UK to Canada?
 

Hi there,

Is there anyone with horses moving to Canada South Western areas?

Re: UK to Canada?
 

Not got horses but will be taking dogs, try doing a search on the maple leaf as I am sure I have read a thread somewhere about someone who took horses over.:eek: I have found loads of info on here regarding taking the dogs.:thumbup: . We are not far from you in Blackpool and moving to Vancouver Island as soon as sold up here. :thumbsup:Good luck

Re: UK to Canada?
 

Yes there was - I know someone who did 2 years ago, think their user name is Tia - if you can't get her on here, I may be able to help get hold of her from antoher forum.

It's doable - but not cheap!

Re: UK to Canada?
 

See Tiaribbon's response in the thread entitled Has anyone shipped their horses from the UK?

Re: UK to Canada?
 

Hi I seriously considered bringing my horse over but it was just to expensive, they wanted to take him to Luxembourg first then fly him to Calgary. I think there is a flight every Wednesday that flies from there, couldn't find any transport company that would take him from London Heathrow. I got several quotes for about five and half thousand. In the end I signed him over to a horse charity who rehomed him. He was eighteen and I was worried about him being sold from one home to another (I had him when he was a yearling).

I now have 2 here and glad I didn't bring him as I think living outside in the -40 conditions would of been hard on a horse that was use to living in with a rug on (there aren't many facilities in my area that accommodate the stabled horse) That being said I do know a lady who brought her Thoroughbred mare over and she is doing just fine, I am coming round to thinking we English wrap our horses up in cotton wool (quite literally)

Anyway good luck, exactly which part of Canada are you going, are you buying an acreage or boarding your horse? Are there boarding stables there?

Re: UK to Canada?
 

Hopefully you will get a reply from R I C H - he has an equestrian business set up in Kamloops I beleive so he should be able to advise you. Or you can always PM him to: R I C H. He is very helpful - good luck

Re: UK to Canada?
 

Hi, I don't think it is all that hard to do, but I imagine expensive. I used to work for an international show jumper in the UK when I was younger & it was done all the time, obviously I never saw the bill for it. We used to use Peden, however this was 13yrs ago. http://www.peden-bloodstock.com/

The agencies will advise you on what blood & paper work that they need for the specific destination.

I am near Toronto & often wonder how they turn their horses out in sub zero conditons without a rug, & when I had mine he was stabled with a sheet, to witney blankets & a polywarm! So you would have to get them used to the temps, but if you go to BC then it is not that much different from the UK weather, or so I hear.
You also have to get used to the terms in what they call things, if you ask for full livery or diy livery, they look at you as if you are speaking another language. It is called boarding here & most I have come across (unless you rent a stable & paddock from a family) call it board. They also only seem to do full board, not part or diy. Always baffled me as to why someone would want their own horse if someone did it all for them, they may as well just hire a horse by the hour! Then again I am fussy so would always moan at who ever looked after my horse.
I don't have one now & not had one for over 10yrs, however would like to eventually get the kids one. If I won the lottery would would have a hobby farm & one each, but I never buy a ticket. Again I would prefer my own acreage as I don't like the whole riding school, equestrian centre feel, but thats me, I also like my neighbours at a distance! lol big fences make good neighbours & all that.
We did however bring our dog here with us on our flight as excess baggage & he is a Rhodesian Ridgeback, so not a small dog. So if you want to fly a dog out I can be more specific.

Good luck!

Re: UK to Canada?
 

Mine used to be out at -20 celsius in sweden and no rug. He was never rugged until he was four and living in UK. Now he's back in Sweden and we have UK weather.

I contacted a danish agent about shipping hrorse from UK to Canada. I was quoted something like €3500. Mind you, that was a year ago.

Peden is good.

KLM fly horses out of Amsterdam on a regular basis. Some of their 747's have space for people and horses. I've flown with them to New York and to Los Angeles and there were horses on board each time.

I think Tiaribbon flew her pony in to US and then trucked by land to her yard to not have to go through quarantine. If that still holds it is most likely the way I'd do it.

Re: UK to Canada?
 

Our horses are unblanketed right now, it's a few degrees below freezing. We save the rugs (called blankets here) for when it's really cold. We only bring the horses in if it's less than 15F or if there's freezing rain or fog. Horses don't seem to mind cold, they do less well in the summer when it's very hot. When to bring them in and when to blanket them largely depends on your attitude to them growing a winter coat; we don't mind hairy horses.

Re: UK to Canada?
 

Exactly. We had more snow and colder winters when I was a kid and we never put blankets/rugs on them back then.

I clipped mine this winter and rugged him because of that. Then he went lame so no riding and now he's fine again. So I've had a clipped horse, in a rug, no need to re-clip who's grown a full winter coat and now it looks like I will have to clip him soon when I put him back to work. ARGH! Could have not bothered about it, really.

As you, I've noticed they cope with cold weather better than hot.

Re: UK to Canada?
 

That's not quite true. Yes, around Toronto people generally want to have the horse looked after full time while they work long hours to support it but there are other arrangements, R I C H's barn for example (barn here, not stable or yard) offers full, part and diy. Locally there's pasture board, full board, stallion board (we'll keep the beast in a stall but it's up to you to do anything more than that) and several kinds of leasing arrangements. We used to part lease horses, that is pay so much a month to be one of two riders using the horse.

What suits best depends on the intended use, generally horses seem to be leased for learning and/or for competition, as the rider improves a better one is leased, perhaps from a better (circuit or show) barn. Horses are owned at the top end of the schoolgirl competition circuit, in which case they and the rider typically go to Florida for the winter, or because they're either just for fun or for some use a leasing barn won't tolerate, such as foxhunting. Most of the barns we've had dealings with have had boarders just for the winter, the horse owners use another barn near their cottage in the summer.

FWIW it currently costs $500-$600/month for full board an hour or so from Toronto at a place with access to an indoor arena.

Re: UK to Canada?
 

Thank you :)

Feel free to drop me a line Horse Girl if you've any questions - my business is www.fieldstone-equestrian.ca

Re: UK to Canada?
 

To clarify - BC's lower mainland's climate is not dissimilar to the UK, whereas the southern interior, for example, is quite different: 40 degree dry heat summer temperatures and temperatures well into the minuses with dry powder snow in the winter.

With regard to why someone might want full board, it's convenience - horse care's labour intensive, and not everyone's got the time for it 7 days a week, 365 days a year. A decent boarding facility should take into account each owner and their horses requirements, in order to prevent the moaning ;)

Re: UK to Canada?
 

My problem is finding site that list boarding stables. I mean, there has got to be more stables than those listed on the ontario equestrian website, eh?

Re: UK to Canada?
 

There are very many indeed. Whereabouts do you want one and what do you want from it - pasture board in a small group, stall board with grooming, an indoor arena, use of a trailer, a BNT, what sort of thing?