The world of horses and humans, or rather horses in the world of humans is becoming increasingly one of bureaucratic red tape. Up till now we have more or less avoided having to deal with compulsory identification and an impressive list of (necessary?) vaccinations. The closest experience for us was when large parts of the Australian horse community were hit with equine Influenza, a disease which did not occur in this country prior to 2007. The shire we lived in was not affected but transporting horses to or from our property was only allowed after filling in stacks of paperwork, reporting car, float and travel date and time particulars to the authorities in charge.
In Europe every member of the equidae family (such as horses, donkeys, mules, zebras) needs to be microchipped and its particulars noted down in a horse passport. Only with a microchip in its neck and accompanied by its own passport, is the animal allowed to be transported in the Netherlands or elsewhere in Europe. The microchip details are recorded in a database and an electronic reader can be used to crosscheck the number of the chip with the number in the passport.
So the day came that Anaiis had to microchipped. The vet assured me that the chip was the size of a grain of rice and that most horses did not even notice it being inserted into the nuchal ligament. After preparing the site for the needle, he asked if he could use a twitch as a few days before he and a helper were almost run over by an ‘unruly’ (his words) young racehorse. When I saw the size of the needle (bigger than expected), we opted for a sedative as I am no fan of twitches! While Anaiis was becoming quite drowsy, we made sure the number on the packet complies with European microchip regulations. It did and the chip went in without any problems.
Earlier we had asked the vet to assess her overall health. All clear, including the flexion tests on her joints. We did this in the arena with an exuberant Anaiis running next to me after each flexion test. ‘All’ that remains between now and our arrival in Europe is a 30-day quarantaine period, the necessary (blood) tests and lots of paper work required by the Australian Quarantaine Inspection Service (AQIS) prior to export, a 30-hour flight to Brussels, and transport to an agistment place in the Netherlands before we travel to Denmark….all of which should pose no problem now that my horse has become a number!
Dear Vicky,
How strange and wonderful to received the inviatation to your blog and this email today exactly because today we have sent off our horses on their trip to Europe as well!
You might or might not know that when we were together at CSI my husband and I made the decision to move to Switzerland where my husband had been offered a job in may. We moved middle of october and have been pondering and weighing the question ever since whether we should bring over our two horses. One is an arabian mare that belongs to my daughter Lara. She is a very complicated horse as she was rejected by her mother and then grew up being very close to people, other horses rather less (fortunately she stayed with her mom and the lady who bred her, until we bought her.) When Klaus worked with kabul i was often reminded of her (knowing very well of course that one should not compare horses as each is an individual)…
The other horse is a 4 year old Trakehner who became my horse a bit more than a year ago. He is agentle soul and a very friendly horse. He is though still very young and had hardly been handled before I got him, so lots to do there!
So today our riding teacher /trainer is driving them from kansas to Oklahoma (about a 6 hour drive) where they will also start their 4 week quarantine before being flewn to Amsterdam. Yours too????
I am also so glad and happy for you both that you can go and attend the one year schooling- what an amazing journey this will be!!! I learned that Jo will go too…so happy for you all! I very much think I will see you there again sometime as i am sure I will come back to LYo one time or another myself.
For tonight good bye and I look forward to following your blog!
Susanne
Dear Susanne
Thank you so much for your messages both here and privately. Wonderful news to hear that your horses will join you in Switzerland. I am sure they will be fine, knowing they can travel together!
Anaiis has Trakehner blood in her as well; 1/2 Hanoverian, 3/4 Trakehner and a dash of Arab.. She will arrive in Brussels, Belgium, as that is the only place they can travel to from Australia these days. The flight Sydney-Amsterdam was stopped quite a few years ago when the economy took a dip and fewer horses were flown to Europe. So Anaiis will have to travel 3 days (with stops) in a truck to Melbourne, but we have found a very good company thanks to a friend who has ample experience transporting horses between the East Coast and Melbourne.
I really look forward to catching up again in the not too distant future!
Vicki