Buying a horse from abroad Holland/Belgium, advice please

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I am currently on the look out for a new horse. I currently have a Dutch Warmblood who is now 18, so i am now looking for a youngster around 3-4 broken or un broken. I orginally bought my current horse as a just broken 4 year old. He was imported from Holland as a 3 year old and I have competed up to 1.15m on him. I am looking forward to something that has ability and good breeding which could do young horse classes. However I do have a limited budget. I have looked at many different horses in the UK but as they are imported by dealers it does seem however they are generally out my price range, as the dealer does need to make money on them.

I have always fancied the idea of buying direct from Holland/Belgium. However im a complete novice when it comes to actually going about this. I have seen quite a few promising horses in Belgium that are KWPN bred. However I don't really know the best way to go about enqiring/veiwing them.

Does anyone have any do's and dont's or any experince buying direct from Europe? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for Reading

Emily
 
Generally the dealers that import get them at a decent price because they have good contacts, take a load at the same time, share transport and know the procedures inside out. There is also a huge amount of dross that they bring over that is being exported for a reason.
I wouldnt go abroad without a decent budget as I think you will likely be sold something unsuitable
 
We've bought direct from Holland. All a success. :) We're on the east coast so it's very easy for us to get to Holland and the transport cost isn't extortionate (Ours all came on shared transport, that they did the paper work for).
One missed was one we planned to see, booked flights and hotel, and they sold them from under us :(
With a bit of google translate you can use their sales sites easily enough but I guess you'd be looking to go direct to studs where we were buying proven adults.
 
had 3 trips to holland all organised by a uk trainer/ dutch dealer and saw 13 amazing horses....bought one on the last trip and for my money got a younger and more advanced horse then I would have in the uk.... 2 years down the line I love my horse and would do the same again....so much fun too !
 
Be careful about Belgium if you want a KWPN, one dealer in particular is known to resell horses with problems without disclosing (he pretends to be a breeder but the horses are bought from the Netherlands and resold without X-rays or history). If the price is too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true.
 
I am afraid if you go alone being inexperienced you will get well stitched up . The chances of you coming back with a suitable horse at the price it realistically should be is zero. Use a reputable agent or buy from somebody who imports into this country
 
popsdosh said:
I am afraid if you go alone being inexperienced you will get well stitched up . The chances of you coming back with a suitable horse at the price it realistically should be is zero. Use a reputable agent or buy from somebody who imports into this country
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Really? That hasn't been my experience at all. Obviously there are good and bad dealers, just as there are in the UK, but doing a bit of research and being sensible has always done the job for me.
 
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