Importing a horse
 

hi, has anyone taken their horse with them? I am loathe to leave her behind as she's quite special and valuable and when I bought her I got in it for life.

I would love to hear anyone else's experience regarding this issue.

Re: Importing a horse
 

I can't answer your question, but do know of a few websites that might be able to answer your questions.

http://www.horseadvice.com/

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/...fmdequie.shtml

Hope this helps.

Re: Importing a horse
 

I'm pretty sure that someone on this forum imported a horse and various other animals fairly recently. Try a search.

Re: Importing a horse
 

I'm looking into it for the other way, moving back to the UK from the US. Maybe we can swap notes?

Re: Importing a horse
 

Yes it was me who imported a horse back in January. What would you like to know? If you want a recommendation of which shipper to use then I would most definitely recommend Peden Bloodstock - they were absolutely fantastic. There are a few options open to you so just ask whatever you want to know and I will reply. Sorry I don't come on here too much any more but will check back or you can PM me.

Re: Importing a horse
 

hi!
i emigrated to vancouver in jan 05. I have two horses in england, my older horse, Harry will remain on permanent loan with a good friend, but my other horse maggie, i want out here eventually. Like you, i could not imagine life without her.Realistically it will probably be 3-5 years, as i am requalifying for 2 years here (ggggrrrrr....sore point)
I did lots of research from the uk, cost wise it was approx 3k for both, apparently most horse importers fly them to Toronto, then they continue by road.
You have to keep them isolated for 28 days before the flight. nothing major, just in a field without other animal contact.
apparently, horses travel overseas all the time without any problems, and on the very rare occasion something happens, they are of cousre sedated.
i do have a contact number somewhere of someone that was recommended, will dig it out if you want it.
let me know how you get on, would not be the same here without them would it? good luck. :)

Re: Importing a horse
 

Hudman, I think you will find that the cost has dramatically altered since you were looking. I paid over £6,000 (almost $15,000) to bring our pony over and I called every shipper who transported Trans-Atlantic. Prior to this, I priced it the previous year and the cost was £7,500 for 3 horses and that was to Vancouver.

If you fly the horse direct to Canada then the horse needs to do 30 days quarantine in the UK and then another 30 days quarantine once in Canada. However.....if you fly them from London to the US then they do not need to go into quarantine in England and only spend 14 days in quarantine in the States. This was the way we went and then we had her road transported from NY direct to our farm.

Please, please be very careful about who you use to ship your horse! I have friends who have used "cheaper" shippers and they have had nothing but heartache. You will likely only ever do this once in your life....so do it using the best people not the cheapest. Use a reputable company like Peden Bloodstock or Mersant International. I can tell anyone who wishes to know the companies to definitely avoid at all costs if they PM me.

Re: Importing a horse
 

Thanks for your excellent replies, I had budgeted about 2k for her transport but I guess I should think about more. I won't actually be shipping her from the UK - she'll probably fly out of Frankfurt because I live in Belgium and Frankfurt Calgary might be the easiest route for her.

Re: Importing a horse
 

Yes I had that option of going out through Frankfurt and the cost was waaaaaay cheaper! I think it was something like £2,000 - £3,000 from there but I wanted the easiest and quickest route for her from England. Best of luck and don't worry about her, she will travel fine if she is a sensible lady and they do take very good care of them.