Hi
i am moving to Spain and I am taking my horses to Spain in Andalucia.
Does anyone have any advice?
Moving horses to Spain.
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HuckleberryKae
- Newbie
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Sun Mar 11, 2007 3:19 pm
Moving horses to Spain.
Horses rock!!!
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Tartan Bar
- Andalucia.com Amigo
- Posts: 25
- Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:29 am
- Location: Olvera
Hi, I moved my two cobs over last year. Both had never been in a box before. I used John Parker based in Kent. They arrived 4 days later happy and non the worse for their long journey. I brought over a few bags of low energy riding cubes, and swopped to pienso por caballos which is like our pony cubes. There are two different types of hay used in this area (Olvera, province of Cadiz) paja, which is straw, and ano (not sure of the spelling) which is oat straw. I live in a valley so the grazing is fantastic and at the time of typing they have soon to be restricted. They have coped very well with the heat and in August, both were grazing in full sun. But a good shelter is a must. They don´t have shoes, but I have an English bare foot trimmer in the area.
Hope this helps.
Diane
Hope this helps.
Diane
Hi!
Well just to confuse things we moved our horse over 18months ago .... he is an ex-race horse so very used being in a horse box. We used John Parker and our horse arrived in an appaling state!
He had a huge pressure sore on his rear and his leg had swollen up to the size of an elephants! He was very dehydrated and didn't even look like the same horse .... he was distressed and in pain! We had months of vets care and treatment here, it was touch and go whether he would need surgery to treat the pressure sore and resulting abcess. 18 months on he is now back to health and has regained all the muscle he lost. Some equipment we sent along with him dissappeared too. The vet we use here is an equine vet and deals with racehorses daily and is well respected, in his opinion our horse had been in a poor state for a few days .... the whole journey (Yorkshire to Mijas) took 89 hours! The travelling staff had not done anything ..... I suspect he had not been unloaded at all from the box during the journey, they told us he would be, as if he had they would have seen the problem for certain.
There was one horse left in the box when ours was unloaded and he was distressed too, the owner of our stables here had to help the traveling staff calm him down. It was 11pm and that horse had to go to Seville ... the staff said it was too late and they would park up some where over night .... maybe they made a loose box up for him in the back of the box ... I wouldn't like to say.
We did take this up with John Parker but neglect can not be undone can it!
I do know of two other horses who where transported by them and they had problems too, one pony now has a permanent stripe of white hair across his nose (is all bay) where the skin was broken by using a chain to 'restrain' him!
So, be very careful, whoever you use to transport your horse. I would suggest you ask them to confirm to you how many other horses they are transporting at the time ...... ours was in a box of 10 horses and travelled through France and other areas of Spain dropping off and also picking up on the way. I would also get a full vets report .... take photos of your horse a day or so before you travel proving the health etc of you horse, the vet will need to visit before hand anyway. In hind sight would we have done it differently ..... yes we would!
Sorry if this has been long and drawn out .... our horse means the world to us as I am sure yours does too, he is kind and gentle and didn't deserve treating the way he was!
Good luck and I am sure your horse will love the fine weather here!
Busymum.
Spell check not working .... to busy to check through ... please excuse mistakes!
Well just to confuse things we moved our horse over 18months ago .... he is an ex-race horse so very used being in a horse box. We used John Parker and our horse arrived in an appaling state!
He had a huge pressure sore on his rear and his leg had swollen up to the size of an elephants! He was very dehydrated and didn't even look like the same horse .... he was distressed and in pain! We had months of vets care and treatment here, it was touch and go whether he would need surgery to treat the pressure sore and resulting abcess. 18 months on he is now back to health and has regained all the muscle he lost. Some equipment we sent along with him dissappeared too. The vet we use here is an equine vet and deals with racehorses daily and is well respected, in his opinion our horse had been in a poor state for a few days .... the whole journey (Yorkshire to Mijas) took 89 hours! The travelling staff had not done anything ..... I suspect he had not been unloaded at all from the box during the journey, they told us he would be, as if he had they would have seen the problem for certain.
There was one horse left in the box when ours was unloaded and he was distressed too, the owner of our stables here had to help the traveling staff calm him down. It was 11pm and that horse had to go to Seville ... the staff said it was too late and they would park up some where over night .... maybe they made a loose box up for him in the back of the box ... I wouldn't like to say.
We did take this up with John Parker but neglect can not be undone can it!
I do know of two other horses who where transported by them and they had problems too, one pony now has a permanent stripe of white hair across his nose (is all bay) where the skin was broken by using a chain to 'restrain' him!
So, be very careful, whoever you use to transport your horse. I would suggest you ask them to confirm to you how many other horses they are transporting at the time ...... ours was in a box of 10 horses and travelled through France and other areas of Spain dropping off and also picking up on the way. I would also get a full vets report .... take photos of your horse a day or so before you travel proving the health etc of you horse, the vet will need to visit before hand anyway. In hind sight would we have done it differently ..... yes we would!
Sorry if this has been long and drawn out .... our horse means the world to us as I am sure yours does too, he is kind and gentle and didn't deserve treating the way he was!
Good luck and I am sure your horse will love the fine weather here!
Busymum.
Spell check not working .... to busy to check through ... please excuse mistakes!
Hi!
Well just to confuse things we moved our horse over 18months ago .... he is an ex-race horse so very used being in a horse box. We used John Parker and our horse arrived in an appaling state!
He had a huge pressure sore on his rear and his leg had swollen up to the size of an elephants! He was very dehydrated and didn't even look like the same horse .... he was distressed and in pain! We had months of vets care and treatment here, it was touch and go whether he would need surgery to treat the pressure sore and resulting abcess. 18 months on he is now back to health and has regained all the muscle he lost. Some equipment we sent along with him dissappeared too. The vet we use here is an equine vet and deals with racehorses daily and is well respected, in his opinion our horse had been in a poor state for a few days .... the whole journey (Yorkshire to Mijas) took 89 hours! The travelling staff had not done anything ..... I suspect he had not been unloaded at all from the box during the journey, they told us he would be, as if he had they would have seen the problem for certain.
There was one horse left in the box when ours was unloaded and he was distressed too, the owner of our stables here had to help the traveling staff calm him down. It was 11pm and that horse had to go to Seville ... the staff said it was too late and they would park up some where over night .... maybe they made a loose box up for him in the back of the box ... I wouldn't like to say.
We did take this up with John Parker but neglect can not be undone can it!
I do know of two other horses who where transported by them and they had problems too, one pony now has a permanent stripe of white hair across his nose (is all bay) where the skin was broken by using a chain to 'restrain' him!
So, be very careful, whoever you use to transport your horse. I would suggest you ask them to confirm to you how many other horses they are transporting at the time ...... ours was in a box of 10 horses and travelled through France and other areas of Spain dropping off and also picking up on the way. I would also get a full vets report .... take photos of your horse a day or so before you travel proving the health etc of you horse, the vet will need to visit before hand anyway. In hind sight would we have done it differently ..... yes we would!
Sorry if this has been long and drawn out .... our horse means the world to us as I am sure yours does too, he is kind and gentle and didn't deserve treating the way he was!
Good luck and I am sure your horse will love the fine weather here!
Busymum.
Spell check not working .... to busy to check through ... please excuse mistakes!
Well just to confuse things we moved our horse over 18months ago .... he is an ex-race horse so very used being in a horse box. We used John Parker and our horse arrived in an appaling state!
He had a huge pressure sore on his rear and his leg had swollen up to the size of an elephants! He was very dehydrated and didn't even look like the same horse .... he was distressed and in pain! We had months of vets care and treatment here, it was touch and go whether he would need surgery to treat the pressure sore and resulting abcess. 18 months on he is now back to health and has regained all the muscle he lost. Some equipment we sent along with him dissappeared too. The vet we use here is an equine vet and deals with racehorses daily and is well respected, in his opinion our horse had been in a poor state for a few days .... the whole journey (Yorkshire to Mijas) took 89 hours! The travelling staff had not done anything ..... I suspect he had not been unloaded at all from the box during the journey, they told us he would be, as if he had they would have seen the problem for certain.
There was one horse left in the box when ours was unloaded and he was distressed too, the owner of our stables here had to help the traveling staff calm him down. It was 11pm and that horse had to go to Seville ... the staff said it was too late and they would park up some where over night .... maybe they made a loose box up for him in the back of the box ... I wouldn't like to say.
We did take this up with John Parker but neglect can not be undone can it!
I do know of two other horses who where transported by them and they had problems too, one pony now has a permanent stripe of white hair across his nose (is all bay) where the skin was broken by using a chain to 'restrain' him!
So, be very careful, whoever you use to transport your horse. I would suggest you ask them to confirm to you how many other horses they are transporting at the time ...... ours was in a box of 10 horses and travelled through France and other areas of Spain dropping off and also picking up on the way. I would also get a full vets report .... take photos of your horse a day or so before you travel proving the health etc of you horse, the vet will need to visit before hand anyway. In hind sight would we have done it differently ..... yes we would!
Sorry if this has been long and drawn out .... our horse means the world to us as I am sure yours does too, he is kind and gentle and didn't deserve treating the way he was!
Good luck and I am sure your horse will love the fine weather here!
Busymum.
Spell check not working .... to busy to check through ... please excuse mistakes!
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Julie
- Andalucia Guru
- Posts: 3534
- Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2004 4:47 pm
- Location: Andalucia & Greater Manchester
Transport
I don't know the carrier that you used, but I do suspect that the problems you talk about were not all caused by the transport man.
Your horse may have not traveled well before, being a ex racehorse does not mean that it travel led well. If your horse choose not to eat and drink on the journey then there would be nothing that the carriers could do, in a lot of cases it can be far more stressful to unload a horse, than leave it were it is, as you must know horses sleep stood up, so unlike people they don't need to have a bed to sleep in, the sore would suggest that your horse balanced himself against something for the journey, maybe he was upset by his next door companion, but i feel that your write up does not give 2 sides of the story, horse transporters are doing their job daily and could not afford to mistreat there passengers, the horse world is a small place and bad news travels fast, I have transported and had transported lots of horses over the years and feel that anyone who has read your post could be easily mislead, so I would suggest that they posted a notice on one of the many equine forums to ask other peoples opinions of the carrier that you used. I know you probably will not like what i have said, but i felt that it was unfair to the carrier, they not knowing that you have written about them, therefore not being able to make there side known
Your horse may have not traveled well before, being a ex racehorse does not mean that it travel led well. If your horse choose not to eat and drink on the journey then there would be nothing that the carriers could do, in a lot of cases it can be far more stressful to unload a horse, than leave it were it is, as you must know horses sleep stood up, so unlike people they don't need to have a bed to sleep in, the sore would suggest that your horse balanced himself against something for the journey, maybe he was upset by his next door companion, but i feel that your write up does not give 2 sides of the story, horse transporters are doing their job daily and could not afford to mistreat there passengers, the horse world is a small place and bad news travels fast, I have transported and had transported lots of horses over the years and feel that anyone who has read your post could be easily mislead, so I would suggest that they posted a notice on one of the many equine forums to ask other peoples opinions of the carrier that you used. I know you probably will not like what i have said, but i felt that it was unfair to the carrier, they not knowing that you have written about them, therefore not being able to make there side known
Hi!
I won't get into an arguement here but just to answer some of your points.
I do know he travelled well in the past, we both travelled with him many times, my husband has worked in racing yards many years He had been our race horse from the age of 4 so had completed many journeys .... long journeys. We are not novices, and neither are we nieve enough to think a horse could travel a long distance without some degree of dehydration occurring or a horse not eating as usual.
May be he did lean on the 'box' side but that doesn't excuse no treatment being given .... it had not just happened ..... the skin from the area was missing, the wound area was raw and 'tissue' necrosis had begun .... The imense swelling had happened as the muscle tissue was necrosing leading to infection that then causes an abcess.The vet was adament and was able to give a rough estimate as to how long the tissue had been damaged and for how long it would have been visable damaged too, the depth of the wound was clear on the scans taken. NO treatment had been given not even a topical antisceptic to the bare flesh. One of my points was that if he had been off loaded everynight as we were told he would be the staff WOULD have noticed, they would have told us as soon as they stopped the horsebox to off load him. 'Accidents' happen when you are dealing with live animals and humans to that matter too I am aware of that .... but neglect in care of that accident is another matter. May be this 'carrier' had an off 'day/journey' but that 'slip' cost us worry, money and our horse's health for a long time.
I understand why you felt the need to try to put a 'balance' to my experience and as you say you do not know the carrier we used. I have no doubt that you will always transport your horses safely and diligently and care for any mishaps that occur I am not casting doubts about horse transporters in general. The original poster did ask for advice. The carrier is well aware of our problems with them. I could 'post' documented evidence/ veterinary reports but I hope you understand in certain instances on a public forum why I would not wish to divulge more information. As I said in hindsight we would have done things differently, we had thought about transporting him ourselves but with a young son too to travel along also it would have been difficult.
Busymum
I won't get into an arguement here but just to answer some of your points.
I do know he travelled well in the past, we both travelled with him many times, my husband has worked in racing yards many years He had been our race horse from the age of 4 so had completed many journeys .... long journeys. We are not novices, and neither are we nieve enough to think a horse could travel a long distance without some degree of dehydration occurring or a horse not eating as usual.
May be he did lean on the 'box' side but that doesn't excuse no treatment being given .... it had not just happened ..... the skin from the area was missing, the wound area was raw and 'tissue' necrosis had begun .... The imense swelling had happened as the muscle tissue was necrosing leading to infection that then causes an abcess.The vet was adament and was able to give a rough estimate as to how long the tissue had been damaged and for how long it would have been visable damaged too, the depth of the wound was clear on the scans taken. NO treatment had been given not even a topical antisceptic to the bare flesh. One of my points was that if he had been off loaded everynight as we were told he would be the staff WOULD have noticed, they would have told us as soon as they stopped the horsebox to off load him. 'Accidents' happen when you are dealing with live animals and humans to that matter too I am aware of that .... but neglect in care of that accident is another matter. May be this 'carrier' had an off 'day/journey' but that 'slip' cost us worry, money and our horse's health for a long time.
I understand why you felt the need to try to put a 'balance' to my experience and as you say you do not know the carrier we used. I have no doubt that you will always transport your horses safely and diligently and care for any mishaps that occur I am not casting doubts about horse transporters in general. The original poster did ask for advice. The carrier is well aware of our problems with them. I could 'post' documented evidence/ veterinary reports but I hope you understand in certain instances on a public forum why I would not wish to divulge more information. As I said in hindsight we would have done things differently, we had thought about transporting him ourselves but with a young son too to travel along also it would have been difficult.
Busymum
Hi,
As you have read, it does pay to ask as many people their experiences with transportation. I had no complaints, but removal companys gave us a headache as people had different experiences certain well known companys.
One thing I would advise is, if you are keeping your horses on your own land, bring electric fence posts. When you first arrive in Spain, sorting your own problems takes so much time, and not having to worry about finding a farm shop with maybe limited Spanish is such a weight taken off your shoulders.
Electric Fence posts, solar fencer, a few bags of horse feed, good fly masks, first aid box, wormers. All these things you can get here but you need time to locate the shop. Horses need to have a green card. Its like our passport for horses in England. This, unless your Spanish is good, needs a bit of help to do. Even my Spanish goatherder friend, blinked a few times when we were shoved from office to office. In my case, they wouldn't accept the breed cob, and wanted to put down on the form Percheron!!!
Hope this helps.
Diane
As you have read, it does pay to ask as many people their experiences with transportation. I had no complaints, but removal companys gave us a headache as people had different experiences certain well known companys.
One thing I would advise is, if you are keeping your horses on your own land, bring electric fence posts. When you first arrive in Spain, sorting your own problems takes so much time, and not having to worry about finding a farm shop with maybe limited Spanish is such a weight taken off your shoulders.
Electric Fence posts, solar fencer, a few bags of horse feed, good fly masks, first aid box, wormers. All these things you can get here but you need time to locate the shop. Horses need to have a green card. Its like our passport for horses in England. This, unless your Spanish is good, needs a bit of help to do. Even my Spanish goatherder friend, blinked a few times when we were shoved from office to office. In my case, they wouldn't accept the breed cob, and wanted to put down on the form Percheron!!!
Hope this helps.
Diane
Re: Moving horses to Spain.
If traveling through France disguise them as British Lamb then the French will not eat themHuckleberryKae wrote:Hi
i am moving to Spain and I am taking my horses to Spain in Andalucia.
Does anyone have any advice?
"A soul afraid of dying will never live"
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