How To: Horse Transportation to the United Kingdom

One of the attendees at today's Social Media Breakfast event asked us if we'd ever moved a unicorn.  While our CEO finds himself hauling his daughter's stuffed unicorn around, PetRelocation.com mainly sticks to horn-less equines.

We're currently working on the pet friendly logistics for a horse move from our hometown of Austin, Texas to the United Kingdom.  Horses can be complicated creatures, particularly due to their size and their very delicate personalities which can make them difficult to ship.  For these moves, it helps to have a former barn manager on staff (me!) -- I can answer all of the tricky hosre-related questions like "What's a Hanoverian?" and "What does 'hands' mean?"

Horse transportation to the UK is a pretty specific process.  The following steps are typically required:

1. Road transport from the barn or stables of origin to the pre-export quarantine facility
2. 30 days pre-export quarantine at an approved government facility
3. Pre-export testing for various diseases and an international health certificate
4. Road transport from pre-export quarantine to the USDA 5 hour rest stop and inspection, required by the USDA and the Animal Welfare Act.
5. Road transport from rest and inspection site to the plane loading area
6. Booking of a horse stall on an airline
7. A professional groom then must fly along with the horse
8. Receive and clear the horse on arrival at Stansted Airport in the UK
9. Road transport from Stansted Airport to final destination

As part of our door-to-door pet moving services, we handle setting up not only the flight bookings but also overseeing each and every step along the way.