THE IMPORT PROCESS OF AN ICELANDIC HORSE (and costs)

The costs included in getting the horse are:

The price of the horse (since the exchange rate can change slightly from day to day, the price of the horse is set in the Icelandic krona).

A thorough veterinary check (paid by the seller if the horse isn’t sound) is usually 40.000 isk depending on what’s included in it (ca. 260 euros /  290 $).

Transport to Keflavik, ca. 30.000 isk (ca. 190 Euros / 290 $).

Export costs (depending on to what country the horse goes, see details here below).

Transport from the airport to the horse’s new home.

Horses are exported from Iceland (Keflavik) to Europe, to 2 different airports;  Occationally to Norrköbing (Sweden), and virtually every week to Liege (Belgium).

Horses are exported from Iceland (Keflavik) to North-America (USA and Canada) only to New York (not to other cities or airports in North America).

Export from Keflavik to Liege, Belgium, costs:

• Flight 1.550 EUR, with all the paperwork.
• VAT (There is 25% tax paid at import in Scandinavia, but 7-12 % in most other countries in Europe).
• If it’s a stallion it costs ca 2.450 EUR.

Export from Keflavik to Scandinavia:

• Flight to Liege with same costs as above, plus that exporter arranges for truck transport to Ljungby in Sweden, and then onwards to your doorstep.

Export from Keflavik to New York, USA, costs:

• Flight, quarantine (very short in time, but unfortunately costly) and paperwork, ca 3.400 usd.

Export from Keflavik to Dublin, Ireland, costs:

• Flight, with all the paperwork, 1080 EUR.  The exporter that does that route is Fákaland export.

Export from Keflavik to UK, costs:

• Flight to Liege with same costs as above, plus that exporter helps with arranging for truck transport to UK, and then onwards to your doorstep.
• As an example, the extra costs that have to be paid for a horse that goes with truck from Liege to Wales can be 600 pounds.

Extra costs with transport of a horse from the airports to their future home:

Truck transport from the airport to the future home of the horse vary of course a lot depending on the distance.  The exporter can usually arrange for or help finding a commercial horse transport, if you ask them to, and there is always truck ready at the airport to pick up several Icelandic horses landing on that flight and drive them to their future homes.  So, often several Icelandic horses (owned by several new owners) being exported can share a transport taking them towards their new homes.

Europe:  Ingo Müller´s company transports horses all over mainland Europe, and Scandinavia, in connection with the export flights.

UK:  John Parker’s company transports horses to the British isles.

USA/Canada:  The exporter can help finding/arranging for a commercial horse transport, from New York to the horse’s future home, if needed.

IN MORE DETAILS:  The process of acquiring the horse is:

The buyer decides on a horse, and we arrange for having a veterinary check done.  We can make a contract, and this is the best time to do it. I book the vet to come and do a thorough vet check. I also book a space on the next export, tentatively, or on whatever export the buyer wants ; )

The horse is veterinary checked. If the horse is sound, the full price of the horse is paid (except if there is some different agreement done), and the vet check, and I confirm the space on the export, if the buyer wants ; ) The horse is by then the buyer’s property : ) Costs that happen after that (feed and care, taking a mare to a stallion, training, etc.) are the buyers responsibility, unless a different agreement is made on beforehand. Usually the horse is though kept for free, by the seller, until the next export between Iceland and the future home country.

It is best, by then, that the owner insures the horse with its future insurance company.  It’s virtually never a problem if the horse is to be exported soon.  If it stays for a long time in Iceland so your insurance company becomes reluctant to insure the horse, that is, if it’s needed, I can help you insure it by an Icelandic insurance company.  Of course, not everybody decides to put the costs into insurance.

The exporter sends the buyer the information on the exact amount of costs for the transport, and the information on the account to pay that to (this information is often sent just at the time when the export happens).

A few days before the export, the exporter sends a truck to fetch the horse at it’s home in Iceland and take it to Reykjavik and then Keflavik international airport.

All the paperwork (horse passport, receipt etc.) come with the horse when it is exported, either with the plane or in mail.  It is nice (when the papers are in your hands) to contact the Icelandic horse registry in your country and let them transfer them to your name in the worldfengur.com database, but it is not necessary, the horse passport is your proof of ownership.

The horse is exported in the buyer’s name, so getting the horse delivered at the airport is an easy process.

So, the process is pretty simple, what you have to worry about on your side is sending the payments for the horse and the transport, and booking a transport from the airport to the future home of the horse.

If you need to get a further idea about the amounts in a different currency than ISK, you can go to

http://www.arionbanki.is/English

(you just write in the number in whatever currency you like, and the webpage then shows the other currencies automatically).

The Units Plus app (is in Play store) is also good for currency conversion.

The exchange rate that your bank gives can be slightly different, but there should not be a big difference.

It is ok to send the payments in Euros or Dollars or other common currency, my bank changes it to ISK here for a very slight fee (1000 isk, ca. 7 euros) that you can put on top of the price, and that is usually a lot quicker and easier than buying ISK.