Warmblood Import Nightmare

[endlessclimb]

@caryledee

Did anyone follow the Sagacious ordeal to the end? From the article I read it sounded like they ultimately accepted the Western Blot Test results. Am I reading that wrong?

Does anyone know the answer to this? If the USDA accepted the WB test in the Sagacious case but not others, it’s clearly “pay to play” with money going into pockets it doesnt belong.

[FlaxenChestnut]

@endlessclimb

Does anyone know the answer to this? If the USDA accepted the WB test in the Sagacious case but not others, it’s clearly “pay to play” with money going into pockets it doesnt belong.

This article clearly states both the Western Blot and the CFT came back negative before Sagacious was released. But, I suppose only the owner or USDA could truly confirm.

https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/sagacious-hf-home-false-positive-glanders-scare-630878

[FlaxenChestnut]

Another announcement can be found here regarding Sagacious testing negative on both the CFT and WB, from the Hyperion Farm website, if you scroll down to the August 24 article:
http://www.hyperionfarm.com/hyperionfarm/index.html

[Virginia_Horse_Mom]

I don’t think any horse has been released into the US with a positive CFT… ever. The deep pockets in the other cases got the horses held for additional time in quarantine until they got a negative CFT result.

this horse has already been held for an extended period. He has not yet tested negative.

There are go fund me’s started on social media. Posts hoping for a “rich uncle” to appear. There are threats of lawsuits. Pleas to get the media involved, politicians involved, celebrities involved… even some odd posts about negotiating a deal to sign the horse over to jet pets.

There still doesn’t seem to be a realistic plan as to what to do in order to resolve the limbo this horse is stuck in though. I don’t understand why not.

[charlieTBD]

They should not be released because of the risk. But I read the article and this thread and this horse had the same tests as Sagacious and is still not negative so there is question and I think the USDA is right here. But why is there no insurance even for mortality? That should have been purchased,no?

[Virginia_Horse_Mom]

@charlieTBD

They should not be released because of the risk. But I read the article and this thread and this horse had the same tests as Sagacious and is still not negative so there is question and I think the USDA is right here. But why is there no insurance even for mortality? That should have been purchased,no?

I’m with you on not releasing the horse. It’s sad, but protocol is protocol… it needs to be followed. I just can’t figure out why the family and trainer aren’t focusing on how to get it back k to Europe yet… or just putting the poor horse down at this point.

Insurance was brought up earlier in the discussion. Per comments made by the trainer on social media… the insurance company has expressed the position that the horse had some sort of “Pre existing condition” Prior to shipping… so it is not covered. Also, the fact that there is a different CFT test in Europe than the one used here might be an issue negating the policy as well.

[FlaxenChestnut]

They were told that the USDA wasn’t going to budge on the required CFT result. They need to work with the USDA rules as they are and find a solution for the horse ASAP. That is the current crisis. I don’t really see the point in rehashing the lack of fairness with USDA testing protocol until they have gotten the horse and themselves out of this quarantine debacle. It’s a waste of energy.
Once that is dealt with, by all means go ahead and lobby for changes to the tests.

[js]

The article in Horse and Hound is a bit confusing. It says the owners of the horse own a big business and a big farm in Ocala and this horse has been in the US and Europe competing? I don’t know many middle class that can afford a stallion and has it competing here and abroad and I don’t see this stallion having suddenly been sold for a bargain price to a middle class family.

[gottagrey]

After reading and skimming thru much of this thread - since Jet Pets is a private facility that works with USDA that’s probably an issue, and since Jet Pets is a private facility, not USDA, I’m not sure why USDA vets would have any authority to treat or not treat the horse - wouldn’t that be at the request of the owner / owner rep in working with Jet Pets. Sounds like a mess. How did the family come to get this horse. I would think $36K would get you a pretty decent horse in the US. It’s a mess for sure, I’m in the camp of if the horse testing positive it can’t be released in the US. We certainly don’t want to risk introducing an eradicated disease back here. Recall the days of hoof and mouth/ or mad cow in Europe. Think how many farmers lost their animals and livelihood because so many animals had to be destroyed.

Edited to add - another thread has been started in regards to this incident - more in line with raising funds… another poster pointed out that this thread was already started.

[WildLittleWren]

So, is there a plan to get this poor house out of limbo? Euthanasia? Shipping back to Europe? Or is he still sitting there with no solution in sight?

[Coanteen]

@WildLittleWren

So, is there a plan to get this poor house out of limbo? Euthanasia? Shipping back to Europe? Or is he still sitting there with no solution in sight?

Seems to be.

I’m a bit confused on who is Jet Pets’ actual client. The trainer posted email correspondence between the importing company (Horseflight) and Jet Pets about the increased day rate. So is Horseflight the client of Jet Pets, and the trainer/owner the client of Horseflight? Trainer claims to get nothing but non-itemized 5k invoices - but those invoices are from Trans World Equestrian, which is Horseflight’s legal name. So it looks like Horseflight is the go-between/ actual client of Jet Pets here, which may be why Jet Pets is not talking directly to the trainer.

[FlaxenChestnut]

My understanding is that HorseFlight is the import agent and that, as the agent, correspondence with JetPets should be through them. There are multiple players here (seller, buyer, trainer, agent, importer, government), but for some reason Jet Pets is bearing the brunt of the criticism. I truly believe everyone has just been working toward doing what’s best for the horse, but ultimately, the owners need to make a decision.

ETA: That’s why I mentioned earlier that I would have thought the agent (HorseFlight) had a contract of some sort with Jet Pets.

[CanteringCarrot]

I do wonder when they’ll make a decision. So unfair for the horse to be stall bound for months.

[js]

@Temecula Jumper

Looking for other people’s experiences/input: A family in our barn purchased a 6 year old gelding from Belgium. He was sent to Holland for import to the US. In Holland, he had pre-import bloodwork, including for Glanders, and all was negative. He shipped to LAX and was again tested for all required diseases and popped a 3 on the CFT for Glanders (apparently a 7 result means positive, and his level was considered “suspect”). He was then tested on a Western Blot for Glanders and was negative. He was re-tested a week later on the CFT and was down to a 2. He was then re-tested again this week and is a 3. USDA won’t release the horse unless he tests a 0. The horse has now been in isolation in quarantine for over a month.

The horse has not been positively diagnosed as having Glanders and the USDA thinks he most likely does not have it, but he still can’t be brought into the country until he is a 0. Quarantine is costing $375 per day and the family has already spent $20,000 just on quarantine fees at this point. Insurance will not cover his quarantine stay and will also not cover euthanasia or the mortality portion of the policy. Per the USDA, euthanasia and disposal of the horse will be in excess of $20,000 due to the way in which the remains have to be handled.

The only other option is to send the horse back to Holland and hope they will accept him back into the country. The seller won’t take the horse back but the agent has agreed to try to re-sell the horse if the send it back to Holland, at a cost of $10,000 to $12,000 to the family to send back.

Has anyone ever heard of this happening before and if so, how did it resolve? Anyone have any thoughts or advice for the family? They are now out approximately $50,000 to date with no clear resolution in sight. This horse was supposed to be a Christmas present for their 15 year old daughter.

I’m confused:

The article says the gelding is 18 yrs old and was showing in Europe by the owners of Hyperion Farm in FL for showing by them. The girl he was purchased is 20 according to her webpage not 15, she has also trained in Europe, so they don’t sound terrible strapped for cash. And as an 18 yr old dressage horse with extensive show records and win, guessing his price was more than stated.
Says horse was flown into Miami not LAX.

is This about the same horse or two different horses and two different stories?

[FlaxenChestnut]

@js

I’m confused:

The article says the gelding is 18 yrs old and was showing in Europe by the owners of Hyperion Farm in FL for showing by them. The girl he was purchased is 20 according to her webpage not 15, she has also trained in Europe, so they don’t sound terrible strapped for cash. And as an 18 yr old dressage horse with extensive show records and win, guessing his price was more than stated.
Says horse was flown into Miami not LAX.

I’m I missing something? Because the stories are a bit different.

I will edit my post with the link to the Hyperion Farm announcement to make it clearer, but that was about Sagacious, a different horse that ran into a similar issue with the Glanders test in quarantine back in 2017.

[Coanteen]

@js

I’m confused:

The article says the gelding is 18 yrs old and was showing in Europe by the owners of Hyperion Farm in FL for showing by them. The girl he was purchased is 20 according to her webpage not 15, she has also trained in Europe, so they don’t sound terrible strapped for cash. And as an 18 yr old dressage horse with extensive show records and win, guessing his price was more than stated.
Says horse was flown into Miami not LAX.

is This about the same horse or two different horses and two different stories?

What article? People have posted articles about similar situations in the past. There’s no articles about this case, just the FB postings and this thread.

[Applecore]

@js

I’m confused:

The article says the gelding is 18 yrs old and was showing in Europe by the owners of Hyperion Farm in FL for showing by them. The girl he was purchased is 20 according to her webpage not 15, she has also trained in Europe, so they don’t sound terrible strapped for cash. And as an 18 yr old dressage horse with extensive show records and win, guessing his price was more than stated.
Says horse was flown into Miami not LAX.

is This about the same horse or two different horses and two different stories?

What you quoted is the story of Sagacious SF, a dressage horse who went through similar quarantine issues in 2017 (see: https://dressage-news.com/2017/08/24/sagacious-released-from-quarantine-new-tests-clear-horse/ for more about Sagacious). The horse in this story is a 6yo jumper owned by a 15yo in California.

[Tackpud]

@js

I would tend to agree that there is likely nothing wrong with the horse. The stress of the trip probably got him run down enough to spike a fever and have questionable blood tests but nothing positive. I don’t think I would have issue with owning him.

Is there a quarantine period prior to shipping or just a one time blood test for glanders? So horse tested negative in Europe with a better blood test for Glanders, then he some how contracted it in flight or even at the quarantine facility in the US. As the owner I would sue Jet Pet’s for not have properly clean facilities at the shipping point, in the plane and even at the US quarantine facility. If the horse truly didn’t have Glanders when he left then he got it from some thing or another horse enroute. Either there was a horse onboard that is a carrier or has Glanders but somehow tested negative or there was one at some point on the plane or at either facility where the horse contracted it. Have they retested any other horses that were on the flight?

Maybe impossible to prove but the horse got it somewhere if the USDA is saying that is the case. I wish the owners would demand or could demand the European test be done here. Otherwise I would be looking to sue to recoup my costs claiming the horse was exposed inflight or at the facility in the US. Make them prove otherwise because he left Europe with a clean bill of health.

The horse could be a carrier and the trip brought forward the disease - no one knows for sure. The problem is that he keeps testing positive and the USDA isn’t going to change their standing on not allowing him into the country with a positive test. Different test, but the positive result says the horse has something the USDA doesn’t want in the country and that’s the law. Doubt he picked it up on the trip since the other horses all tested negative on the second test for them.

[js]

@Applecore

What you quoted is the story of Sagacious SF, a dressage horse who went through similar quarantine issues in 2017 (see: https://dressage-news.com/2017/08/24…s-clear-horse/ for more about Sagacious). The horse in this story is a 6yo jumper owned by a 15yo in California.

Got it. Either I’ve had too much coffee or not enough Thanks for straightening me out.

[downen]

#FREEHIRENO