Wheelchairs no Barrier to Horse Fun

The man who brought the horse-drawn chariot out from the shadows of history has developed a version capable of safely carrying wheelchair-bound individuals across all kinds of terrain.

Simon Mulholland’s iBex further develops the concept of his original Saddlechariot, which revealed to the modern world just how much fun could be had with a chariot.

Mulholland, from Exeter, England, confesses that he does not have the confidence to ride. The need to exercise a family pony prompted him to develop his first Saddlechariot some 14 years ago.

The design is especially notable for a quick-release harness system which enables the chariot to be instantly separated from the pony should the animal bolt or get into bother.

Mulholland has transferred that same technology into the three-wheeled iBex, which he says can take wheelchair-bound individuals across soft sand, tidal mud, shingle, rock, scrub, heather, tussocky grassland, and even into the shallows on a beach.

“It can take wheelchair users to all those places that wheelchairs can’t reach,” he explains.

The iBex, he says, is without doubt a much safer option than a paraplegic being lifted on to a horse, as happens in para-equestrian disciplines.

Mulholland says he considers safety paramount and the iBex, which can be fitted with a Saddlechariot seat in just two minutes for able-bodied drivers, has been extensively tested under all conditions. It has been designed to take any wheelchair, including the electric high-lift 160kg-plus monsters, even with a 120kg person on board.

Mulholland has even developed a remote-control system, enabling a supervisor to release the pony from the iBex should they consider it necessary. He says the iBex has been warmly received by hospitals and special needs schools. “The head of a university equitation science department, who drove the iBex from a wheelchair with her 4-year-old on her lap, said if I had built it at her university, I would have a PhD.” He believes the iBex harks back to the days of what he calls working class horsemanship built on relationships.

“I want to make ponies accessible to all the people who love them,” he says.

Mulholland’s chariot development builds on the work of innovators from 5000 years ago.