HORSES: First class travelers
Horses travel around the world, always in best
conditions.
The equine industry is currently well spread
worldwide, because of the great response that all equestrian activities
globally have. Here I tell you how horse transport is done between countries
and continents.
Fairs, shows,
parades, races, contests, games, tournaments and so on, are some horse starring
activities that are globally held.
Today, as it is easier to communicate and travel, it has become very usual
that horses tour long distances inside cargo planes so they can assist in these
events. This horses can be bought in a foreign country by someone who wants to
get at the next level in their sport, or animals of unique genetic
characteristics, or those which along with their riders, travel far away from
their homeland, even to another continent, to participate in a competition.
Some of these competitions are: Olympic program games (reliant on the
area you are), or large concentrations in which depending on the geographic
region, the weather during wintertime is better and they gather to hold
jumping, dressage and polo season like in Winter Equestrian Festival in
Wellington or HITS in Okala both in Florida (USA), or racing events that occur
throughout the year in countries such as Australia, Japan and the United Arab
Emirates.
These high-performance horses are also high performance athletes and
even the journeys are close or far, those are always part of their schedules;
But no matter how used they are to travel, each step involved in their
mobilization is critical to accomplish the goal safety and in time compliance.
Colombia (South America) is a country where passion for
horses, mainly horse riding, jumping, polo, dressage, raid, quarter horses,
draft horses and ponies, has made the arrival of horses a constant during all
times of the year as well as departures to participate in some of the
above-mentioned competitions.
“SAM Asesores (Impo-Expo)” runs in Bogotá, Colombia managed by
Sergio Mojica, who has been for over 15 years importing and exporting horses,
fulfilling all health authorities and customs regulations for the interested
countries, making a difference by his service because of his planning,
commitment and high qualified personal to meet the needs of the horses and
their owners, making all the process as quick as possible and within the
highest quality standards. That is why SAM Asesores accomplishes around 30
importations of 150 horses per year.
Horses arrive in Colombia from different countries in Europe and America
mainly and depending on health authorities’ laws on the origin and destination
countries, all specific protocols might be complied with. On a regular basis,
horses get to and leave airports in well-conditioned trucks, so they can travel
comfortable, sound, and safe.
Once at the airport and with all documentation in order, horses will be
fit in a pallet and the pallets will be placed inside cargo planes, which also
meet environmental conditions such as temperature, pressure, and humidity, so
horses arrive healthy to their destination. But horses do not travel alone.
Each flight has a qualified animal handler, who must take care of a maximum of
6 horses during long journeys or stopover flights. These horse companions must
bring horses water and hay as needed and attend any health or behavioral event,
as well as the recommendations of the crew since these animals’ weigh
600kg (1322lb) on average and an unexpected reaction could threaten
flight safety.
When the plane lands and documentation has been submitted, horses will
go again in trucks to the quarantine station which must accomplish sanitary and
technical policies to guarantee the welfare of horses.
Carolina Yepes
Bogota-Colombia-South America
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