This is a sure a first for me!
I have a buyer in Beligum interested in purchasing one of my mares in foal.
She has contacted Global Horse transport for more information as to costs, etc., but it’s a first for her as well.
Any suggests as to pit falls, hidden costs, international transport agents,etc. anyone can offer for the neophyte buyer/seller would be greatly appreciated.
PMs are just fine.
Thanks to all!
We did it this spring with Cathalido and it was a HUGE headache. We did use Tim Dutta Corporation and Klatte and they were able to assist, but the USDA office was a nightmare to deal with. Make sure that your vet fills out all of the paperwork perfectly in the correctly colored ink (blue or red and no black) and that there are no crossouts or corrections. The markings need to match the coggins and passport exactly. I had to drive the paperwork 5 hours away 4 days in a row. :mad: The first time, the vet used black instead of blue ink. The second time, the vet had written over ONE LETTER correcting an “e” to an “a”. The third time, the markings on the coggins did not EXACTLY match the markings on the form and passport. We had to have the coggins redone to correct a tiny drawing error (one hind sock zagged when it should have zigged). Since they require a special coggins to be run, it was mailed to an outside lab. The lab mailed the results (USDA only accepts originals) to the wrong vet and then refused to overnight a copy when we didn’t receive it. I had to have it picked up (again 5 hours away). I sent the first coggins with the horse for the trailering, but had to overnight the new coggins to New York. Then a storm caused the Fed-ex planes to be grounded in Memphis, so the ORIGINAL paperwork did not arrive in time to travel with the horse. He almost did not make his flight because of all the problems with the paperwork.
Twingates here on the forum can give you an account as well, her stallion Tzigane is flying from New York to Europe tomorrow and I have been in close touch with her throughout the process - it is pretty tense.
We’ve exported to Europe and did the quarantine on our farm back in April. We worked with Mersant Int’l out of NY. For the EU, the quarantine is 30 days and really not as bad as I’d expected…but this last load was geldings…for breeding stock it’s a bit more trouble.
Definitely work closely with your State Vet and a local vet who will do the paperwork, exams and vaccines. It is not as hard as it would seem.
My sister shipped a mare from AB, Canada to Germany last year. There were no hassles at all. However, the buyer used a company in AB that took care of EVERYTHING! She literally dropped the horse off for the month quarantine and didn’t hear another work until she safely arrived in Germany at the new owners just over a month later. So finding someone to take care of everything for you might be a suggestion as well if you are unsure how to proceed.
find a know quarterhorse breeder - they often ship to europe
When doing my research, I found this video of a company on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY8LJbZojvA. It shows the transport from the US to The Netherlands…
…so you do not only get an idea on how it works, but also have a company you could check with.
Btw. when we traveled from Germany to Minneapolis, Klatte, Dutta and “Nobody’s Business Farm Horse Transportation” took care of everything. I am sure they can also organize the trip the other way around!
We’ve done it twice, with stallions, first with Cooldanz and then a year or so later with Commander. Both times we used Rigbie Farm… and Global. There was a month quarantine at Rigbie Farm… and then the transport to JFK and overseas. Both times things went smooth as could be. Contact Rigbie… they are wonderful to work with. http://www.rigbiefarm.com/
Klatte transports back and forth with long time experience. Has transported a gelding for my friend to europe but it is 8 years ago and was from Canada…
www.gklatte.com
My daughter is in that process now (from Canada to Germany). Klatte and Sea Air will take care of most of the details, and the purchaser’s vet will fly over to accompany the horse on his air-trip. Hope it goes smoothly. Quarantine starts next week …
thanks guys!
The buyer so far is talking to Global – maybe I should also recommend Klatte?
Would there be huge differences in price…if so, if anybody can recommend “a good deal” that would be great.
The horse in question would be a mare in foal (due May 2010), so quarantine would be 30 days…at least I assume the quarantine time over in the EU would be the same as if the mare was arriving in the USA?
Any idea of rough cost? The buyer says she has a friend who is also buying a horse in the USA, so could they share a a pallet? The horse I’m selling is only 15.1, so I assume that would be enough room?
Also, I am in Idaho, so I also assume I would have to arrange transport to the nearest quarantine (or do they only have to be in quarantine when they arrive at their destination?).
If you contact Klatte, they will recommend a broker state-side (I used Dutta once, when importing to Canada thru USA). The USA based broker usually can recommend several quarantine facilities that are local to you, and they may have a list of shippers for any ground-transport required, if you cannot do it yourself.
Klatte handles many shipments between NA and Germany or Holland. Your broker can organize a full shipment for you.
Usually you can fit 3 horse on a pallet, which decreases the cost.
Good luck.
Quarantine is done in the US. From the quarantine location they have to be shipped to the nearest “port” where horses can be flown to another port in Europe where they can be received. I’m not sure if there is a waiting period on the other side…I think it depends by country.
Don’t forget to check Mersant also for a quote. They were fine to work with.
I actually hauled the horses that left from here to Switzerland to JFK. That was an adventure pulling a 28 foot LQ trailer through NYC. If you all could see the facility there at JFK, you’d laugh! It’s not very fancy at all and so small you just about could miss it in between all the hangers…I nearly did!
Yes, ditto that it is 3 horses per pallet so his size will not be an issue.
Hello!
I am importing a horse from Sweden and was wondering how much the Vet export costs can sum up to. Any ideas will be very helpful! Thanks
I am importing from Sweden to the United States.
You are better off starting a brand new thread rather than commenting on an 8 year old thread about exporting from the U.S. to Europe. You will likely get more responses if you start a new thread about importing to the U.S. 
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