Buying a horse without a passport

Halfpass

Halfpass

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Just went to view a horse with a friend which has just been bought from gorsebridge sales. She had come with no passport and the dealer is apparently getting one but it obviously takes a while. Friend really likes the horse and is planning on having it vetted. I advised her not to move horse to her new yard until she has the passport but I'm not to sure if this all cosha. Seems a bit strange to me thought horse had to have them to be sold and travelled. What the law etc on this?
 
I don't know, it doesnt bother me buying without save that you are taking a chance on its background? I thought they had to have a passport to go through sales?
 
When I posted about a pony I was rehoming a couple of weeks ago, some replied that you are not legal allowed to transport a horse unless you have your pass port with yo. And some show check passports o.f horses and ponies competing
 
You cant travel the horse without one so I would wait until the horse has a passport before even getting the vetting done. Not sure I can believe its gone through Goresbridge without one to be honest.
 
If the horse was bought in Goresbridge it had to have had a passport to go through the sales ring. Sounds a little suspect to me. Also the horse would have been micro chipped if it did have an Irish passport - can you get your hands on a scanner to check?
 
It doesn't need to take a while to get a passport - I had one done with the Horse Passport Agency on their special 48 hour service and it was back within 24 hours!

Suggest your friend tells the dealer she will leave a deposit but won't complete on the sale until they have the passport in hand. It's the seller's responsibility, as the current owner, to get a passport as they can't legally sell the horse without it.
 
I agree with Alise that if the horse has come through Gorsebridge (or any other sale really), it will HAVE to have a passport. In addition, if it has crossed over into the UK then a passport should have been checked at the ports before being allowed through on the UK side (theoretically). I myself am not bothered about horses not having them as i will just get one done but the fact that she has been told it has come through Gorsebridge and doesn't have a passport is very suspect to me.
 
It does sound like some lies have been told about the passport. Therefore you have have to consider how many other things she has been told are a slight exaggeration of the truth. I would steer clear.
 
i have bought many times through goresbridge and ALL horses have a passport etc. when you buy and subsequently pay for the horse you are given a ticket to allow your horse to exit from the sales comlex. the passport is left with the shipping agent you choose to use. you can not travel a horse legally from ireland without a passport. the passport is then given to you when the horse is delivered in england
 
A horse cannot be sold through a sale (or even privately for that matter), without a passport, or evidence in black and white, that a passport has been applied for from the relevant authority.

Something doesn't add up...
 
All horses that go through the sales have a passport. The issue may be that the horse isnt paid for yet, they certainly hold them back in this country until full payment has been received.
Horses dont need a passort to come over from Ireland, so that bit may be true.
No self respecting vet will vet a horse without doing a passport check first.
Id give Goresbridge a ring and see what you can find out.
 
I too bought a horse which had been recently imported and all I got was his originals papers, now has passport tho!!!! But it still goes on! I know someone on our livery yard that never bothered getting a passport and she managed to sell her horse to a dealer!
 
You are supposed to have a passport to SELL a horse, but it's (apparently) not illegal to BUY a horse without a passport (although you then need one to move it around, show etc)

Of the six or so horses that have arrived at my yard within the past few months, NONE have had passports. They have all come from various dealers. They owners(more than one) have applied for and got passports for them with no trouble at all.

To my mind, passports haven't done a thing. You can re-passport a horse (who's to know!), horse change colour (rendering the passport incorrect) etc etc.
I think the only reliable thing is a freezemark and/or a microchip.
Oh yes - and to have passport actually POLICED with PENALTIES for non-conformance (or do away with them entirely)
 
But THIS particular horse, if it went through Gorsebridge sales, did have a passport at that time. So somewhere along the line someone is telling porkies. And if someone tells you porkies about a horse you are thinking of buying, then the safest thing to do is walk away. Loads of lovely horses for sale at the moment without going after a suspect one.
 
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