PrintDear Rita,
My summer/fall journey to the United States is drawing to a close. Anna Pettersson, Winyamaro, Gizmo and I will all fly back to Germany next week and gear up for an intense show season through the end of 2011. The Salzburg CDI****, London CDI-W and Mechelen CDI-W are all on the roster for us.
Unfortunately, Cadillac will stay behind in the USA. He is still fighting off complications from a fractured tooth and a resultant infection that kept him from competing at Devon a few weeks ago. His full recovery looks promising even though it’s taking more time then my impatient seat bones would like. Cadillac will stay in the very capable care of my husband at his clinic in Califon, N.J.—Running S Equine Veterinary Services—until he is ready to travel. Greg promises to have him home by Christmas.
Which brings me to a subject that many people ask me about. Do you insure your horses? Let me tell you that insuring them at least for mortality, theft and also for major medical coverage is a great idea. The going rate for a dressage horse is between 3-3.5 percent of value for a mortality policy, with premiums getting higher if you add theft, major medical or loss of use to your policy.
Traditionally, I have not insured my horses. I simply own too many to afford the premiums. But I get nervous without coverage on my top horses because they travel too much. Every trip they take increases their risk of illness or injury.
If you plan to put your horse on an airplane or ship him overland multiple times in one year, I would highly recommend insuring your horse. If you can’t insure for your horse’s full replacement value, at least take out a policy to cover a portion of his value so you are not left high and dry without the means to buy a new horse if something tragic happens.
Winyamaro and Cadillac are now insured with Amlin Plus, specialists in sport horse insurance and the largest insurer of Thoroughbreds in the United Kingdom. Amlin offers a variety of policies and is willing to customize coverage to meet the special needs of each of its clients worldwide. David Ashby is one of the most well informed agents I have ever spoken to. He understands all the equestrian sports and can tailor a policy to your individual needs from mortality to theft and medical coverage to loss of use.
I spoke with David last summer about my biggest concern—protecting my business from the losses that can occur during extended travel. My horses travel all over the European continent, from Stockholm, Sweden, in the north to Cannes, France, in the south. They are transported by van and ferry and even though we make every effort to limit transportation times to less than 12 hours per leg and no more than two days on the road, sometimes their travel times are extended due to unavoidable weather or traffic problems.
Know this: The longer your horse is underway (in particular, any journey more than six hours in length) and the number of stops you make along the way are two factors that increase his risk of contracting shipping fever, perhaps better described as tranport-related respiratory disease.
