Congrats, OP! Very exciting.
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DiBella in PA? L&D in OR? I am curious as I am in the market and located in PA.
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L&D trailers are the US distributor. They will have it shipped to the closest port. Iâm in Northwestern NJ so I will pick up mine at the Newark port.
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I totally understand why OP wants a horse box. They really are great and so much easier than a truck and trailer.
Just less moving parts in general to break down, easier to back up and drive, and if you are purchasing new itâs cheaper.
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On a tangent: I just bought a used Day Trekka and Iâm trying to decide how to organize the tack room. If you have a tack room instead of LQ, would you mind taking a few pics?
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What is the gas milage on something like the equi-trek vision horse box without a horse in it?
I would LOVE one of these vs the truck and trailer.
Iâm not sure but probably similar to the transit cargo van.
The advantages of a horsebox for me are:
- No faffing around in the pitch dark trying to hook up a trailer
- No squirreling around trying to back it up
- Living area in which to get changed, make a brew
- Decent tack lockers
- Not having to run a mahoosive towing truck as a daily runner
- Stability and horse comfort
- Towing a trailer on UK roads can be seriously scary.
- No one parking so close on the show ground that your backing skills are seriously tested.
Disadvantages:
- Having an expensive piece of kit that only gets used twice a month max, less than that during Covid
- Having to run it at least twice a month to keep the battery topped up - I recommend using a battery conditioner if you have a nearby power source
- Taxing , insuring, service costs, breakdown insurance for an additional vehicle
- Value depreciation on an additional vehicle
- Maximum weights - I have a 3.5 tonne truck which will only take a 1 tonne payload because of the weight limits & the way I had it equipped. I could have had it upgraded to 3.9 tonne, but that is a different classification in the UK and would incur additional maintenance costs. Not a problem as I only carry one horse but the truck is only suitable for one horse or two ponies.
From a build point of view my costs were for the chassis - I chose a low mileage 3yo chassis and then paid for a coach build on top of it, my costs included a small day living including sink, gas stove and wine cooler (most important 
provided someone else is driving of course), total cost for a similar build at todayâs prices is ÂŁ35K GPB.
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Which, at todayâs (bank) exchange rate is $43,867.25. :jealous: If we had horse boxes for $44k here in the US Iâd be the first in line.
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Iâd be second in line. I wonder what import costs would be if I imported oneâŠ.
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Regent are a reputable builder in the UK and they do export to the USA. Theyâre less expensive than equitrek over here.
See this website for a USA contact number.
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The cost to insure and register with the state will not be bad as it will classified as a RV type vehicle per my insurance company. It cost me more to insure my truck when I had one.
The weight of this horse box allows me to travel on a lot of roads and bridges by me. This is lighter than most delivery trucks that frequent the roads.
I looked at other horse boxes but I really like that this is built on a dual back wheel chassis for better strength/stability.
I canât wait to have mine so I can take my boy for lessons at my trainerâs instead of her always coming to me. He needs the change of scenery since he can be silly at showsđ
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I used to have a horse box â liked it but decided to sell it as I wasnât using it much. My husband already had a F350, so I sold the horse box and bought a GN 2 horse trailer. One note for arbeegirl â my experience was that getting the vehicle insured can be challenging. If its just a horse box without any living quarters it isnât classified as an RV for insurance purposes â I had to get commercial insurance and that can be more challenging. Also be sure you know where you can get it serviced. Mine was on a Dodge chassis but I could only take it to a dealer that serviced commercial vehicles â smaller dealers without commercial service capabilities wouldnât work on it.
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I already spoke with my insurance company. There is no issue insuring as a recreational vehicle which is what they plan on doing once I add it to my policy. The vehicle isnât commercial in my state as I do not have a registered business.
Ford can do all maintenance and covers the warranty. Dealerships around me will have no issues servicing a vehicle like the horse box. They have the facilities for the size.
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Well best of luck. When I bought mine they told me it would be easy to insure, but turns out it wasnât so easy. And they told me any dealer could service it but then I discovered my local one wouldnât.
Maybe their product is so good that they donât need to represent themselves any better, but, I confess that I struggle with giving away $$ when the web page is this awkward. 
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Oh I would sooo much prefer one of these over my truck and trailer. This would solve my backing issues.
I would trade in my truck, trailer, and small rv for one of these. But then I wouldnât have a small rv for non-horsey camping. So I guess I could just quit any non-horsey camping and have the best of all worlds!
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Theyâre popular in the UK and I visited their factory when I was looking for a smaller truck, they had at least 10 in build and more in stock. They mentioned at the time they were building for export to the US. In the end I went for a smaller, more local manufacturer.
I do agree about their website though!
And I donât like the way theyâve installed the wine cooler, mine is much better fitted
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The website needs a better design for sure!
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A couple of recommendations for anyone contemplating a 3.5t:
Donât get a Short Wheel Base (SWB) as the wheel arches protrude into the horse area, look for a Long Wheel Base (LWB). You can tell from pictures as the ramp isnât square.
If youâre looking at a new build import get it unpainted and find someone local who will do the paintwork, Iâve had a nightmare with a couple of trucks where the paint has got flakey on the seams. Itâs a known problem with any build and the current EU standard of paints which are environmentally friendly but not tough.
