breastbar using the Allen key from the outside but in the panic they opened the Jockey door, thankfully no one was hurt although the horse suffered cuts while trapped in the jockey door which will leave him with a few scars but could be worse. As the saying goes "You live and learn" and this is certainly through with horses.


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## deicinmerlyn (24 February 2012)

Double_choc_lab said:



			I am somewhat shocked at the reactions of some to the OP whose wife has suffered a life changing injury.  We're not talking about breaking a finger or a bit of muscle strain and claiming.  Do we know if he's sueing IW.  If he is - well that his choice - we're not the judge and jury.  There will be far more qualified legal brains to decide about the risk element, the design factor and whethere there was any negligence.  It's all very well do say in hindsight how we would have managed the situation but when all hell is kicking off many people react different.  Best wishes to your wife OP.
		
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Echo this^^^


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## Business (24 February 2012)

deicinmerlyn said:



			Echo this^^^
		
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Snap and frankly wondering how many would score highly on a psychopathy scale! 

It's always these sort of reactions that make me get totally sick of this forum. Some really nice people, some having bad days, and some .....!

If anyone feels that this post is directed at them then it probably is!


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## chrisr224 (21 March 2014)

This is probably a long dead thread, I trust you wife has fully recovered by now. We are in NZ and have a 2005 HB510 identical to the one we had in UK before we left. It has been used for daughters ponies over the years but daughters grow aand now she has larger, 15.2hh horses. Two weeks ago two were being moved, they seemed ill at ease, we checked and saw nothing wrong. Two miles later after a huge performance from them whenever we went slowly, very slowly, around a left hand bend, we stopped at the first possible place and opened the rear door. 

The right hand horse was in a serious way,  blood everywhere, the rear partition had pulled out at the front rivets, collapsed and ended up underneath her. Only her tough full length travel boots saved her life. Bad cuts to the hoof area, her side where the remains of the partition had sharp edges and under her tail where the bar had caused the damage. She is a darling, quiet show hack and will never be able to compete again, even if she becomes ride-able. 

The Ifor Williams agent in NZ inspected the damage very quickly and did exactly what we expected, not our fault, the trailer wasn't to blame type response! Ifor Williams UK, the manufacturer, haven't deemed to reply at all!

I got an engineer to look at the damage, it only took him minutes to find the fault. The partitions are very poorly made. A composite of thin alloy sheets riveted into a frame of extruded aluminum sections. The Rivets on the front edge that take the load were only a few mm into the alloy sheet, the polystyrene extended a further 9mm on this edge stopping the alloy sheets bedding down into the frame section. Fatigue has slowly weakened the area around the rivet holes until under light load they failed the partition collapsed and nearly killed my horse not to mention seriously damaging the interior of the trailer.  The engineer took the whole partition to bits, the rivet holes at the rear where no stress ever occurs where 20mm into the sheet, he feels this would have been safe on the front edge. The holes were all out of alignment, build quality was amateur at best, deadly is a better description.

This sound so like the problem with your partition, I just wondered what had happened in your case and did you sort it out with Ifor Williams?


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## chocolategirl (21 March 2014)

I would echo previous posters with regards to NEVER standing directly in front or behind either ramp when loading or unloading. I have previously owned 2 of the models in question and owned both of them for 4 and 5 years respectively. I never had a single incident in all those years despite competing all over the place on a very regular basis. I think we are all guilty of the old adage 'familiarity breeds contempt' where horses are concerned? It's only when accidents such as this happen, that we get a stark reminder of how very dangerous and unpredictable they CAN be to be around. Even now that I have a 7.5 ton lorry, I never stand directly behind the ramp due to the fact I am aware of incidents where springs have failed and ramps have fallen on people. I hope your wife continues to improve but please don't take it out on the manufacturer. There are literally thousands upon thousands of these trailers in use and accidents will happen from time it time sadly.


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## chrisr224 (21 March 2014)

My post relates to an incident that has nothing to do with ramps, familiarity breeding contempt or anything you mention. Clearly many, if not most  of the Ifor Williams Floats work OK but the way the partitions are put together is shoddy.

If you are unlucky enough to get one that is very poorly put together the partition can fail, the rivets pull out and the damage to horse or owner can be very severe. Most of us, fortunately were not killed in an aircrash which was proven to be a manufacturing error, it does not show that the manufacturer was not responsible for the deaths of those who were unfortunately killed!

Ifor Williams sell their trailers on a 'well engineered' basis but the fact that the partitions fail due to poor design, build and quality control issues proves this is untrue!

I have a seriously damaged horse, a trailer needing serious repairs and modifications due to the fault in manufacture and Ifor Williams in NZ and UK are happy to say nothing!   



WinkingWillow said:



			I would echo previous posters with regards to NEVER standing directly in front or behind either ramp when loading or unloading. I have previously owned 2 of the models in question and owned both of them for 4 and 5 years respectively. I never had a single incident in all those years despite competing all over the place on a very regular basis. I think we are all guilty of the old adage 'familiarity breeds contempt' where horses are concerned? It's only when accidents such as this happen, that we get a stark reminder of how very dangerous and unpredictable they CAN be to be around. Even now that I have a 7.5 ton lorry, I never stand directly behind the ramp due to the fact I am aware of incidents where springs have failed and ramps have fallen on people. I hope your wife continues to improve but please don't take it out on the manufacturer. There are literally thousands upon thousands of these trailers in use and accidents will happen from time it time sadly.
		
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## chocolategirl (21 March 2014)

chrisr224 said:



			My post relates to an incident that has nothing to do with ramps, familiarity breeding contempt or anything you mention. Clearly many, if not most  of the Ifor Williams Floats work OK but the way the partitions are put together is shoddy.

If you are unlucky enough to get one that is very poorly put together the partition can fail, the rivets pull out and the damage to horse or owner can be very severe. Most of us, fortunately were not killed in an aircrash which was proven to be a manufacturing error, it does not show that the manufacturer was not responsible for the deaths of those who were unfortunately killed!

Ifor Williams sell their trailers on a 'well engineered' basis but the fact that the partitions fail due to poor design, build and quality control issues proves this is untrue!

I have a seriously damaged horse, a trailer needing serious repairs and modifications due to the fault in manufacture and Ifor Williams in NZ and UK are happy to say nothing!
		
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I was replying to the original post not yours.


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## Suechoccy (21 March 2014)

Chrisr224 - I'm sorry to hear about your horse's horrific injuries.  do you mean the central partition that runs the length of the box, or the breastbar that goes across the horse's chest? If partition - is it fixed rather than swinging? Is it a horsebox (lorry) rather than a trailer?  What in NZ is a "float" - is it a trailer or a lorry?   (We get confusion in UK with "horsebox" which to most horsey people means a lorry rather than a towed-trailer, but to the non-horsey population, and often in media coverage of road accidents, there will be refernce to a "horse box" when it was a towed-trailer).

The OP's IW was a trailer and the breastbar came adrift with the horse's weight on top of it after the horse tried to jump/rear over the top of the breastbar.  

If the original poster is still reading H&H (probably not as his post was back in 2012), I sincerely wish his wife, him and his family all the best.  We all know we should wear hats, not stand under ramps, that horses are unpredictable and heavy and quick-moving, that breastbars aren't designed for horses weight to be on top of them, etc, etc, and most of the time we follow these guidelines and everything is fine, but it only takes a split-second wrong decision on our parts for a life-changing moment sometimes, esp if that's an emergency panic stressful situation.


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## Moomin1 (21 March 2014)

I always open the jockey door before any ramp to check the horse is where it should be first.


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## montanna (21 March 2014)

I have heard of so many accidents involving trailers, that I will never again travel my horse in one. My own mare a few years ago managed to go down in a trailer and became trapped under the breast bar and central partition. She managed to lose three of four shoes, and completely ruined her back - she was never the same again. I will never travel a horse of mine in one again!


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## chrisr224 (22 March 2014)

In NZ trailers are called FLOATS had us visualizing a wholly different horse transport system but a trailer is a float and a horse box is a horse truck!

Our is an Ifor Williams HB510. The central partition is in three parts, a post in the middle off which hang two swinging partitions that are held in place with breast bars. The rear swinging partition failed due to being very poorly made, you cannot expect rivets placed just 8mm into thin sheets of alloy to resist a horse of any size pushing on the bar for very long. Only the fact that for years we have transported ponies and they tended not to be large enough to push the rear bar has prevented it failing earlier.  

We are preparing a webpage with photographs of the damage and  what caused it. We have had some repairs done and have several suggested modifications for other Ifor Williams owners to prevent the same thing happening to them. Basically reinforcing the exterior of the partition panels with 50mm x 2mm strips of alloy that connect the front channel to the bar hook and on to the back panel. All bolted through. Easy to do, cheap and very strong, it possibly would have held the horse in the original incident that created this thread. 

I had never heard of the emergency release system in these trailers but the agent here made much of it. The bars can be released from outside the trailer, ours needed an allen key but more modern ones can be released using a lever, tyre release or similar. Designed to release the bar and a horse trapped over it without having to enter the trailer. Sounds good but would you remember in the panic of an incident like this?

Our horse is recovering but the scars will never go and her show career is over, an expensive and beautiful horse destroyed because Ifor Williams don't care about the quality of their products!




Suechoccy said:



			Chrisr224 - I'm sorry to hear about your horse's horrific injuries.  do you mean the central partition that runs the length of the box, or the breastbar that goes across the horse's chest? If partition - is it fixed rather than swinging? Is it a horsebox (lorry) rather than a trailer?  What in NZ is a "float" - is it a trailer or a lorry?   (We get confusion in UK with "horsebox" which to most horsey people means a lorry rather than a towed-trailer, but to the non-horsey population, and often in media coverage of road accidents, there will be refernce to a "horse box" when it was a towed-trailer).

The OP's IW was a trailer and the breastbar came adrift with the horse's weight on top of it after the horse tried to jump/rear over the top of the breastbar.  

If the original poster is still reading H&H (probably not as his post was back in 2012), I sincerely wish his wife, him and his family all the best.  We all know we should wear hats, not stand under ramps, that horses are unpredictable and heavy and quick-moving, that breastbars aren't designed for horses weight to be on top of them, etc, etc, and most of the time we follow these guidelines and everything is fine, but it only takes a split-second wrong decision on our parts for a life-changing moment sometimes, esp if that's an emergency panic stressful situation.
		
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## chrisr224 (22 March 2014)

Craig Jones,

Not sure if you have seen my recent post, similar happened to us due to the poor quality of manufacture of the partition panels. I hope you did sue Ifor Williams and won your case. Manufacturing as poorly done as seen in our trailer is dangerous in the extreme - and punishable under the law if it causes damage, injury or worse, death!

All the best,

Chris R


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## Fun Times (22 March 2014)

Op posts asking whether anyone else has had a similar problem with their trailer and aside from one or two useful responses gets ten times as many responses from people pointing out how fantastic they are at unloading horses. Honestly, the level of smugness on this forum never ceases to amaze me. Had the post been a request for advice on how to unload I could see the point but I doubt ops wife wants to hear it now.


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## chrisr224 (22 March 2014)

Fun Times

I too was amazed a the responses to OP's post. Some I presume are selfishly trying to preserve their position with their own Ifor Williams Trailers - Ostrich head in sand posture - it must be the user not equipment like mine!

I posted a similar incident with details of a engineers report that shows what the problem is - poor design, cheap manufacture and no quality control hoping the info may help OP and other users of the Trailers. With the speed of the legal system OP may still be involved in a legal battle against Ifor Williams and hopefully this will help.


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## Honey08 (22 March 2014)

The OP hasn't been on the forum since Feb 2012, which is a shame, it would be lovely to hear how things are for them.


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## chocolategirl (23 March 2014)

montanna said:



			I have heard of so many accidents involving trailers, that I will never again travel my horse in one. My own mare a few years ago managed to go down in a trailer and became trapped under the breast bar and central partition. She managed to lose three of four shoes, and completely ruined her back - she was never the same again. I will never travel a horse of mine in one again!
		
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I have first hand experience of accidents in horseboxes also so this isn't exclusively a trailer problem. A close friend of mine lost a very talented show jumper when he went down in a big lorry. I will never forget the sight of him coming down the ramp with his front leg swinging due to a compound fracture in the upper bone. Haunts me to this day. I think as somebody previously pointed out, when you have something the size of a horse confined in a small space, this is always going to be risky.


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## chrisr224 (24 March 2014)

Absolutely correct! Moving horses is always a risk as is driving a car! Accidents happen and we have to live with them.

The real issue here is that these Ifor Williams Trailers have been so poorly made that they failed and caused the accidents due to no fault of the horse or owner. If the seat of your car collapsed and the sharp bits the collapse exposed injured you seriously you would be right to complain to the car maker. If an engineer examined the damage and found it was due to poor manufacturing or faults in the way it was put together you would be suing the car maker.

We all love our horses like our children, we buy what we understand is top quality, Ifor Williams had a fantastic reputation and it seemed to be the best and safest buy. It comes as a great shock to discover that they are built so poorly that they can fail, destroy your horses career if not heir life and Ifor Williams will not even comment on the incident whilst their agent here in NZ blames anything but the trailer!  



WinkingWillow said:



			I have first hand experience of accidents in horseboxes also so this isn't exclusively a trailer problem. A close friend of mine lost a very talented show jumper when he went down in a big lorry. I will never forget the sight of him coming down the ramp with his front leg swinging due to a compound fracture in the upper bone. Haunts me to this day. I think as somebody previously pointed out, when you have something the size of a horse confined in a small space, this is always going to be risky.
		
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## chrisr224 (29 March 2014)

I have set up a *Safety Warning website* due to the accident we suffered due to the failure of the partition in our Ifor Williams 510 trailer - http://ifor-horse-trailer.com

This shows what happened and why it occurred. 

The site goes on to show the modifications to the trailer we made with help from our engineer. 
These are simple, easy to do and inexpensive but increase the strength of the partitions significantly so they can better resist the stress that causes these events. 

In my opinion every owner of these trailers and even the new ones should consider strengthening the partitions to prevent any possibility of further accidents due to there failure. 

I trust you find the site useful and informative.


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## weebarney (30 March 2014)

Thank you chrisr for posting the link. I will definitely be having a good check of my trailer.


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## maisie06 (30 March 2014)

montanna said:



			I have heard of so many accidents involving trailers, that I will never again travel my horse in one. My own mare a few years ago managed to go down in a trailer and became trapped under the breast bar and central partition. She managed to lose three of four shoes, and completely ruined her back - she was never the same again. I will never travel a horse of mine in one again!
		
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One of the most horrific accidents I have seen occured with a lorry - not all trailers are bad and some of us have no other option....


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## hoggedmane (30 March 2014)

chrisr224 said:



			This is probably a long dead thread, I trust you wife has fully recovered by now. We are in NZ and have a 2005 HB510 identical to the one we had in UK before we left. It has been used for daughters ponies over the years but daughters grow aand now she has larger, 15.2hh horses. Two weeks ago two were being moved, they seemed ill at ease, we checked and saw nothing wrong. Two miles later after a huge performance from them whenever we went slowly, very slowly, around a left hand bend, we stopped at the first possible place and opened the rear door. 

The right hand horse was in a serious way,  blood everywhere, the rear partition had pulled out at the front rivets, collapsed and ended up underneath her. Only her tough full length travel boots saved her life. Bad cuts to the hoof area, her side where the remains of the partition had sharp edges and under her tail where the bar had caused the damage. She is a darling, quiet show hack and will never be able to compete again, even if she becomes ride-able. 

The Ifor Williams agent in NZ inspected the damage very quickly and did exactly what we expected, not our fault, the trailer wasn't to blame type response! Ifor Williams UK, the manufacturer, haven't deemed to reply at all!

I got an engineer to look at the damage, it only took him minutes to find the fault. The partitions are very poorly made. A composite of thin alloy sheets riveted into a frame of extruded aluminum sections. The Rivets on the front edge that take the load were only a few mm into the alloy sheet, the polystyrene extended a further 9mm on this edge stopping the alloy sheets bedding down into the frame section. Fatigue has slowly weakened the area around the rivet holes until under light load they failed the partition collapsed and nearly killed my horse not to mention seriously damaging the interior of the trailer.  The engineer took the whole partition to bits, the rivet holes at the rear where no stress ever occurs where 20mm into the sheet, he feels this would have been safe on the front edge. The holes were all out of alignment, build quality was amateur at best, deadly is a better description.

This sound so like the problem with your partition, I just wondered what had happened in your case and did you sort it out with Ifor Williams?
		
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Sorry to hear about your horses accident. I have a IW 510 - about 10 years old now I would think which I bought off a friend. When my friend first had it we were travelling her horse and mine, (both  large horses) who both leaned forward on the front breast bar at the same time going downhill. They did as you described and popped the rivets out of the partition which came away from the central post. We had to remove the partition and travel the horses without to get them home. I now use it without a partition to travel just one horse. Luckily neither of the horses in my trailer was hurt.


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## iris (30 March 2014)

Thank you for the warning I'm slightly freaked out now. We bought our 510 classic trailer in 2005 brand new but apparently it was made in '03 according to ifor records. We bought it for a difficult horse who had jumped the front bar, we purchased the ifor because of how easy it is to collapse the partitions if the situation ever arose. Just recently my 3 year old 15.2hh jumped the front partition and when I did find him he wasn't putting weight on the bar as his sheath was just on the bar. I was thankful that the box was big enough that he could stand in the front and caught in the bar with room to relax and nothing moved to frighten him. Now I'm thinking if he had sat on it and it broke the outcome wouldn't have been good at all, he actually would have wrecked himself and the box. Thank you so much for putting this information online, I for one am going to get my partitions looked at!


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## chrisr224 (31 March 2014)

hoggedmane said:



			Sorry to hear about your horses accident. I have a IW 510 - about 10 years old now I would think which I bought off a friend. When my friend first had it we were travelling her horse and mine, (both  large horses) who both leaned forward on the front breast bar at the same time going downhill. They did as you described and popped the rivets out of the partition which came away from the central post. We had to remove the partition and travel the horses without to get them home. I now use it without a partition to travel just one horse. Luckily neither of the horses in my trailer was hurt.
		
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It looks like the partitions failing is a common problem with this model of Ifor Williams trailers, looking at how poorly they were made it is not a surprise to me. I'm very pleased your horses were not hurt, imagine what could have happened if you had been forced to do an emergency stop in those circumstances. 

Ifor Williams just seem to ignore the issue, these trailers are still being used everyday by hundreds, if not thousands of owners unaware of the danger. Looking at images of FOR SALE Ifor Williams I see lots have the new partitions even though they date back to this period - clearly they have been changed by the owners or the suppliers at a later date.

Our dealer tried to blame us for the failure, we had the bars in the wrong way around, apparently you are supposed to have the hooked end on the partition and the clip on the outside wall. We have never heard of this previously, it is tricky to do when loading since the bars would hang from the moving partition end. All the images on the internet, including one recommending our dealer show the bars being used the other way, hanging on the outside wall and being clipped onto the partition when the horse loads. Only the new brochure and website pix show the reverse! 

Apparently it is to let the bars drop if you undo the allen keyed bolts on the outside of the trailer, my engineer laughed at the suggestion, it would help in your case but could be deadly in an accident where the trailer had overturned onto it's side. Choose you accident type in advance and put the bars in the correct position! 

Check out the website detailed above to see what happened and how we modified the partitions to make them safe.


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## SarahWeston (31 March 2014)

Just as an aside, for people in the UK, the Fire and Rescue Service would always recommend that you treat a horse that is in trouble in a horse box or trailer as a 'hazardous material' and to call them (Animal Rescue Team 999 call) to get help rather than risking your life. Call the vet at the same time as the Animal Rescue Team that they can work together to extract your horse safely. Two incidents highlight this: The first was the chap killed by his horse when he went in to see what was wrong, and the other the incident with 12 polo ponies on the A303. If you want to find out more about animal rescue teams then the Hampshire Service (which trains fire fighters from all across the country) has a Facebook page Friends of the Hampshire Animal Rescue Service.


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## ester (31 March 2014)

chrisr224 said:



			It looks like the partitions failing is a common problem with this model of Ifor Williams trailers, looking at how poorly they were made it is not a surprise to me. I'm very pleased your horses were not hurt, imagine what could have happened if you had been forced to do an emergency stop in those circumstances. 

Ifor Williams just seem to ignore the issue, these trailers are still being used everyday by hundreds, if not thousands of owners unaware of the danger. Looking at images of FOR SALE Ifor Williams I see lots have the new partitions even though they date back to this period - clearly they have been changed by the owners or the suppliers at a later date.

Our dealer tried to blame us for the failure, we had the bars in the wrong way around, apparently you are supposed to have the hooked end on the partition and the clip on the outside wall. We have never heard of this previously, it is tricky to do when loading since the bars would hang from the moving partition end. All the images on the internet, including one recommending our dealer show the bars being used the other way, hanging on the outside wall and being clipped onto the partition when the horse loads. Only the new brochure and website pix show the reverse! 

Apparently it is to let the bars drop if you undo the allen keyed bolts on the outside of the trailer, my engineer laughed at the suggestion, it would help in your case but could be deadly in an accident where the trailer had overturned onto it's side. Choose you accident type in advance and put the bars in the correct position! 

Check out the website detailed above to see what happened and how we modified the partitions to make them safe.
		
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It doesn't matter which way round you hooked them you can still drop them though... 

In an older trailer a horse leaning on the partition pulled it through the outside wall, no accident was had though and we didn't even know it had occurred until we got home, the 2 horses were unaffected.


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## lucemoose (31 March 2014)

I always have the bars hanging from the partition?? then clipped to the wall..and you use that little rubber thingy to bungee the partition over. IW doesnt come up as having any customer service


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## Goldenstar (31 March 2014)

I had one very nasty incident in a IF trailer and the petitions giving way saved the the horse from serious injury .
It is how ever very very difficult to collapse the front bars from the outside if the horse is either hanging from them buy his tummy to stifles or standing on the with his fore feet.
When I had one standing forefeet of the Brest bar legs locked and trapped it was impossible to remove the bar using an Allen key when in was loaded with the horse weight .
I removed the over front bar the petition at the other side  then the petition broke at the seam near to the central pilar freeing the horse.
It really scared me about what you would do if you had the same situation with a full width Brest bar with no petition .
My trailer is the Allen key type but I am replacing the fittings with the new type when the trailer gets it's service in the summer .


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## Tiddlypom (31 March 2014)

My 2006 510 Classic has withstood some pretty hefty battering without any problem.

The late chesnut git once came part way over the front bar and hung there for several minutes until I released the breast bar from the outside with the allen key. The trailer was undamaged. My claustrophobic mare used to lean hard first one way then the other, and also lean hard on the breast and breech bars, again without damaging the trailer at all. I have always been very impressed with the build quality of my trailer.


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## DragonSlayer (31 March 2014)

chrisr224 said:



			In NZ trailers are called FLOATS had us visualizing a wholly different horse transport system but a trailer is a float and a horse box is a horse truck!

Our is an Ifor Williams HB510. The central partition is in three parts, a post in the middle off which hang two swinging partitions that are held in place with breast bars. The rear swinging partition failed due to being very poorly made, you cannot expect rivets placed just 8mm into thin sheets of alloy to resist a horse of any size pushing on the bar for very long. Only the fact that for years we have transported ponies and they tended not to be large enough to push the rear bar has prevented it failing earlier.  

We are preparing a webpage with photographs of the damage and  what caused it. We have had some repairs done and have several suggested modifications for other Ifor Williams owners to prevent the same thing happening to them. Basically reinforcing the exterior of the partition panels with 50mm x 2mm strips of alloy that connect the front channel to the bar hook and on to the back panel. All bolted through. Easy to do, cheap and very strong, it possibly would have held the horse in the original incident that created this thread. 

I had never heard of the emergency release system in these trailers but the agent here made much of it. The bars can be released from outside the trailer, ours needed an allen key but more modern ones can be released using a lever, tyre release or similar. Designed to release the bar and a horse trapped over it without having to enter the trailer. Sounds good but would you remember in the panic of an incident like this?

Our horse is recovering but the scars will never go and her show career is over, an expensive and beautiful horse destroyed because Ifor Williams don't care about the quality of their products!
		
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Regarding the allen key to release the breast bar. We have had one in a prime location  ever since we bought the trailer from new. It's in the truck and there it stays, only used it once when a looney pony (not mine, doing a friend a favour, last time I did that!) decided to jump over and got stuck. The whole bar dropped down and it took seconds..

It's not the first time I've heard of people not knowing about it. I just researched the trailer well before we bought it and then asked the dealer about it who then demonstrated how it worked.


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## DragonSlayer (31 March 2014)

Tiddlypom said:



			My 2006 510 Classic has withstood some pretty hefty battering without any problem.

The late chesnut git once came part way over the front bar and hung there for several minutes until I released the breast bar from the outside with the allen key. The trailer was undamaged. My claustrophobic mare used to lean hard first one way then the other, and also lean hard on the breast and breech bars, again without damaging the trailer at all. I have always been very impressed with the build quality of my trailer.
		
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Us too, we have that model and it's used very regularly with many different horses. Even when OH's horse decided he didn't like it anymore and decided to kick the hell out of the side and us the partition as support (no damage, just left sweat marks behind!) it came out unscathed!


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## Craig Jones (31 March 2014)

Can you please let me have any more detailed info re your engineers inspection of the failed partition as I am building a file of similar complaints in order to bring this matter to the attention of more owners. My original post appears to have been hijacked by people who do not understand the method of construction of the partition or like to read their own interpretation of a matter which is incidental

I fully concur with your efforts to strengthen the partition mounting. You will note that on the latest models the mounting is much more substantial and a definite improvement over the pattern which you describe and with which we both have encountered a major problem


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## Fun Times (31 March 2014)

How is your wife doing now Craig? Hope she has made a full recovery.


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## chrisr224 (31 March 2014)

Craig Jones said:



			Can you please let me have any more detailed info re your engineers inspection of the failed partition as I am building a file of similar complaints in order to bring this matter to the attention of more owners. My original post appears to have been hijacked by people who do not understand the method of construction of the partition or like to read their own interpretation of a matter which is incidental

I fully concur with your efforts to strengthen the partition mounting. You will note that on the latest models the mounting is much more substantial and a definite improvement over the pattern which you describe and with which we both have encountered a major problem
		
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Good to hear from you, I too trust your wife has made a good recovery now. I feel it would be better to discuss this more privately, if you post a comment on my blog we can set up an email conversation. As you rightly say your original post was hi jacked, I do not want the same to happen here.


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## Craig Jones (14 April 2014)

Have been offline for two weeks but I would like to contact you by e-mail as suggested to discuss the matter further but have no idea how to access your blog. Can you enlighten me please?


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## LittleRooketRider (15 April 2014)

also very sorry to hear about your wife and i hope she does eventually make a full recovery

..but i do have a few points
 firstly about the rivets...I am vaguely aware of growing concerns about the difficulty in removing breach bars in the event that a horse gets stuck on it, having experienced this a few times when finding the correct allen key is as ever very difficult..so hypothetically could the easily broken rivets be an attempt to help this problem? just a musing on my part

secondly I hate to jump down your throat but (I do own an ifor and have done for sveral hears) I am failing to see how your wife could of been stood out of the way to the side and be hit on the head by the metal bits that prevent the edge of ramp touching the ground.

i wish your wife all the best for a full recovery


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## chrisr224 (15 April 2014)

Great to hear from you.

Blog is on http://ifor-horse-trailer.com/blog/


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## chrisr224 (15 April 2014)

LittleRocketRider said:



			also very sorry to hear about your wife and i hope she does eventually make a full recovery

..but i do have a few points
 firstly about the rivets...I am vaguely aware of growing concerns about the difficulty in removing breach bars in the event that a horse gets stuck on it, having experienced this a few times when finding the correct allen key is as ever very difficult..so hypothetically could the easily broken rivets be an attempt to help this problem? just a musing on my part

secondly I hate to jump down your throat but (I do own an ifor and have done for sveral hears) I am failing to see how your wife could of been stood out of the way to the side and be hit on the head by the metal bits that prevent the edge of ramp touching the ground.

i wish your wife all the best for a full recovery
		
Click to expand...

Hi there, I suggest you go to my website [B]http://ifor-horse-trailer.com/blog/[/B] and look at the photos!

The rivets tear out of the alloy sheet leaving razor sharp edges on the alloy which could and did in our case, seriously cut your horse. These injuries have the potential to kill so I do not see how it could ever have been designed in as a safety system!

The photos also show the incredibly poor standard of build, bodged is the best word! Nobody in their right mind would design a panel to take the full weight of a horse supported by just ten rivets into thin alloy sheets with the holes just a few mm from the edge of the sheet - there is nothing more - the frame is just decorative, not joined at the corners and the breast bars are just bolted through the panel, albeit with a bit of timber in that spot to replace the polystyrene but not tied to the supporting edge of the frame in anyway.

It makes me worry about even more important bits of the trailer, are the wheels held on in similar fashion?


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## Craig Jones (15 April 2014)

LittleRocketRider said:



			also very sorry to hear about your wife and i hope she does eventually make a full recovery

..but i do have a few points
 firstly about the rivets...I am vaguely aware of growing concerns about the difficulty in removing breach bars in the event that a horse gets stuck on it, having experienced this a few times when finding the correct allen key is as ever very difficult..so hypothetically could the easily broken rivets be an attempt to help this problem? just a musing on my part

secondly I hate to jump down your throat but (I do own an ifor and have done for sveral hears) I am failing to see how your wife could of been stood out of the way to the side and be hit on the head by the metal bits that prevent the edge of ramp touching the ground.

i wish your wife all the best for a full recovery
		
Click to expand...


In response - the rivets we are talking about are those holding the hinge strip to the partition and are nothing to do with the location of the breach bar.
Secondly - my wife was NOT standing under the ramp but to the side. It would appear that with the ramp coming down suddenly she fell backwards onto concrete severely damaging the back of her head. Hope this helps with your understanding.


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## LittleRooketRider (15 April 2014)

Craig Jones said:



			In response - the rivets we are talking about are those holding the hinge strip to the partition and are nothing to do with the location of the breach bar.
Secondly - my wife was NOT standing under the ramp but to the side. It would appear that with the ramp coming down suddenly she fell backwards onto concrete severely damaging the back of her head. Hope this helps with your understanding.
		
Click to expand...

ok thank you I think I may have been getting a bit confused I think by reading through all the other posts ...now it makes more sense and all i have to say is sorry if I have caused any offence in any way and strong HHO vibes for your wives recovery.


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## LittleRooketRider (15 April 2014)

chrisr224 said:



			Hi there, I suggest you go to my website [B]http://ifor-horse-trailer.com/blog/[/B] and look at the photos!

The rivets tear out of the alloy sheet leaving razor sharp edges on the alloy which could and did in our case, seriously cut your horse. These injuries have the potential to kill so I do not see how it could ever have been designed in as a safety system!

The photos also show the incredibly poor standard of build, bodged is the best word! Nobody in their right mind would design a panel to take the full weight of a horse supported by just ten rivets into thin alloy sheets with the holes just a few mm from the edge of the sheet - there is nothing more - the frame is just decorative, not joined at the corners and the breast bars are just bolted through the panel, albeit with a bit of timber in that spot to replace the polystyrene but not tied to the supporting edge of the frame in anyway.

It makes me worry about even more important bits of the trailer, are the wheels held on in similar fashion?
		
Click to expand...

oh yes I can't see the photos but know from what you were saying that that is not a safety feature. I just got confused and wasn't sure if the breach bar colllapsed or broke or if it was the breach bar at all.


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## Goldenstar (15 April 2014)

My horse was saved from injury by the rivets giving it would not have been great if they had not .
£150 was a new half petition and the trailer was good to go again.
I remain firm in my opinion you are at risk unloading a horse  from the the front but it is a choice you personally take ,it's easy to teach healthy horses to rear unload.


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## el_Snowflakes (15 April 2014)

Sorry if you have already explained this on here but how is your wife doing now OP?


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## Craig Jones (15 April 2014)

LittleRocketRider said:



			ok thank you I think I may have been getting a bit confused I think by reading through all the other posts ...now it makes more sense and all i have to say is sorry if I have caused any offence in any way and strong HHO vibes for your wives recovery.

Click to expand...

I can understand your confusion from previous posts! No offence but some people just haven't looked at the partition in detail. Pictures on a recent blog give a very good idea of the result of partition collapse.


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## chrisr224 (21 April 2014)

Goldenstar said:



			My horse was saved from injury by the rivets giving it would not have been great if they had not .
£150 was a new half petition and the trailer was good to go again.
I remain firm in my opinion you are at risk unloading a horse  from the the front but it is a choice you personally take ,it's easy to teach healthy horses to rear unload.
		
Click to expand...

I'm delighted that your horse escaped, the rivets pulling out of the alloy can leave, as they did in our case, razor sharp edges on the alloy. These could have cut your horse very seriously. 

Our partition fell when the other rear breach bar broke under the strain. Our horse had expensive fitted travel boots that were seriously cut but the alloy edges but the horses legs were OK, the coronet area and the hoof itself suffered serious cuts. The remaining edge of the partition on the centre post cut the side of the horse, we were moving when this occurred and the damage was undoubtedly worse due to the movement. We stopped at the first possible spot but found a 'bloody' mess when we dropped the ramp!

Personally, I see no more danger in opening the front ramp as opposed to the rear ramp. If the horse is able to move rapidly due to failure of parts inside the trailer either ramp can be exploded outwards due to the pressure exerted by the terrified animal desperate to escape.  All can look calm until you release the catches and then you find out the problem if you are still in one piece. 

We all accept that moving large animals involves risk both to the horses and the handlers but you should be able to trust that the equipment is properly made and designed. With these trailers it appears that this is not the case.

You were lucky once but I think you need to consider the possibility that it could happen again without the same fortunate result. 150UKP will not seem inexpensive then!


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## Craig Jones (9 May 2014)

My wife has now recovered to the point where she can now ride a horse again but obviously not in the manner that she used to. She has a large (approx. 100 x 60) titanium plate fixed to her skull to cover the bone removed to effect surgery. Her motor skills are much reduced, physically she is totally different, unable to concentrate for long periods etc etc
She is, however, alive which under the circumstances is a minor miracle.
The result of this accident was very serious, as previously stated, and all caused by a poorly designed partition failure exactly the same as seen in a more recent post from another owner. This type of failure is not unique - the question is how many other failures have occurred with a less serious end result and why have so many trailers of this era had partitions replaced with the current ( slightly more robust) design.


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