Advice - Old Pony transporting abroad

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husmus

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I wonder if anyone can offer advice regarding an old pony being transported abroad. We live in Scotland and have been caring for an old pony for the last 7 years (since the death of his owner). We have to move to Denmark by the end of August and are at our wits end about what to do about this old chap. Ideally we want to take him with us and have enough land and stabling over there. However, he has not been used to handling (previous owner left him in a field with his mate who has now died), nor is he used to transport. He is, however, attached to my wife and myself. We've exhausted options concerning relocating him to a new home in these parts. Can anyone recommend excellent transport agencies and any tips on what is the best way to go about what would be quite a stressful move? Help!!
 
I can't be of any help re-agencies etc. But when my dartmoor came across to us, she had a week of practice loading etc into both a lorry and a trailer. She had had very little handling to my knowledge prior to this (although she was only 3). It was quite along trip from the stud to boat and then boat over here and she didn;t have the benifit of the people she knew.

I hope you manage to find some good advise.
Good luck
x
 
Eric Gillie doesn't go abroad however they will take your pony to John Parker International in Kent. Gillies are very experienced and they have the modern spacious lorries. John Parker are fabulous, I have used then twice. They took my 'hyper-sensitive' 15 year old pony to France (Gillies took him from Scotland to their base in Kent) and they arranged for mare to be shipped from Ireland to their base in Kent before they took her to France too. I was more than satisfied both times. Both horses had to spend some time at their stables in Kent (due to shared loads and weekly shippings etc) but both horses arrived in fabulous condition (my pony looked the best I have ever seen him look) you would honestly have thought that they had just come from down the road. My friend also used Gillies/Parkers to ship her horses from Scotland to Denmark, in fact it was her that recommended them to me.

Due to shared loads etc your pony will have company on his journey and the grooms & drivers are excellent.

As a previous post suggested you could practice loading him if you have access to a lorry. Good luck and I hope it all works out for you.
 
Thanks ever so much for the advice and support. I think practicing handling him and, at the very least, loading him into a box is the way to start. I wonder if he would be better moved alone or with other other horses, bearing in mind it would be a far quicker journey if there was just him and the one destination in Denmark. The problem with this guy is that he's a tad 'tetchy' and has been known to give a kick on occasion (just ask the farrier).
 
a bit of company on a long journey is a big morale booster to most horses and ponies.
if he can see a calm animal nearby, he is less likely to panic himself, so a shared load may be the way to go with your guy.
in the meantime if you can, try feeding him in a horsebox, as the less traumatic you can make it, the better he will fare overall.
 
Thanks Joeanne, My view is that having the company might have a calming effect on him also. I'll borrow a horsebox from a neighbour and start getting him used to that. Maybe I'll even take him on a couple of short trips in it also.
 
John Parker transported my 36 yo pone from Devon to South West France and she was travelling on and off for 27 hours. She arrived 100% fit, well; happy et al..
 
I think I'd go with JP then!
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