Trying to plan for the future. I want to import a young horse from Belgium (I want specific lines).
That being said, aside from the cost of the horse…what costs and fees would I be looking at? What things would I need to consider? If you can ballpark it, that’s great too! I am trying to come up with some kind of number so I know how much to save up.
How young are you talking and what gender?
Geldings are the least expensive compared to mares and stallions aged 2 or older).
Under 2 years of age can skip the CEM quarantine, which saves on cost.
We just imported a mare from Holland last spring to Florida and paid approximately $15,000 with import, CEM quarantine and shipping in a closed container from airport to quarantine facility and shipping to the farm.
It is also less expensive if the horse travels alone vs. in a pallet of three, so we tried to time it when the WEF circuit was starting so that all the flights would be just about full with international horses traveling to Florida.
Geldings and horses under 2 y/o were running $10-$12k last summer. Mares $15k. Stallions - more.
You’ll need to do vet paperwork/blood in Europe, van to the airport, flight to US, shipping to quarantine, stay in quarantine, then shipping to final destination. If its a mare or stallion, add shipping to CEM quarantine and CEM quarantine.
You can call one of the big companies, like Dutta or Klatte and get a quote. Both have good websites that explain the whole process too.
My bill from Dutta for an under 2 colt in 2013 was about $8500
Thank you 
I just got a quote from door Warsaw, Poland to my door in Ontario for USD $8500.00 all in
I wonder if said horse was a foal, would that affect anything?
Dutta is great to work with! Cost me about 10K to get my gelding door-to-door from Germany in 2010.
From Amsterdam to LA:
10k gelding, 2 and under
17k mare with quarantine at Davis
*add 1500 from the UK for transport and paperwork to Amsterdam
** also don’t forget the vet costs are super high when you convert from USD (though less so right now).
*** most likely you will want to insure as well before the trip
[QUOTE=DancingArabian;7966116]
I wonder if said horse was a foal, would that affect anything?[/QUOTE]
Nope. Only difference is that there is no CEM quarantine if they are under 2 - regardless of whether mare/gelding/stallion.
I used Peden Bloodstock to transport from UK to CA - they flew out of scotland rather than Amsterdam. Cost about $27k for both mare and gelding (gelding also went to UC davis so didn’t have to split them up, so that added a little cost). Lots of people here use JetPets.
Interested to see people doing it for as little as $8500. Can someone give me a link to Dutta or another cheap one?
Also, think there was a typo earlier - its cheaper if you can get on a 3 horse pallet with other horses. Basically the pallet itself costs x-dollars and thats split between however many horses are on it. When I flew it was $9k for the pallet so worked out $3k each horse for me.
Yes - a foal or small horse could be cheaper as many of the agents are using quad stalls for them now instead of the triple stalls, so 4 horses to a pallet = less money per head than 3 horses to a pallet does …
Wow, some of the prices are quite high. I’m paying CDN$12,000 door to door for a mare.
I have heard too that some of the small pony people are importing and piling the little critters into the stalls. No personal experience with that, but I have heard you are able to put two or three small pony foals into one stall in a pallet… so more bang for your buck.
It is something I will be looking into on my next import as I am breeding a mare in Ireland this year to import her foal. So, will want to see if I can put two together as they are small. Shall see…
Recommend that you shop around some companies pay themselves a rather large commission. I’ve seen that fee range from $250.00 to a few thousand.
Its cheaper to fly three to a pallet. Sometimes your vet may know of another buyer & somethings can be coordinated - such as trailering fees to airport. Every bit helps. Mares & Stallions are more, geldings less & babies cost the least amount to ship. Currency also fluctuates which makes a difference…
I’d plan on between $5-10,000.
Just making note that I would take the option for your horse to stay overnite & rest in the horse hotel before flight after the trailer trip to airport. Consider how long your horse has traveled to that point. A good night sleep loose in a box stall - able to move about & clear the lungs is the healthier option IMO.
Lion King was 9 months old and came over with 3 German Riding pony yearling mares. So four in a pallet. The plane had an “incident” over Canada and from what we were told, the 4 “kids”, loose together in the pallet handled it better than the rest of the horses. This was several years ago and my memory is fuzzy but I think his “ticket” was around $3,000, into Canada. At the time Canada was much cheaper than CA or NY, and closer to us as well.
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