Buying without passport?

L

lara b

Well-Known Member
Joined
6 September 2010
Messages
1,234
Location
Buckinghamshire/Northants
Visit site
Hi
Have been to see a horse I really like, but he has no passport.

The owner says she has had him three months and bought him from her farrier. She has partially completed passport application in the farriers name with the microchip details but it hasn't been sent off yet.

I would effectively be buying him without a passport but have read on the government site that this is illegal and also illegal to transport him. I guess I also would be on dodgy ground if he turned out to be stolen? (don't think that is the case).

Should I still buy him?
 
It is illegal to sell a horse without a passport - but not illegal to buy one (if that even makes any sense).

It is also illegal to transport the horse without a passport.
 
Get the passport sorted and then buy him. It is an offence to sell, to buy and to transport without a passport. Technically your friend and the farrier have committed offences so far, if you buy him then all three of you will be breaking the law. I'm sure if the passport is processed prior to sale then it will all be fine.
 
Ommadawn said:
Get the passport sorted and then buy him. It is an offence to sell, to buy and to transport without a passport. Technically your friend and the farrier have committed offences so far, if you buy him then all three of you will be breaking the law. I'm sure if the passport is processed prior to sale then it will all be fine.
Click to expand...

Hi there, she is not a friend just a private seller. Been a while since I have bought a horse so all new to me! Anyway have just contacted her and asked her to send off the forms and get it fast tracked, as far as I am concerned she can't really sell him without one so it needs to be sorted.
Thanks for all the replies :)
 
Sorry - my mistake! In that case then you have definitely done the right thing. Do not collect the horse until you have seen the passport.

As long as she gets it sorted then there should be no problem as far as you are concerned - but don't forget to have it upadated to your name once you have got him :)
 
Apparently if you ring DEFRA & explain the situation to them, as long as the paper work is filled in & goes with the horse they will allow you to travel it. I only know this as a mare we had on loan didn't have a passport & when the owner could not take her back we were landed with the job of rehoming her.
As for it being stolen, to be honest its so easy to get a new passport for a horse there is no guarantee even if it comes with a passport that it isn't stolen anyway, id have thought it more likely that a stolen horse would be sold on with a passport rather than without as it isn't so likely to be questioned. If that makes sense.
 
I think you've done the right thing by insisting the owner completes the passport now.

But incase it all falls through, I once did end up buy a horse without a passport. It was after the mandatory law, and the pony was 15. Neither the vet nor the passport agency batted an eyelid when I applied for a new passport for such an old pony.
 
Was just thinking, the other option would be to buy the horse and insist that the owner brings it to your yard. That way she would be liable for any fine caused if caught transporting without a passport. It would also allow you to be in control of the passport paperwork, instead of relying on someone else.
 
Personally I would use it in my favour and buy it without the passport, but get the horse for a better price. It is a piece of cake to get a passport. You could get one back in your name in a day or so.
 
Passports are a waste of time really, they are a hassle and for what they are overpriced. The only real reason for passports is because of the medicical record incase the horse enters the human food chain. They are not a proof of ownership. For horses with registered breeding pedigrees then yes they are good. For tracking history on horses, well sometimes good and sometimes bad as you can buy a horse then ring up the previous owners and hear all the bad things and then your worrid silly about what you have bought.

I would use it as a means of getting money off the horse and as soon as you get the horse home get the vet out to do the passport. Or if you get the horse vetted and it passes then get it drawn up then.
 
I'd say get passport first before the horse exchanges hands. We had a horse come to our yard that was bought with no passport (although seller said it was underway with one of the passport companies which turned out to be a lie). New owner got paperwork underway herself when she found out the lie but the horse received a very bad kick and just after owning it for 6 weeks it had to be PTS. The nightmare it caused the new owner with the insurance company was awful and not what you really want when you're grieving your new horse you barely got to know. An unusual circumstance but these things seem to happen with horses!
 
Just to make it clear - it is an offence to buy as well as sell without a passport.

It used to be an offence to sell but not to buy, that was changed in the summer of last year.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top