9 horsebox stowaways that will leave you in disbelief
You know the drill — decide to go to horse show, pack kit in horsebox, load horse, arrive at show, compete, go home. But without realising, these people have had an extra passenger on board — some with feathers and some with four legs (and we don’t mean horses…)
Jane Ferguson
“Here in New Zealand a couple of months ago, I was driving six hours to an endurance competition when I stopped to fill up with fuel and check on my horse, only to find one of my cats in the back. My heart sank — I was very lucky she hasn’t jumped out the back. She had a quiet weekend locked in the trailer and the standing joke around the ride base was she should be my mascot and travel to all the competitions with us. She didn’t learn anything as was straight back in again when unpacking.”
Sarah Hawkins
“Meet ‘Eagle’, one of our recently rescued hens (from the wonderful people at Fresh Start For Hens). I recently took my horse to Keysoe to do some British Dressage. On arrival, I went to find his water bucket stored in the spare compartment of the horse area only to find Eagle sitting on his spare haynet complete with lovely, warm egg! Thankfully with some quick thinking I managed to scoop her up and put her in the safety of the living area in the dog cage (thankfully the dogs were at home). She was quite happy, clucked madly at me every time I returned to the lorry, shared my lunch and travelled home very quietly! She brought us some luck too as my horse did some respectable tests at a venue he usually finds very intimidating, so maybe he enjoyed her company on the trip there… She returned happily to her friends that evening, no doubt with great tales of her adventure!”
Laura Hughes
“I hadn’t used my lorry for a while so drove it home one Friday night, which includes travelling two junctions down the M4. When I got home, something made me check underneath and I found four stowaways in a nest! I promptly turned round, back down the motorway and safely returned them to their mum! They fledged a few days later.”
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
Jane Harper
“We were en-route to a show in our lorry on the M40 motorway and had travelled 30 minutes when our cat ‘Bluebell’ appeared! She spent the day at the show with us and now regularly comes to shows for a day out.”
Paula Kopydlowski
“Luckily I spotted ‘Bobcat’ before we set off for an 80 mile road trip to a Pony Club dressage competition!”
Sam York
“My advanced mare Oakring Dalliance was accompanied one day with ‘Rocky’ the yard cockerel and ‘Honey’ the chicken who even laid an egg! I duly cooked up the egg and had it with my bacon butty.”
Alma Maher
“Not only does ‘Butter’ the Pygmy goat climb aboard the wagon every time we are getting ready to go, but the last time she even sneaked into the living! So far we have always found her before actually driving to a show, but it’s only a matter of time.”
Article continues below…
You might also be interested in:
On your travels? 5 types of horse who like to box clever
Whether you transport horses for a living or just do a lot of travelling, chances are that some of these
Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round
Caroline Steven
“This is ‘Tigger’, who was found hiding in the lorry on our way up to Bicton Arena.”
Michelle Lowe
“This isn’t quiet a stowaway but this is our lorry chicken, ‘Nugget’. He completed the end of the 2018 in the lorry with us and is now practising his doodle-do-ing ready for 2019. Here he is pictured at a British Eventing competition at Little Downham on top of our best ever lorry dog.”
For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.
Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now
Gemma is an experienced journalist, who was a member of H&H staff from 2014 to September 2025. She is passionate about all equestrian sports, including racing and point-to-pointing. She has enjoyed riding out for top trainers Nicky Henderson and Charlie Appleby and took part in a charity Flat race at Epsom in August 2018. Gemma’s has reported from numerous five-star events around Britain and Europe, as well as European championships.