The owner of a pony who was lucky to survive after his hoof went through the lorry floor has highlighted the very real need for meticulous checking of vehicles.
Vets believe Abi and Emma Hardern’s two-year-old Buttons will make a full recovery from the incident on 5 September, when Abi was transporting him and another youngster on the Huntingdon Bypass in their 7.5t lorry. Emma hopes sharing his story will help prevent another such incident.
“The fire brigade chief told Abi they see this across the country and most of the time, the horse breaks its leg on impact and has to be put down,” Emma said.
“Our saving grace was that he’s a small pony and our lorry is high off the ground. If it had been inches lower, his foot would just have been a stump.”
Emma said she and Abi had sold Buttons and the other young horse to some friends, and they were en route to their new home when a lorry driver behind started flashing his lights and hooting, so Abi pulled over.
“The lorry driver came running up, saying ‘Your horse has gone through the bottom of the lorry’,” Emma said. “Then all hell broke loose.”
Vets, police and firefighters arrived and Buttons was taken to hospital. He had worn away half the outside of his hoof, and his sole down to the laminae, Emma said, but is home and comfortable, with a positive prognosis.
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She added that the day after the accident, her horsebox was dismantled; it had had a full check when it had its MoT in July but that the rubber mats were sealed to the floor, so it could only be checked from underneath.
“We found there had been a leak at the window so water had run down and rotted the wall, and the floor, right at the edge,” she said. “An inch either side, it was completely solid. It was invisible, until the worst happened.”
Emma advised all other owners to “check, check and check again”, lifting mats frequently, and inspecting floors and ramps. She also pointed out that if people are looking for transport quotes, professionals’ boxes must be consistently checked, so legitimate operators will charge more.
“Remember, you’re paying for safety,” she said. “Don’t second-guess it because it can happen.”
Emma added that having aluminium floors is not a guarantee of safety, with which Byron John of Safety Check Horseboxes agrees.
“Often, I’ll be inspecting a box and someone says ‘It’s ok, it’s got an aluminium floor’, but it’s not,” he said. “Aluminium floors, and the framework they’re on, can corrode as quickly as wood rots.”
Mr John added, as Emma also pointed out, that MoTs do not look at floor or ramp safety.
“An MoT isn’t a service, and other than something that’s an imminent danger; sharp or falling off, this sort of thing isn’t part of it,” he said. “That’s a major misconception, I can’t emphasise it enough.
“It’s very important to address leaks as they occur, close the windows when you’re not using the vehicle, and really check the floor, even if you pay a professional to do it.”
A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service, which came to Buttons’ aid, told H&H: “Make sure you carry out a thorough check of any vehicle used to transport animals and download the app what3words so that you are able to provide us with an accurate location in an emergency.”
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.
