Just wanted to mention… If you have the right facility you can do the Quarantine yourself. I have done it 3 times for my horses. But I am not sure whether I recommend it… Its a lot of hassle…
The Ark does not yet have USDA certification for quarantine, it is still pending.
None of the info I posted is misleading. The import process can be confusing.
If the OP is shipping a horse from Amsterdam perhaps one of those flights will work. if the OP is not leaving via Amsterdam then it may be a more complicated trip.
Dutta does have a good rep, but we are talking about horses and with them… stuff happens.
Medford, Or. is 11 hour by ground from LAX. If traffic is decent.
OP… Ask your state vet what happens if something goes wrong, [colicy horse, vehicle accident] while your horse is in the USDA sealed transport before you contemplate an 11 hour road trip.
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http://www.horseservice.com/export/
“KLM is the only airline operating flights with a Boeing 747-combi. The advantage is that passengers can take their horses along as cargo in the same aircraft. There can be a maximum of seven stables on-board, in other words 20 horses (there may be only 2 horses in the last position because of the weight). All combi-flights are direct flights without any stopovers. This is the most ideal for horses, because the takeoff and landing are the most stressful times of the flight.”
It’s good to mention that in Florida I have had my Junior barn designated a CEM quarantine facility twice when I brought my mare back from Europe and it wasn’t full yet. I don’t know if California has that option but it was so convenient and not difficult. It wasn’t much less $$$ than going to a full care place in Wellington, but it was wonderful having my mare outside my back door through the process.
I tried to do this in New York. I have the perfect facility for it. But was told NY was not granting any more CEM barns at this time.
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California will NOT issue any permits for quarantine. Many facilities/people have tried for years and years - but the state will only leave it with UC Davis Vet School for CEM quarantine. That’s why the facility in Oregon opened up just over the border several years ago.
As to issues while shipping to the Oregon facility - just call and ask them as they do the trucking themselves. The state vets will have no idea. There are multiple top notch vet clinics all along the way from LA to the Oregon facility just off of I-5.
All of the top west coast riders (and I mean folks like Speters, CJorst, GSeidel, etc) all send their horses to the Oregon place.
One of my stallions is shipping over in 8 days and he will go to Oregon rather than Davis. I’ve used Davis for my other two stallions and numerous mares over the last 10 years but the Oregon facility is by far preferable.
The flights from Amsterdam service all of mainland europe. Horses from Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Italy, France, Holland etc are sent to Amsterdam and then flown out. I’ve personally never heard of anyone shipping to JFK and then turning around and flying them to the West coast. That would add more than 5K more to your bill alone.
Feel free to PM me if you have further questions - but I import about 1 horse a year (sometimes more than 1 per year) for the past 10 years into CA from Europe -so I know the ins and outs pretty well by now.
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I did the same several times and it worked very well. It was tricky the first time but then the next times it went a lot easier. It was nice to have my horses on this side of the coast for quarantine and not in Wellington
I imported several last year and will import several more this coming year. I’m in the NW and buy all of my horses from Germany.
I cannot imagine trying to import to the East Coast and then ship the horse cross country. Seems like it would just add cost. All of mine have been trucked from Germany -> Amsterdam then -> LAX (by air, of course) -> Davis (if extra quarantine is needed) and then get put on a truck to come north to me. Or, in last year’s case, I picked the mare up from UC Davis on the way down to the Thermal and had the gelding trucked over to Thermal from the LAX quarantine facility.
I buy an insurance policy with an international portion to it (you can ask your insurance company about that) so that they’re covered during the time they’re still in Germany and through the transport process.
My guys always ship mine over in blankets and with full leg wraps. I usually import in early spring, so the clipped horses have always arrived with blankets on but without the leg wraps on by the time they get to me. They come with a bag from the import company that contains all of the things that have been shipped with them. They have also always showed up with the halters my guys put on them in Germany.
I haven’t ever tried to have them put my horses on any supplements. That seems like it would be a mess to try to work out. The mare I shipped over last year was pretty darn ulcery acting when I got her. I wish I would have realized it sooner and put her on gastrogard as soon as I took possession of her, but it took me a couple of months to figure out that she wasn’t actually an anxious horse and just had a stomach ache. Moving forward, I will have extra gastrogard on hand in the event that another shows up like she did, but I wouldn’t try to get it administered while she’s shipping/in quarantine.
All state vets should be quite knowledgeable about laws and regulations regarding the care of animals living in and being imported into their state. They are an excellent resource and paid with tax dollars so feel free to go to your state vet for help or advice.
I agree!!! I dealt with the state vet 3 times when I imported my horses and he was amazing. I admit the first time he was very official, but after we got to know each other and he knew that I did in fact followed the rules, he was great!! Maybe its different in states where nobody imports horses… In Florida they definitely have a lot of knowledge. Its not only warmbloods which get imported but also a lot of Polohorses… So they know what they are doing
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I have two horses on 30 day quarantine in one of my barns right now. Their owner and dog will accompany them traveling as groom. They are flying from Toronto to Amsterdam and from there to England. I don’t have the details. One is a broodmare the other an 18 month filly. I do hope it all goes well for them.
Thanks so much to everyone who has offered their advice. To those with experience shipping to the west coast, which transport companies did you use? And how long from the time you called them for a quote to the time the horse got on the plane? I have been in contact with a few shippers and ended up choosing the one who was easiest to communicate with over email, but as time goes on it feels like important details are getting lost in communication and after a couple weeks I still don’t have a flight scheduled. For example, I was told a blood draw/CEM swab would be scheduled on X day and the mare would depart on Y. Now they tell me they plan to call the clinic to schedule the vet work on X day and the results will be available on Y day, with no departure date scheduled yet. It was also initially recommended that my mare share a container with just one other horse, which I agreed with - but now they are wanting to put her in a container with 2 others because it’s easier to schedule. The suggestion itself isn’t a problem but they added “because she’s not a difficult shipper, it should be fine”. That statement made me very uncomfortable because they never asked me how well she ships and the fact is we don’t know because she’s never done this before. She’s actually a fairly sensitive horse and can be hot. So on top of the nerves I already have, and the amount of time that has dragged out, I’m getting cold feet about the transporter…if it helps they are a well-known company with lots of reviews, COTH recommendations on other threads, etc but I’m still not happy with the small miscommunications so far. Is this par for the course or should I start looking into other shipping companies?
I have PM’d you. II have a stallion shipping next week to LAX using Klatte - and it’s gone smooth as silk as always. 3 to a container is quite common - that wouldn’t concern me.
I contacted Klatte about 45 days ago and we determined 7 November to be the ship date.
CEM testing must be done within 30 days so we set that date about the week before the 30 day window opened. He was tested around 21 days before our booked shipping date
USA CEM quarantine was booked about 3 weeks ago as well - as soon as the CEM in Germany came back as negative.
I’ve got the Klatte bill this week and the USA CEM quarantine bill this week too which per USDA regs has to be paid before testing will start.
Jet Pets will invoice me upon landing on Tuesday.
Honeylips, a bit off topic - but is that your cremello GRP stallion that is shipping? If so, I can’t wait to see him!
Yes -Golden West is shipping next week!
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