Anyone got a Boerperd in the UK?

[claracanter]

Just back from a holiday in Africa and spent some of it riding an African Boerperd horse. Such a lovely responsive athletic sport horse, I wondered if there were any in the Uk?

 

[Velcrobum]

Cannot answer your question but I second your opinion of them.

 

[SEL]

Never come across any here but I rode one in Namibia years ago and he was fantastic - tough as they come, very fast and very sure footed

 

[Starzaan]

I haven’t, but grew up riding the family Boerperds on my grandmothers farm in South Africa. They’re fabulous horses.

 

[pistolpete]

They look amazing. Never ridden one but aren’t they a bit like an Anglo Arab with a bit of tough native type brain? Perfect for a can do attitude!

 

[millikins]

I haven't checked this but isn't it illegal to import horses from Africa due to African Horse Sickness?

 

[Steerpike]

I haven't checked this but isn't it illegal to import horses from Africa due to African Horse Sickness?

I'm not sure if it's illegal but I do know there are extra vaccines/blood tests and quarantine needed for transporting from/to Africa

 

[TheChestnutThing]

Being from SA, I can tell you it is not illegal to import them into the UK, however it is really difficult and complicated due to AHS. They have to go into quarantine in Cape Town for 2 months (being the only AHS free zone in SA), from where they travel to Mauritius and again go into quarantine for 4 months (you can stay there and ride them though), once they have been there for 4 months they change to a Mauritian horse passport and then can be exported to the EU where they stay for another month before then being allowed into the UK.

This is the reason, along with the expense, that I decided to not bring my horses with me.

As for the Boerperd, they are basically mixed breed horses of dutch descent, largely from crossing the WB and TB types that came over from Europe with Jan van Riebeck with the local horses, which resulted in surefooted, hardy horses built for the heat. Due to the careful selective breeding once they had established the breed (which translate to Afrikaans Horse), they made sure that the horses were all rounders. Many of the Boerperds so very well in dressage and showjumping.

 

[claracanter]

I'm not sure if it's illegal but I do know there are extra vaccines/blood tests and quarantine needed for transporting from/to Africa

The import laws currently require horses coming from South Africa to be quarantined in Mauritius for three months but I’m reliably informed that direct imports are soon to be approved

 

[TheChestnutThing]

The import laws currently require horses coming from South Africa to be quarantined in Mauritius for three months but I’m reliably informed that direct imports are soon to be approved

They have been saying this for years. The racing industry has been pushing it and I was very involved in the AHS census. I doubt it will happen in the next 2 years.

 

[claracanter]

I

They have been saying this for years. The racing industry has been pushing it and I was very involved in the AHS census. I doubt it will happen in the next 2 years.

That’s really interesting . I suspected that could be the case. I heard from a stud in SA that they conducted an audit in November to review direct imports to the UK again and it went well but no announcement yet