There are few places these days where the Aussie Dollar goes very far when horse shopping – certainly not in Europe any more and barely in Australia. So what about NZ? They’ve been breeding and training some great horses for quite some time now and there’s no quarantine restrictions. We’ve asked Rosemary Freeman, a NZ Dressage Rider whose recently relocated to Country Victoria for her experience of the transport process.
Moving my horse from NZ to Australia – Rosemary Freeman
After deciding to bring my horse to Victoria from New Zealand, I was recommended to use IRT. So I found out all about the cost first – I was quoted a New Zealand expense of (NZD) $5200 – around AUD $5000.
IRT’s website is great and if you look there, all of the transport schedules are available – flights between NZ and Australia are regular and I had no trouble booking a date.
My horse is a a 4 year old Holsteiner x gelding of the Littorio line with great movement and a super trainable temperament - a good quality horse.. In summing up the costs, after his purpose price, breaking in fees and transport to Australia, given the price of young horses in Australia, I was still much better off to transport him so away we went.
After deciding to move him, I wanted to see what IRT does and how my horse would be looked after before, during and after the flight.
Back to the website for more research and it caters beautifully for the most fussy of horse owners - there’s a page with videos, lots of videos, where you can see the equipment they use, some horses in transport and they explain the whole process in detail.
I booked a flight, paid the cost + insurance + transport to and from the airports + GST (phew! additional extras)
And waited for the date of transport
As the planned date drew closer, IRT phoned to say the other horse on the flight had been cancelled and I could move him on the booked day but had to pay double the quoted price, or – take a flight 3 days later. This worked out fine for me but it’s something to make sure that you have some flexibility with your exact days as there needs to be 2 horses to a shipment.
The re-scheduled flight was to land in Melbourne at 2am and he was to arrive to us at about 6am after going through the Customs procedure, being trucked etc
I was phoned at about 5am from the transport company and then by IRT to let me know that the flight had been delayed and that he should be with me at about 7.30 – 8am so that communication was great.
When he finally got here, he looked travel worn as he had to be sedated at some point of his trip. IRT say they use sedatives in 3 – 5% of transports, and for a total global requirement of over 7500 horses, sedation is not very common.
As IRT has an equine vet, the sedation (using Dromosedan) was carried out and he was monitored during the whole procedure. He was given a bale of hay and plenty of clean water so they do arrive in the best shape possible.
The final cost of the flight ended up being AUD $5670 + GST
For each horse, they have a 50kg luggage allowance, anything to do with your horse that is clean except feed can be transported (saddles / bridle / covers / boots etc)
It is recommended that the horse arrives well hydrated, without wearing covers or boots, if it gets cold IRT supplies blankets during transport. It is also recommended that the horse travels without back shoes on and is wormed sometime beforehand.
Things you need to know to move a horse from NZ to AU
New Zealand and Australia at the moment have no restriction on quarantine procedure this step is non-applicable.
IRT does all the Customs paperwork, vet checks before and after the flight for the horses well being, any diseases that they might have picked up etc, as they insure the horses it is in their better interest to check.
All documentation to be filled out are supplied by IRT –
- GST questionnaire
- IRT insurance for transit
- Letters of instruction-import from New Zealand - A conditions of transport contract is attached.
On the GST from it asks:
- if you are registered for Australian GST – it’s ok if you’re not, I wasn’t.
- if you are registered with the ATO for Deferral of GST – if you are you need to provide a copy of ATO confirmation
- info about the horse – name or breed in un-named, its age, sex, colour, breed, purchase price/market value, cost of freight (refer to IRT invoice) cost of transit insurance
- it clearly states that you need to pay GST a minimum of 72 hours before transport to Australia
- IRT prepares the customs documentation with value indicated by you, but may require additional documentary evidence of this value, eg a suppliers invoice or bill of sales (a receipt)
- Indicate which currency the amounts are in – for Australian write AUD, for New Zealand write NZD – to indicate Australian dollar or New Zealand dollar
- The form is suitable for two (2) horses, if you are transporting more than two (lucky you!) it asks to have the same information about them on a separate sheet of paper IRT has bank accounts in New Zealand and Australia; you can choose which currency to pay and don’t need to set up any international money transfers. When signing the form, it states that the declared value can be supported if necessary – but a purchase receipt is not asked for at this stage – it might be for insurance purposes so is very unlikely to be required.
IRT has bank accounts in New Zealand and Australia; you can choose which currency to pay and don’t need to set up any international money transfers.
When signing the form, it states that the declared value can be supported if necessary – but a purchase receipt is not asked for at this stage – it might be for insurance purposes so is very unlikely to be required.
On the insurance form
IRT has an insurance branch, they will insure the horse for transit and for 30 days after it arrives
- they also have insurance for horses in Australia
- to insure my 4 year old Holsteiner x, the cost of this was less then $185, considering all costs (purchase price, flight etc) it was well worth it. Letter of instruction – import from New Zealand - this form asks:
- info about the horse (same as the GST form) and if it is a permanent or temporary move
- the horses current location with a contact phone number and e-mail
- the sale price / market value with insurance value added on, the cost of insurance and if you hold evidence to support these – it’s ok if you don’t have a receipt, I didn’t
- the name and address of the person paying for transit
- the name and address of the person paying for the GST
- the address and a phone number of the final destination - it’s ok if there is only one person for all sections but helps if you have a person at either end of the transit if the plane is delayed for any reason Transport to / from airports IRT have stables in Auckland New Zealand, if your horse has a distance to travel to get to Auckland, they can stable them overnight / for some hours before the flight.
- the cost for the horse to be picked up from the opposite side of Auckland by IRT was NZD $120
- you can float / truck your horse to IRT in New Zealand but must have a transporter pick them up from Melbourne airport IRT works with transport companies in Victoria and recommended an agent, to move the horse from Melbourne airport to home 100kms from Melbourne, was around AUD $ 240
Would I do it again?
Yes. The process was well handled, the horse recovered quickly and financially, I have a lovely young horse of better quality than I could have otherwise have purchased for the same money in Australia.