With horses needing to be transported over greater distances, a comfortable horse box trailer is not just a useful piece of equipment to have, it is vital to ensuring the safety of your horse whilst on the move.
Thankfully, we rely on the expertise of one of the leading creators of trailers in Great Britain, Ifor Williams. Anything that they do not know about creating horse boxes is not worth knowing, and we offer our expert advice to ensure you pick the right tool for the task at hand.
This was not always the majority view, however. In the past, horses were only ever transported over water; the assumption for thousands of years was that the best mode of transport for horses was themselves.
This was true even in the early days of horse racing; many horses would be slowly trotted to the racegrounds to avoid wearing them out, with the belief that it was beneficial for their preparation.
The first transport trailer, therefore, was used to carry one of the first undefeated champions of the sport to his final resting place.
Born Under A Burning Moon
The story of Eclipse, the undefeated champion racehorse of the 18th century, is one filled with superlatives, firsts and seemingly impossible feats.
Born on April Fool’s Day 1764, during a solar eclipse that gave him his moniker, Eclipse was a huge horse during that time, and was infamous for having a somewhat aggressive and troublesome temperament.
This was allegedly fixed thanks to a rider who took him on nightly poaching trips, although as with any story regarding Eclipse, this should not necessarily be taken at face value.
Unlike modern horse racing practice of targeted training mindful of protecting the horse from injury, Eclipse was worked hard by his early riders in a way that helped to settle him ahead of race meetings.
The First Horse Racing Legend
Even before he raced for the first time, bookmakers had heard rumours about a giant horse with unfathomable speed. Despite missing a trial run to see him in action, he was the favourite in his first-ever race. He won it easily, as he did all 18 of his professional races.
By Eclipse’s third race, during which time gambler and horsebreeder Dennis O’Kelly had bought his ownership in stages, he had entered horseracing folklore as a horse that was not only impossible to outrun but impossible to even get close to.
Mr O’Kelly infamously declared that his bet was “Eclipse first, the rest nowhere”, with “nowhere” at the time defined as at least 240 yards away from Eclipse when he inevitably won and therefore too far behind for the judge to properly place them.
Only one jockey, John Oakley, was strong enough to manage Eclipse’s infamously fiery temperament, aggressive strides and racing posture, which kept his nose so low it was almost touching the ground.
He won 18 races in total, including ten King’s Plates and wins at a canter against the best racehorses of his day.
Surprisingly, his career would be somewhat short, but the second half of his legacy would begin after his retirement.
Eclipse’s Last Ride
Following less than a year and a half of racing, Eclipse retired undefeated in 1771, his last race having been in October of the previous year.
There were two major reasons for this; the first was that he only had ten competitive races and would win a total of eight major races on a walkover, meaning he was the only horse to actually race after the rest forfeited, and nobody bet on them.
When it became extremely clear that the best runners and riders of the era refused to even try to race Eclipse, the only option was to retire.
This was for the best for Eclipse’s health as well; according to some reports, he suffered a leg injury in 1770 that affected his form, and whilst he was still dominant afterwards, it would start to affect his movement later in life.
He would become a very successful stud horse; according to some accounts, as many as 95 per cent of all thoroughbred horses have Eclipse as part of their pedigree.
However, by 1788, his legs had become lame, and the decision was made to take him from Clay Hill in Epsom to Cannons in Middlesex.
He was notably transported there in a very comfortable caravan that was built specifically for him, which gives him the honour of riding in the very first version of the horse trailer.
Unfortunately, he would contract colic and die just a year later, but his legacy will live on not only in the stories of his success and in the name of a popular Japanese towing car, but also in his contributions to horse transportation.