True Costs: Importing a Horse

When I look back on the blog. I can't help but  smile when I realize how many "once in a lifetime" experiences I have managed to squeeze into the last couple of years with the magical beasts. 

Of course, if I'm in a cynical mood I also cry a little because if I add up what the True Costs of those experiences really are, it feels like if we saved that cash we could be in the South Pacific on our own private island right now drinking Rum Rickies out of freshly carved coconuts....

But, I love the horses.  I'm grateful for the wild adventures we've had, and even more grateful that The Boy isn't totally freaked out when he asks me "what do you think this will cost us?" and my response is to give a nervous shrug then pour more wine.  (always more wine).

Much like when we first stumbled into the world of A and AA Hunter/Jumper shows, I had an 80% idea of what to expect in terms of cost, but quickly realized there is a unspoken 20% that always magically appears on your invoice.  And it's that sneaky hidden 20% that's just a real kick in the pants..

So when we first started considering the idea of importing my next horse, I had no idea what that would add to the "bottom line" of the budget.

I feel like over there years I've always heard that it's "about" $10,000 to get a horse stateside. 

But I've heard $10,000 for a long time now.  Airline tickets change, the exchange rate fluctuates and there are enough variables at play that I didn't want to put too much stock in what was essentially a rumor - and an out of date one at that.

I've also heard a lot of people say that a horse that would cost you $100k in the States is waiting for you in Germany for 30,000 Euro (can't find my euro sign).  I will say that seems like a slight exaggeration at this point - but from what I saw it's not hugely off. 

Comparing a fairly green 4 year old to a fairly green European 4 year old - Dollar for dollar, you'll get better quality in Germany.

That is, assuming you can find it, and get it home again. 

I'm smart enough to know that there's no way I'm lucky enough (or naïve enough?) to find the crazy diamond in the rough that's the deal of the century.  Some people find those - I usually don't.

Though it did seem like there were lots of lovely (young and green) options from about 15k...

The 40k range had some gorgeous stunners and for 100+ there were some really impressive prospects, or going horses with spectacular resumes.

So there's lots to buy, in theory at a better price than you could find domestically - but you just can't forget about that pesky cost of actually shipping it over.

So here, dear readers, is a breakdown of the Germany Horse Shopping Process.

Aside from my normal disclaimers of "this is my personal experience and I have no idea how normal it is" I will say that success in shopping abroad is directly correlated to how much you trust the people who are taking you. 

Lots of Trust led to getting this guy home

Getting There/Staying There:

Part of what kept my costs down was booking my airline ticket using miles.  Using miles also allowed me to upgrade to First Class which made me feel really extra-fancy, and also added to the sparkly-vacation-fun of the trip. 

However, since I wasn't sure if I'd be able to use miles, I did lots of googling, and would have booked a ticket on Lufthansa (in premium economy because I'm tall and hate feeling claustrophobic) for $2,500 round trip.  (also I should note I was looking for tickets about 6 weeks away from departure.. closer than I would usually plan a international ticket purchase..)

But because of the miles, my actual costs were like $27.63 for some random fee for taxes and whatever.

Once there, we relied on our contact to book a cute hotel for us.  He picked a charming little farm-hotel-B&B thing that wasn't over the top, but very comfortable and lovely.  I had no idea how much it cost, so when we checked out and it was only $80 a night, I was thrilled.  Since we were on the road so much looking at horses I'm glad we didn't splurge on a crazy hotel.  It was perfect, and the restaurant had great wine, great food and a cozy fireplace.

Getting around we rented a good sized Toyota station wagon thing, that I'm pretty sure we don't have in the states.  It was comfy, large enough that four of us didn't feel squished all week, and even with the extra insurance (which I usually never get) was about $250.  (Plus about $100 in fuel). 

Aside from the (great) breakfast that was provided at the hotel, we ate on the road, in small cafes and back at the hotel for dinners... so I really only spent another $100 on food in total. 

Trip Costs:

(Hypothetical) Airfare:  $2,500
                       Lodging:    $300
                       Car:            $350
                       Food:         $100

Potential Total: $3,250

On airline miles (and splitting the car with a friend) I did the trip for $575 once I was on the ground. (though I did pay for half my trainer's way as well..).  Pretty cheap, but turns out driving around and just looking at horses is the onlyeally cheap part of horse shopping.. Also, I'm not considering the fact that I justified a new winter coat or purse for the trip.

But I did.  Because... accessories. 


Horse Costs:

Obviously, there is a cost of the horse.  Since none of us ever agree on the same one, I'm going to ignore this line item (lol) and just look at the other associated costs.

The Pre-Purchase exam is also something that everyone does differently.  I know that the vet we opted to use was on the more expensive side.  He was a lameness specialist and one of the better radiologists in the area.   I already mentioned that my PPE was extensive to say the least, but my full set of x-rays, ultrasounds, scoping, and numerous videos (flexions, lunging, gait analysis, etc) cost me $2,600. 

To be honest, this was significantly less than I was expecting.  I also know from the other vetting that I watched, that a less.... extravagant vetting, (but still with extensive films) ran closer to $1,900. 

Of course, on top of that I had the exam reviewed by my local vet in the States... so tack another $500 on the top for her opinion on the films and review of his videos (both under saddle and from the PPE).  

Apparently when you do actually buy a horse it's "normal" that you don't pay for board while the horse waits to be shipped.  I don't really know why this is the case (it certainly wouldn't be in the States...) but I didn't mind. 

In my case, the transaction was finalized on November 16th, and Windsor shipped on the 23rd... If we had purchased a Stallion that needed to be castrated, that delay could be closer to a month, and would also add the cost of castration..

Actual transportation was the last Big Item to figure out.  By recommendation, we went through Horse Flight.  Having never done this before, I had no preconceived notion of what companies are good.. what companies are bad, etc... no idea.  Since our German Contact hadn't steered us wrong yet, we went with his contact and let them handle the details. 

Literally all I did was confirm the "ship to" address and gave them a visa.  I let them handle all door to door transit and organization.  This meant they picked the horse up, handled all the travel documentation, blood tests, etc. 

It was extremely easy from my end.  I did get a tad nervous since I never actually received a quote on the cost for all those services, but I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the entire process came in at $10,100.

Ten grand is a lot of money.  In fact, it's basically like going down to Thermal for 3 weeks (well... I could ship him half way back too..) but when I looked at the itemized invoice, no one thing seemed egregiously expensive.

His actual flight was about half the total cost ($4,800) on a KLM passenger flight from Amsterdam to LA. 

Transport from his home farm to the airport (and one night layover before his flight) was about $700, and transport from LA up to our barn was about $1,200 (including a 2 night layover during the holiday).

The required USDA quarantine was a significant portion as well ($3,000) and the remainder was all the odds and ends (health certificate, random government/airport fees, etc). 

Windsor's actual ticket cost almost exactly the same as a Business Class ticket on the same flight, and I'm pretty sure he had more space than that (something to consider in the future..).  I couldn't have hauled him myself from LA for any cheaper (not even considering the cost of time off, etc) and he arrived in pretty great condition, aside from the few nicks on his heels. 

(I did opt to extend my insurance coverage for the international trip, which at Markel is offered at 0.5% of insured cost.  If you aren't carrying a Mortality Policy with them, they will insure the trip only for 2% (I think).  I had heard some horror stories about shipping fever, or getting kicked or slipping on pavement during transit and felt that there half a percent was well worth the space of mind.. )

So, if you're daydreaming about importing a horse (and looking at how incredible the exchange rate is..) here's what I had to add to the Cost of the Horse, in order to get him home:

PPE in Germany:  $2,600
My Vet Review:       $500
Door-to-Door:     $10,100

Total Purchase/Import Costs: $13,200

Realistically if I had found a horse State-side, I would have been expecting to pay for a PPE and some transport anyway.  So if you're looking for a bargain overseas, expect to pay about $10,000 to get them to the West Coast (a little less to the East Coast). 

The Lessons Continue (with video)

The second week-o-Windsor has also be ridiculously-entirely-entertaining. 

This horse is so fun.  And aside from lamenting the need to constantly de-poop-stain a gray horse, I'm enjoying every second. 

Our first lesson of the week was on Tuesday after he had a day of rest on sunday and a light flat trainer session on Monday. 

Guys, I got to tell you - he already feels like a different horse.  He's figuring out this whole flatwork thing, and he tries really, really, hard. 

We are both pretty out of shape, so there is the small issue of balancing enough repetitions to get in the groove and make some improvement without tipping over the cliff of exhaustion/frustration.

We worked over some canter poles (set on bending lines) and just about the time I got the hang of keeping his Right Hind quick and under him, we both started huffing and puffing... and collapsing, and.... well.... breaking to the trot a tad. 

But it's cool to feel him learn and go "oh yeah! that! I remember you asking me that before..." and giving some good, solid tries.

It's most obvious in his transitions, which honestly feel a bit like asking a steam locomotive to chug away from the station and then eeeevvveeeennnnntuallly stop again. 

Tuesday, the downward transitions still left a lot to be desired, but his up transitions are getting more prompt and correct.  Dare I say we even had a couple respectable walk/canter departs that weren't too shabby.

Lots of work to do, for sure, but it's really reassuring to feel him understanding the ask, and adjusting to the best of his ability (and conditioning).

Thursday was probably my most frustrating ride to date.  And that is "most frustrating" on a scale of Pegasus to Unicorn, which is... not that bad.

Our trot work was good, I felt more able to stay down around him and he was keeping his balance a bit more up and back. 

I spent longer than I wanted to at the sitting trot, which is where it's really obvious he's a new horse to me.  I can always tell how in shape I am and how long I've had a horse by how well I sit their trot. 

There is always a period of time (sometimes a reeeallly loooong one) where it is "easier" for me to post and I am a more effective rider posting..

But then I always turn some imaginary corner and it becomes easier for me to sit, and when I need to accomplish something, I'd rather have my butt in the saddle to do it.

I am not there yet.

In fact, sitting the trot involved me mostly praying to god we would stop soon and not really doing much of anything helpful for Windsor.  (oops).

Our canter work was also not great.  We worked over a cavaletti on the short end of the arena and I just couldn't figure it out.

I rode too hard.  I didn't ride enough.  I got behind the motion, I anticipated the motion, I released too much, not enough. 

I did pretty much everything except ride it well.  I definitely got frustrated and clearly that didn't do much to improve anything.

Then, we traded the cavaletti for a small vertical (maybe 2'?) to be jumped on a circle.  This is an exercise we do a lot in the winter and I love it.  It really makes me hold the horse on my outside rein and gets you verrrrrryyyy  honest as to whether you are riding the front end or the hind end of your horse. 

But this small-jump-on-a-circle thing was the first time I've felt Windsor say NOPE. 

He didn't stop, or do anything rude, but he was none-to-pleased about the bending and the jumping and the bending again.

I ended up having to square off my circle (a lot) so that we could jump without bend.  but even then, landing and asking to continue on the circle seemed really hard for him.

I know this horse has had to land and turn over much more daunting obstacles, so I was a tad taken back by his frustration and seeming lack of experience. 

We managed a few decent approached both ways, but it wasn't magical, or pretty. 

I am hoping that the ability to relax over this exercise will come with some strength over his topline and increasing flexibility.

We finished over a small course.  I felt better about riding my canter forward and not picking at the distances, but I felt worse about my ability to stick with this horse over the jumps.

Blurry Brad to the left..

I swear to god this horse cracks his back at least two vertical feet when jumping over the tiniest of fences. 

I know I need to stay down around him and land into my base, but it's really hard to do either of those things when I feel like the Ejection Button has been hit and I'm floating around in space approximately 20" above my tack.

I do better when we are working over slightly larger fences, so maybe I just need to prepare for the same back crack over the smaller ones?

I'll tell you what though - it's humbling.  Fun.  But humbling...

Saturday I rode alone which was good for you know.. improving - but bad for hiding my tiredness/bad habits/catching a breather.

Pretty normal warm up, lengthen/collect, shoulder in/haunches in, transitions, etc.

Canter work was slightly better.  I worked on "galloping" which I use in the Hunter sense of the word. 

Not "galloping" like I grew up galloping, or you know... galloping on a cross country course.  But a polite, refined "gallop" which really means get your horse in front of your leg and moving up and out.  Technically still three beats.  But bigger, more impulsion, expression, etc.

Right now that's helpful because when Windsor is forward, there is a lot more movement going on under me than I am used to and that makes my brain think we are out of control. 

Turns out we are not out of control, we are just... cantering while using our back. 

The forward open stride also helps me straighten Windsor out and keep him more balanced.  At least it does until we both run out of steam...

Over fences we worked over a figure eight again, and I struggled with setting us up for a gappier distance.  My golden nugget of the day though was to "label my distance" (commit to it from farther out), then get DOWN IN MY HEEL. 

This was oddly helpful for me.

Getting down in my base is on my subconscious check list approaching a jump, but actively thinking "3 strides, a tad tight, get DOWN... 2... 1..." allowed me to stay much more balanced in my tack and quieter over the fence. 

Concentrating... who knew.

Then we moved on to our favorite line (trot in... canter out) and finally a few smaller courses.  A nice barn mate was willing to take a couple clips of video, so I've compiled a best(/worst) of.

Two clips of the line, with me measuring to a slightly longer gap.  The first time through even though we landed with zero impulsion from the trot in, somehow I pushed pasted the distance going out...

Second time we nailed it and he jumped pretty.

Then I compiled a series of approaches to a small gate.  Usually a really easy fence/.approach for me, but I was trying to get the same nice, gap to the singles that I'm getting comfortable with in the line.

Fun Fact: I am NOT comfortable with the gap to singles yet.  Not at all.  My eye can't see it and usually it's ends up with me going "move up to the long one... move up to the long one... move up, move up, SHIT!"

As you will see.  Very hard for me.  Very hard.  I'll get there, but Windsor just feels so different and he responds (or doesn't) respond so differently, I get lost sometimes.



Bless this horse for not hospitalizing me. 

Also, The Voltaire rep was out for a fitting during my lesson so I was swapping tack a ton, but that's a separate post.

"Green" with.... Envy.. I Mean Experience?

There are many aspects of Hunterland that as an objective observer, my husband finds somewhat absurd. 

Expensive braids, inexpensive ribbons and seemingly endless flat classes are high on that list.  But one of his all time favorite crazy-hunter things is the whole "Green" program, and the fact that "Green" horses seem to be "Green" until they are eating senior feed for breakfast.

If he's exaggerating - it's not by much. 

I understand the benefit of having a division (or maybe 2?) where our new little horses can come out and play and not get creamed by horses that are old pros at their job.  It really does makes sense. 

I also think Green divisions are a great way to let owners have fun with younger horses, as well as encourage trainers to develop a pipeline of talent. 

But First Year Green horses are expected to jump around a 3'6" course, and Second Year horses get to face 3'9".  That may be easy for the horses who will spend their career in the High Performance divisions, but for lots of horses, even the First Years are well beyond where they will likely spend their careers.

So the Pre-Green Division was made.  Giving horses two years of competing at 3' (or 3'3") hidden away from seasoned AA and Children mounts.

But now that there are big, expensive incentives for the Pre-Green horses, they can't just start at 3'... they need something to prepare them for the big money classes and increasingly competitive Pre-Green division...

Never fear! There's a Baby Green division at 2'6" too!

It's all done with good intentions, but as it stands, the program makes it possible to hide in the "Green" divisions for five full years. 

FIVE. 

I don't know what you call a horse that's been showing for five years and is jumping 3'9", but it's not green. 

But that is somewhat beside the point.  I'm pretty sure USHJA is already arguing about what these divisions should be called, and I meant to talk about a different obstacle with our Green Program. 

Since USEF (and by extension USHJA) isn't an international governing body, they rely on USEF show records to determine whether or not a horse is really eligible to compete in it's appropriate Green Division. 

As prize money and incentive have pushed more prestige and better competition into these divisions, it's taken a higher and higher quality horse, with more and more perfect rounds to win - even in the "rookie" division. 

The horse world has repeatedly taught me that if Trainers have to rely on keeping their clients happy and delivering ribbons, they will find a way to gain a competitive advantage.  Hopefully that advantage is classy and legal.. but sometimes it's not.

In the case of trying to maximize your competitiveness in the Greens, the work around has been Europe.

Go to Europe, buy a horse that's been bombing around 1.30m or higher (sound familiar?), then import it, register it with USEF (maybe with a new name, though no one really cares) and BAM, you have a legally "Green" horse that can step into a 3' Pre-Green Division and not bat an eyelash. 

a perfect 3' Pre-Green candidate...

Of course, that division will also be filled with the Prairie's of the world who have just started jumping and aren't actually too sure about flower boxes yet, as well as OTTB's learning to use their right lead, and the rest of the US bred horses that couldn't gain the same show experience as Mr. Euro Pants (and still legally show the Pre-Greens).

Obviously this loophole has pissed people off, and wasn't very well aligned with the initial intent of the Green Divisions.  So the USHJA finally came back and said that a horse's FEI record could be used to determine Green eligibility. 

This makes total sense to me.  If you have a horse that has been competing at an FEI level, it shouldn't be able to compete with supposed rookies.

But as I recently found out, there is no accountability in disclosing a horse's FEI record if you don't want to. 

When I went to get Windsor his USEF card, I chose to list his microchip, FEI number, and Selle Francais info.  I did this because I think it's honest, and it allows his full record to easily follow him.

I also don't really care if my Trainer shows him in the Greens or the unrestricted Performance Divisions...

But if I were importing horses as a business and trying to make money selling competitive Pre-Green horses ready to dominate in the 3' ring... I'd register them with USEF under "Dude's Slick Ride" and conveniently omit all that extra mumbo jumbo. 

USEF doesn't have the time or resources to chase that missing information down, and frankly it'd be awfully hard to prove without the actual papers in your hand.  There have been a few instances of BNTs getting busted with experienced FEI horses presented as 3' Pre-Green mounts in the States, but it doesn't happen often and usually someone has to file a protest with the USEF to get anything done about it. 

But in theory, if we are mostly policing ourselves, the USHJA had made it clear that we aren't supposed to be presenting our FEI horses as Green....

But then it became apparent (as I've also recently learned) that while the FEI does a good job of reporting results from it's larger competitions, it doesn't always archive FEI classes from smaller shows.  This baffles me, but apparently it was happening enough regularity to make relying on FEI online records a bad standard to rule by. 

Add on to that the folks who just omit the FEI record all together, and the rule change was pretty terrible at actually leveling the playing field for US born and bred horses. 

This brings us to last year, when another proposed rule change lit up COTH boards and the meeting rooms at the national meeting... I can only imagine the horror of debating Hunter rule changes in a meeting format, but from some locals I know who were there... it was ugly.

The rule change that actually passed at that meeting flipped our current mindset on it's head and states that if we can't keep European horses with Jumper experience out of the Greens, we should let US horses with the same experience in.

So where eligibility used to be restricted by how high your horse has jumped in competition of any sort... it is now only restricted by how high your horse has jumped in Hunter (or Equitation) classes.

You get a free pass to jump as much and as high as you want in the Jumpers

.... at least until you start campaigning in a Green Division. Once you start showing a horse in USEF Green Divisions, you may not compete higher than that division in the Jumpers... That seems like a somewhat unnecessary restriction, but whatever.

If you're curious about the actual wording of the rule... it is listed under HU103 in the USEF rule book.

Basically, if Windsor starts to show as a First (or Second) Year Green horse (which I'm shocked he's now allowed to do), he wouldn't be able to show over 1.20m in the Jumpers at the same time. (oh darn)

Opinions on this rule change are rabid, and I understand why.  I can see how disregarding jumper experience will help the US breeders...  eventually. But it does seem like a tricky flood gate to ever close again.

In the rule change explanation (huge nerd here), it is clear that the Board approved this change with the intent of changing it back once USEF figures out how to manage a universal ID system that would accurately allow us to track a horse's record overseas.  (see all of the current arguments over microchipping that are going on now..)

If and when that ever happens, it seems like an overwhelming majority of the membership wants to see the Green Divisions returned to the young, green horses they were meant for. 

But that will be much easier said than done. 

Christmas Courtesy of Prair...

There are lots of ways that kiddos interrupt your otherwise perfectly scheduled (lol) life, but trying to turn your environment into something that won't pose imminent harm is one of those new challenges. 

To be fair, the extent of our "baby proofing" has been pretty much limited to taking a few sharp objects off of low shelves and instilling a firm concept of "HOT" with regard to the fireplace. 

But the notion of my big, beautiful glittery Christmas Tree festooned with all my cherished (and breakable) ornaments made even me, Queen of don't-accommodate-the-baby-too-much, pause and think.

Instead of scrapping the tree all together, or leaving it bare at the bottom where curious hands can grab, I attacked the ribbon walls in the garage and decked our halls with Prair's lovingly collected tri-colors.

By rolling up the streamers and paperclipping them to the back, I turned the rosettes into pretty, varied ornaments.  It was actually kind of fun to read the back of each one and reminisce on certain shows or rounds or especially treasured championships. 

It was one of the first times I've been truly grateful for my OCD note taking on my ribbons.  It's fun to chuckle at "FIRST PLACE!!! (judge missed our blown lead change.. tee hee)" before crimping the ribbon onto a branch.

The Baby got in on the action and loved climbing the step stool with a ribbon in hand and tossing it at the tree. 

Initially I was going to do a traditionally "red and green" tree, but Prair hasn't gotten enough 6th place ribbons to trim out a tree yet.   She can claim far more Blues... so we stuck to a Blue, Red, Yellow theme and called it good.

I wasn't totally expecting to love how the tree turned out, but now that I've stared at it for a couple days, it's festive and bright and nothing will shatter if the kiddo gets a little grabby-grabby. 

I imagine that *when* we have a big beautiful barn of our own, I would put up a Ribbon Tree in the tack room every year....  

Bad light, but fully festive!

The only downside to this whole plan is that my usually cheerful ribbon wall is slightly less uplifting when I pull into the garage now.... it's a tad sparse and a little sad looking, but worth the sacrifice I think.

Visited by a Ribbon Thief

Funny enough, The Boy was the one running to and from the garage to gather ribbons as needed, and I'm sort of curious as to his selection process... he definitely cherry picked the ribbons (especially the tri-colors) but I haven't figured out what the theory was... Ahh the mysteries of marriage. 

I'm just grateful he let me make a RIBBON TREE, so I am unlikely to criticize his contributions...

But the big thanks go to Prair, for gathering such a lovely collection for our Christmas Tree.