Fractals

My wife wanted a horse box at exactly the same time we were going through a busy period at work. As a result, on one of those rare occasions when I got a whole Saturday to myself, we, the wife and I, went out and without a second thought bought a trailer for two horses. Two horses because she wanted the capacity to either take a friend (and friend`s horse) to the regular weekend trials meetings she attends or, eventually, maybe, start her own riding stables and transport client`s horses about. 

With each horse weighing about a ton the box had a gross weight that proved too great for our family saloon, both legally and mechanically.  My wife had always liked the idea of a Land Rover, and a pick-up body, she said, would enable her to cart animal feed and straw around.  We found a reasonably new long wheel base Defender which seemed perfectly happy with the box trailing along behind.  All appeared to be well.

Well, except that as my wife had decided on her commercial venture, the gross train weight of 4500 kgs put the combination within the range of tachograph legislation. I had only ever seen one Land Rover with a tachograph, a utilities company with a trailer lugging a mini digger, if I remember correctly, and I had heard there were difficulties fitting them with digital tachograph sender units. Eventually I found somewhere to do the work and went along to have, at considerable expense, an instrument and all its workings wired in.  

She`s not as tall as me, my wife, and had a bit of trouble seeing what was going on behind through the mirrors.  I simply stretched and craned my neck until I could see round the trailer.  The answer came in the form of some bolt-on mirror extensions, a disposable type judging by how many times they were wiped out of gate posts up and down the country.  And with a comfier, aftermarket seat (long drives in a cramped driver`s cab made her back hurt) my wife enjoyed many trips out with her friends, clients and their animals.

Enjoyment being relative, it wasn`t long before comfort at the events became an issue.  Other people were able to brew tea and even rest between sessions on horseback, she said, in their camper vans.  I sourced a fibre glass demountable camper body for the Defender.  It wasn`t cheap, but according to those who would be using it, it was worth every penny.

Eventually things calmed down at work and I was able to go along to a horse jumping event with my wife.  It was there it hit me.  As I stood looking along the lines of horse transport which occupied one side of the field, I saw our much adapted, bolt-on, bitty Land Rover amongst the 7.5 tonne horse boxes - the trucks built to do everything we wanted.