Latest News stories from Empire Horseboxes Please click a Photo to Enlarge it...  

The Anglo Hibernian Horse Transport Firm has purchased the transporter originally made for another of our clients.

The Empire 9 Horse Transporter mounted upon a Volvo FM9 Chassis with a Globetrotter Cab. This Vehicle had been custom made with side and rear ramps complemented by front and rear air suspension to make for easy loading.  Complete with our Rear Empire Roof light bar, Drawbar Hitch, all in one privacy windows and Aluminium loading gates to help encourage inexperienced horses to load.

When it came back to have a few bits done to it to bring it back up to scratch which included a fabulous re spray we thought we would take a few pictures and make sure everyone could see how fantastic the new paint job had been! 

To book your horsebox in for a respray and a refurbishment couldn't be simpler. Just call, email or pop in and visit the workshop!

Empire Horseboxes is pleased to welcome to the company James Trevatt. James who has extensive experience in the Equestrian industry after more than 10 years working for various companies related to horses will be heading up the companies sales side of the business and is looking forward to learning all he can about horsebox manufacturing from Kevin.

James will be working very closely with company Director Kevin Jackson to see that all past present and future Empire Horseboxes clients are kept happy.

Please feel free to contact either James or Kevin on any of the following numbers to visit the workshop and talk through your dream horsebox build, refurbishment or respray.

James - 07889365099.

Kevin - 07931162830.

Office - 01562825710.

Photos of a recent build being completed for Lee Williams of Lee Williams Sports Horses, This Lorry was built to there specifications to be used as a work truck as a box conversion to reduce the build cost and to carry 8 large competition horses at any one time

It has been fitted with a front bulk head so that the front of the lorry can be converted into a day living area or alternatively into a tack storage area. The external lockers and skirt lockers are very deep and will hold a great deal of equipment which is always required for top competition horses through the busy competition season. The horse area has been fitted with air vents and fans as well as standard lighting and night travel lights

All of this has been done to the exacting standards set by Kevin Jackson of Empire Horseboxes to speak with Kevin regarding building a lorry of your own or having your lorry refurbished please contact us at the workshop on:

01562825710

This horsebox is now ready to go to paint and then come back to have the finishing touches put on by the team at Empire. Unfortunately Lee has recently injured himself while working abroad for a top international trainer and may be out for some time. This lorry once completed will therefore be for sale. We at Empire wish Lee and his father John all the best and hope that Lee recovers as quickly as possible.

Empire Horseboxes are horsebox manufacturers that bring together over 50 years of experience in manufacturing, converting and refurbishing horseboxes. Our designs range from a basic 2 horse to a bespoke 8 berth horsebox with luxury living. We have a large array of clients ranging from the one horse rider who wants a bespoke 7.5 tonne lorry to some of the top competition riders in eventing (Ruth Edge and Mark Kyle) in dressage (Michael, Maria and Ferdi Eilberg) and in show jumping (Charlotte Platt John Whinnett and Lee Williams) to name a few.

Empire Horseboxes are British Built with emphasis on strength and long lasting qualities. We pride ourselves in our outstanding levels of Customer Service and Support and can arrange vehicle finance. We also do horsebox body swaps and horsebox conversions and will collect & deliver your vehicle for you, nationwide.

So without delay contact us today!!!!

Empire Horseboxes is pleased to offer to all past present and future clients the following offer for January 2012, with the frost finally kicking in and the festive season over we have decided to offer:

10% discount on any Horsebox refurbishment over £1000.

So if your thinking about new bespoke partitions or replacing that old flooring for new in the horse area. Do you think that maybe the ramp is looking a bit suspect? Well then replace it! Are you considering bringing your living area up to scratch with new upholstery or a state of the art TV and surround sound system? Are you considering having a new shower room put in with a larger water tank for those stay away shows where your lorry doesn't ever seem to quite have enough water to last to the final day? Or is the water pump not working and you don't know why? Or maybe you finally decided to put in CCTV to watch the horses when they seem to be making a lot of noise.

Or of course you could always start from scratch and build on a chassis of your choice ready to start the 2012 season in style!

Whatever you decide on and whatever the make, model, colour or size feel free to contact us today and book in your Horsebox refurbishment with Empire Horseboxes.

At the end of November we let everyone know that Mark and Tanya Kyle where building a new work truck to use along side there stunning Empire 7 Horse lorry built for them in early 2011. Well we are happy to say that the work truck is coming along nicely and should be completed on time for Mark and Tanya to use during the busy competition season! For now we decided to attach a few photos of the work completed so far and when the lorry is fully finished it will be photographed and put up in the photo gallery.

To discuss building your own bespoke Empire Horsebox or having a refurbishment of your existing lorry please contact us by any of the following methods:

BY TELEPHONE: 01562 825710

BY MOBILE:  07931 162830 Kevin Jackson

Or Visit us at:

Unit A,

Hoo Farm Industrial Estate,

Matthew Lane,

Kidderminster,

Worcestershire,

DY117RA

(Anytime Weekdays 7am to 5pm, After 5pm Weekdays & Weekends by appointment)

Eventex LTD, who is the proud owner of the commentary boxes made by Empire Horseboxes in October, sent us some pictures of the two commentary boxes in action. We thought we would post them on the website for all to see!

Eventex will be attending a great many equestrian events for 2012 but do not only deal with the equestrian market. As seen here being used at the Great North Run next to the Gateshead Millennium Bridge.

So if your looking for something out of the ordinary to be made and thinking "who on earth would be able to do that" the answer is probably a phone call  or an email away .....

01562825710

enquiries@empirehorseboxes.com

or visit us at the workshop:

Unit A  Swift Buildings,
Mathew Lane
Hoo Farm Industrial Estate
Kidderminster
Worcestershire
DY11 7RA..

Today we received some very exciting news in the shape of a new chassis delivered by Mark Kyle. Mark who runs a huge yard in Leicestershire producing top quality competition horses for himself Tanya or indeed for sale. Visit http://www.queenholme.com  to see if there is a suitable horse for you! Mark with his wife Tanya who also competes at a high level bought a bespoke made Empire 7 horse lorry last year. They have now returned to us wanting a work truck. We look forward to starting on it imminently.....

International Show jumper and respected trainer Mark Bunting http://www.markbuntinghorses.com/ has a stunning array of hugely talented horses for sale or can source a horse for you from his contacts in the UK and Europe. But recently Mark has decided its time to sell on his Whittaker 8 horse with stunning cherry wood living which he has kept maintained beautifully. To view either contact Mark on 07729274970 or look on our horsebox sales page.

Every winter at Empire we see some of our valued clients who bring back there horseboxes to us for a bit of TLC. When they are travelling in them almost every week of a busy season you expect a bit of wear and tear. But we don't just refurbish Empire Horseboxes. We will refurbish any make model or style. So if you are on our site and are thinking "I like those partitions" just give us a call for a quotation . 01562825710

Another example of Empire Horseboxes abilities. Every person involved in the equestrian community would have seen one of these but few would have realised a horsebox company could build them. We build pop outs in our Horseboxes upon request so thought it would be fun to be involved in a pop up commentary box!

Empire horseboxes have been busy building something a little different for us! A recent conversation with a client resulted in us building a bespoke 6 car transporter complete with a 3.5 ton tail lift! Showing that our talented and experienced team can build any thing anyone challenges us with. So call 01562825710 and see what we can do for you......

Congratulations to our valued clients the Eilberg family on there recent success at the 2011 Dressage National championships. Ferdi Eilberg has 2 Empire horseboxes totally designed to his specifications with every request catered for.

EMPIRE HORSEBOXES

UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT

15% DISCOUNT ON ALL HORSEBOX REFURBISHMENTS

BY TELEPHONE ... 01562 825710

We have recently built an eight horse transporter for Ronnie Healy and Charlotte Platt who are based in Sussex very close to Hickstead.

The transporter has side and rear ramps with compact living. Three horses face forward and use the side ramp and five travel in a herringbone lay out using the rear ramp. This design means that this horsebox can accommodate competition horses, mares and foals and stallions.

Charlotte is one of the UK's top up and coming show jumpers and by the age of 23 (in 2009) she had already jumped in nine senior Nation Cups teams including two winning ones. She has acquired horses from Lee (Lee Williams Sport Horses)  and these include Lacanda who was successful for both Lee and Charlotte at European Young Rider Championship level.

Ronnie Healy is an International South African show jumper who left South Africa in 2005 and initially based himself with David Macpherson and then Max Fanning in Germany. He produces young horses from just broken right to Grand Prix level.  He met his fiance Charlotte and based himself at her family farm where he helps to produce the young horses and also rides for several good owners. The farm and yard is surrounded by 70 acres of paddocks, just a stones throw away from the famous Hickstead showground.

Their family run business involves Charlotte and Ronnie producing many homebred horses from just broken 3 year olds suitable for all disciplines. They take horses  in for training, competition and producing at all levels. There are livery and training packages to suit all riders and Ronnie has helped several riders fulfill their dream of taking part at the Junior/Young Rider European Championships.

They breed up to 15 top quality foals every year, using proven German and Dutch blood lines. The mares motherlines having produced top sport horses/approved stallions. They always have a selection of mares and young stock for sale and have excellent contacts in the UK and Europe for sourcing quality horses for all disciplines.

Ronnie and Charlotte will be working as Southern agents for Empire Horseboxes and are happy to show their new horsebox to any interested parties at shows or even at their base in Sussex.

An offer for all Horsebox owners!

Following on from the bad weather all horsebox owners need to make sure that their horseboxes are up to scratch for the coming season as many will have stood idle on the yard over  the recent cold spell.

We have a Winter Offer on all repairs, servicing, MOT's and refurbishments of 15% off, up to the end of February 2011.

We can also offer delivery or collection of your horsebox, or a drop off at our Mold depot which will be convenient to all those living in the North West.

Now is the time for this work to be done, so please book in at a time to suit and we will do the rest.

Mark and Tanya Kyle's Empire horsebox has just been in for its service and winter check before the eventing season kicks off and I attach a photo taken whilst it was here.

There has been plenty happening at Empire since my last blog. The Eilbergs 4 horse lorry is nearing completion. Photographs of this will be available very soon.

Lee has been busy riding and competing the horses in his care. At South View Premier Show last weekend, Lee won and was placed in a wide range of classes against stiff opposition. The indoor school at his home just outside Mold has been a godsend as it has enabled him to keep the horses fit and in work during the freeze up.

Empire have a constant supply of secondhand horseboxes for sale and a 2001 Man Olympic 4 horse 7.5 ton horsebox with 2 side ramps offers a layout that enables the horses to face forward. This is perfect for mares and foals, racehorses and point- to-pointers and is the preferred layout in the racing world. 

Horse transport companies also favour this layout as filly's and colts can travel on the same lorry. The colts travel in the front section facing forward and can be loaded and unloaded using their own ramp and the filly's traveling behind them, can do the same. Dropping them off at different yards can be achieved without the need to unload the other horses. This layout would also work well for show jumping yards who often have stallions and mares traveling to shows together. 

Another feature of this lorry is that there is a passage from the front section to the rear section - perfect for checking the horses during the journey. Please click on this link for further details.

A fantastic season for Mark Kyle and Step in Time culminating in them representing Ireland at The Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky.

A team place for this brilliant combination was richly deserved after some great results earlier in the season. Following on from a hugely impressive performance at Badminton, Mark and Step In Time won the Lincoln JumpCross Eventers Challenge in June.

They also did well at similar Eventers challenges at Bolesworth and Hickstead. This pair are superb in the cross country and show jumping phases and this proved to be the case in Kentucky. Mark was first to go in the cross country as pathfinder for the Irish Team.  The team had suffered injuries to both a team horse and first reserve, so all had not gone according to plan on the run up to the Games.

Mark and Step in Time had a minor blip at fence seven in an otherwise flawless round. Following an injury to Patricia Ryan's Fernhill Clove Mist the scores of Mark and the remaining two team members all had to count. Their superb rounds left them in sixth place and a good chance of qualifying for the Olympics as the first five go through and GB had already qualified.

With five show jumping fences in hand over the 7th placed team this looked feasible and when Mark and Step in Time jumped clear with a single time fault, hopes were very high. But this was not to be as the remaining two members got 21 faults and 16 faults respectively. So near and yet so far, a great result to finish seventh but sadly, just missing Olympic qualification by the narrowest of margins.   

 A very good season for Team Kyle and warmest congratulations from all at Empire Horseboxes.

Ferdi Eilberg has recently taken delivery of The Empire Slide Out 6.

The first outing for the lorry was the National Dressage Championships and I am delighted to report that it created a lot of interest.

The Eilberg family have had a fantastic season to date. Maria was part of the GB dressage team that won silver at the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky. Her individual result placed her in the top 30 dressage riders in the world.

Maria's horse Two Sox is owned by her parents and the horse had travel sickness  on arrival at the Kentucky Horse Park.  This gave Maria little time to prepare for the team competition. In spite of this set back she and Two Sox performed an accurate test for 68.2%.  Maria had been aiming for 68% and to score higher than predicted  was fantastic.

In the individual Grand Prix Special, Maria and Two Sox came 21st - missing a top twenty place by the narrowest of margins.

This pair are a very successful partnership. Travelling reserve for the WEG of 2006 and winners of the National Freestyle title in 2007. Travelling reserve for the Hong Kong Olympics of 2008 and winner of the National Grand Prix title on their return.

European team members in 2009 where they won team silver and then runners-up in the National Championships.

Moving on to 2010 team selection for the WEG followed by team silver and a brand new Empire Horsebox!

2010 has been a milestone year for Maria's younger brother Michael. From riding in his first Grand Prix to having two horses on the Big Tour. In addition Woodlander Dornroeschen is doing well in the Small Tour.

Her daughter Woodlander Farouche is only four and has won every young horse class she has  contested this year and was Badminton Young Dressage Horse Champion beating all the five year olds in that class in the process. Michael has the ride on this outstanding youngster and with horses at various levels to bring on, this young man has truly established his dressage career.

With so many horses competing in the UK and abroad the Eilberg family have just ordered a Mini Empire to take 4 horses. This is currently in build and because they were so pleased with the Empire Slide Out 6 they have come to us again.

Please watch out for their lorry with its distinctive colouring as their will be winners on board!

Chris Whinnett had a very successful Scope Festival at Stafford Show ground. 

Valley Freeman the six year old pony that Chris has been riding since last Christmas had qualified for the British Novice and Discovery classes. The format of the competition gives you two chances to qualify, providing you finish in the top 15 - giving a total of 30 in the final.

Chris and Valley Freeman did very well indeed finishing 5th in the first qualifier and 2nd in the second - this meant that they had qualified twice!John Whinnett who trains his nephew was over the moon as this is Chris's first year of competition and he is only eight years old.

His pony is 14'2 hand high and only six years old and to have such high placings with over 80 in the class was very encouraging.

The Final means that you get to jump in the huge indoor arena with lots of people watching and the atmosphere and surroundings can be very intimidating.  Many riders and ponies can 'freeze' in this big ring but Chris and Valley Freeman took this in their stride and were clear in the first round of the Final for the British Novice title.

He who dares wins and Chris had a very good time in the jump off BUT had two down. This did not in any way detract from an outstanding performance by this very young combination.  You can ride in this class when you are 16 years of age and yet the combined ages of both Chris and his pony was only 14 years.

Well done Chris - all at Empire Horseboxes are very pleased with your performance.

Our sponsored rider Chris Whinnett has achieved one of his aims for 2010.  He has qualified for the Discovery at the Scope Festival.

Chris is only eight years old and riding his 14.2 hands pony Valley View Freeman qualified at Patchetts yesterday.

There were only 10 clear rounds out of 54 starters and Chris ended up 10th after the final round at 1.05 m and this was good enough to put him through.  This is a fantastic achievement and Chris will now aim some of his other ponies at the Scope qualifiers so that he can fill up his Uncle John's Empire horsebox!

The luxury 7.5 ton horsebox that Empire have built for Mr and Mrs Brian Bairstow is finished.

This size of horsebox is a new addition to the Empire range. The luxury living is of a similar spec and standard to our HGV horseboxes but on a smaller scale.

When transporting two horses many would consider buying one of the very popular two horseboxes that do just that. 

The unique selling point of a 7.5 ton lorry is that you can have the comfort of luxury living, the storage space and facilities that go with it and still carry two horses as well.

Therefore this lorry is perfect for the rider who does not need an HGV lorry but still wants the very best in comfortable travel and living for themselves and their horses or ponies.

At the other end of the scale the Luxury Empire 6 Horsebox with slide out  that we are building for Ferdi, Michael and Maria Eilberg has all of these and has now gone to the paint shop. These are the photos taken by Lee of the lorry just before it went in.

Lee will be taking more photos of the lorry when it comes out of the paint shop and you will be able to see a complete transformation. 

Congratulations to our clients Ruth Edge and Mark Kyle who finished 19th and 20th at The Mitsubishi Badminton Horse Trials.

Ruth was lying in second place after the dressage on Two Thyme but had a very unlucky fall on the cross country course. Two Thyme pecked on landing by just catching the front edge of the landing slope. Ruth had no chance of staying in the saddle and in a flash their chance had gone.

Ruth's second ride Nick of Thyme was 29th after the dressage and steadily climbed up the leader board to 19th place. This horse is only 9 years old and clearly has a very bright future.

For more news on Ruth and her horses please visit her website www.ruthedge.co.uk.

Meanwhile Mark rose from 75th after the dressage to finish 20th. A brilliant cross country round saw Mark and Step in Time finish with just 0.04 of a time fault. With only three riders going inside the time allowed this was one of the best rounds of the day. A clear round show jumping took them from 28th after the cross country to a final 20th place.

Step in Time is listed for the Irish Squad and this good showing at Badminton must have been very pleasing to all concerned. For news on Mark and Tania Kyle please visit their website www.queenholme.com.   

Paul and Debs Strafford own a beautiful Stud near Whitchurch in Shropshire and they now have a new addition to their broodmares.

Ulisca their nine year old dark bay mare by Kigali has left Lee to be put in foal.  Paul is hoping that Ulisca will be a perfect match for Quintender a grandson of Quidam de Revel out of a Contender mare.

Ulisca is full of quality and barely 16.00 hands high and this stallion is of a similar build, although taller.

Ulisca competed in the five year old class at the World Breeding Championships in Lanaaken where she was jumping 1.35 m. Paul and Debs bought her soon after and since Lee took over the ride, Ulisca has been very successful in height classes up to and including 1.25 m.

She is very careful and well balanced which means that she is very agile  against the clock and difficult to beat in a jump off. She is also well bred and will be a valuable addition to their stud.

Paul and Debs favour quality rather than quantity and they have some lovely home bred youngsters to look forward to in the next few years. 

As well as Value T, Lee is currently competing S.Alba 71 for Paul and Debs.  'Alfie' was bought in Holland and is doing well in Newcomers with a 4th place at South View on a recent outing.

Paul and Debs have a hands on approach and really know their horses. Paul is very interested in breeding from mares that have the bloodlines that he favours. He enjoys studying the performance and pedigrees of the stallions available and then matching them to his broodmares.

Breeding your own horses is long term commitment and so is producing them and to that end Paul, Debs and Lee share a common bond. 

News from Tanya Kyle that all their horses went well last week end at Belton Horse Trials. Step in Time a home bred gelding was second in the Advanced class ridden by Mark and now heads for Badminton next week.

Closer to home Lee had a good SouthView Easter Show held indoors due to the weather.

Value T is an eight year old chestnut gelding by Calvados owned by Debs and Paul Strafford. Lee and Paul found him as a four year old in Holland and were drawn to the quality of his jump, movement and the fact that he really covered the ground.

Since then Lee has been slowly producing Value T and his patient approach is bringing rich rewards. A very successful 2009 culminated in a trip to The Horse of The Year Show at the NEC.

Lee and Value T qualified for the Foxhunter final at Weston Lawns and even though Lee, Paul and Debs thought that this competition had come a year too early for Value T, the horse took his chance amongst older and more experienced combinations.

With this valuable experience behind him, Value T was rested through the winter and his first real test of 2010 was very pleasing indeed. On the first day of the Easter Show Lee and Value T were third in the 1.35 Open and then won the same class on Good Friday.

A step up in height and  technicality saw Value T contesting his first Grand Prix on Saturday.  A thrilling competition and a fantastic result for this young horse who finished 3rd.

The plan is to play it by ear and Lee will continue to patiently produce this horse to the highest level with Debs and Paul's huge support,  they are the perfect owners for such a project.

The new Empire 6 horse box with slide out sides on a Scania chassis  that is being built for Ferdi, Maria and Michael Eilberg is progressing very well.

The Eilberg family are using a courtesy loan horsebox provided by Empire and this took them to the Spanish Sunshine Tour where they were extremely successful.

Whilst they were away our team were hard at work building the new lorry and you can see from the photos that it is nearly ready to be totally transformed in the paint shop!

Congratulations to Mark Kyle who won his third British Open Indoor Cross Country Championships last Thursday at the NEC. Mark was riding Drunken Disorderly who previously won this event in 2006 and 2009. This sprightly 20 year old has retired from eventing but is a specialist in this type of competition.

Their winning round combined speed with an immaculate jumping style and huge agility over the course of fourteen cross country fences and six show jumps. The second placed rider was Lauren Shannon who is based with Mark and Tanya at their Leicestershire yard.

We are currently building an Empire 7 horsebox with luxury living for Mark and Tanya. Please click on the blue writing to go to their website.

Chris and his uncle John Whinnett left for Bicton at 11.30 a.m. last Thursday.

John took three horses and Chris took three ponies and they were away for three nights, the first time that Chris had stayed away in John's Empire horsebox.

John's pupil Polly also took her horse and so with 7 in all to look after on the show ground everybody was very busy. Chris helped to load the lorry making sure that he had everything that was needed for his three ponies.  

The lorry has a huge amount of storage space and every item taken has its own special place. One large area took the horse food and buckets, and the ample tack room was filled with saddles and bridles.

Chris then helped to load his ponies and they arrived at Bicton at approximately 4.00 pm. The weather was wet, the days were long and included plenty of walking with four rings of jumping taking place at once.

The days took on a strict routine, John fed at 6.30 a.m. and then at 7.00 a.m. Chris his Mum, Polly and her Mum Julie started stable duties. Mucking out, studding up and brushing the horses and ponies ready for the days classes. The competition was stiff but all went well with John placed on Expert in the Newcomers.  His two five year olds went well in the testing conditions with six inches of mud in some areas.

Chris was placed twice on his pony Seamus in the British Novice and was 7th on his new five year old called William. Polly was placed in the young horse class and Newcomers on her horse and so the whole team were in the ribbons over the three days.

Each day ended at 6.00 pm with time spent cleaning the tack which was very muddy. The boots all had to be washed and put away and all these jobs needed to be done before Chris could have a shower.  The lorry has plenty of hot water and so everybody could have a hot shower and be clean for dinner.

Julie and Polly came to eat in the lorry each evening with Julie doing the cooking. With such wet weather, Chris's Mum found it was bliss to relax in a nice warm lorry, having had a nice warm shower! She loved being able to eat their own food rather than have to rely on the food available on the show ground.

Dinner was followed by a game of cards before bed at 9.00 pm. ready for another busy day!

A beautifully equipped lorry really comes into its own when conditions are bad.  To be warm and dry and then have a good nights sleep is worth its weight in gold. 

Chris and his dog Tinky slept like logs and are already looking forward to staying away at Wales and West in a few weeks time.  Let us hope there is not quite so much mud.

Whilst Empire Horseboxes are busy building lorries for our valued clients, Lee has been achieving success with his current string of show jumpers based at his yard near Mold.

A day at SouthView EC at Wettenhall in Cheshire was particularly productive and kicked off to a good start when Senannie and Lee won the opening 1.10 m class.

The Grade C class, which also included a Horse and Hound Foxhunter qualifier saw Lee occupy third place this time riding Watch Out M.

Lee was second in the High Offley Stud National 1.30m class on Value T and there was still more to come.

Lee and Caesar Z II were placed second in the British Show Jumping Business Partnership Winter Novice qualifier.  This was particularly pleasing as Lee and this attractive grey seven year old have now qualified for the finals at The Royal International Horse Show.

This is a relatively new partnership for Lee and Pauline Ward' youngster who has many characteristics of his sire Cento, who was Otto Beckers Olympic ride. Lee felt that his success was due to keeping Caesar as tight to the fences as he could as this youngster is not very experienced against the clock. Tight turns rather than galloping took him into the lead in the jump off.

This did not last for long as shortly after Carl Freeman posted a faster time by taking out a stride to the final oxer. This was a daring feat as many previous riders in the jump off had faulted at this, the final fence.  I think that at least 20 got through to the jump off, but Lee still held on to his second place and RIH ticket.

Lee and his team were delighted and with so many of his rides in the ribbons, a good day all round.  

Our sponsored rider Chris Whinett has had a very busy start to the year. He took three ponies to Norton Heath in February and jumped two double clears in the 12.2 class. The first of these was on Warrior and the second on Seamus.

Moving on to the school holidays and Chris was very busy indeed managing to squeeze in five shows. The first of these was Patchetts where Chris won the 80 cm class with Warrior putting in a great turn in the jump off. Seamus was fifth in this class and in the preceding 70 cm class and his third ride Shy Boy had four faults in the 70 cm and double clear in the 80 cm but was not fast enough to win a prize.

His second show of the holidays was a Pony Club show and Chris took four ponies of which three had double clears and a fifth place. The next show was a Junior Academy show and Chris took three ponies who performed very well. His haul for the day was two double clears a couple of four fault rounds and one 'lost way' on Warrior. The second day of the Junior Academy show at Patchetts was not so good with his four ponies all having four faults.

After bad days come good days and the final show was at Onley. Chris started off well with a double clear on Seamus in the British Novice and Discovery. His good day continued with a fourth on Warrior in the 70 cm and a double clear in the Stepping Stones.  

With homework to squeeze in and the day to day chores of looking after his ponies Chris went back to school for a well earned rest!

Chris has already started making plans for the Easter holidays with away shows at Bicton and Wales and West penciled in .  These will be the first away shows in the new Empire Horsebox and will give Chris and his family a chance to try out the deluxe living accommodation. 

At eight years old. Chris is our youngest sponsored rider and he has noticed the admiring glances that the new lorry has been receiving especially when driving through towns on the way to shows. Chris is turning heads with the ability that he is showing at such a young age and so is the lorry for different reasons! 

We have a Volvo Oakley 5 Horsebox on our Horsebox Sales page and this has been reduced in price from £75,000 to £72,500.

This is a fantastic low mileage horsebox with a two year old body that has hardly been used.  This horsebox is great to drive, not too long and special features include a built in awning. 

The lorry carries five horses and has had one previous owner. The luxury living includes, a toilet, shower, sleeping for 4, stereo, television, electric sockets, blown air central heating, fridge/freeezer and gas oven.

There are many other features and these are listed under Horsebox advert number 38 on our Horsebox for Sale page.

There are more photos for you to view on this page and these include one of the awning.  

Maria and Michael Eilberg continue to dominate the Junior Preliminary dressage competition on The Sunshine Tour.  They have taken it in turns to be first or second throughout the qualifying stages with Maria gaining the most wins to date.

Meanwhile their horsebox is making good progress and will be ready for them in due course. The Tour ends on 21st March and then the long drive home in the courtesy horsebox that we have lent them.

News that our client Ruth Edge started of the eventing season in fine style by winning the Open Intermediate section at Isleham Horse Trials and also finishing second and sixth.

If that wasn't enough Ruth won the Open Novice section with Rogerdale.

Isleham in Cambridgeshire is a seven hour journey from Ruth's base in Cumbria but Horse and Hound commented that these horses did not look the least bit travel weary.  Could this be, because they were traveling in Ruth's Empire horsebox - we would like to think so!.  

The winner of the Open Intermediate was Carnaval Prince and he along with sixth placed Zakarius is to be aimed at Bramham.  Meanwhile second place Nick of Thyme is entered for Badminton so Ruth has a busy spring ahead of her with these top class horses.

Carnaval Prince started off the season as well as he ended his 2009 campaign.  He has now won five out of his last six outings and the fitness shown by all of Ruths horses during this difficult winter is testament to her professionalism. 

Ruth had not been to Isleham for nine years and the journey home must have felt very short indeed after such a great start to the season.

For more news on Ruth please visit her news blog on her website.