Adopting horse from Malta

[Rachelp48]

Has anyone adopted an ex trotter from Malta or overseas? In todays climate happy hackers are fetching over my budget and I have looked at adopting an ex trotter they look lovely and it would be lovely to give them a nice life, it would be nice to hear some opinions/experiences of people who may have done so?

 

[Kaylum]

A customer got one from a charity her experience was not good. The horse arrived lame and she got no support from the charity.

Don't know which charity it was from.

 

[webble]

If you are looking for a standie put a wanted ad on one of the standardbred groups there will be plenty for sale over here, they are quirky breed though just to warn you. I have read mixed reviews on the Malta charities, their tagline of getting horses back to green fields makes me think they have never seen the UK during winter!

I dont mean to be rude but if your budget doesnt stretch to an off track Standie at UK prices which would be £1-4kish have you thought about how will you pay for any unexpected vets bills?

 

[ycbm]

You have absolutely no guarantee that what arrives will be the horse whose photos and videos you saw, and even if it is that it won't be an enormous walking and uninsurable vet bill.

It's a completely mad idea unless you have very deep pockets and you are looking at them because you don't.

Sorry to put a downer on things.

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Rachelp48]

If you are looking for a standie put a wanted ad on one of the standardbred groups there will be plenty for sale over here, they are quirky breed though just to warn you. I have read mixed reviews on the Malta charities, their tagline of getting horses back to green fields makes me think they have never seen the UK during winter!

I dont mean to be rude but if your budget doesnt stretch to an off track Standie at UK prices which would be £1-4kish have you thought about how will you pay for any unexpected vets bills?

Thank you for your reply, my budget was set at 3k for a happy hacker merely because I thought that should be adequate to buy a horse for occasionally hacking, I have my own land and secure finances to pay for vet bills ect, so that’s not really what my post was about, it was simply asking if anyone had any experiences.

 

[Rachelp48]

You have absolutely no guarantee that what arrives will be the horse whose photos and videos you saw, and even if it is that it won't be an enormous walking and uninsurable vet bill.

It's a completely mad idea unless you have very deep pockets and you are looking at them because you don't.

Sorry to put a downer on things.

Welcome to the forum!

Thank you it was just something that was suggested which I thought was worth researching thank you for the feedback

 

[Gloi]

Dragon driving regularly have ride and drive standardbreds in your budget though be careful to take an experienced horse buying person with you and to get it vetted.

 

[AmyMay]

Remember to factor in the cost of an equine companion.

 

[Birker2020]

Thank you it was just something that was suggested which I thought was worth researching thank you for the feedback

Believe me when I say its hard enough with a budget of many thousands finding a horse from this country that is sound, never mind buying a potential problem unseen from another country. Save your money.
So many unscrupulous sellers and so many lame horses for sale or with 101 other issues and that's just in the UK!

Having said that, I must admit I was pleasantly surprised that during the three years we holidayed in Malta the street carriage horses appeared to have good feet and didn't appear to be lame but they do a lot of work pounding the streets in trot.

 

[dorsetladette]

Thank you for your reply, my budget was set at 3k for a happy hacker merely because I thought that should be adequate to buy a horse for occasionally hacking, I have my own land and secure finances to pay for vet bills ect, so that’s not really what my post was about, it was simply asking if anyone had any experiences.

My friend picked up a nice TB for a little less than that price at the end of last year. Lovely animal, raced but not fast enough. Bought as an eventing prospect for an older teen, but she had another horse and went off to uni which meant horse stood in the field for a while. Brought back into work and then advertised as a 6 years old priced to go to a good home.

They are about - you just need to be patient (and picky)

 

[Rachelp48]

Remember to factor in the cost of an equine companion.

Already have my daughters pony at home

 

[Gloi]

OP. In an ideal world what would your hacking horse be like? Size, breed, sex, part of country you are in etc. someone on here may know of one.

 

[Pinkvboots]

I wouldn't ever buy a horse from a charity abroad it's a huge risk you literally won't know what you are getting.

You will be able to pick up something with that budget as someone else has said have a look on dragon driving or a racehorse rehoming site in this country.

 

[HopOnTrot]

I would stick with the UK charities, surely it’s thousands to fly a horse over from Malta? Who pays for that?

 

[webble]

Here you go I think she is flexible on price for Joseph https://collingwoodstandardbreds.co.uk/2024/02/17/99/

 

[Maxidoodle]

OP, If your budget is £3k, don’t forget that you need to factor in transport costs and all the associated costs, blood tests, import paperwork, import tax etc etc. I’ve just returned to the U.K. from Scandinavia, with my British born ponies and the costs were way more than your budget, just for transport alone.

There’s absolutely tons of horses in the U.K. that need a good home, maybe look at charities here but I think you’ll be far better advised to look in the U.K. and have it fully vetted. I’ve done the “let’s rescue a horse from abroad and bring it to the U.K.” some years ago and despite a huge amount of research (and I’m not inexperienced), it’s something I’d never recommend to anyone. I hope you can offer a horse in the U.K. a good home, if you’ve got the knowledge, experience and a good vet etc, then Dragon Driving has some good gems that certainly need a decent home and they’d be within your budget.

 

[Melody Grey]

I’d worry about what you were getting- how sure could you be of getting the horse you think you’re getting?

I can imagine paperwork would be a nightmare- not sure how much comeback you’d get if the horse was not as described? The legal situation could be vastly different from buying in the uk.

Different I know, but I have a friend who got three dogs from a rescue in turkey- they were fairly as described but it cost an absolute fortune to adopt them and bring them over (thousands each)

 

[Goldie's mum]

Has anyone adopted an ex trotter from Malta or overseas? In todays climate happy hackers are fetching over my budget and I have looked at adopting an ex trotter they look lovely and it would be lovely to give them a nice life, it would be nice to hear some opinions/experiences of people who may have done so?

Hello, welcome to the forum.

Have you looked at retired polo ponies?

 

[Rachelp48]

OP. In an ideal world what would your hacking horse be like? Size, breed, sex, part of country you are in etc. someone on here may know of one.

Yes they may do 15hh to 16.2hh mare or gelding not fussed about age so oldies not a problem, prefer not full TB, must hack alone and be good in traffic

 

[Rachelp48]

Hello, welcome to the forum.

Have you looked at retired polo ponies?

No I haven’t actually…. Sounds good do you know of a charity?

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Thank you for your reply, my budget was set at 3k for a happy hacker merely because I thought that should be adequate to buy a horse for occasionally hacking, I have my own land and secure finances to pay for vet bills ect, so that’s not really what my post was about, it was simply asking if anyone had any experiences.

Have a look on Dragon Driving. The lower end dealers tend to advertise on there and I have noticed that their prices are dropping recently. There are real bargains available sometimes.
You will need to view with your eyes (and ears) wide open but at least you will ve able to view and walk away if necessary, which isnot so easy with a horse from Malta.

 

[Fransurrey]

I would stick with the UK charities, surely it’s thousands to fly a horse over from Malta? Who pays for that?

I was quoted over £2000 to get a horse to Switzerland back in 2011. It must be quite a bit more than that, now and that didn't include vet checks, passport and mandatory vaccinations. OP, I would simply up your budget or keep looking. The Maltese horses are possibly field sound, but they're being rehomed for a reason. I'd agree with checking out polo ponies (I don't know any charities - the people I know who did it simply approached polo yards and asked them) or ex racers.

 

[Rachelp48]

I was quoted over £2000 to get a horse to Switzerland back in 2011. It must be quite a bit more than that, now and that didn't include vet checks, passport and mandatory vaccinations. OP, I would simply up your budget or keep looking. The Maltese horses are possibly field sound, but they're being rehomed for a reason. I'd agree with checking out polo ponies (I don't know any charities - the people I know who did it simply approached polo yards and asked them) or ex racers.

The charity ask for £1200 that’s the full contribution

 

[SEL]

Emily who runs the Dovecote has a number of rescues from the Malta charity. Let me see if I can dig out her public FB profile - I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you asked her questions.

 

[Goldie's mum]

No I haven’t actually…. Sounds good do you know of a charity?

I think there's a polo pony rehoming charity in Hampshire, will try to remember the name.

Also people seem to look here

https://www.facebook.com/groups/retiredandexpoloponies/

There are pros and cons. Talk to someone who's done it (I haven't). Some ex polo ponies don't want to hack alone after a lifetime of being in a group. Quite a lot have physical issues - they don't retire them for no reason. That said both those things would apply in spades to an ex trotter.

 

[Titchy Pony]

I live in France and have an ex harness racer French Trotter. My Old Lady has the typical laid back attitude of most French Trotters and ground eating paces. You can find cheap off the track trotters all around France but transporting to the UK might be expensive and complicated. I paid 600£ to transport France to England pre-Brexit.

 

[Rachelp48]

Emily who runs the Dovecote has a number of rescues from the Malta charity. Let me see if I can dig out her public FB profile - I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you asked her questions.

Thank you so much

 

[Peglo]

Not just the travel costs but the import tax as well. I bought a horse for £4000 from Italy and it cost me £6,600 by the time I got her home. You have to pay more tax to take over a gelding.

I hope you find yourself your happy hacker. Make sure folk locally know your looking. For a good home some people might sell below market value after this winter.

 

[Goldie's mum]

There's chukkout polo too

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[SEL]

Emily who runs the Dovecote has a number of rescues from the Malta charity. Let me see if I can dig out her public FB profile - I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you asked her questions.

So the business page is Equinethos and the owner is Emily Baker.

She has definitely got some of the Malta rescue cases at her centre for rehab - ones that probably aren't going anywhere! - so I'm sure if you drop her a message she'll give you more information.

I have seen some nice ex racers recently around your budget though and they're in this country and already had basic retraining done so you don't necessarily need to look overseas.