Wondering for advice on importing a PRE as a stallion or have him gelded first. I’m aware of the rules that if he tests negative from CEM x 3 over there and had papers, he can be imported as a stallion and not have to stay in 30 day quarantine. Does anyone have experience or advice on this ?
Yes. If it is a PRE registered with ANCCE and can obtain a certification as a virgin stallion, it can do quarantine there, and be treated as a gelding upon arrival in the US. If it’s ever bred a mare in Spain, is registered with any other registry, or fails its tests in quarantine over there, no go.
Thank you!
We imported one last year and had him gelded in Spain before export.
How did you go about that. ? Did you pay for him up front and then the seller coordinated gelding and stay for healing? Was it a smooth process?
I had my first import gelded in Spain. It’s an inexpensive process over there. Yes, I bought him and we had a contract. He rehabbed at the farm he had lived at his whole life, so less stress for him. I insured him prior to gelding. The seller was a wonderful breeder and they didn’t charge me anything for rehab. Once the vet cleared him, he was imported to NY.
Working with the right people made it pretty painless. Great seller and wonderful agent.
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Thanks for sharing! This was very helpful
Just be aware that there is a significant mortalilty in gelding a mature stallion, and the insurance will be higher for that. And there are can be complications such as hematoma and infection, again more so in mature horses. Have had that happen. Of course that would be true if done in the US too.
Many of the training facilities are able to do the quarantine and bloodwork for a virgin stallion, which is pretty quick, and easier on the horse if he can stay at his home stable and continue in work.
A non-virgin stallion will have to go through quarantine in a US facility, which needs to have 2 embryos (last time I did this anyway) and can take 6 weeks or more. Often you will have to pay to have the horse lunged, and usually no riders available.
A good and experienced agent can definitely make a huge difference and help with transport as well.
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If you want to geld before import, most agents/brokers will handle all the details for you - either by making an agreement for the horse to stay at the sellers, or moving the horse to their own facility. This is more common than the virgin stallion route, since plenty of people don’t want a stallion once it gets here. That said, imho, the gelding standards there are a bit different. Vets will do open geldings on older horses, and will geld older horses in the field. Here, my vet will only geld a mature horse on the operating table, fully anesthetized, and fully tied off. If you geld there, understand how the procedure will be done, and the risks associated with that. You can always request a different procedure - there are plenty of vet hospitals that can do it the way my vets in the US would do it.
At what age is a stallion considered mature? I’m looking mostly at PREs.
My vet considers them mature at 4, or younger if they’ve already covered a mare.
Oh that’s quite young. Good to know that
Just for anecdotal purposes, my horse was 13 when he was gelded, it was done at the clinic, no complications, insurance company was aware and didn’t charge extra. And he was ranked Calificado as a stallion, so had been bred quite a bit.
Again, excellent seller/breeder who cared a lot for his horses and did not skimp on care.
Yes, we made gelding part of the contract and the seller arranged it, then kept him until he healed. It went very smoothly.
It was some years ago, but my insurance at the time added 4% of purchase price to mortality insurance when I had a 10 year old stallion gelded in Spain before import.
Thank you
good to know!
Did you have to pay taxes on the horse you bought in Spain? I’m getting conflicting messages from sellers.
No. They seller has to pay taxes, so sometimes you get some squirrelly information. For example, one seller wanted ONLY CASH. I could use another person’s bank account and wire the funds there and that person would get him cash, but would charge an extra eu3500. No thanks.
Both horses, I have purchase price + vetting + export. I did pay for a couple of piro tests on horses I was interested in because there was no use even looking at them if they may be piro positive.
Thank you! That is helpful, yeah I didn’t trust this agent anyway. So now I really don’t!
Thanks.
