hi my husband and I are thinking of moving to Brittany, we would appreciate any advice on an area best suited to us! we want detached with at least 5 acres upwards and suitable for 5 dogs and three horses. my main concern is I would like to be in an equestrian area where I could compete my horse and also have nice safe hacking out. would like to be near an "English" speaking community but not essential but preferable. any recommendations would be great !

Hello again! All the results from a Google search re importing horses into France gave horse-lovers' forums, apart from the official French Customs site which I posted in the other section (which only mentions dogs, cats and ferrets). It would appear that if you bring all 8 animals at the same time, they'll most certainly have to undergo the Veterinary Inspection at the port of entry to obtain a certificate which you then present to the Customs...
You don't mention whether you're intending to work or are retired, but you should also be concerned about healthcare coverage if you don't enter the French Social Security system for any reason....
Others will come along with suggestions of locations, but a Google search for "Centres Equestres Bretagne" will give results....
Hope all this helps!

I thought Normandy was more 'horse country' than Brittany. Certainly there are lots of pockets of British horsey people in Normandy. No doubt there are plenty in Brittany too, but I've always thought of Normandy as being the more equestrian of the two départments. Land use in Brittany tends to be more agricultural.

You can enter the postcode or the department code in which you are interested in this site and it list the equestrian centres which may be of interest to you.
Search for the departement under annuaire then the post code.

http://www.maxigalop.com/annuaire-ce...departement-29

hi thanks everyone, ill look into normandy too !!! We are early forties and have sheep as well and would look at buying a small flock once settled. we would like to be as self suffient as possible but my husband would probably need to pick up some work and i am a barber . we also breed gun dogs and french bulldogs and would hope that we can continue to do so from france? i know we need to look into all the necessary taxes / healthcare etc so any advice would also be gratefully recieved. we are in the early stages of thinking about this move and i thought it would be best to talk to people who actually know what they are talking about !!! our first dilema though is area !!! and thankyou to all who have already replied its so nice to know that people are willing to help and give good advice !

If you sell any animals i.e. breed dogs then you need to register as a business. France is not very small business friendly and the overhead costs are high (social security payments).
Last year a member spoke of her determination to bring all her horses to France but when she discovered the problems of registering as a business which was regarded as a hobby in the UK - well we didn't hear from her again.
You will also need to research the French business structures if you intend to sell animals.