It's John Waynes fault, ever since I saw my first western I wanted to be a cowboy, and ever since I saw the “high chapparal” on tv the only horse that would do was a palomino mare like the one that “blue boy” rode.

Well, it seems like I've looked at every quarter horse for sale ad in the country over the last few years, hoping to see the heading above. I spent hours driving hundreds of miles going to look at many of them. some were not as described, some wouldn't pass a vet and others were so obviously unsuitable it wasn't even worth the drive to look at them.

Time for a new plan, I'd read lots of reports of people importing a horse from the states, surely I couldn't do some thing like that, or could I? some searching on the net and two phone calls later I realised that this was something that an ordinary person could do.

One of the people I spoke to was Joanne Boon of the Roslin Stud. Joanne was really informative,enthusiastic and had an obvious knowledge of the subject. she also had the contacts and experience, ( over thirty horses imported ) to ensure the operation would be a success. I did my sums and decided to go ahead.

Although Joanne always has a good selection of horses on her web site, accurately described and ready for import, I wanted to have a degree of input into the process, in fact, as much as possible. joanne explained that there are several good web sites with hundreds of horses for sale and I had found one or two good ones myself, so, armed with a new broadband connection and a sense of expectation I began browsing.

I began with the aqha.com classified section, this site has a really good advanced search engine which allows you to specify such parameters as age range , gender, colour, temperament and of course the all important price. I was surprised to notice that the americans seem to be much more candid in their descriptions of the horses on offer, bad points being discussed as openly as good points, possibly a consquence of the litigation culture which seems to prevail in the states at the moment, no one being willing to open themselves to being sued for a false statement?

Various other sites were also very interesting, dreamhorse.com being similar to the aqha site, prorodeohorses.com being the place to look for an arena performance prospect, ( ropers, barrel racers etc) and specialist sites such as horsebreakers.com who specialise in dun and buckskin horses.the other breed associations also have sites and links that are worth a visit.

After many hours trolling thru literally hundreds of ads I found a beautiful mare who seemed totaly user friendly and unflappable, two attributes which I was very interested in after owning three thoroughbreds, that I contacted the owner and with much help and guidance from Joanne, began serious negotiations with her. she was very helpful and sent me over sixty photos of the mare in all situations which were very influential in helping me reach a decision.unfortunately, due to the need to proceed slowly and carefully, someone beat me to the punch and purchased her after a single viewing.

Back to the drawing board and a warning that to do this you must be prepared to have real patience and a degree of perseverence.

I had of course drawn up a short list of horses and was repeatedly drawn back to a gorgeous, triple registered ( aqha,phba and nrha) palomino mare which had a solid record of reining experience, good breeding and the schoolmaster sort of temperament which I was looking for. A vital prerequisite as I am an enthusiastic but hardly gifted rider. she was however, a little more expensive than I thought I could afford. but, although her price had already been reduced I thought that maybe a slightly lower offer might be found acceptable. I again contacted the owner and after many e mails and a few telephone calls a video was sent over showing holly competing sucessfully at the world palomino show as a four year old and also being schooled more recently at home in an outdoor arena.she seemed perfect for me and after a detailed vetting including x rays (at my cost of course ) I made what proved to be a successful offer and the hollywood way ( holly ) became mine.

I arranged the money transfer and Joanne arranged for her contacts over there, Bob and Vicki Johnson, to pick her up and transport her to the Nedpoint quarantine centre, a six hour trailer journey. The quarantine period is 30 days, and beleive me, it passes slowly. Irmgard, the lady who runs Nedpoint, is happy to hear from you and gives regular updates on how the horse is doing and when the flight date is going to be.she arranges the flight and all of the details for when the horse lands in Amsterdam.

After landing, they contact John Parker International, a very well known and experienced transport company who carry your new baby on the last leg of the journey.this is by lorry from Amsterdam to Calais, ferry to England then an overnight stay at their main site on the coast. you are kept informed at all times and I was even given the drivers mobile number so that I could meet her near the motorway junction and guide her to the yard. The moment had arrived at last, when I would see her in the flesh for the first time. the partition was pushed back and there she was, a beautiful dark palomino in real show condition. considering it was late february and all our horses were rather rough and hairy, she was slick, smooth and perfectly presented. even the insides of her ears being clipped. I was very impressed. after her long journey she was understandably quiet for the first few days but soon began to show her personality. Determined to take things slowly, and because neither of my saddles even came close to fitting her, it was at least two weeks before I rode her for the first time.she has proved to be exactly as advertised, well trained, soft and forgiving and has so far ( fourteen months on ) hardly put a foot wrong when under saddle. We have attended a number of Western Horsemans Association shows and a sponsored ride  and she has performed brilliantly at each, even leading our group through Woburn’s beautiful parkland although I doubt she has been trail ridden very much in the past. She remained calm and steady even when my friend’s arab spooked, lost her rider and ran off.

At this weekend’s Western Horseman’s Association show she won three rosettes and her cattle working competency award, an added bonus as I love the cattle classes.so was importing a horse the right move and would I do it again? The answer for me is yes, in a heartbeat. (I’ve already got my eye on the next one, don’t tell the wife tho) but, I am aware that I have been very fortunate in many ways.I had excellent advice, help and backup from Joanne at Roslin, the good luck to buy from a terrific owner who really cared about her horse and where her future lay. Having said that, we did our homework carefully, asked all the right questions and took every precaution to insure we chose the correct horse for my riding ability.

If you are interested in talking to someone about this subject, in the first instance, you should call joanne at Roslin Stud or I will be happy to talk to anyone, even if they are just interested in the process for future reference. Good Hunting!

Bob Powell.

• LOCATE YOUR WOULD BE  PURCHASE:
• VETTING $300 Approx
• TRANSFER OF FUNDS: £25 transfer fee
• TRANSPORT TO QUARANTINE STATION $600.00 
• QUARANTINE AND FLIGHT $3600.00
• IMPORT AND FINAL TRAVEL CHARGES £936.00
• INSURANCE DURING TRANSPORTATION £126.00 
• THE FINAL TOTAL DEPENDS ON BASIC COST OF HORSE AND DOLLAR RATES AT TIMES OF PURCHASE.