There is a new horse float in Malaysia, nicknamed Bertha, the best yet of its kind.
Beverly Whittel told PBITG, “We, at Equestrian Support Services (ESS), genuinely do care about your horses’ welfare, to the point that we have been working on a long-term project in order to help to make travel safer for horses in Malaysia.
Because they wanted to present a better alternative than what was available in Malaysia, Equestrian Support Services wanted European specifications for their float.
Working with Purple ventures, we now have use of a specially designed and built horse float built to carry up to 10 horses, one that is designed to keep horses safe and comfortable in transit.”
The frame is made of galvanised steel, lined internally with stainless steel then rubber making the walls both insulated and strong. The rubber lining extends to 1.2M reducing the likelihood of any injury due to kicking.
The roof is lined with insulated material to keep the heat out, the truck is painted white deliberately in order to reflect heat and keep the interior of the truck cooler.
Stainless steel louvres line 3 sides, including crossing the 2 ramps. Both ramps are hydraulically operated from external switches and latched for secure closure. The design of the ramps needs to be seen, with the ventilation louvres covered up for loading and unloading and opening to allow ventilation for travel. The ramps have side gates which aid in ensuring safety and lower the risk of accidents during loading and unloading. The ramps are rubber covered with molded bars running the width of the ramp. This non-slip footing gives the horses confidence in moving on and off the ramp. The side gates also act as full-size doors, so if the lorry is waiting in any place both ramps can be lowered to allow better airflow without compromising the safety of the horses.
The internal partitions are designed to be safe and easily adjustable, so at any one point they can easily be widened or narrowed to suit that particular horse. Horses are cross tied and each partition has its own foldaway headboard, which makes accessing horses for loading and unloading easier and safer for the handler. The partitions are made of honeycomb aluminium, with a rubber skirt allowing the horse to spread his legs during travel. We will, in the future, fit some stallion head boards.
The floor has a total depth of 4.1cm, composed of 3 layers, the bottom 2 layers are a specialist material, with the top layer being 10mm of sealed rubber. There are drains in the floor which lead to urine storage tanks, making it environmentally friendly, as they can then be emptied in a safe place. This results in a non-slip, easily cleaned and maintained surface with no unseen risk of future collapse or rot in the floor.
This truck has its own water supply, a 700-litre refillable tank, with a pump and hose which can be used for both watering horses en route, cooling them if necessary, and cleaning out the truck. Water buckets can be hung from the wall of the truck, so the horses can have water during travel if required, or they can be hung and removed as required during stops.
Inside the cab, there are several advanced safety features all with the purpose of getting your horse from A to B safely. The driver and the co-driver have viewing access of the horses, from 2 x 180 degree cameras, which cover the whole section so if they hear or feel a horse unsettled it can immediately be checked on the camera and managed as necessary.
There are back wall mounted fans at each horse and the temperature of the internal area is monitored in the cab alerting the driver and groom to a problem and allowing them to act. Access to the truck is made through a groom’s door at the front quarter of the truck to allow for easy, checking, watering or feeding of the horses during transit.
Finally, there is also a tyre pressure reader, which allows the driver to see the tyre pressures in all 10 tyres at any time, being an early warning system of any tyre problems.
The whole project took around 3 years. From deciding to go ahead, finding out the European standards, then sourcing a company to help us with the modifications and implementation, and even finding a partner to work with. Once they knew the way forward it took 14 months. Covid-19 and lockdowns meant many delays in the build. It certainly wasn’t an easy project to take on, definitely not for the fainthearted.
Due to the size of the truck, it cannot enter all yards. Although they are happy to travel all over Malaysia, ESS will need to know that the stables are accessible for a lorry of this size.
Interstate (and now in-state also) permits are no problem. Equestrian Support Services can handle these for you. They have a form with the requirements of what they need from you in order for them to apply, so one less headache for you to worry about!
Equestrian Support Services consists of people who have many years working with horses. They remain involved in the industry and keep up with change, in an ever-changing industry. ESS offer a variety of services, but primarily they do import and export of horses, cats and dogs (alas, horse export is on hold due to AHS) quarantine services and are the only international and MAQIS registered horse shippers in Malaysia. They work with a variety of shippers around the world and can arrange shipping with almost any other operators. ESS offer to assist in hard-to-find services. They claim to work on things that others can’t help you with, so if you are looking for something why not ask them if they can help, even if it is just advice on horse care, management or stable design.
ESS will, in due course, take bookings for use of their magnificent Lorry Kuda. To find out when, follow us in IG (lorry_kuda), facebook (Lori Kuda) or check out the website www.lorikuda.com, and you can WhatsApp: +6010 369 7378.
