Follow the experiences of someone who has already made the move to France with her horses...
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Making the move to France with Horses
In March 2003 we arrived in the Dordogne on a house-hunting trip and in three days we saw about 5 properties spread over a large area. On the last day we had arranged to travel up to the Limousin to see an equestrian property in the Haute Vienne and we were instantly smitten. After searching in the Dordogne, where it was getting increasingly difficult to find enough suitable land for horses, we felt we had finally hit the right spot.
Having our priorities in good order we first looked at the stables, the indoor riding school and the 30 acres of lush Limousin countryside, after that the house could have been a cowshed and I think we would have loved it. Luckily the farmhouse was in good enough order and the range of stone barns and cottage had good renovation potential.
The Limousin is a wonderful place to keep horses with acres of grazing, amazing hacking and a strong tradition of working horses. The climate is typically continental with shorter, often cooler, winters, warmer summers and it’s fair share of rain. The information that follows is by no means an exhaustive list of the practicalities surrounding moving your horse to and living in the Limousin but it covers the major areas that have concerned me.
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MOVING TO FRANCE
International Horse Transport
A reputable firm of transporters can be sourced through Horse and Hound. I used John Parker and found them to be quite acceptable. The cost will vary depending on the number of horses you are bringing and your location in the UK but prices start at around £600 for a single horse. Horses will travel in large lorries and may spend time at the company’s stables or at stables en route, which may mean that their journey can take a lot longer than yours. The transport company will organise all the export formalities and will need to let them have copies of your horse passport.
LIFE WITH HORSES IN FRANCE
Vets and Health Issues
Many local vets in the Limousin will be able to offer a basic service for horse owners and are used to dealing with farm animals as well as domestic pets. Yearly inoculations for flu and tetanus will generally cost a bit less than in the UK and vets will sell drugs for administration intramuscularly if you are not too squeamish!
Wormers in France are quite expensive especially if purchased from your vet and it may be cheaper to source them from a mail order company in the UK.
Flies are much more of a problem here than in the UK and from April to October if the weather is warm then there will be lots of flies. After 3 summers I can honestly say that I have found no chemical or natural product that helps in the war on flies and I have resigned myself to stabling them during the heat of the day and using fly masks on the horses that will tolerate them. Long Spanish manes and tails certainly help.
Tics can be a problem and usually manage to hide themselves in awkward places like between hind legs and behind the elbows but you quickly become expert at their removal. There are several bovine pour on products such as Butox and Versatrine that I have found to work well against tics and horse flies.
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Farriery
Since living in the Limousin I have kept my horses barefoot and they have a regular trim from my trimmer. You can find a registered farrier in the Pages Jaunes of your telephone directory under marechal-ferrant and in horse magazines such as Cheval and Cheval Pratique . These French horse magazines usually have an extra publication each year with all the horse professionals and retailers listed by region. Shoes here are a bit more robust than the UK and your new farrier may well smile as he removes your UK set!
Rugs and Clipping
I have barely clipped or rugged since arriving in France, only a small line under the neck and girth to facilitate cleaning before tacking up. My horses are hairy and quite frankly filthy during the winter but they seem to love rolling in snow, frost or mud so I assume they like the natural approach.
Rugs are readily available in tack shops or by mail order as are clippers.
Feed and Hay
If you have sufficient land you will be able to strike a deal with a local farmer to cut your hay. My local farmer cuts, bales and puts the hay in my barn and takes half the hay in payment. Most farmers will sell hay to you and there are hay merchants that can supply small bales and straw (most hay is supplied in big bales) at a price slightly lower than the UK.
Feed companies such as Destrier make a full range of hard feeds and can be found at outlets like Gamm Vert and there are many UK feeds available nowadays through specialist suppliers but things like haylage are more difficult to find locally at a sensible price.
Horse shops
Horse and rider ware can be found in most sports shops like Decathlon and Go Sport and some bricolage (DIY) shops, the range in the sport shops is now quite comprehensive. Specialised saddlery outlets can be found in bigger towns like St. Junien and Limoges and there is an excellent mail order saddlery on www.padd.fr where you can choose to view the whole site in English. Prices, overall, are similar to the UK.
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Bedding
Following their success in my UK stables I have purchased rubber mats for my stables (less work, more hygienic and cheaper running costs in the long run) but beware as they are much more expensive here in France. My Kraiburg mats were at least 25% more expensive so it is worth considering bringing them with you from the UK. I use shavings with my rubber mats and again I have found these to be at least 25% more expensive than the UK although good quality straw is readily available (and not expensive) as is flax and hemp.
Muck heaps can be disposed of by your local farmer who may make a small charge for this service but amongst the green-fingered residents of our hamlet my well-rotted manure is highly prized!
Competing and working in the equestrian business
Competing in France is more complicated as you need to pass your Galop 7 test at a registered centre equestre before you can enter all but the club (think unaffaliated) level. This involves a ridden and theory test to a level similar to BHS stage 2 and can take anything from a year to accomplish due to the usual red tape.
Your horse must be pure or part bred and registered with the appropriate breed society as unpapered or d’origine inconnue horses are not allowed to compete in most competitions. The federation francaise d’equitation have a very informative website www.ffe.fr and much of the information is available in English.
Working with horses is surrounded by equal amounts of red tape and if you hold at least the BHS AI you may be able to get accreditation with the French authorities but unlike England you cannot teach or run an equestrian/trekking centre without the appropriate qualifications.
Registering your horse/Pompadour
The national stud at Arnac-Pompadour is not only a great place to visit with its castle, race track and guided tours of the stables but it holds top class competitions in dressage, show jumping and 3 day eventing, the FFE site has full details of all forthcoming events.
All horses and ponies must be microchipped and have a French passport, SIRE (ministry of agriculture’s institute for the horse) at Pompadour are the authority concerned with this process, a new ruling means that from January 2011 if you keep eqines on your property then you must also register this (regardless of whether they are yours) it's a simple process that can be done online.
Horse Insurance
In France it is obligatory to have public liability for your horses and you may find that this level of cover is included in your household insurance but if not it is readily available at about 30 euro per horse per annum. If you join a riding club you will be required to purchase your insurance cover for riding and accidents through the club and a similar level of cover can be organised as an independent rider and details can be found on the FFE site. Private insurance companies offer similar cover to those in the UK and their details can be found in most horse magazines.
As I look forward to summer in the Perigord-Limousin region I still can’t believe how lucky I am to have found my perfect place to live; released from the pressures associated with the way I kept my horses in the UK and free to enjoy their training in a way I had not thought possible makes the move worthwhile.
Disclaimer
Whilst every care has been taken in the preparation of this article and all of the information contained within is based on the authors personal experience of living and working in France, neither the author nor Limousin Property Agents can accept any responsibility for the accuracy of the information contained within.