Handle with care
Whether you’re driving cross country to a distant show or just to the local trail, travelling with horses requires meticulous planning, even for a well-schooled seasoned traveller. Smooth driving, well-timed rest breaks and plentiful supplies are essential for the comfort, health and safety of the precious living, breathing cargo. The last thing on anybody’s mind is a vehicle breakdown. Yet breakdowns happen and unexpected delays create stress for both animal and driver.
Luckily for horses and owners, specialist help and roadside rescue is readily available in the form of Equine Rescue Service, a company of equestrian experts specialising in securing the welfare of members and their horses in the event of a vehicle breakdown emergency. Through its decade-long partnership with FMG, Equine Rescue Services are able to provide a 24/7/365 bespoke roadside mechanical breakdown and recovery service to support over 20,000 members travelling with horses, ranging from equestrian Olympic medallists or first-time riders.
In the event of an incident or breakdown
Just one call to FMG’s specialist roadside support team ensures the wellbeing of the horse and the safety of the driver and passengers until they reach their destination. First of all we make sure the driver, the horse and any passengers are safe, then we take care of the vehicle. Whether the stricken vehicle is the horsebox, trailer and/or towing vehicle, FMG’s specialist roadside repair and recovery operators will always set about fixing the vehicle at the roadside if it is safe and legal to do so.
For added peace of mind when breakdowns occur on a motorway or major A-road, FMG alert Highways England to make local traffic officers aware of the stricken vehicle and the stress of a breakdown with a horse.
When a roadside fix isn’t possible, FMG and Equine work closely together to arrange the specialist onward transportation of the horse, the driver and any passengers to their destinations and the vehicle is recovered to the driver’s home or preferred repairer.
Time is of the essence
Equine Rescue and FMG invested heavily in a recent digitalisation project to upgrade integration between their operational systems. This has enabled the fastest and most robust solution for automating and exchanging real-time information following a member’s distress call. Most importantly, this investment ensures the fastest allocation to the nearest available recovery agent and the shortest response times for members waiting at the roadside.
Member satisfaction
As a long-standing partner for Equine Rescue Service, FMG thoroughly understands how best to respond to each driver’s situation and the preferred processes to follow.
We excel at answering the driver’s distress call quickly; 88% of calls are answered within 20 secs. We are committed to arriving at the scene of the breakdown within the hour and 80% of the time we are able to fix the vehicle at the roadside, allowing the journey to continue as planned.
After every incident that we attend, the driver receives an electronic survey which explores how satisfied they were with our service and particularly the comfort and safety of their horse. This is linked to an overall Net Promoter Score (NPS) and all responses are analysed and individual responses are monitored to identify overall trends for continuous improvement.
In the past year, over 90% of members said they were very satisfied or satisfied with the service they received, while 93% said they would recommend the service to others.
“As experienced horse people, we fully understand the stress of a breakdown when travelling with a horse and we take pride in providing peace of mind for our members. Through our long-standing partnership with FMG we can ensure that expert help is quickly at hand and our members are back on the road in the fastest possible time. We receive lots of positive feedback from our members on the great service they’ve received at a very stressful time.”
Debbie MacMorran, Managing Director, Equine Rescue Service