their soles can become sore easily on the hard dry ground.
After a few weeks, if all goes well, Laura will begin flat work with her new arrivals, then eventually start the jumping. The young ones will attend shows just to be schooled, not competed. The older, more experienced horses will begin showing as soon as they are fit.
Michelle Lauber of Legacy Hill Farms in Castle Rock, Colorado has imported approximately 300 Warmbloods from Germany in the last ten years. They range from young prospects to sea- soned dressage schoolmasters. Michelle imports through New York and uses a large tractor trailer to transport the new horses in box stalls from New York to Colorado, usually six to eight at a time.
Since her farm is elevated 7,000 feet above sea level, giving new horses the time to adjust is critical. Before leaving Europe, she has all her new horses started on an immunity boosting supplement called Transfer Factor, which continues once they arrive in the United States for at least another week. In the first two weeks at the farm, they are hand walked, are groomed extensively, are fitted with saddles and bridles and gain weight. Normally they are riding the horses within three weeks and many times within two weeks depending upon how well they are adjusting. Michelle feels their patient approach has paid off since they have had almost no problems with the new horses.
During this ‘adjustment time’, it’s the chance to get to know the personalities of the horses. Michelle and her staff work with them in-hand to test their ground manners. It’s impor- tant to get to know their personalities which helps with training tactics and approaches.
Both Laura in California and Michelle in Colorado each expressed how much they enjoy the excitement and antici- pation of getting to know the new Warmbloods and their personalities. They each commented on the language barri- er since the horses have learned voice commands in German, French, or Dutch for example. So it takes some time for the horses to learn the English language!
39
A Friesian Stallion during quarantine at Rigbie Farm
Final Thoughts
Once you understand all the steps in the import process and you’ve hired a reputable agent, you can feel confident that your horse will arrive “safe and sound.” America has so many diverse climates, that each one has its own idiosyncrasies which should be addressed during the acclimation period. Patience is important. Seek out a local professional who’s had experience importing horses and find out if they do anything special to ease the transitional period. In general, youngsters adjust easier and quicker than the older horses. But if they are younger, there is a good chance they haven’t been han- dled much and will require a fair amount of ground work and in-hand training.
Lastly, it is important to pause and recognize that there is a lot of great breeding going on in this country, and the quality of our American-bred Warmblood horses has improved immensely in the last 20 years. And besides breeders, there are many sales barns who’ve done the searching, vetting and importing of sport horses already. Finding that next dream sport horse may be closer than you think. But if not,
bon voyage!
WT
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