Importing from Spain

[iberianfan]

So sorry to hear all these sad stories. What a heartbreak. My first import from Spain was a 12 year old that had been bred a lot. Gelded there, went back to his breeder to heal, I got several updates, the vet was super cautious and wouldn’t let him be shipped for several weeks. All was good.

BTW, the agent for this horse was Vivi from Epona. I absolutely trust this breeder and Vivi.
Unfortunately, I lost this horse just a few months later to complications after colic surgery. The colic was just one of those things, not related to care, or history, etc.

[CanteringCarrot]

I also cannot emphasize enough that the horse needs to be Piroplasmosis FREE.

I couldn’t import my horse that I owned for 5 years over in Europe due to him being Piro positive

[iberianfan]

That brings to mind a terrible tale of a horse sold as piro free only to get here and be positive. Buyer had to ship him back, other horses that came with him were held in quarantine. A nightmare. I think she got the purchase price back, but was out all the shipping fees. Not certain.

I always had the vet send the test to the U.S. Lab to be certain it would be negative in the US. There are different levels.

[CanteringCarrot]

@iberianfan

That brings to mind a terrible tale of a horse sold as piro free only to get here and be positive. Buyer had to ship him back, other horses that came with him were held in quarantine. A nightmare. I think she got the purchase price back, but was out all the shipping fees. Not certain.

I always had the vet send the test to the U.S. Lab to be certain it would be negative in the US. There are different levels.

Yes, I pre-test. That’s how I found out about my horse. Fortunately that gave me some time to figure out a plan for him. When I imported the yearling I told the breeder I needed to do a Piro test before I could move forward with a vetting and everything else. She completely understood. It’s important which test you do and where you send it too.

[iberianfan]

Me, too. If I was very interested in a horse, I would pay for the test before I vetted. Unfortunately, in the story I told above, there were some shenanigans and the buyer was told the horse was negative.

[2tempe]

When I think about my import mess, the disease the horse had, which was apparently lying dormant, was not the seller’s “fault”, just one of those crappy things. What sent me over the edge were the the lies that came out and the complete lack of willingness to live up to the terms of her agreement. And her complete denial of the necropsy report.

[tabula_rashah]

Highly recommend Andreas Forslund
https://www.spanskahastar.se/?fbclid=IwAR3lTJf-kiay1jDZR1_76ACeISTzRxENUNynL7D0iWJYQacvkoUNubPoZ_k

[Mersidoats]

This happened to someone I know. The horse tested within the acceptable range in Europe, but upon arrival she was outside of the acceptable range, which can happen with stress and dehydration from the journey. Terrible business, the horse was sent back to be resold, the rider had to strong arm the buyer into sending her back, they wanted to try to get her to test negative. She was like “they are going to put her down, send her back, NOW!”

I had to do two tests, an initial screening with a local lab as part of the PPE and then with the German lab prior to shipping as there was a delay finding him a flight. Stressful.

I used Flying Horses Portugal (they are part of Nippon Express) as my shipper and Lazcar Intl as my agent after Horse America yanked my chain for a month. They were super communicative, sent photos and videos. Very easy to work with.

[CanteringCarrot]

@Mersidoats

The horse tested within the acceptable range in Europe

I looked at a 3 year old in Spain that was within acceptable range, and it might’ve gone ok with him, but I wanted zeros. Plus, there was something on the vetting that made me think twice. So I just took it all as a sign not to buy that particular horse.

My yearling was completely negative on his (edit) Piro tests.

[atlatl]

@CanteringCarrot

My yearling was completely negative on his tests.

Given that a yearling hasn’t started any work, I think that’s pretty normal unless you were only looking for obvious genetic defects.

My horse was purchased as a 9 year old, had OCD surgery but still tested negative. The same horse wouldn’t have earlier. Here we are years later, still sound and schooling I-2.

[CanteringCarrot]

@atlatl

@CanteringCarrot

My yearling was completely negative on his tests.

Given that a yearling hasn’t started any work, I think that’s pretty normal unless you were only looking for obvious genetic defects.

My horse was purchased as a 9 year old, had OCD surgery but still tested negative. The same horse wouldn’t have earlier. Here we are years later, still sound and schooling I-2.

I was specifically referring to the Piroplasmosis test. A yearling could easily be positive for that.

I’m not referring to whatever other PPE tests.

[atlatl]

@CanteringCarrot

@atlatl

@CanteringCarrot

My yearling was completely negative on his tests.

Given that a yearling hasn’t started any work, I think that’s pretty normal unless you were only looking for obvious genetic defects.

My horse was purchased as a 9 year old, had OCD surgery but still tested negative. The same horse wouldn’t have earlier. Here we are years later, still sound and schooling I-2.

I was specifically referring to the Piroplasmosis test. A yearling could easily be positive for that.

I’m not referring to whatever other PPE tests.

My bad, thanks for the clarification.

[Exorsister]

Hi,
I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about the process of importing with Sofie ?
(Not sure how to DM)
Thank you!