Hoping someone here can provide some advice on how to navigate customs/border crossing with a free lease mare. I am willing to use a professional shipper, because they know how to handle all of the paperwork, know when to cross, and where to cross. I have contacted one shipper who is getting back to me with a quote. Shipper said she will need a coggins and international health certificate. I’m just wondering about what to do if they ask if this is a “sale” (it’s not) and if they will have issues with the horse going to Canada for an extended period of time (to a breeding farm). Anyone have experiences with this?
I shipped a gelding, not a mare. I shipped with HC, coggins test and registration papers in tow. No one at the time asked about ownership. I had an SOS email from the recipient (we did a straight trade of horseflesh) when the gelding hit the border requesting a bill of sale in order for the recipient to be able to deal with the VAT tax. All went well and the horse got in without any real delay. That, however, was almost 17 years ago.
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IIRC, you always want to say it’s a long term entry otherwise the “owner” of record will have to pay sales tax on the horse.
The shipper should be able to walk you through it, but I believe you need to say it’s a long term entry on the USDA stamped health cert, unless you are Canadian and can be listed as the owner. This was last years info - and I could be totally wrong and screwed around. I just remember having to panic rush a new health cert because the owner was going to be charged sales tax on a 400k mare!
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