Health Certs.....$29.00???

[LD1129]

Hey I show Dressage and often travel to different states. We always have current coggins and get health certificates signed by the vet and pick them up. Does any one pay $29.00 for their health certificate, per horse, every show????? If I show twice a month through Spring/summer/fall it adds up! I was shocked to see the price!

Is this the norm? If it is then fine but wow :eek::eek::eek:

[Daydream Believer]

One health certificate should be good for a month for out of state hauling/shows. I think I pay $35 for one here not counting the farm call. It's a hell of a racket.

[mab1228]

We pay $35.00 per horse. In our state you can get a six month health card. That way you are not paying for a new certificate every month. You might want to check in to that if you travel a lot.

[ExJumper]

We pay $30-$35, and ours are good for 30 days. But yeah, that's how it works. It has to be fairly current or it doesn't really mean anything, and to be valid the vet has to come and lay his eyes on your horse. So it's not super cheap!

[CurlyLindsay]

Whoa! We pay $5-$10 for a health certificate here, depending on the local vet. I nearly had a cow once when I was charged $17!

[2DogsFarm]

I don't get charged at all for a health check/certificate.

I pull up to the clinic with horse loaded, he peeks inside, determines horse is ok and off we go with signed cert in hand.
They are good for a month of interstate travel.

note to self: extra goodies for vet next Christmas...

[joiedevie99]

I paid $50 for the last one, plus $100 call because I needed it on a Saturday.

[Raleigh's Mom]

The State Dept of Ag here in Georgia will issue a 6 month health certificate. Not sure of the costs associated with it, though.

[HydroPHILE]

I don't get charged at all for a health check/certificate.

My vet would do the same thing. He'd pop over to where my horse was boarded if he was in the area and sign off on a Health Cert. (knowing my horse was healthy as the barn I used to board was a typical boarding barn and he was there almost every week).

[IronwoodFarm]

Another idea is that if you are going to show out of state every month, talk to your vet about getting a discount rate for multiple health certificates. There is no harm in asking and given the economy, you might find that your vet is happy to issue a health certificate for less.

[War Admiral]

2Dogs, wow, a freebie, that's awesome!!

I think I pay $20 here in GA and just paid $25 (??? they haven't sent me the bill yet) up in NY state.

[Jumphigh83]

Health certs are a JOKE..most are signed and processed without the vet even looking at the horse. Yet another bureaucratic hoop for horse owners to jump through with no real basis in need. How about that part that "certifies" that the trailer has been disinfected and you haven't stopped to pick up or drop off any other horses?? HA...and the destination is put on each cert...so it theoretically is good for 30 days to run between the two addresses. Good grief. More and bigger government...yeah that's a good idea.:rolleyes::rolleyes:

[Evalee Hunter]

One health certificate should be good for a month for out of state hauling/shows. . . .

. . . . In our state you can get a six month health card. . . .

. . . . ours are good for 30 days. . . .

The State Dept of Ag here in Georgia will issue a 6 month health certificate. . . .

. . . . and the destination is put on each cert...so it theoretically is good for 30 days to run between the two addresses. . . .

PLEASE NOTE: While the state may say a certificate is good for one month (or six), the venue you show at determines what you must have to enter their grounds. For example, when my daughter took horses to Pony Club National Rally (Festival) at the Kentucky Horse Park in the late 1990s, the specification was that the health certificate had to have been issued no more than TEN days before the horse would LEAVE the Horse Park at the END of their portion of rally. Since the horse was at the horse park for several days, that requirement meant that the health certificate had to be issued no more than a couple of days before the horse left its home barn. It does not matter to the "powers that be" whether the health certificate says 30 days or 180 days, if they will not let the horse on the grounds more than five days after the cerficiate was issued, then that is the rule you must abide by.

[FindersKeepers]

As Evalee mentioned, it depends on the venue more than the state.

For regular interstate travel, 30 days is the norm, but some events require some less than 10 days old, 5 days old, etc.

That being said, we pay 35-50 here. The cost of the farm call, and if it's more than a standard cert, it costs a little more.

[FLeckenAwesome]

The one the vet issues is only good for 30 days, but if you send it, an official copy of your coggins to the GA AG dept, you can get it to last 6 months (if your coggins last that long).

The website for GA is
http://agr.georgia.gov/vgn/images/portal/cit_1210/0/0/74687963Eq%20Ev%20Permit%20Proc%20Final%201-29-07.pdf
and it's pretty self-explanatory. No cost :)

I just get mine twice a year and keep them active. Just makes it easier. Especially if you coordinate it with your Coggins.

I've never had an event even look at them or require the health certificate within a certain amount of time, but... I'm sure it happens!

[cllane1]

The one the vet issues is only good for 30 days, but if you send it, an official copy of your coggins to the GA AG dept, you can get it to last 6 months (if your coggins last that long).

The website for GA is
http://agr.georgia.gov/vgn/images/portal/cit_1210/0/0/74687963Eq%20Ev%20Permit%20Proc%20Final%201-29-07.pdf
and it's pretty self-explanatory. No cost :)

I just get mine twice a year and keep them active. Just makes it easier. Especially if you coordinate it with your Coggins.

I've never had an event even look at them or require the health certificate within a certain amount of time, but... I'm sure it happens!

We have the same thing here in Alabama. It's called an event permit, and it's free to get (after you've paid for the Coggins and healtch cert) and good for 6 months of interstate travel between AL, GA, MS, TN, and a few other states, I believe.

[FatPalomino]

So, if you can afford to show 2x a month, haul, take lessons, etc... you can't afford a $30 health certificate once a month?

Just saying, vets have bills to, and their education was not free.

[mab1228]

Just saying, vets have bills to, and their education was not free.


Vets have bills too which is why they charge for the farm call. Does it REALLY cost them $30-$50 to fill out a little pink paper??

[WorthTheWait95]

My vet charges $30 for the cert and $50 for the farm call. I don't really begrudge them the charge (although do admit to thinking it is a bit excessive. The cert charge, not the farm call.) since I do everything I can for my horses myself via scripts (or simply the internet in the case of non script items) and save tons that way. I don't show much anymore so it doesn't really affect me now but I saved so much $$ throughout the year I figured an extra $30 every few months wouldn't kill me when I was showing. I almost always combine farm calls with someone else or at the very least schedule a procedure I can't do myself to make the farm call worth it, too.

[CaSaNoVa14]

I didnt know that they charge for them, my vet never charges me, and I just had four done. He always comes down my barn to hang out, so he knows my horses pretty well.

[county]

I just got one and it was $8 coggins was $15

[Highflyer]

$10 per health certificate ( I think each one does 4 horses) so if more than one is going, it's split.

[copper1]

My vet charges $15 and most places ask for a 10 day certificate and PA doesn't have the agreement that some of our southern neighbors have so we need a new certificate for every venue we travel to out of state. I don't mind it too much as long as I remember to arrange for it ahead of time but what gets me that you go through it all and get one and no one ever asks to see it! Our Regional and National shows ask for it but rarely any others! You can bet the day you don't get one is the day you will be asked!

[Evalee Hunter]

Question: Do you need a new health certificate each 30/180 days if you are going to cross state lines?

In other words, can you *LEGALLY* cross state lines & go to a show without a health certificate? Someone said on eventing once that you only need a health certificate if you are staying in the other state more than 24 hours. (I pretty much know this does not apply to FL.) This was in reference to travel here in the mid-Atlantic. I had never heard that but I'm wondering if it might be true.

We live only 7 miles from the MD line. We often cross into MD to trail ride at Fair Hill (as an example). Do we need a new health cert. every 30 days? No one is standing at the MD border or at the entrance to the F.H. parking lot asking for one. Do you need a health cert. only if the venue you are visiting says they will require one? Around here show grounds/schooling venues DO look at Coggins and sometimes at certificates proving vaccination against Rhino, but, as someone else pointed out, most venues do not examine health certs. (Although, we have visited multiple venues that DO examine them.)

[Highflyer]

Evalee, my understanding is that yes, legally, you do. But we're about 1/2 hr. south of Fair Hill, so we haul up to PA pretty regularly, and less frequently to VA/ NJ. We don't generally get one unless the venue requires it, which is fairly rare especially for one day events. The van drivers don't usually seem to worry for short hauls, either--only when we're sending horses to certain tracks, or to Fla or KY.

[LD1129]

Thanks everyone! Sounds like is about the same everywhere. I feel much better LOL!

[LD1129]

Wow uncalled for! Don't assume I have money! I scrape pennies just to show and train because I am living out a well deserved dream! A $29 health cert every show is a lot when I have to budget my money. You should not be so quick to judge people!

So, if you can afford to show 2x a month, haul, take lessons, etc... you can't afford a $30 health certificate once a month?

Just saying, vets have bills to, and their education was not free.

[county]

I can easily afford to pay $30 for one every month if I want to but why would I if I can get them for $8? I sure don't owe any vets a living if they can't make it then quit and do something else like any has to do if their job doesn't pay enough.

[shakeytails]

So, if you can afford to show 2x a month, haul, take lessons, etc... you can't afford a $30 health certificate once a month?

Just saying, vets have bills to, and their education was not free.


Gee, that was kinda....not nice. I don't know about the OP's situation, but for me $30 pays half the fuel or entry fees to a County Fair horse show.

Besides, in most cases (around here anyway) all the vet does is fill out the very simple form. All the vets that I've talked to think the health certificate is a joke. I think my health certificate costs about $5, whether there's one horse listed on it or twenty.

KY health certificates for intrastate travel are good for 6 months, and I haven't seen a venue yet that requires a very recent h.c., at least not for in-state horses. There are stricter regulations for out-of-state horses.