One of the latest developments on the equestrian scene here in South Africa is the recent change to import and export regulations. We caught up with Candice Hobday of Hobday Equestrian Enterprises to get some first-hand information on the situation.
HQ: Candice, you’ve been in the equine travel industry for nearly 25 years. How did your journey begin?
Candice: Actually, it’s a bit longer than that because I started procuring horses overseas for clients first, and I was flying as a professional groom before 2000. When I was in that market flying backwards and forwards, it became apparent that there was room for other people to offer services in the import/export industry, and I started shipping the horses I was procuring for clients, and the pricing was quite interesting… From there it expanded and before I knew it, I wasn’t procuring horses anymore I was shipping horses….
I started primarily in the import industry because that was not controlled by charters, which exports are, and if you’re doing charters, it’s controlled by numbers, so whoever has the majority of the horses controls the charters. I broke into charters some years later after I got more clients, and that built up over those years. So yeah, I’ve definitely been solidly involved in imports since 2000 and in exports in the last sort of 15 years.
EXPORTS
HQ: You’ve obviously seen a great deal of change in the industry… We’ve gone from having direct exports to not having direct exports. Can you talk us through some of the changes you have experienced?
Candice: One thing I can categorically tell you with respect to imports and exports is that every day your eyes open; there’s always some new issue, rule change, legislation, you name it – it’s never completely reliable.
With regards to exports, I think it was 1994, when one of the first direct exports happened, down at Kenilworth Racetrack. They had a small green barn of four stables, and they exported four horses, and I think my sister was one of the first ones to be on that export, actually!
It was a hell of a job getting all of the protocols and agreements in place, but they got it right, and the horses departed from there and slowly but surely, that industry grew; they added another four barns of eight, making a total of 36 stables, and they were exporting pretty regularly from Cape Town.
In those days they used to do what they call back-to-backs, where you would bring a plane in from Europe full of horses, place them into the government quarantine in Montague Gardens, and then take the horses from Kenilworth Racetrack back to Europe. This was a very economical way of getting horses around the world, but that shut down just shy of 14 years ago due to an outbreak of African Horse Sickness within 150 kilometres of the free area.
The rules in those days stated that if you had ‘an outbreak’ it immediately shut you down for two years. After two years from the last case, direct exports could commence, but then there was another outbreak two years later, and another two years after that! Unfortunately, it was never an outbreak caused by endemic disease. It was always caused by people moving horses into the area and almost always vaccine related.
FAST FACT
A disease outbreak is considered endemic when it is consistently present but limited to a particular region.
Then, exports were audited by the Food and Veterinary Office, which is employed by the EU Commission to do an independent audit of the processes, biosecurity, paper trails, etc., and unfortunately, we failed that audit. That was the turning point where the South African Equine Health and Protocol NPC (SAEHP) got into a commission, we’ll call it, with Adrian Todd and his team; this was a private and government arrangement. The first thing they did was control the national movement of horses. This was through ‘Move My Horse’, the organisation that issues the permits to go to Cape Town. They regulate and control all of that, and this is part of the audit trail for direct exports.
Did you know?
SAEHP is a team of professionals working in partnership with the Government to protect the health of the national equine herd and open export routes to the world.
Obviously, Cape Town (AHS Free Zone) doesn’t want disease, so you need to make sure that you are importing healthy horses nationally from endemic-infected areas to free areas. The group also control the vaccine permissions for the surveillance and the free area. And they have been spearheading not only the regulatory necessities (such as surveillance, administration, data collection and correlation) required by the Food and Veterinary Office for a positive audit, but they have been campaigning to resolve the trade issues for direct exports, as well as negotiate the re-auditing, which was booked in, I think, 2020. Unfortunately, COVID arrived, so our audit was put on hold, and we had to campaign for a new audit date. That happened in October last year, and it was a successful audit, which was fantastic and the recommendation of the Food and Veterinary Office to the EU Commission was that we were safe!
FACT
We don’t only need to declare disease; we need to prove we don’t have it to be considered safe. For this reason, there are several ‘sentinel’ horses that are monitored regularly. These are unvaccinated horses that are bled regularly to prove that they haven’t contracted disease even though they may be exposed.
The audit then went to the EU Commission, which meets monthly, and they voted and agreed to lift the ban. This meant we were removed from the banned list and there is now a new protocol in place. The real plus of the new protocol is that it was no longer 40 days quarantine; it’s now actually only 14 days quarantine. The horses must stand residency within an area for 40 days and this is regulated by the SAEHP permits required to move horses in and out of the Cape, and this is verified by the state vet. Of those 40 days, they must be in what they call ‘hard lockdown’ for 14 days, and that is at Kenilworth quarantine station in the positive pressure barns with double doors and all of that. They do not come out for those 14 days. People are allowed in to go and look after them, but the horses can’t be removed, and if they were removed for health reasons, they wouldn’t be allowed back in. At the end of 14 days, there’s an AHS test, and based on that result, the horses fly, so, it works out to about 17 days in total with the tests. Before the 14 days start, you could have the horses in full training or exercise in the free zone, so I think this new protocol is a much friendlier way of exporting. Kenilworth is planning on expanding its facilities to increase the capacity for pre-export quarantine, so more ‘hard lockdown’ stables with space to walk the horses so that exports will not be restricted due to the limited stables in the current set-up, and we could export as frequently as every three weeks! This is beneficial from a logistical and economical standpoint, as if quantities of exports at one time increase, the price of exports should reduce.
FACT
There are only three stables in the AHS Free Zone where horses can stand residency: Milnerton Racetrack, Montague Gardens Government Import Facility and Kenilworth Racetrack.
HQ: Before this direct export, how were horses being exported?
Candice: We were going via Mauritius, which was an end to a means, and everybody tried their guts out and did a good job, but it is an island in the middle of the ocean, 4,000 kilometres away from ‘civilisation’ in terms of vet clinics and really good quality grass and such, and there were just two charters: one to Mauritius and one out. This meant you were looking at a higher cost and longer timeframe, but this kept the industry alive, which was great.
FACT
You can find out more information, including the latest surveillance and vaccination reports and all the necessary forms required to move your horse into and out of the controlled area here: https://myhorse.jshiny.com/myhorse/landing/#
In the past when direct exports were open, we had still used Mauritius because of the limited capacity in Cape Town. So, if you couldn’t get enough horses out fast enough, they would go via Mauritius because it would end up being quicker. At that stage (pre-2010) there were probably more than 200 horses going out of Cape Town and probably another 120 to 150 out of Mauritius. So, our commercial industry of sending horses out has taken a massive plummet, not only because of the restriction on direct exports but also COVID, complications with imports, difficulties in the racing industry and the effects of reduced spending by Dubai and the Middle East on endurance horses.
FAST FACT
Our first direct export under the new protocol departed on the 17th of August.
Increasing our number of exports is not going to happen overnight now. It is something that will have to build up again. Our horses commercially are fantasti; we have bred World Championship Endurance Horses in most distances, World Champion Show Arabs, and our Thoroughbreds have held the track record at Happy Valley in Hong Kong. We’ve made some really, really good horses and they do appeal to the international market, but that’s a wheel of generation. You’ve got to breed horses that are old enough to sell, and because the breeding has diminished for many reasons, we actually don’t have enough stock to sell.
HQ: You’ve mentioned a variety of breeds that get exported, what would you say are the export ‘demographics?
Candice: In terms of what is of commercial value for export, most of the exports are propped up by endurance! I would say 70 to 80% of all exports have been endurance, and then the next biggest industry would be Thoroughbreds, then polo, and then the odd Hackney, Saddlebred, Show Arab, and then some sporthorses, but those are for private use. There’s been one or two that have been sold commercially, but most of the sporthorses going out are for people to ride there and then a couple of pets. Some people emigrate and won’t leave their four-legged children at home, which is understandable, and they take their horses with them.
HQ: Are there any negatives to the new export protocol?
Candice: The one negative of the new health protocol that came out is that it stipulates that you cannot vaccinate for African Horse Sickness for any horse in the Free or the Surveillance Zone for 12 months prior to dispatch. Now, as this new regulation came out officially on the 20th of May, and it’s considered a clean slate, these horses have been compliant to ship, BUT if any African Horse Sickness permissions are granted for people to vaccinate in those areas, it will close us again.
So, at the moment, it’s all a little bit on a knife’s edge. If any vaccination permissions are given before the 31st of October this year, from the moment they vaccinate the first horse, no more direct exports will be allowed. If they don’t give those vaccination permissions, we will be available to export to the EU until 1st of June 2025, depending on whether they vaccinate at that date.
The best-case scenario for the big picture would be that people living in the Surveillance and the Free Zone find another way to vaccinate their horses without doing it in these zones. In that case, direct exports to EU will stay in place. Alternatively, the UK will become an option because they’re not part of the EU so they will have their own regulations which we are hoping will not include the vaccination restrictions. So, I think the future of direct exports is still highly positive.
HQ: Okay, so then people in those zones can move their horses out of the zone, then vaccinate and bring them back?
Candice: 100%. There’s a solution for every problem, but people are always asking about horses from the Free and Surveillance Zones competing. And I know it’s a little bit of a pain for affected individuals, but again, it’s about that whole big picture.
I understand exports are the minority of our industry, but if, as a breeder, there’s no incentive to create something that could be sold or compete overseas, there’s no incentive to bring the breeding stock in. If I’m not bringing decent breeding stock in because I’ve got no hope of getting it back out, you, as the person who’s ‘not worried about exports’, won’t have access to decent stock to ride anyway. And if you say to me, “Well, I am happy to ride a Boerperd; I don’t need a fancily bred horse,” then you don’t need to vaccinate because you’re not going be trucking up to Championships in Johannesburg. So, the people who want to compete at a high-level need quality horses, and to have quality horses, you need motivated breeders, and to have motivated breeders, you need direct exports.
This is an ecosystem that has to flourish all the way around, and people need to remember that, and in terms of the economy in general, I’m busy putting together some data on the value of horses, the economy, and the jobs that the industry creates. It’s quite fascinating to see the domino effect. You look at one horse, and you think about a horse, but there’s still a farrier, pharmaceuticals, physiotherapists, trainers, the person who built the arena, physiotherapists, trainer, person who built the arena, saddle fitters, shavings, food, teff, grooms, fill in grooms etc. So do not doubt the impact of direct exports on the entire industry!
FAST FACTS
AHS is a real risk to Europe without proper control measures in exports. In 1987, there was an AHS Epidemic in Spain caused by the importation of infected zebra from Namibia. Although extensive control measures were taken, AHS successfully spread in 1988 to southern Spain and in 1989 to Portugal and Morocco. Spain and Portugal were finally cleared from AHS in 1991.
HQ: And, of course, there is the impact on international competition?
Candice: Yes, as the wheel starts turning, it should become easier to compete abroad, which is a dream for most of our riders. There could be ‘in-transit’ options even. It could bring international competition to South Africa, too; the possibilities are endless.
There are a lot of people that are very committed to making this work, especially Adrian Todd and his team, and Dr Mpho Maja from the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development (DALRRD) has been very involved in making this all happen.
HQ: Where do you currently export to?
Candice: Direct exports depart from Cape Town and could land anywhere in the EU, but we like to use Liege in Belgium because they have a fantastic animal hotel, but Amsterdam, Maastricht and even Charles de Gaul in France are options. Where your horse goes is mostly dictated by the airline you use. All of these facilities are pretty well equipped for horses – 1000s of horses travel every year.
HQ: And there is no quarantine on the Europe side?
Candice: They pretty much land, and get out of the stalls. There is a health check with a microchip scan and certificates to make sure it’s the right horse and then customs clearance. On the last trip, it was about four hours from landing on the trucks to their various destinations.
The only thing is if they are transiting through the EU to the UK, Middle East, Australia, China, Hong Kong or America, they might have to do further residencies (not quarantine) of various lengths according to where they are going, as our agreement is only with the EU. Our dream is that one day, we will be able to export directly to these countries, but those wheels turn slowly.
Imports
HQ: Moving on to imports…
Candice: Are you sure you want to have this conversation? It’s rather traumatic! Imports have become very challenging and complicated and created a lot of grey hairs. We were able to import from Australia, but that has fallen by the wayside as of October 1st 2024. Europe is currently closed, and the only option is the UK. The horse must be resident in the UK for 60 days, and of those sixty days, 30 are in quarantine, and then they can be exported to South Africa subject to a clean health check. From Australia they now must fly to the EU, then get to the UK and do residency and quarantine there.
The issue with Europe now mostly revolves around Surra (see article in this edition). Tragically, Surra is a disease that doesn’t really exist in Europe, but South Africa is terrified of it because it can affect the local herd of sheep and cattle as well. I do understand the concerns, but there is a lot of testing that goes on, and unfortunately, the testing is what is causing the problem.
It started in about 2019, I think, when a couple of positive cases started occurring. Some were negative in Europe and positive here, but we are starting to see more and more positives in the pre-export quarantine. If a horse in the quarantine group is positive, none in the group can travel. We try to mitigate the risks by pre-screening and having small groups, but even with negative pre-screening, they can test positive ten days later. Why? We don’t know, and there needs to be research.
There are multiple tests that can be done, but the one that South Africa relies on is called a CATT test (Card Agglutination Test for Trypanosomiasis). Although it is ratified, there is some subjectivity, as a technician looks at it and decides if it is positive rather than having a test that uses a machine reading to give a specific number. I’m not saying the technicians are making mistakes, but perhaps there is something there; we just don’t know. But at the moment, you can test one horse 11 times over two months and have negative, negative, negative, positive, negative, positive, negative… We’ve checked vaccinations and run correlations between mares, stallions, ages, buildings, where the horse has come from, their discipline, etc., and we can’t find a direct cause.
Unfortunately, there was a positive case in Belgium, so that shut that option down and then they had an EIA (Equine Infectious Anaemia) outbreak caused by a horse imported to Belgium, and our regulations say you can’t have any infectious diseases for 12 months prior for import, so that shut Belgium down in February. They will possibly be open to export from there in about March of next year so that might be an option to add to the UK.
Holland had an escalating amount of positive Surra cases. There were lots of unhappy clients and an extremely stressful situation because there was nothing you could do to prevent it. There have been probably more than 30 horses left behind this year, some multiple times. In September, they had authorised a quarantine to start; the horses went in and on Tuesday, Holland decided to self-ban themselves. South Africa has not closed imports from Holland; Holland does not want to export to South Africa until this situation is resolved. The backlash and costs from horses being left behind are real issues; sometimes you can’t get the money back on the freight, so you’re looking at the cost of that and the quarantine, and the horse is still in Europe. The cost of horses being left behind, however, goes beyond being emotional and economical; there are also the challenges of pregnant mares going over the 260 days so they can’t travel, stallions missing breeding seasons, Thoroughbreds missing races and sporthorses losing five months of fitness, so, the implications are pretty serious, and this situation is going to take quite a bit to resolve because there is also a political issue between Holland and South Africa now. Unfortunately, Holland is a logistical hub for us, so while we can get flights out of Belgium and other places, Holland is a wonderful option for us, and we can’t even transit through there at the moment, as the horses have to be exported from the country they do residency and quarantine in.
Ultimately, there are ways to get your horses out… It’s just more expensive, takes a bit longer and puts them under more unnecessary stress, but incredibly we haven’t seen a drop off in people wanting to import horses! There is also an improvement with the positive impact of direct exports opening. I used to import 70-80 Thoroughbreds a year, and there were more through other agents, but that dropped as low as five a year, and it is already up to 30 since exports opened. So, you can see how intertwined exports and imports are. But I’m sure in time we will resolve all these problems.
HQ: So, the UK is the only current import route?
Candice: Yes, 60 days of residency in the UK, of which 30 are in quarantine. They then fly to South Africa and do another 30 days of quarantine, where they repeat all the tests. On negative results, all horses are released. We were quite fortunate because the UK came online one week after Holland shut down, otherwise we would not be able to get horses out of Europe. Thankfully, the State Department pushed through the UK route quickly once they realised we were stuck.
HQ: But there is still a chance that Surra could cause issues for imports to South Africa?
Candice: Yes, so South Africa still requires a negative CATT test, but it is a different laboratory, so we’re hoping this might help. We do still pre-screen and have them in separate quarantines, so one group might get left behind, but at least the other group can travel. This is all part of mitigating risks. The long-term plan is to find better Surra testing and protocols, because at the momentit feels like a complete gamble, and not a pleasant one!
HQ: Thank you so much for your time, Candice!