Equivan sales galloping along

A unique caravan that can house two horses as well as a family in comfort is proving a runaway success for its Melbourne-based designer and manufacturer.

After launching last year at Equitana Australia where it won an innovation award, Rowville Horse Trailers is struggling to keep up with demand for its ground-breaking Equivan, which is being built in limited numbers at Rowville’s Carrum Downs, Victoria factory.

While Rowville already builds traditional horse floats with basic fold-out bedding in the rear, the 37-year-old horse float specialist believes its eye-catching Equivan horse hauler is a first for both the horse float and caravan industries.

"We found a lot of customers were buying a horse float and a caravan together, so about two years ago we decided to design a caravan that can carry horses, and we’re the only company that’s doing that," explained Rowville Horse Trailers’ Antoine Le Pajolec.

While borrowing many features from the caravan industry including a side entry door, front tunnel boot and roll-out awning, the tandem axle  Equivan’s interior layout is divided into two sections, including a front living area with club lounge that converts into a double bed, fully-equipped kitchen and a combination shower/toilet on the largest 19ft 6in  version.

A door in the dividing wall leads to the rear climate controlled ‘horse bay’ that incorporates movable barriers to contain two horses, with a clever drop-down, bunk bed arrangement on one side that folds up into a wall compartment when not in use.

The Equivan features extra-large external side lockers for carrying bulky horse gear including saddles as well as other outdoor equipment like a generator or motorcycle clothing, as Rowville is also pitching the Equivan as an alternative to more conventional toy hauler caravans.

The steel chassis and tandem axle suspension is engineered and built in-house to cope with the extra load demands, while the large lightweight door at the rear drops down to provide an easy-access ramp.

"There’s a lot of innovation in the Equivan… it has one of the lightest and strongest chassis, and we’re the only model that has a tailgate that lifts up without electrical assistance," Le Pajolec said.

The Equivan is available in two lengths -- 17ft 6in and 19ft 6in -- with Tare weights ranging form 2450kg to 2800kg, and an ATM of up to 4500kg if required.

Air-conditioning, solar-powered battery systems, TV and audio entertainment and an external slide-out kitchen can also be optioned up as part of the package.

"We’re not chasing volume; we want to produce it right and make a quality product for a niche market," he said.

Meanwhile, the same team behind the Equivan also recently became the new owners of Kokoda and Dreamseeker caravans after the company previously behind the two brands went bust. Le Pajolec said a new range of Kokoda and Dreamseeker caravans will be introduced to the market and Rowville "have big plans to implement a lot of innovative improvements to these already well known brands".

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