This article is from the January 2021 Horse Deals magazine.
Photos: Julie Wilson. Article: Anna Sharpley.
The semi is 56 metres long from the Mercedes logo to the tail ramp. It is 4.3m high and 2.438m wide. There is one large pop out on this side, one pop up from the roof and two pop outs on the far side.
John De Marco, known as “Ace” during his successful showjumping days, has in recent years turned his attention to show horses, principally because of the interest in them by his granddaughters, Georgia and Olivia Greenwell. “I love horses and I love equestrian sport,” says John “and I am still very interested in showjumping, but because of the girls we have five hacks, now in training with successful professional Mark Kenzig, who the girls love. Olivia and Georgia also have their own four horses that they train and keep themselves.”
There has been quite a lot of talk about John’s new Premier built truck which is Brett Hickey’s magnum opus and it certainly has been worth waiting for. “I have worked hard all my life,” says John, “I could have been a better rider and I could have gone to more shows, but business came first. My wife Sue used to come to the shows in the old jumping days and I wanted this truck to be a home away from home so we could all go and enjoy the shows together.
“Two years ago I had a very good truck and had no thoughts of getting another. At Melbourne Show, Hickey said to me, why don’t you sell that and get a semi? At the time I had about five or six people sleeping in the truck and Sue wouldn’t come because I was sleeping in the cabin bed. So I thought about what Hickey said and two months later, when he rang and said he had a spare space and asked if I was interested in doing the semi, I said yes.
“We discussed the truck a lot and I made a point of keeping Sue and my daughter Shelly out of it for once. I thought, I am going to do this, and along with Hickey and his talented team, we were going to make this truck unique. It took ten or eleven months to design the interior. So much work was put into it using ideas and experiences I had had with other trucks I owned and had seen.
“I have had my semi licence for years, but because of COVID we have not yet taken it out, but this is the best thing Hickey has built.”
John and Sue De Marco with the 650HP Mercedes Actros that powers the operation.
The flight deck of the Mercedes Actros showing the CCTV screen.
“When the pop out is out,” says John, “there is so much room. And when it comes in there is no room on either side for a cigarette box. It comes together beautifully and fits together like a Mecanno Set. It is beautiful workmanship.” There’s even room for an island bench. Straight ahead is the master bedroom.
The internal security entry door and flyscreen.
The island bench is also home to a convection/microwave oven.
Plenty of storage in the kitchen. John chose dark appliances and fittings such as this black granite/acrylic sink and tapware next to an induction cook top. There is also a dishwasher drawer on the left.
A view from the dining area across to the kitchen. The overhead cupboards have high gloss charcoal doors and in the middle is one of three televisions in the truck.
The spacious dining area boasts leather boat seats. “I wanted comfortable seats,” says John “and these were designed for a boat.”
A view down through the living towards the horse section. The entry is on the right with the ladder to the pop up bed directly in front.
The master bedroom uses some of the near side pop out space.
Surrounded by wardrobe space, a television automatically lowers in front of the bedroom window and retreats by push button from the bed.
The bunk beds (for grooms) are in their own pop out and also boast a large hanging wardrobe.
The big king single bunk beds each have their own reading light, power point and USB port.
The bathroom vanity, heated towel rail and flushing black waste toilet.
The wonderful shower head in the full sized shower.
The fully adjustable bays on both sides cater for any size horse. The partitions have a head divider and a rubber kick mat to the floor. There is long lasting stainless steel in front of the horses and galvanised bars protecting the sliding windows. The floor is covered with cushioned, easy to clean rubber which runs up the walls to mid height.
Internal horse section CCTV. There are speakers throughout the truck both inside and out, even in the horse section.
Simple but effective divider adjustment.
There is plenty of ventilation through the adjustable roof vents. The windows behind the horses allow for cross ventilation. The overhead cupboards are fully enclosed and the strip LED lights on the roof give plenty of light when needed.
There is a wet weather gear hanging cupboard in the horse section.
Also in the chest boxes is a full sized washer/dryer.
The steepness of the loading ramp alters by 15.24cm when the air bag suspension is lowered, making it less steep to load. The two gates enclose the last horse and also act as loading wings.
The electric ramp and easy locking makes for a quick getaway. There are two spot lights outside and above to make for easy loading in
the dark.
The large tack room has plenty of space to store all that is necessary. Six saddle racks, slide out drawers and plenty of hanging space including a slide out bridle rack.
The slide out middle divider in the tack room makes for easy access.
The tack room slide drawers. This photo also shows plenty of storage space for helmets etc.
The truck carries 600 litres of water and a retractable hose is conveniently stowed in its
own box.
There is a massive amount of storage below floor that goes right the way through to the far side of the truck.
There are strategically placed spotlights along the body of the truck to ensure there will always be light.
An outside fridge for ice boots and anything needed to be kept cool.
The seat of power. The truck is all electric and has an auto start 5kva generator (out of sight) to ensure power when you want it.
The handrail is an important safety feature for entering and exiting the living area via the retractable steps.
The off side has two pop outs, one contains bunk beds and the nearest one to the camera contains the kitchen.
The massive pop out on the near side increases the space of the living/dining area and the pop up encompasses a double bed.
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