When you are ready to move your horses into France, the best solution is to contact the Ministry of Agriculture. Speak to the Ministry Vet who will inspect the Horse and deal with all the paper work needed to let the Horse come in to France. The Ministry Vet will contact your usual vets to advise them what they have to prepare for the transportation. They will need to see the Horse to establish the “Passport” stating the age, breed, colour and markings of the Horse. You do not have to worry about contacting the Ministry, they are very helpful and they will do their upmost to give you all the information needed.
Before the horse leaves England it will have the “Coggins Test”. The ministry Vet will carry this out for you.Once the horse has had all the necessary tests and injections and has been given the all clear it has to leave the country within 24 Hours. The Ministry will tell you when it has to be transported. Horses I have known have always travelled well. Please do not worry about their journey as they never seem to, as long as they have something to eat and drink on the way down they should travel quietly.
A new law has been brought to France regarding the registration of horses. It used to be that all horses born on French soil were registered with the local national stud and given a registration number and identification book. Any horses imported just needed their importation documents and identification documents from the vet in the UK. Now all horses coming to France with or without origin papers have to be registered with the local national stud.
A vet needs to come to the property and establish identification documents for the horses or ponies, the vet will complete the necessary forms that need to be sent to the national stud. If the horse/pony has full origin papers from the UK then it can be registered as a horse/pony of known origin. If you have no papers to support the origin then the horse/pony is registered and still given its own identification number but is registered as origin unknown.
The registration fee for the national stud is 25 Euro per horse/pony registered. Once they are registered you will receive an attestation to say this has been done and you will receive a book for the horse.
The horse is then known to have identification documents and will be detailed on the national stud website.
Living with your horse in France:
For sufficient grazing you should consider having at least half a hectare of grass per horse. (but this will vary from region to region – half a hectare is quoted as the required amount for Central France). Always try to have extra land if you would like your own hay cut so that the field growing the hay can be rested. If your local farmer has all the hay making equipment, ask him if he could cut yours as he is doing his. You can generally come to some arrangement with him, whether its paying him a fee per bale or sharing the cut with him. Not forgetting the French are tremendously good at knowing when the best time to cut is, so it is always best to leave it up to them.
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