Krzysztof Okła's Actros combines the functionality of a horse box with the comfort of a luxurious camper van

Liveried up with "Sport Horses" and "appeloklateam.com", the body of the Actros 2542 makes plenty of hints at the "freight" on-board and also provides some idea of who might own the vehicle: Appeloklateam is a portmanteau of the name of the trainer, Łukasz Appel, and that of showjumper Krzysztof Okła. Dynamic patterns in gold and black stand out distinctively against the white background of the truck whilst simultaneously underlining the level of luxury and the professional character of the vehicle. Standards which are easy to comprehend when you bear in mind that it used to transport horses worth several times its own value.

But the special body adorning this Mercedes-Benz Actros 2542 was itself quite pricey too. "The whole thing was created by the British company Lehel which specialises in this type of solution for transporting horses," says Krzysztof Okła, joint owner of the Klub Jeździecki Kielce sp. z o. o. riding club and 2015 Polish junior champion. "The project work which involved both finding technical solutions and carrying out discussions about the final equipment required as well as the selection of the materials for the body meant a number of trips to a few of the company's plants in Hungary."

The result is imposing. The body comprises two sections: on the one hand, the rear section is destined for transporting the horses in six boxes in which the animals are fixed and appropriately secured for the duration of the journey. As horses cannot deal particularly well with air conditioning, the boxes are cooled by means of extractor fans which guide warm air outwards.

"It's a necessity for when we have to travel to competitions – we have to take a huge amount of kit with us," says Krzysztof Okła. "Horse feed, nutritional preparations, care and training equipment. If we have to undertake a long journey, for example to Spain, we have to make stops on the way as horses can't travel uninterrupted for longer than 12 hours. So we stop off at stables where we know we are welcome, lead the horses out first and then put them in the boxes for the night. And the camper part of the Actros isn't just useful during the journey. When we're away at competitions, the team can spend time in there relaxing during any bit of downtime they have, without having to drive back and forth to hotels. Plus, such hotels are often far away from the location at which the competition takes place."

"We opted for a Mercedes because we see the brand as both trustworthy and friendly," explains Krzysztof Okła, who doesn't just ride the horses, but also drives the new truck himself. "For us, the brand is synonymous with the highest levels of quality, perfection, solidity, prestige and elegance. You could say that the brand shares these characteristics with equitation."