Good evening everyone
Planning a bit of a trip soon, sales negotiations permitting…
I may have to collect some horses from Michalow, 100km NW of Krakow in Poland.
Plan is use the tunnel, scoot across Belgium and Germany, into Poland to collect.
I’m using my own 16t truck, paperwork sorted for the horses, me and the vehicle, no “O” licence to worry about.
I guess it’s around a 2600miles round trip, so will be at my limit for a weeks driving.
Day 1, Stevenage to Calais, and then as far as I can till normal hours run out.
Day 2, Destination the western side of Germany till normal hours run out.
Day 3, Destination collection point in Poland. Long break.
Day 4, Loaded, aim to get as far as I can into Germany/Belgium (maximum driving hours plus reduced daily break)
Day 5, Calais, under the wet stuff and onto Wales. (maximum driving hours)
Day 6, Contingency day, horsey accommodation arranged in the UK should I need it.
But, it’s a hobby, so no concerns about a rest period before or after. What should I be aware of?
Questions are;
Is there any extra paperwork I should take for the trip. (I’ve had a good look at the “must take list” on another thread.)
Should I avoid Germany? (Been scared by another thread…)
Where is the best place to get fuel?
What if I get a puncture (biggest worry! But I have a spare wheel)
Look forward to your comments and advice.
Cheers
Paul
Well, I guess you’ve made sure eurotunnel accepts horses.
And as you are doing for yoursekf you probably don’t need live animal transport licence or to observe max transport time, breaks for feeding and excercise… not my area of expertise.
Going from Uk to PL and avoiding DE is…possible but not very sensible, it’d be nice detour (FR-CH-AT-CZ/SK or DK-SE).
Fuel can be obtained from fuel stations - plenty of them in DE or PL. Sometimes, when you leave the autobahn you can find these… landwirtschaftschiftsomething shops, farm supplies supermarkets, usually in small towns and villages diesel there is often cheaper but not all sell fuel to public.
If you get a puncture and have a spare then you jus swap the two wheels. It’s good to have the spare wheel inflated and jack and wheel wrench come handy, together with a pry bar or something to give extra lever. If you fail then ask for help, most germans speak english,as do some poles, if it does not work then use sign language, eventually somebody will ring somewhere and a tyre fitter will turn up.
Have you checked with customs as to what will be required for the
Import of the Horses into the UK, How long are you allowed to leave
the animals in the Horse box by LAW;; if need be you will need a
resting up place, make sure that you have feed and water as the
Germans along the A2 do control animal transport, frequently
look on the euro stickys as here is lots of Info that will help
you,as regards road charges – if you are liable■■?
i THINK YOU WILL FIND the tunnel does not take
livestock ■■?;CHECK WITH THE BOATS WHAT THEY MAY REQUIRE
this will save you time and trouble,
I think you may you would be better off taking a 2nd driver
In Poland you might have to have animal transport licence even if you don’t do it for reward…
My sister in law is pulling a horsebox with her own horse behind her pajero and she had to obtain one…
And I don’t know about horses, but when I was bringing CAT into the UK, there was some “dewormisation” process or whatever, which had to be done on cat more than 24 and less than 48 hours before entering the UK…
sonflowerinwales is doing it for hobby, so I’d guess he/she knows a thing or two about horses and papers around them.
Eurotunnel accepts small pets and horses, but not other cattle.
“Eurotunnel are able to transport domestic equidae on it’s single deck passenger shuttles. Horses must travel in a horse transporter with an operator’s licence, Type 2 transporter authorisation and the appropriate certificate of inspection under article 18(2) of the Welfare of Animals during Transport regulations, or national equivalent.”
eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/sit … 010044.pdf
This is the official EU regulation on live animal transport; unless your horses are “registered” (I don’t know what does that mean) you should stick to it, then you’ll be OK (unless some of the countries you’ll passing has something stricter in place).
After reading it briefly: horses must be over 4months old (unless registered), unbroken horses cannot travel so far, separate stalls, max journey time 24hrs, feeding every 8hrs, after 24hrs of travel they must be unloaded and rested for 24hrs, journey log to be kept…
I’ve got a feeling that the regulation is ignored quite routinely…
The tunnel DOES NOT take horse/livestock. If the weather’s bad neither will the ferries (but it has to be REALLY bad).
Make sure your truck has suitable lashing points front and rear as the ferry co’s lash horseboxes down as a matter of course, even when empty, and they can refuse to take you.
ALL of the horses have to have vetinary health certificates and passports. You wont need to clear customs in the UK if the horses have not come from outside the EU.
Where will you stable the horses en-route? I would not expect to keep the horses on the lorry for 3 days, that would be the quickest way to a whole lorry load of problems, believe me.
With nearly 10 years experience in this industry, I would get a proper horsetransporter to quote for the job. I’ve seen too many amateurs try to do exactly what you are intending to do and it all go very pear-shaped.