Keeping horses in Sweden?

[PaulnasherryRocky]

Im also in Denmark. We moved here in July with 4 horses and a cat. We used Parkers International to move the horses and I absolutely could not fault them (I'm very fussy about my horse's care etc). Michelle in the office very patientily answered my multiple emails over the past 12 months asking some numpty questions and when we finally got wind of my moving and the animals (hubby moved first), then they organised the transportation with just a few days notice.

It was absolutely faultless from start to finish, the driver (Beth - an angel sent from heaven!), called me the day before to discuss the horses (she had the booking documents and additional paperwork about their needs etc), she called again on the morning they were due to be picked up, so that she could give me her ETA and asked if I would like to load and travel them in a particular order, as the wagon was configured in a way that I could have any set up I wanted (and she would stop en-route to arrange the partitions, so that the wagon was ready to load on her arrival).

Talk about wagon envy! The most gorgeous enormous wagon arrived and all were loaded using the side ramp which fitted onto our driveway perfectly so we didnt have to load from the road (narrow country lane).

They spent the weekend at Parker's yard (southern UK) just because we needed them to be gone so we could clear the yard before we left the following morning, they set off on Monday, arrived in Germany Monday night and then arrived with us in Denmark Tuesday (we are southern denmark, not far from central denmark). All 4 of mine are like litmus paper, it is so easy to tell if someone has been rough with them, as they can be timid with strangers, however, they strolled off that beautiful wagon without a care in the world, it was obvious they had been very well looked after by Beth.

We chose a dedicated wagon, which cost a bit more but we have transported a horse from France a few years back on a shared load and felt the route (wasnt with Parkers) wasnt great for the horse, as it went everywhere and they kept unloading the horses to get one at the front off for example and then they all got reloaded, it was just a bit too much messing sbout for him we thought.

One thing you need to think about (and get organised!), your horse's vaccinations need to be up to date and you need to check that your transporter will organise the ministry vet and export certificates (Parkers did all this for us at their yard), my own vet in the UK was the vet who dealt with exporting and he said we needed to be very mindful about the changes after Brexit with exporting.

Our cat needed a rabies vaccination and a pet passport, obviously after Brexit, your pet passport for your cats won't be valid, so do your research online about the changes for export.

With regards to furniture removals, the cost for moving a 4 bed property (with garage) via a removals company averaged £12,000. You need to be aware that some countries (Denmark is one of them) charge fees for haulage coming in and out of the country, dependant on the wagon size, so this gets added ontop.

We ended up hiring a wagon in the UK and hubby did two trips with all the furniture (23hr journey each way and its costly to get a wagon across the chunnel or on the ferry). We did the final run towing our Ifor 505 full of the final bits and drove straight for 23hrs (would not recommend it!), total cost to move ourselves = £5,000.

If you go down the hiring a wagon, be aware that pets cant be taken on crossings in a wagon on the chunnel, they're only allowed on the passenger routes.

Buy your rugs and anything you need for your horses in the UK, everything is much more expensive over here as an example. Feed was £14 a bag D&H in UK and over here its equivilent to £33.

I'm lucky as I have visited Denmark many timeyears, so the weather isnt a shock in the winter. Human clothes are very expensive here compared to the UK, however, they are much better quality and if a coat or footwear says its waterproof and warm, it certainly is!

Its a big move but it will be worth it, the quality of life far exceeds life in the UK, on every level. We've just bought a beautiful property with enormous brick barns and 32 acres for the price of a large 4 bed executive home on an estate in the UK. Taxes are very high though but its the pay off for the lifestyle and the lovely country to live in.

Thank you for such a detailed answer! it sounds like these guys are fab for the transport and I'd definitely pay for the dedicated trip I think. Very useful info about how much it cost to move your belongings - my partner is just in the phase of discussing a relocation package so that is something we can add for consideration for sure!

The more research I do the more I'm looking forward to this, but not the initial stress of moving!

 

[Keith_Beef]

My husband learnt Swedish by Linguaphone very well but is always very disappointed each time we go over there. He walks in to the shop starts speaking Swedish and people will reply to him in English. .

Could he pretend to not speak English?

I try to speak Swedish a little with a couple of blonde Swedes I ride with fairly often, but find the accent difficult. Norwegian and Icelandic are easier for me. I was in a supermarket in Reykjavik last year, said "góðan daginn" to the boy behind the till, he replied the same and when he'd finished scanning ask the articles he started talking to me in Icelandic, so I had to get out my longest phrase "ég er enskur og ég tala ekki íslensku". Then he started talking to me in English.

 

[Winters100]

Some time ago we used John Parker to transport 5 from UK to Hungary. Service was ok, but communication could have been better. Overall fairly good and horses arrived in good shape.

 

[Ownedby4horses]

Thank you for such a detailed answer! it sounds like these guys are fab for the transport and I'd definitely pay for the dedicated trip I think. Very useful info about how much it cost to move your belongings - my partner is just in the phase of discussing a relocation package so that is something we can add for consideration for sure!

The more research I do the more I'm looking forward to this, but not the initial stress of moving!

I would definitely use Parkers, I contacted a number of transport companies and they either couldnt be bothered to reply or where so vague and pretty unhelpful, Parkers were recommended to me multiple times and they were just so helpful from start to finish. One of my boys is 30 years old and doesnt like men, perfect when I was told that most of Parkers drivers are female. Theyre all genuine horse lovers and mine got reslly fussed and looked after (three of mine are under 30cms).

I got photos of them in their stables overnight er-route which was lovely and I didnt have any issues with communication (Driver had my mobile number and I had hers).

I think thinking about the move is more stressful than the actual move.

Are you moving into rented accommodation? Obviously also factor in storage for furniture/belongings if needed. I dont know the house buying laws in Sweden, foreigners can't buy in Denmark unless they have permanent residency (Hubby does). Denmark offers free danish lessons once you get your residency permit (I'm about to start mine soon), Sweden might have something similar?

Have a look at the .Gov website as it has info on about living in the EU once the UK leaves.

I can't imagine you will miss the UK, there's a few odd things we miss (Crumpets for breakfast and Malt Vinegar for chips amongst some ?).

 

[FinnishLapphund]

You do not have to be a Swedish citizen to buy a house in Sweden.

Swedish for Immigrants courses is free of charges, here is a link from Stockholm city council about it https://vuxenutbildning.stockholm/en/swedish-for-immigrants/

Something which is important @PaulnasherryRocky is that (as I've understood it) you have 30 days on you to register your horse if you intend for it to stay in Sweden for longer than 90 days.
Sorry the first page about this is only available in Swedish, please let me know if you want me to translate something of it for you
https://djur.jordbruksverket.se/amn...reradeisverige.4.6fe43f40150d42feb72853b.html

https://djur.jordbruksverket.se/swe...horsedatabase.4.5938ee8e15a8ac655912f368.html

 

[PaulnasherryRocky]

I would definitely use Parkers, I contacted a number of transport companies and they either couldnt be bothered to reply or where so vague and pretty unhelpful, Parkers were recommended to me multiple times and they were just so helpful from start to finish. One of my boys is 30 years old and doesnt like men, perfect when I was told that most of Parkers drivers are female. Theyre all genuine horse lovers and mine got reslly fussed and looked after (three of mine are under 30cms).

I got photos of them in their stables overnight er-route which was lovely and I didnt have any issues with communication (Driver had my mobile number and I had hers).

I think thinking about the move is more stressful than the actual move.

Are you moving into rented accommodation? Obviously also factor in storage for furniture/belongings if needed. I dont know the house buying laws in Sweden, foreigners can't buy in Denmark unless they have permanent residency (Hubby does). Denmark offers free danish lessons once you get your residency permit (I'm about to start mine soon), Sweden might have something similar?

Have a look at the .Gov website as it has info on about living in the EU once the UK leaves.

I can't imagine you will miss the UK, there's a few odd things we miss (Crumpets for breakfast and Malt Vinegar for chips amongst some ?).

That's comforting to know the transporters are that caring, maybe moving the horses will be the least stressful bit..

We would be renting our UK house out and then renting a place in Sweden, hopefully we will get to know our way around a bit more to see where we like etc. Then I'd try to find a yard and once the horses are over I think we would look to sell our UK property and buy in Sweden. Feels like it's going to be a long journey but i'm sure we will get there in the end...

I've contacted a few yards but as mentioned on here, most seem to be the equivalent of a part livery type of package, though if its anything like the UK, if a yard has a proper website it means it's a fancy expensive yard which I don't really need - I'm used to spending around £300 a month for two stables, not just the one! Does full DIY exist at all or is it a real rarity?
It sounds lovely having someone else do hay and feeds every day, but I've just spent the last year and a half learning (much learned on H&H!) about what I should be feeding my horses, I think i'd miss it!

 

[Ownedby4horses]

Honestly, the horses moving was the least stressful bit, Parkers just took all that stress away.

It can be a bit overwhelming moving to a new country, when you realise you don’t know how the basics work (like bin collections etc) as everything you take for granted in the UK is useless but you will find so many people who will help and it takes time to understand stuff. You’ll find a lot of people speak English, like here, so I don’t struggle too much (hubby is fluent).
Yes, I think you’ll find a lot of yards are more like assisted DIY, at the minimum. I thought it would be great but the yard I was on was really useless to be honest. I made up the feeds and haynets ready (they don’t generally use haynets over here I found, so they struggled to even tie up nets safely), they struggled to make sure my elderly boy had the right feed (he’s got Cushings), so I’d often go down and find my mare with his feed for example and despite hanging fly spray on his headcollar hook ((he has sweetitch), they never remembered to put the damn spray on him.

I ended up making sure I was down for when the yard opened (8am) and just was super friendly and cracked on and did mine with their feeds and haynets/ turnout etc and no one minded. If I had extra time I’d help turn out others too so Everyone was always pleased to see me.

I would just do the same if you can and I’m sure no one will mind. I think we paid around £300 equivalent for two stables including wrapped hay and a big indoor, outdoor and use of a small forest nearby.

I think you’ll find what you’re looking for if you’re away from the larger towns a little.

dont forget there are also small private yards that discretely take liveries on too, you’ll obviously get less facilities (but a lot of people have at least an outdoor over here) and you’ll get a more personal service and they’ll probably be more flexible I would imagine.

I would imagine your OH will get to find people at work that have horses (that’s how it is with mine as so many people have horses over here), so we’ve found out stuff easily.

I think it will be a lot easier when you’re over here to find a yard as obviously you can go and suss them out.

Tack over here and clothing is super blingy (I like blingy but I’m a western rider so it’s all a bit useless to me), people always look so beautiful riding or mucking out, I’ve had to smarten my act up (my old jeans and old yard fleeces with bits of hay in them have taken a back seat ). ?.

you will love life in Sweden I am sure.

 

[EchoInterrupted]

@PaulnasherryRocky did you end up moving over? How did things go? My partner is Swedish so the thought of moving over has been floated a couple of times and I've loved it every time I visited (but know very little about the lay of the land horsewise over there).

 

[PaulnasherryRocky]

@PaulnasherryRocky did you end up moving over? How did things go? My partner is Swedish so the thought of moving over has been floated a couple of times and I've loved it every time I visited (but know very little about the lay of the land horsewise over there).

? we actually broke up, he found the long distance difficult and got himself a few other ladies to occupy him while he was there...

However! I'm still planning some travels for myself and the horses. Staying in the UK first as a trial run but I might still get to Sweden with one of my horses one day, maybe when my youngster is backed which gives me a little while to save up for my new trailer! Sweden does still look like the ultimate horsey place to be one day, so we shall see.

 

[EchoInterrupted]

? we actually broke up, he found the long distance difficult and got himself a few other ladies to occupy him while he was there...

However! I'm still planning some travels for myself and the horses. Staying in the UK first as a trial run but I might still get to Sweden with one of my horses one day, maybe when my youngster is backed which gives me a little while to save up for my new trailer! Sweden does still look like the ultimate horsey place to be one day, so we shall see.

Oh no, sorry to hear that! Good luck with your horse travel adventures!! There's definitely lots of lovely places to go in Europe.