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Information
on Importing a Horse
with BFSGH
"Now pick up your left foot
Honey" - A mare and her new filly practice their line dancing :)
HOW THIS WORKS We are the largest importer of Gypsy horses in North America for several reasons. Here are a few of those of those. (see the FAQ'S page for more info on this)
In our sale section is a great selection of horses that are available for import into North America at this time. If a horse is on our farm, it states that. We have gone to dozens of farms and personally reviewed each one of these horses (except where noted specifically), and are the ever-so-important, unbiased set of eyes looking at a seller's horses. Every picture up on this site (over 1000!) was taken by us, unless it says otherwise, which isn't very often!
We don't just buy from 1 or 2 farms that have a few horses for sale, we scour the country finding the best of the best, from all types of sources... From private breeders (some who won't do business with "just anyone"), to trekking centers who use these horses every day, we have many varied sources. The majority of the horses that we buy have a history, unlike horses from dealers that rarely even know the parents of a given horse, much less a 5 generation "pedigree". We have spent literally THOUSANDS of hours with the true gypsies, eating, sleeping, and occasionally drinking :>) with them, learning all about the ways and lives of these people who created these special horses, and the histories of these horses for generations.
Many web sites with gypsy horses for sale on them are simply putting up pictures that dealers send them from overseas. Ask them if they have personally inspected the horses, and if they took the pictures themselves. Ask them if the person selling the horse bred it, and if he knows it's history. You will very likely be surprised! There is a BIG difference between dealers and breeders, be sure you know who you are dealing with. BFSGH will not import a horse which we have not seen with our own eyes.
Pictured here are only about 1/4 of the horses that we have reviewed recently. The ones that we deem unfit for sale to our buyers you will not find on these pages. Many sellers/dealers have "the good, the bad, and the ugly", as we like to call them, and they are more than happy to sell overseas buyers the bad and the ugly before the good. That's where we come in! We spend hours upon hours "in the trenches" with each of these horses, taking pictures, video, and personally inspecting them. Just getting them all sorted out can take hours! We take the time to do this, as we want to make sure that everyone gets just what they are looking for in a horse. We guarantee it! If we bring over a horse for you, that you aren't completely happy with, we will find another buyer for that horse for you! Many of the so-called horse importers have never even seen the horses they are pushing for sale. They are just peddling horses in the U.S. for dealers in other countries. We can't recommend buying a horse from someone who has never even laid eyes on the animal, and who's pictures were taken by some horse trader 5000 miles away. We recommend buying only from people who review horses personally, and have weeded out the junk. You can't afford to buy someone else's mistake/junk when it comes to the cost of importing a horse. Get an unbiased opinion!
It seems that all of the sudden, that just about everyone is a "gypsy horse/irish cob importer". Most of these are people who have never been heard of in the horse world before they decided to "cash in" on the growing interest in this breed in North America. We aren't one of these new, fly by night "importers" of this breed that never owned one or had any interest in them until they saw the big "dollar signs" in their eyes. We are one of the original breeders and importers of this breed into North America, and have been involved in the breed since 1996. We are also an established, reputable farm, breeding champion shires for over a decade. With us, you get our years of experience with this type of horse, and our years of experience with the true gypsy breeders of these horses, not someone who has never even touched one of these horses before they started being "an importer and breeder" of them.
PRICING We have the best connections, and get the best prices on comparable horses around. Some are less expensive, plainer horses, some are exceptional show quality breeding animals. We present all types here, for all budgets. Because we buy "in bulk", and fly "in bulk" we get the best price available for like-quality horses (like-quality being imperative, as, for example, there is a big difference in price in a top quality breeding stallion, and in an average quality stallion that can do not much more for the breed than make more like himself!) You will find stock here that is available for import for the lowest price around, and those that will cost a bit more, but will put someone on the map in the gypsy horse world. ALL of them have been personally inspected by ourselves. We don't rely on what a seller says about a horse, or pictures that the sellers take. We check out everything ourselves, and take all the pictures ourselves! These horses are all sane, sound, and decent horses, but the difference is in the breeding of them (we can trace up to 5 generations of ancestors on many of these guys!), and finer qualities which make a gypsy horse into a GOOD gypsy horse.
WHAT TYPE OF "COLORED COBS" ARE THESE? At BFSGH, the vast majority of horses we review are GYPSY HORSES. Not Irish Cobs, or Tinkers, or whatever others like to call theirs. Ours are gypsy horses because most on this site are bred by TRUE GYPSIES. Although these horses are eligible for registration in the various registries for this type of horse, those registries don't focus on horses that are bred by gypsies, and therefore can't offer the years of heritage that true gypsy breeders can offer. As a matter of fact, most overseas registries tend to "play down" the gypsy part of this type of horse, and wouldn't be caught dead with the name gypsy in their title. This is because of the skewed opinion that all gypsies are thieves and cheats, and are not to be associated with. We have found through our countless hours with true gypsies that these people (gypsies, not "travellers"), are hard working, honest people who just want to live their lives their own way. "Gypsy" has become synonymous with low-life, which is a very wrong stereotype that needs to be updated. We are proud of the true, traditional gypsy horse, and are grateful to the people who have bred and preserved them for years. We are proud to offer the market true gypsy horses.
IMPORT DETAILS After you pick out your perfect horse, we personally arrange to fly it to the US, handling all pre-export tests, paperwork and "red tape". We don't rely on lots of unrelated people, on the UK end to take care of things (all of which adds lots to the cost of things). We go with the horses to the airport, and personally send them off. We then either meet them personally on the other end, or have one of our team do it for us. One of us is in the UK sending the horses off, and another of us (or our team) are on the other end greeting the horses when they arrive! Sometimes we even fly WITH the horses! There are no guessing games on what happens before you get your horse. We can also arrange insurance, and shipping right to your door on the North American side. Many times, it's Jeff that will personally deliver your horse! We can also send you pictures of the whole adventure, from start to finish, something no one else can offer! We do all this at the best prices as well, as our 'bulk buying and flying power' allows us to do all this and still have the best prices around.
Many gypsy horse sellers will have to make you wait to get your horse until there is a flight going that they can get your horse on. We don't have to do this, as we arrange our own flights, and send several horses over at once (at the best price!). In fact, many other importers use our bulk flights to get horses over when they need them to get shipped! If you are looking to get a horse over to North America, contact us for info, we have flights going nearly every month of the year, no more waiting for the charter flights!
WANT A PRE-PURCHASE EXAM? Vet checks happily arranged on horses. For a "second level inspection" (basic soundness including flexion, heart, lungs, general health) add $300. For a full fertility exam on a stallion, add $700 (which includes transport to a breeding farm for collection, and return).
WHAT'S AVAILABLE NOW? See the sale page for currently available horses.
ARE THERE ANY OTHER EXPENSES ABOVE THE QUOTED PRICES? The quoted price on the horse includes EVERYTHING up to release from any quarantines that are required for import. The only other expenses that may be involved are insurance (which we highly recommend, and can arrange for you - or you can get your own), and transport once the horse is released from quarantine. Some people prefer to pick up the horse themselves from the quarantine station, in which case that expense can be very minimal. If you can't do that, we can arrange to have it shipped to your door, or oftentimes we even bring it to your door personally! If we bring it personally, our prices for transport are a good deal less than professional transport companies, as horse-transport isn't our business.
HOW DO I PAY FOR THE HORSE THAT I SELECT? We make things pretty simple for everyone involved. You can just make one payment (in US Dollars of course), and we handle everything else. This one payment can also include insurance and transport after quarantine. We can give you a firm quote on these things when you select a horse.
DO YOU OFFER TERMS ON BUYING A HORSE? Although we do occasionally offer terms on horses that we have bred on the farm and own ourselves, it is nearly impossible for us to offer traditional terms on imported horses. The reason for this is that we don't own the horses that we review. We scour the countryside looking for horses from some of the best true-gypsy breeders around. When we find a horse for someone, we have to pay the breeder/seller for the horse, and then pay the vetting that is required for export (along with numerous other export expenses). Then comes the shipping agent, who pays the airlines, the quarantine stations, and transporters, and then we pay numerous other people that are required in order to get your horse from one country to another. These expenses have to come out of our pocket if we don't have the horse already paid for by the buyer on the other end. The export expenses alone can be up to $12,000 for just one horse, which doesn't include purchase price of that horse When we are sending 6-10 horses in a load, that gets to be a very large sum of money! Because of this, we cannot offer true terms on horses generally, as we cannot go out of pocket on these expenses for everyone that would like us to do so, unfortunately.
What we can offer though is that when you pick out a horse, you don't have the pay the flight expenses and quarantines until shortly before the horse leaves the UK. This can give you up to a month or even 6 weeks sometimes to arrange financing on the horse. Occasionally we can even have the seller of the horse hold onto it for a bit longer, to allow for some time for getting payments on the horse. This is determined on a case by case basis of course, and if we do this, expect to have the horse insured (which we can arrange), and expect to pay the seller a bit for the board on the horse while it is waiting for it's flight. If you have a particular situation, just talk with us and we can see what we can arrange.
BRED MARES - Mares are
often shipped in foal. They are checked to be confirmed in foal
before they fly to the USA. Sometimes a younger filly is in foal, as
ALL gypsy breeders breed their mares by the age of 2 years, many of them
breed them earlier. BFSGH will offer horses bred as two year olds,
but we do not personally breed mares at 2 years or earlier, as gypsy
breeders do. We are not in a position to judge what gypsies have
been doing for generations, we simply offer Americans these horses and
they can make their own decisions if they want a young filly that has been
bred at a much younger age than an American would have bred it.
Any mare shipped in foal can lose a foal, mares that are never shipped
lose foals, it's just that way when breeding animals. If you are
depending on the foal, we can recommend different insurance options that
are available. We make every effort to ensure the comfort and
stress-less shipping of your horse, and the vast majority of mares carry
their foals to term after import, but we cannot, of course, guarantee that
one will not lose a foal occasionally. We recommend that you have
your in-foal mare checked as soon as she arrives to you, and if she is not
still in foal, you can then exercise your return option, or request a
rebreed from one of our stallions.
MORE INFORMATION? See our Frequently Asked Questions page for lots more details on gypsy horses.
Feel Free to call us for any questions or inquires you might have:
