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  Discussion on How to Import
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Posted on Monday, Nov 12, 2001 - 3:09 pm:

Anyone out there ever brought a horse into this country? Anything in particular to be extra-aware of? I'm looking to import a Friesian from the Netherlands, through a broker. Any advice on broker -vs- no broker?

Posted on Monday, Nov 12, 2001 - 7:28 pm:

If you are flying the horse over be prepared for a bit of a shock at the bill. I know that to fly a horse from Japan to Australia is at least A$10,000.00. IRT (international racehorse transport) are a very good company to fly horses with, they did the horses into Australia for the olympics.
Sorry i don't have any warnings, but that might be a good thing:-)

Posted on Monday, Nov 12, 2001 - 10:10 pm:

We used Jet Pets Equine to transport our Lusitano from Germany. I need information for exporting a horse to Australia from the West coast. Anyone have any knowledge or experiences?

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 13, 2001 - 5:36 pm:

I've imported a couple of horses from Europe, most recently from the Netherlands. I used the Bill Barnes agency in New York, and shipped from Amsterdam to Miami. Bill also ships to NY and Atlanta (when available). I can't imagine not having a shipping agent on this end and a broker on the other end, unless you have the time and resources to stay in Holland, get the vet to whatever barn the horse is at 24 hours before departure, get the horse to Schipol Airport something like 12 hours before departure and have all the export papers, blood work, etc. in order. Also, there are last minute flight cancellations, changes at stateside import facilities, other horses in the shipment without proper papers--the list goes on and on.

Certainly, the whole system of horse buying in Europe is very different than here in the states, and I have found my broker in Holland to be totally upfront and honest to deal with.

My total shipping charges ended up being approx. $7,000.00 This was a little high because I ended up sharing a 3 horse crate with just one other horse, so I had to pick up the cost for that extra half stall. Hated spending the extra money, but shipping at the time was really difficult, and I didn't have any choice. As it ended up, though, I'm glad I did it because my horse came out of it looking great. He's a big Dutch Warmblood and I think he appreciated the extra room.

The whole process is a little unnerving even with professionals handling all the details--don't know that it's even possible to do it without them.

If you're bringing in a stallion or a mare, you also must deal with quarantine facilities. I've never done that myself, but I think the mares are about 7 days and stallions about 6 weeks (but don't quote me on that), and I think the cost runs about $50.00 a day.

Your broker in Holland probably has someone stateside that they work with, so find out who they use, then start trying to research them. I know that when I was thinking my horse was on a plane, only to find out KLM had changed their flights at the last minute, it was great having Bill on the phone with them screaming on my behalf!

Laura

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 14, 2001 - 6:41 am:

warmbloods.net has an interesting section on importing.
~B
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