[Closed] Why do horse boxes...

And why don't people with "baby on board" signs take them out when the kid isn't in the car?

big tall animals, high centre of gravity, inertia, respect, useful information for other road users.

No, horses get scared by loud noises and wild movements and they get sick and fractious and often injured themselves in blind panic.

Cattle are placid, gathered in a small herd together for transportation and it's rare that a spook cattle will effect the herd.. normally they just squash together and the moaner shuts up. The risks of being trapped or trampled on are reasonably high, it's not unknown for cattle to die in transit.

Horses are normally singularly or doubly transported, when spooked it tends to have a side effect of spooking the horse next to them too..

So, HORSES on the back of vehicles is there to inform the following vehicle that any sudden noises to movements has the potential to spook the animal........

big tall animals, high centre of gravity, inertia, respect, useful information for other road users.

Yeah but you kinda get that from the fact that it LOOKS LIKE A HORSE BOX, so you treat it with all the respect that's due to an animal that's invariably well behaved when standing in a field but becomes a jittery nervous unpredictable beast when someone's sat on its back.

Many horsey types aren't that bright and need help remembering which vehicle the horses go in

Cause they’re so self entitled the elite punks 😝

@bikebouy is correct.

However,  whenever I see a horse box with "Thoroughbred Race Horses", "Competition Dressage Horses" or "Rampant Stud Horses" I often think that the owner is a bit of a chuff. Just "Horses" will do.

horses get scared by

Their own reflections, other horses, anything on the ground, wind, anything in the air, noise, no noise, other animals, humans, water,......................

According to DezbJr, you can't see a horse box with 'Horses' written thereon without saying "Horses". Or,  it says something about you if you do/don't. Can't remember now. I know I always do an involuntary Patti Smith style "Horses" every time I see one.

an involuntary Patti Smith

Taken out of context for comical effect.

Also available for pigs.

Edit: Sorry. Too obvious. Not even all that funny.

The reason is simply to ensure casual observers don't mistake landed gentry for mere HGV drivers.

bikebouy

No, horses get scared by loud noises and wild movements and they get sick and fractious and often injured themselves in blind panic.

So, HORSES on the back of vehicles is there to inform the following vehicle that any sudden noises to movements has the potential to spook the animal……..

That still doesn't really make sense though. I'm not aware of any subset of drivers or road users who are prone to sudden outbursts of erratic movement or loud noises when confronted by unmarked panel vans or lorries which don't contain horses. And if there was a need to make an erratic movement (such as avoiding a badly driven horse box) or to make a loud noise (to alert a horse box of a cyclist they were about to crush for example) then the word "Horses" written on the side won't / shouldn't prevent that.

Even if we imagine there's some particularly horrible group of drivers on the road prone to this kind of behaviour they're hardly going to change their ways because of letters on a lorry.

I know I always do an involuntary Patti Smith style “Horses” every time I see one.

We always used to have a quick chorus of 'Crazy Horses' by the Osmonds. No class...

normally they just squash together and the moaner shuts up.

Perhaps we should try that here sometimes? 😉

I saw one that said “Horses in Transit”

apart from it wasn’t, it was a DAF 45

I thought it was because they would be driving slowly so to let you know in advance.  Funny that they seem to want respect from other road users but I have been close passed, over taken before blind corners etc,. by people driving them.

It would make more sense just to have "Self-Entitled" written on the lorry.

Tiger, ive been doing that gag for years.

i still like it, my passengers are slightly less appreciative though.

Our horse box has beer in it.....

However,  whenever I see a horse box with “Thoroughbred Race Horses”, “Competition Dressage Horses” or “Rampant Stud Horses” I often think that the owner is a bit of a chuff. Just “Horses” will do

I was following an aforementioned 'Racehorse' trailer only yesterday, travelling at about half the sensible speed on the road. If they're RACEhorses, surely they could be driven a bit quicker. Just saying'.....

Nearly went ploughing into the back of one horsebox pulled by a 4X4 that pulled out on me  from a side road one winter night last year , I was on an unlit country A road. They had absolutely no lights or reflectors on it and because of the angle of the side road to me the car was near invisible when it pulled out.

They obviously had lots of care & compassion for the horse(s) in the box. Luckily I'm reasonably careful on the road and spotting something moving in the shadows - if I'd been hooning down there like some of the drivers on that stretch of road do I could well imagine a messy end to it.

I suspect that horsey people like to assert their horseyness because it's a strong social clique. They are the same people hwo have bumper stickers saying "I slow down for horses".

Actually climbers should understand because we are a bit of a clique with our own ethics, behaviour, speech and dress. Every clique thinks its way is the only true way.

Oh alright, I'll include road cyclists, mountain bikers, anglers, 4x4 drivers, nudists, motorcyclists....   in fact everyone who follows any interest, hobby or sport.