Crossing Canadian border with horses?

[emilymorro]

At the end of May my trainer and I will be heading up to Ontario to do some clinics. We will be bringing two horses with us.

Does anyone know which border crossing is the best to go for? We don’t mind going a little bit out of the way to cross over into Canada somewhere that will be easy and painless. We have all of our papers, visas, passports, etc., so that’s not a problem. But, people have told us that there are certain border crossings who continually give people a harder time than others. We are leaving from Aiken, SC.

Any idea where the best place to cross might be?

[naynay117]

I haven’t crossed into Canada with horses but have imported a horse from Canada. Things may have changed but this is what I remember in learning about the process: the border issues are with crossing back into the US.

All horses coming into the US need to be inspected at the border by a Vet. Call the border crossings you think you want to use and find out what days the Vets are there and what exactly the process/paperwork is to get back into the US. FYI, The Vets rotate days between crossings. This will save you from driving around trying to find a Vet staffed crossing.

Found these docs online which outline the process:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/downloads/import_horses_canada.pdf

http://www.hcbc.ca/_customelements/uploadedResources/BORDERCROSSINGFACTSHEET.pdf

[BrookdaleBay]

If you are crossing into Ontario, my boss uses the crossing in Niagara Falls, at the Rainbow Bridge, going into New York. There is also the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie, but I’m not sure if there is a boarder vet at that one.

[Sueby]

We’ve crossed into the US a few times with horses and never ONCE did a vet look at them or even look in the trailer to see if they were horses or camels. They just took the paperwork and photocopied it then returned it saying ‘have a great show!’. Very nice, just not what we expected lol.

[Murphy_s_Mom]

[QUOTE=naynay117;7532655]
Found these docs online which outline the process:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/downloads/import_horses_canada.pdf

http://www.hcbc.ca/_customelements/uploadedResources/BORDERCROSSINGFACTSHEET.pdf[/QUOTE]
According to the second PDF you do not need a vet inspection if the horse will return within 30 days. You do need an international health certificate though.

It’s been 20 years since I bounced back and forth across the border (lived very close) but an international health certificate had to be signed by the state vet and it could take a while to get so be prepared. It was also only good for 30 days and could take a week to get to me so I only had 20 days +/- to get the horse over and back.

I lived near a smaller crossing in Eastern Washington. Before crossing into Canada we would park and run over to the US side with the horse’s papers. They would stamp them with the date. This way, when we came back with the horse, there was no question about when the horse entered the country and it made our life much easier.

[furlong47]

Where in Ontario are you headed? The province is over 1,000 miles wide… your entry point choices are going to be very different depending on your final destination.

[CrowneDragon]

There was recently a thread in the Eventing Forum about taking horses across the border for Bromont. I would take a look at that one, as there was a lot of good info.