Horse IQ

You know that if you travel to any foreign country, you’ll need to get an official passport. But did you know that if you travel to the United Kingdom and take your horse with you, your horse will need a passport as well? He will. The British goverment agency, DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs) requires every horse, pony, or donkey entering the UK to have an official horse passport. Here’s why and where you can get one…

A horse passport is a lot like a human passport in many ways. It’s an official document that is designed to uniquely identify your horse among all the other 1 million+ horses that exist in the UK. It describes your horse’s breed, gender, markings, and any other distinguishing factors in excruciating detail.

The way the British horse passport regulation is written, every horse owner - even British horse owners with no intention of traveling with their animals - needs to have applied for one by February 28, 2005 or face a fine. A very stiff fine. As in, 5000 British pounds (the equivalent of $9818 U.S. dollars).

The official reason has to do with the notion that your horse may end up on some European menus. Here’s a quote from horsepassport.com…

European legislation has decreed that any animal which may ultimately enter the human food chain must be uniquely identified in order that a record can be kept of all drugs which are administered to that animal. Certain drugs are not to be given to food producing animals, and so they must be recorded on the passport.

In the UK we don’t really eat horse meat, but in many other countries they do, and there are a number of meat products which are imported into this country which may contain horsemeat. It’s to ensure that the general health of people everywhere can be assured as much as possible.

I’ve visited England, but I’ve never lived there. So I don’t know how prevalent horse meat consumption is (if you live there and know the answer, please comment below).

Believe it or not, the UK has an official government job called “Minister For the Horse.” According to Minister Alun Michael, the law exists to ensure that horses who have been treated with certain drugs not be made available for human consumption.

I guess they’re afraid it make people sick if they eat certain horses (for what it’s worth, the whole idea of eating horses makes me sick).

But if you live the in the U.S., this law might affect you if you intend to sell your horse in the UK. Many people, my trainer included, go to Europe to buy and sell horses. They do this for a number of reasons.

If you compete, you might be looking for a horse from a competitive bloodline that can only be found there. Or you may know a buyer in Britain that has a particular interest in one of your horses due to some competitive advantage he feels your horse may give him.

Regardless of the reason you may want to take your horse abroad, you will need to get a horse passport for him. To apply for one, you can either go to the DEFRA website (http://www.defra.gov.uk/) or you can go to one of the other British organizations that are licensed to issue you one, like http://www.horsepassportagency.org/registration.php.

All I can say is if you’re anywhere in Europe, and you’re offered horse meat, do yourself (and all horses) a favor. Just say NO!

Yours For Better Horse Health,

Sierra Lynch

Tags: Horse Facts, Horse Transportation

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