Spanish Boy arriving next week - EEKK!

He is absolutely stunning, I’ve never seen a chestnut Spanish horse before! And what a lovely shade of red he is 😍 hope he has arrived safely.
 
I think I'd just pay the duty and VAT vs putting a horse through an additional 2 very long ferry crossings and 2 days of travel. What's the difference in price as can't be cheap with fuel costs to go longer route? I know you probably didn't have a choice OP as that's the route transporters now take.

Hope he arrives soonest and is everything you wished for!
 
Nicnac said:
I think I'd just pay the duty and VAT vs putting a horse through an additional 2 very long ferry crossings and 2 days of travel. What's the difference in price as can't be cheap with fuel costs to go longer route? I know you probably didn't have a choice OP as that's the route transporters now take.

Hope he arrives soonest and is everything you wished for!
Click to expand...

It's also customs fraud and could be treated as tax evasion.
Sorry OP, I don’t mean to spoil the excitement of new pony day, but I agree that it wasn’t in the best interests of the horse to add so many extra miles to the journey, and it is dishonest (at best) when it comes to the importation laws
 
Some sea crossings are longer, more time onthe boat, and the irish sea can be very rough, some are shorter crossings with more departures

When we imported horses from mainland europe they were on the big transporters, which pick up and drop off all over tbe place so that takes time and they to have rest periods en route

At this time of year mares are going from country to country to visit studs, so theres a lot of time consuming work involved
 
Oh blimey, he has been delayed again. They didn't get off of the ferry and back to base in Birmingham until very late last night.
Legally the horses have to have 12 hours rest and also the driver was then over tacho hours, so the horses are having an easy rest day today and he will be with me bu tomorrow lunch time.
Better than him arriving in the middle of the night tonight, I guess. But I am super disappointed :confused:
 
Pi Cob said:
Totally agree, and the stupid thing is, he had to come across from Calais to Dover as the crossing from Cherbourg was too rough for livestock, so he has literally been past the end of my road!!
Click to expand...
That is beyond frustrating - for you and the horse who's had an extra few days of being hauled around. At least you know he's travelling well and the transporters are obviously taking very good care of them.
 
Pi Cob said:
Totally agree, and the stupid thing is, he had to come across from Calais to Dover as the crossing from Cherbourg was too rough for livestock, so he has literally been past the end of my road!!
Click to expand...
Doh!

Well I hope he arrives tomorrow and doesn't seem too frazzled by it all. At least they seem to be priotising rest etc vs rapid delivery.
 
Pi Cob said:
Totally agree, and the stupid thing is, he had to come across from Calais to Dover as the crossing from Cherbourg was too rough for livestock, so he has literally been past the end of my road!!
Click to expand...
Oh that's nuts! At least he'll have had another good rest before last leg. He must be very discombobulated. Hope he settles in well.
 
Nicnac said:
Oh that's nuts! At least he'll have had another good rest before last leg. He must be very discombobulated. Hope he settles in well.
Click to expand...
Very frustrating, but rules are rules I guess. I asked if they could drop him off on the way past and apparently you have to enter Southern ireland with the same number of horses that yo left france with, or you get fined AND have to pay the VAT & Duty on top - so really not worth it.
He seems to be taking it all in his stride, every pic of him at stop overs, he has been happy eating his hay :-)
 
I guess going Calais to Dover is better than the 12 hour ferry from France to Ireland. It does sound bonkers though and surprised animal welfare aren't all over this to get government to revisit this ridiculous rule. God I hate Brexshit even more now and didn't think that was possible
 
Nicnac said:
I guess going Calais to Dover is better than the 12 hour ferry from France to Ireland. It does sound bonkers though and surprised animal welfare aren't all over this to get government to revisit this ridiculous rule. God I hate Brexshit even more now and didn't think that was possible
Click to expand...
Yes agree, and i think the Cherbourg to Dublin ferry is 15-17 hours, so even worse and renowned for being rough :-(
So although he has gone the long way round, he has had a good journey with plenty of rest in lovely big stables and the horses welfare is paramount.
The government would probably just close the northern Ireland loophole, in the name of horse welfare, when in actual fact they just want more tax on our money :-(
Brexshit is a crock of poo...
 
I don't understand why anyone would sign up for that journey, rather than just pay the extra VAT and taxes. It sounds bonkers that the horse would be put through all that extra travel time just to avoid a bit of tax.

Hope he makes it home soon.
 
DressageCob said:
I don't understand why anyone would sign up for that journey, rather than just pay the extra VAT and taxes. It sounds bonkers that the horse would be put through all that extra travel time just to avoid a bit of tax.

Hope he makes it home soon.
Click to expand...
I wasn't given the option of him going the direct route - so not even sure if most transporters offer that.
Adding on an extra 30% of the value of the horse (20% VAT and 10% Duty) would have made this unaffordable for me.
As long as the transporter is licenced, has the horses welfare at the forefront, then I don't really see the issue. To be fair, he has spent around half of his journey, in a stable, stuffing his face with hay, so doubt heis too worried ;-)
 
Pi Cob said:
I wasn't given the option of him going the direct route - so not even sure if most transporters offer that.
Adding on an extra 30% of the value of the horse (20% VAT and 10% Duty) would have made this unaffordable for me.
As long as the transporter is licenced, has the horses welfare at the forefront, then I don't really see the issue. To be fair, he has spent around half of his journey, in a stable, stuffing his face with hay, so doubt heis too worried ;-)
Click to expand...
I didn't mean you, I meant the seller and the transporter. If people treat welfare as paramount I don't see why anyone would choose this route. It's purely to save money.
 
DressageCob said:
I didn't mean you, I meant the seller and the transporter. If people treat welfare as paramount I don't see why anyone would choose this route. It's purely to save money.
Click to expand...
Or to safeguard the business of selling of horses to UK at an affordable price without sinking the European breeders. I think the govt will close this loophole quite quickly.
 
Pi Cob said:
Yes, they bring them in through Southern/Northern Ireland so that you don't have to pay duty & VAT. Before Brexit they would bring them in through France. Just a loophole that's used to save ££
Click to expand...
Also, if they come in direct from France, they have to go into quarantine for a fair amount of time, and it's €60 per day, so that soon adds up too...
Didn't have to do that pre Brexit.
Would make it unaffordable for most of us 😩
 
PSD said:
He is absolutely stunning, I’ve never seen a chestnut Spanish horse before! And what a lovely shade of red he is 😍 hope he has arrived safely.
Click to expand...
Thank you, excited to see what shade of red he is, in some pics he looks bright chestnut and others more liver.
Whatever he is, he really is beautiful ❤️
 
Pretty much everything is going via Belfast - they've had to massively up their vet staffing for checks.

Same loop hole for dogs. Travel via Belfast/Larne from UK and then on to ROI without Rabies/AHC by using the free pet travel document and declaring that you aren't entering ROI....!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top