The Not-So-Secret Diary of Diva the Shetland Pony – Expect the Unexpected

Travelling with horses and ponies can be fraught with lots of worries, and there are many things to organise and bear in mind when you do. However, sometimes, no matter how much planning you do or care you take, you cannot allow for everything.

A friend certainly found this out when she collected her horse from the veterinary hospital last week. She was driving an LGV horsebox and had a long journey ahead of her when her windscreen was struck by a pheasant! She spotted it coming towards her, but could neither swerve, as a car was approaching, nor slam on the brakes, for fear of causing the horse to fall. The bird hit the lower edge of the windscreen on the passenger’s side with an almighty bang.

The driver initially thought she would be able to continue, with the damage being on the opposite side to her, but as she continued towards the A1, she realised that the cracks were spreading out from the point of impact and that the whole windscreen was unstable.

She turned around and returned to the veterinary hospital, as she knew the horse could be stabled comfortably whilst the repair was made. As both horse and horsebox were in a safe location, her windscreen company came a couple of days later to replace the screen.

It did make me think about the importance of the insurance cover you have in place and what is included, so always check the small print.

The photos show the intensity of the impact, including the hole in the windscreen and impressive cracks radiating from it. Until they came to replace the windscreen, I hadn’t really thought about the logistics of how it would be done on such a large lorry, as mine are 3.5 tonne ones. Scaffolding had to be put up for them to work on. The speed they replaced the windscreen was impressive, but the initial accident was certainly something my friend could have done without!