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Should I Ship My Horse Overseas with Me? by Lynn Cairney The expense is a major factor. In February of 2007, the cost was about $5,000 for one horse, $10,000
for two horses. And this is only one-way. But this includes vet exams and vaccines,
horse passport, airport quarantine, international paperwork, customs paperwork, customs vet check, trailering door to door,
meaning picking up at current stables, airplane flight, then trailering to your new stable in Germany, hay and water for the
entire journey.
Here’s
a quick checklist. The rest of this article will walk you through how to do all of this. √ Contact Guido Klatte (or your transport of choice)
to start the entire process. √ Apply
for equine passports through USEF. √
Find stable in Germany. √ Follow instructions
for vet vaccinations. √ Clean tack
and pack for flight. Get out the military duffle bags! √
List all tack on the ATA Carnet provided by transport co. for customs.
Dogs: We also shipped
our two dogs on the flight with the horses. The cost was about $100 for our 25 lb. Cocker Spaniel and $200
for our 120 lb Labrador. The shipping company gave us the special paperwork to be filled out by our vet.
Besides the vaccines, they both had to get a micro-chip.
Military tax note: If you ship your horse
or other pet, you can deduct the entire cost on your income taxes. It is an “unreimbursed moving
expense” and completely legal to claim as a deduction. We confirmed this through the Legal Office
on base. The decision to bring our horses was a no-brainer for us; our horses bring an immense amount of joy to our lives.
Riding is what my husband and I do together. Our horses are family. I couldn’t
imagine living without them for 2-3 years. So our budget was simply allocated toward that.
But because I’m a very practical person, I sat down and crunched some numbers….and did a how-crazy-am-I
sanity check! What if we don’t take them? …just board
them at a good barn and save the shipping cost. For 2 years, we added up the cost of board, grain, seasonal
shots, farrier, floating and discovered we’d still be spending thousands of dollars, but not one second of enjoying
our horses. If we were to hire a trainer, more $$$. Or without a trainer, letting them
be put out to pasture for a couple of years, at their young age of 3 ½ we were sure they would lose a lot of their
training, so there goes a wasted year and a half to get them where they were.
Leasing your horse: A manager at my barn
offered to help me lease our horses while we were away to offset the cost of board, etc. and keep up their training.
She was so kind to offer this and I’m sure she would have only recommended someone completely reliable.
This may work for others who want to keep up their horse’s training and exercise program, but it didn’t
work for us. It may be something for others to consider while stationed overseas, though.
If you know you’ll be back to the States, that may be enough for you to stop in on your horse and have a nice
ride while in town once or twice a year. Health questions: Our horses were 3 years
old at the time, young and healthy and pretty docile with all their groundwork training, definitely not “hot”.
My vet still prescribed an ulcer medicine to be given a few weeks before travel, which simply coats their stomach lining
to prevent ulcers or irritation caused by the stress of travel. If your horse is older, consult your vet
on the stress of travel and if your horse is healthy enough to handle the trip. Trailering to the airport
can be the most stressful portion. Our horses were trailered for about 4 days from Colorado to New York. Once
on the plane from NY to Amsterdam it took only 7 hours to fly. Then another 5 hours to drive to our stables
in Dudeldorf.
How does the flight work? Unlike setting up a flight with cargo for your dog or cat, it is
mandatory that you go through a horse transport company. They will take care of all documents and setting
up the door to door service – transport from your barn to the airport, flight from the US to Amsterdam, then transport
to your barn in Germany. We used the company Guido Klatte Equine Services: www.gklatte.de (at the bottom of photo, click on the American flag for English).
They use The Dutta Corp. to handle the Stateside journey. The Dutta
Corp. Ph: 914-276-3880
FAX 914-276-3883 I
believe they only fly out of JFK (New York). But returning, they fly into JFK, Miami, and Los Angeles.
Other carriers have other ports, but I only know about Klatte.
For the Klatte / Dutta Corp., they fly year-round with no restrictions on seasons.
This is very helpful when you usually have to work around summer restrictions on commercial flights.
Find
Stable in Germany: Before your horse can be booked on a flight, you must be approved at a stable
in Germany. They will need this address for the paperwork. I went to Germany about 5
months before the flight and drove around with my husband who was already living there. There was a barn
on every corner and we literally pulled over and inquired about boarding our two horses. I should interject
that my husband speaks German quite well. He doesn’t know the horse world lingo, and has trouble
with the dialect in this region, but I believe this helped us get answers and referrals. All the barn owners
were very friendly and let us know if they would have availability or not. We were then referred to Dohm
stables, and once we saw the grounds, amenities and met Maria and Klaus Dohm, we were finished looking!
Quarantine: The pre-export quarantine at JFK airport was a
minimum of 6 hours. Our horses arrived the night before to rest before the flight. The
cost of this is factored into the estimate above. Your horse will be in a stall at the cargo portion of
the airport where there is a vet clinic. The good news is that once they land in Amsterdam and complete
the customs check, there is no quarantine for geldings or mares! You immediately head to your barn
and enjoy your horses! When you return to
the States, there is a 3-day quarantine for geldings, 2-week quarantine for mares. Here’s information from the Klatte website. I was a groom on the flight with my horses and
I can confirm these details are correct.
WEBSITE: Your horses travel with the best available airlines. KLM and Lufthansa are preferred partners.
Some airlines offer their own horse stewards. With other carriers members of the Klatte team take care of your valuable freight.   There is always a horse steward on board, mostly with a veterinary background. Guido
Klatte: "Qualified personnel is of highest concern to me." Water and hay are served on board. Varying dividers changes
the available space. Two horses can travel "business class" and enjoy more room. Without the divider and extra
cargo your horse can travel "first class".
  On some carriers your own groom may be able to accompany your horse during the flight. The
client decides on the level of comfort. The flight box, which is lifted into the freight deck of the air plane, offers room
for three horses.
This is my personal photo, not from the site. This Klatte transport truck is carrying me, my husband, our
two dogs, and our two horses! The driver had cctv so we could watch our guys over the 5-hour trip.
Equine Passport: Since all
horses in Germany are required to have a passport, you’ll have to apply for a passport through the United States Equestrian
Federation (USEF), the national governing body for equestrian sport. This is mandatory, you will not be
able to ship your horse to Germany without a passport. A brand inspection will not suffice.
To obtain a passport, you will also need to become a member with USEF, which expires in one year. You
do not need to renew if you do not wish to. I included this cost in the original estimate. USEF Website: www.usef.org Phone: 859-258-2472
Information may have changed since I applied for my passports in
2006. Please call their office to confirm the process. You should apply for the passport
6 months out. It will need to be sent back again with the horses sketches for approval, so allow for delivery time and their
processing backlog. It is quite an intense process and it's best to find a vet who has done this before. My vet
had not, but he read all the rules, was meticulous about it and was able to check in and make sure he was filling it out correctly.
For his time, series of shots, sketches of the horses, and filling out the passport correctly in two different colors of red
and blue ink, it was about $425 for both horses. I believe the price of the passport was $50 each. You also need to join the
FEI which will cost about $100 per horse. I've included all of this in the estimate for shipping.
Important Customs Tax Info: Ask your shipper to set
up your horse’s stay as “temporary entrance to Germany”. We found out that if we were
to bring our horses on a “permanent basis”, we’d have to pay 25% of their value in taxes. This
wouldn’t have been a problem with the low cost of our horses, but customs didn’t “believe” the low
value, even though we sent documentation. And we were boarding the plane in days and didn’t have
time to argue. They had assigned their own value in taxes, which came to about $3,000! To
avoid this, we had to bring them into Germany on a “temporary basis”. Be sure to ask your shipper
about this, they will need to prepare different paperwork for you. In 2006, “temporary” allowed
for a one-year stay. Then you must go to the customs office and ask for an extension, which is usually
6 months at a time. And this is what we have done our entire stay here. We used the
customs office in Wittlich. If you are not stationed at Spangdahlem, you can ask your customs office on
base for the nearest office. Be sure to have your horse’s passport when you go. This
has not been a problem for us to keep them in Germany an additional year and a half. When you leave the
country, you must call the customs office and tell them your horses are now leaving the country and they will record it in
their system. Packing
your tack for the flight:I made the mistake of packing all our tack into our tack trunks. I wasn't informed that
when they tell you that you can bring your tack, there is a limited amount of space. The box carries three horses side by
side. In front of them is a narrow space where you can put your tack for no extra charge. However,
it fits more of a duffle size, or saddle bag carrier, not large, square tack trunks. My trunks had to be placed
elsewhere on the cargo plane and I was actually charged extra for this. Be sure to ask for the measurements when you speak
to the transport company. Also ask if you can bring a bag of grain in the duffle bag. The transport company will provide you
with what is called an ATA Carnet. This is customs paperwork you will fill out before the flight listing every piece of tack
you are bringing with you. They can send you a sample of someone else's to give you an idea for the wording. Be
sure to read Lynn's picture / story of her horses return trip to the United States from Germany (below). Information has
been updated since their flight to Germany two years before.
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