As my horse shopping continues, I occasionally see horses that fit the bill in Canada. Anyone brought a horse down from our friends to the north? What is the quarantine process or is there one?
My understanding from knowing friends who’ve sold horses to the States, it’s pretty simple. It’s paperwork in advance that needs to be done, no quarantine needed.
Make sure they have their Coggins within the correct timing and then you need a health certificate that’s for permanent export (not temporary visit to States and return), and it will need to be stamped by a Federal vet prior to crossing the border. Different border points have different hours etc. Some have federal vets, some don’t.
Just make sure you remember to say “sorry” to your horse if you do anything wrong, Canadian horses are polite and they expect you to reciprocate 
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You do need to have all of the paperwork to get across the border and I was told that it can be a big hassle if you aren’t educated in the process. The most hassle-free way to do it is to pay an experienced shipper to haul the horse across the border. Let the vet doing the PPE know that you’ll need paperwork to transport them to the states. They know what paperwork is needed. And the experienced shippers know the best border crossings where they can get through quickly.
I bought one from Canada (about 6 years ago). Even though the horse was only about 5 hours from me (and I have my own rig) I didn’t want to take a chance having a 3 year old (that I didn’t know) in the trailer if the border crossing was super slow or if they decided I couldn’t cross. So I decided to pay a shipper in Canada and the whole thing went very smoothly.
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This, definitely. There are shippers that do the cross border run multiple times a week and know the drill and will get it done smoothly.
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Yes, this! I imported my eventer from Canada in late 2020. Used an experienced professional hauler and it was smooth and easy.
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I bought from Canada within the last few years and used a professional shipper. The whole process was very simple and not all that different from buying in the States. I used Ecclestone Horse Transport and would highly recommend them if you are looking in Canada! https://ehorset.com/
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Experienced Canada-US horse transporters know the drill, especially if they generally use the same crossing. A US vet inspects paperwork and the horse(s) at the border – usually looks in the trailer window – and fills out a form.
At the border my sister uses most often, the US vet is only there three days a week from 9-2, though. It adds an extra $300-ish to the shipping costs to get the vet to come in at another time, so she times her hauls carefully.
