Transporting horses from ireland?...questions!

[CherryB]

Hi,
I have found 1 possibly 2 nice youngsters for sale in galway, Ireland, that i am very interested in. I know lots of people buy horses from ireland and bring them to england however i have no experience of this. ...

so for any1 that has experience doing this i have a few questions....

How did you transport them back to england, did u pay for transport or collect them yourself, and is there anything i should know?

How much did it cost you?

would you advise it? i know its a long way to go and that there is probably just as nice horses closer to home, but i seem to get more for my budget this way. however transport cost are going to add to the price.

Thanks for you time!!

 

[reindeerlover]

I have done it and has been worth it. The difference is that my family is over there and so I could take as long as I needed to. I also knew through word of mouth who did the transportation and who was best! I also got a discount but it cost me around £250 per horse from Tipperary to Gloucestershire. I'd recommend it!

 

[baggyb]

I have also done it both myself when I moved back from Ireland to England and through a professional. The professional route is undoubtedly easier and when you price in diesel and ferry costs (not to mention time) probably cheaper as well. They will sort out everything for you - go for it. I have friends in Ireland at the moment and the irish economic situation is pretty dire, so you should be able to pick up some nice horses without having to break the bank

 

[Sundae]

Yep I transported my mare over a few years ago. She did have a split journey- one transporter took her from NI to Southern Ireland to another transporter (as he wasnt coming over to England for a while). The second transporter then bought her over to Southern England. It cost about £400 I think. She only did two journeys as I had been waiting a month to get her over and I was getting impatient! I think the guy was called George Mullins? He was really nice and very helpfull. Ned just stepped off the lorry and went straight to the nearest balde of grass- wasnt stressed in the slightest. Word of caution the lorry was enormous and nearly didnt fit down the drive (think they do like 15 at a time?).

 

[reindeerlover]

Oh yes, that's another point! My transporter's lorry wouldn't fit down the lane so I had to go and collect my two at around 3am from the end of the road. Funny. I used Charles Cunningham from Tipp, not sure if he still does it but he was very good.