Oh no - new horse has dodgey passport - what to do?

Happytohack

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New horsey came with Passport which I sent back to PIO with my details. Letter arrives this morning saying that passport has been tampered with and the year of birth and the breed have been altered. Therefore the PIO were going to keep the passport as it is their property. Luckily I had photocopied it before I sent to them, so had a good look though it and found that new horsey is over a hand bigger than horse in passport and that the white markings don't match at all, so it must be another horse's passport. Also the person I've bought new horse from filled in her details on the passport but obviously never got it officially changed into her name. So now I have no passport, so do I just get a new one? In all other ways, new horse is lovely.
 
Oh dear. Only thing I can think of is get a new one, and ask prevous owner what on earth she was playing at.
 
Its an offence to get a second passport for a horse that already has one, but in this case it looks like the original was for a completely different horse! so I think you could apply for a new one.
 
I would think you'll have to get a new one, is the pony micro chipped? That would help.

If not, maybe write to passport agency and ask. Or possibly get in touch with previos owner and ask what's going on?

Potential minefield ahead!!!
 
Traing Standards and check with the original issuer to see if they will now allow a new one to be issued.

Dont panic, you havent broken any law, its illegal to sell without one but not to buy.

However this does raise a point....CHECK the passport belongs to the horse FIRST....all the details are there for you and if it doesnt match dont buy.
 
Is the horse stolen? Why did the last owner feel the need to provide a fake passport? Has it had medical treatment they wanted to hide?
 
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Is the horse stolen? Why did the last owner feel the need to provide a fake passport? Has it had medical treatment they wanted to hide?

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All questions that crossed my mind. But previous owner has owned the horse for 6 years (I know this as we have a mutual friend) and the passport came with the horse when she bought him. It is an Irish passport and simply says "new owner to fill in name & address" which she did, but then didn't send it anywhere to have it stamped. I haven't spoken to her, but in all fairness I had to hunt through the Passport & look on line to work out how I changed it into my name. If she was dodgey, surely she would have just got a new passport?
The PIO say:
"If you require a passport for your animal please get your vet to complete the markings on the chart enclosed and give a choice of 4 names. Due to the circumstances we will waive the registration fee"
Which means that I need a new one, I guess.
I think I'll get my vet out to microchip new boy and fill in the form - and check that he isn't already chipped - which will be just my luck.
 
[ QUOTE ]

However this does raise a point....CHECK the passport belongs to the horse FIRST....all the details are there for you and if it doesnt match dont buy.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes - but in this case, it had been quite cleverly altered. Once I knew what to look for, I could tell. For instance I read height as 17.3hh when in fact it was 173 cm (quite a difference). The year of birth says 1997, when the PIO tell me the 7 was originally a 2, making the year of birth 1992.

But you are absolutely right - I wonder how many of us actually check all the markings?
 
Just a few things to throw into the mix.

Just because you know the horse has had the same home for 6 yrs does not mean it has never been stolen. It just means it hasn't been stolen in the last 6 yrs.

Secondly how old would the horse have been when the passport was completed? Mine had one issued at 2yrs old, now she's 3, she's over a hand taller -same horse though!

The markings shouldn't change too dramatically. Just do a quick search through the stolen horse register and double check to put your mind at rest. Or try googling the name on the passport in case anything has been reported about it.
 
Thanks Dollydolls. Have just checked the stolen horse register and nothing on there remotely like my new chap (phew). Also Googled the name and again nothing.
The horse in the passport was 5 when the passport was issued.
 
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