Anyone have knowledge/experience of keeping horses in Spain?

lindsayH

lindsayH

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I may be moving to Spain in the next 18 months and will need to decide if I take either or both of my horses with me. Does anyone have experience of keeping horses in Spain?

My biggest concern is feeding. I would be moving to central or northern Spain with plenty of land, but I assume that almost wherever you go grazing is considerably reduced/non-existent compared to the UK? When I worked at a donkey sanctuary there for a while as a youngster they were fed straw, is this the norm? I'm worried about forage supplies, if they are consistent, can you get deliveries to remote areas and how much do I need to budget for annually? My filly has EMS and on the surface Spain would seem good for her, but I'm worried that forage may become unavailable and she really can only eat soaked hay or straw. Has anyone tried growing their own out there?

Also, how good is vet care, farriers/trimmers, saddle fitters etc.?

Are there any areas you can recommend or I should avoid?

Any hidden pitfalls to be wary of?

Oh, and I've heard something about a license??

I'd be grateful for any guidance.

- Lindsay.
 
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I know someone who did for a few years, now moved to Toulouse with her husbands job. She isn't on here though. She is on FB, if you are I'll message you her name and let her know you will be in touch
 
Hi LindsayH, We moved our horses over here to Spain a year ago. There are many pros and cons like any move. We own a livery yard between Torrevieja and Elche in southern Valencia. OK, answer to your questions.....
There is little grazing here so your horses will require a mixed diet spread through out the day we feed at least 4 times a day, we use two wet feeds sugarbeet and mezcla in the morning and a wet fibre based spillers feed with a piensos in the evening. Also Alfalfa through out the day in slow feeders, also Hay(if good quality available) or Alfalfa in haylage nets at night.
Vets and farriers are dependent on where you are but our vet is brilliant. Farriers ok but can be unreliable (Manana, manana).
You will need a licence to have more than 5 horses on your land but don't let that put you off it just means they will come round once a your to check they are being looked after ok, not a bad thing really.
Cons are, a lot of livery yards have very limited turn out (not us may I add) and some only feed twice a day (not good for grazing animals), flies at dusk in august can be a pain.
Enough of the negatives....Pros are the obvious better climate, hacking out in the winter in the warm sun and in the summer the long warn evenings to a local pueblo tapas bar for a vino or cana! The horse shower is great when it's 30deg plus!
In short, Our horses are happy and healthy plus with the climate and long days you get much more time to spend with them.
If you do a "recy" down this way, look us up on "purplecowlivery.com" and pop in!
 
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Hi LindsayH,

If am also in Spain and my experience is somewhat different to espanol_andy ;)

I am in North west Spain and we have year round grazing on lush green grass and are our horses are given additional hay over the winter only. My horses are at home, so I cannot comment on liveries.

My vet is brilliant. No complaints. The farrier is good too. Mine are barefoot and we are charged 20 euros for a trim... But pinning the farrier down to a day and time for appointment is impossible. I normally get a random phone all to say, I will be with you in 15 minutes!

Where I live, and I believe everywhere in Spain, you need to register your land if you are keeping them at home, and get an Explotacion Number. Your land is inspected to make sure it is adequate for keeping animals, you have water and shelter etc, and then you are given a booklet which is basically a register of the horses kept on the registered land. You have to register your horse with the Xunta within seven days of arrival and within seven days of selling, and the appropriate amendments are made in your booklet.

I think it is really easy to keep horses in Spain... But we have limited equitation stores and if you want anything specialist I think best to get it shipped to Spain... Then wait a month or so for delivery!!

Good luck :)
 
Espanol Andy your livery yard looks lovely. I am in the process of making plans to move to La Marina in the next year how far are you away? As am not sure whether to bring my mate over to Spain or sell her
Am in the process of looking on the Internet at livery yards and what they offet
 
Hi LadySolaire. Thanks for your message. La Marina is about 10 mins drive from us, we are just outside Dolores on the Catral road. You can find more information on our website purplecowlivery.com or for a more personal view also check out our facebook page "purple cow livery", or even better still pop round for a chat and meet the other horses. We brought two of our horses over from the Uk using John Parker who were brilliant.
 
Just returned from Cadiz, we stayed with a horse owner. Grazing was non existent, hay was too expensive as brought in from out the area so they were fed straw on sun baked land without a blade of grass in site, heat was unbearable, my TB would swell up with fly bites! Most of the Andalusians were hobbled or kept in incredibly small corals, one was the size of my patio, just standing on rock. It was so different to back home in good old Suffolk
 
Thanks espanol_andy I will check out your facebook page and be in touch soon we are just in the process of looking at properties in La Marina :) Next time we are over I will arrange to come and have a look
 
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