Horse passports

What is a horse passport?

A single lifetime identification document which records the identity of a horse and contains information about the horse. Under current legislation, all horses, ponies, donkeys, mules and zebras must have a passport and microchip whether they are intended to travel or not.

It is important to note that a horse passport is not an ownership document and cannot be used as legal proof of ownership of the horse. Proof of ownership comes chiefly in the form of a receipt of purchase or a sale agreement between a buyer and seller. Other forms of recognised proof of ownership include proof of payment for upkeep such as livery bills, receipts for bedding, feed, veterinary care and farriery.

How should the horse passport be used? (legal responsibilities)

A standard ID ONLY passport is used to identify the horse, to record flu vaccinations/other medicines administered to the horse and to determine the food chain status of the horse should they enter a slaughter house.

The passport must accompany the horse at all times, this includes when the horse is travelling locally, nationally and internationally and at its stable/field/where it is kept. The only exception to this, is if the horse must travel for emergency veterinary treatment. 

The passport must be given to the new owner of the horse at the time of sale/the equine changing hands.

The horse passport contains history of registered owners, the horse’s food chain status, microchip number, identifying features and other information, and it is the owner’s responsibility to ensure that this information is kept up to date and correct at all times.

All changes (microchip addition, change in food chain status, change of ownership, change of owner address, change of equine name etc.) must be made by the PIO/controlling passport issuing organisation of the passport.

When a horse is deceased, the passport must be returned to the PIO informing them of the date of death so that the central equine database can be updated. The passport will be destroyed by the issuing body or invalidated and returned to the owner if instructed to do so.

Please refer to the Legal Responsibilities document for further information.

When should owners apply for a passport for their horse?

Owners of all horses/donkeys/mules/zebras (whether they are intended to travel/compete or whether they never leave their field) must microchip their animal and submit a passport application to a UK passport issuing organisation of their choosing by the later of: 30th of November in the year the animal was born, or before the animal reach 6 months of age, to ensure that the passport is issued before the animal reaches 12 months of age, thereby making them eligible for a standard passport which includes them in the human food chain. Applications that are received or processed by the PIO after the animal has exceeded 12 months of age will be treated as 'late' and the animal will no longer be eligible for a standard passport, and will be issued with a 'replacement' passport, which will be stamped as such, and will irrevocably exclude the animal from the human food chain, rendering them unsuitable for slaughter for meat. 

For information regarding how to apply to replace a lost passport, refer to the duplicate passport application page 

What type of passport application do I need?

If you are applying for your horse's first passport, you can use a standard passport application form.

-    If you have lost your horse’s UK passport, it has been stolen or damaged beyond repair, you will need to apply for a duplicate passport. Duplicate UK passports can only be produced by the Passport Issuing Organisation that issued the original version. If you cannot remember who issued the passport, you can find this out by typing your horse’s microchip number into the Equine Register ChipChecker.

-    If your horse holds a foreign passport and is intended to be in the UK permanently (90 days or more) this passport will need to be submitted to a UK passport issuing organisation to be ‘over stamped’. This means that the horse’s information is entered into the UK Central Equine Database, and the UK PIO takes authority of the horse’s UELN (passport number) issued by the original PIO, becoming the controlling PIO of that passport, responsible for all future updates to the record. This must be done within 30 days of the horse arriving in the UK. BHS can only over stamp passports issued with no breeding recorded (no parentage/DNA testing), as we are an ID only Passport Issuing Organisation.

-     If you have lost your horse’s foreign passport, you will need to obtain a duplicate. This can usually be done by a UK organisation that offers overstamping services. For support with applying for an overseas duplicate passport, contact the BHS passport office

BHS Passport Application Process

Please note that BHS is an 'identification only' PIO, and is only authorised to issue and manage passports for horses with unverified pedigree. If you wish to record your horse's pedigree in the passport, you can select the most appropriate studbook PIO to do this for you from the Gov.uk website, or seek advice from BHS passport office.

To apply for a BHS passport/BHS passport update:

•    select the correct form from the downloadable forms section
•    download, print and complete the form - all identification charts/equine passport update forms will need to be completed, signed and stamped by a veterinary surgeon
•    submit the completed forms by scanning (strictly no photos) in colour to the passport mailbox, or posting to the office
•    for all BHS passport updates, the passport must be submitted with the completed form

Applications for passports are processed within 15 working days, and updates to existing BHS passports are processed within 10 working days in line with DEFRA’s minimum operating standards and returned 2nd class signed for. BHS also offers a FastTrack service, which ensures that the application is processed within 1 working day, and returned 1st class signed for. All subject to correct paperwork. 

To help prevent any delays in your application being processed or an incorrect application being returned, ensure that the application forms are completed correctly according to the below checklists with no missing information, and the necessary checks are carried out before submission:

If your horse is found to have an existing microchip, be sure to check the microchip number against the central equine database; the horse may have previously been issued a passport and you will need to apply to the original PIO for a duplicate if this is the case. You cannot apply for a new passport with a PIO of your choosing for any reason.

The application, including the ID chart MUST be completed on the correct form for the BHS-forms for other organisations cannot be processed and will be returned.

Downloadable forms

British Horse Society Horse Passport Application Form

British Horse Society Donkey Passport Application Form

British Horse Society Duplicate Horse Passport Application Form

British Horse Society Duplicate Donkey Passport Application Form

British Horse Society Passport Overstamp Application Form

British Horse Society Passport Change Of Ownership Application Form

British Horse Society Passport Change Of Equine Name Application Form

British Horse Society Equine Passport Update Application Form

British Horse Society Passport Owner Change Of Address Application Form

BHS Passport Prices

New/Replacement passport (horses and donkeys): £27.50 (£17.50 for registered equine charities)

Duplicate Passport: £30 (£15 for registered equine charities)

Overseas Duplicate Passport (contact office for further information): £50 (£32.50 for registered equine charities)

Overstamp: £22.50 (£17.50 for registered equine charities)

Change of Ownership: £17.50 (£14.50 for registered equine charities)

Change of Address: £12.50

Change of Equine Name: £12.50

Equine Information Updates (castration/microchip addition/gender/colour/markings/date of birth): free of charge

Food chain status update (remove from food chain only): free of charge

Deceased horse: free of charge

Legal Changes and Updates

Legally, the passport issuing organisation that issued the passport must be informed of the following changes which require the passport to be submitted to the PIO:

Owner change – if the horse is sold/changes hands, the ownership details must be updated in the passport by the PIO

Address change – if the registered owner changes address, the address details must be updated in the passport by the PIO

Identifying features - if the horse's identifying features/colour appear inaccurate in the passport, the passport must be submitted with a passport update form completed by the vet to be updated by the PIO

Food status – if the horse is included in the human food chain and should be removed (no longer eligible to be sold for meat) the PIO must be informed so that the CED can be updated – a photo of the relevant page signed by a vet is required

Castration – if the horse has been castrated since the passport was issued, the passport will need to be updated by the PIO -the passport must be submitted with a passport update form completed by the vet

Microchip – if the horse was issued a passport before it became law to microchip horses and officially record the number in the passport, the passport must be submitted to and updated by the PIO

Death- in the event of the horse’s death, the passport must be submitted to the PIO with a covering letter stating the date of death within 30 days of the event. The passport will be destroyed or invalidated and returned to the owner if requested.

Terms and Conditions

Please note that we can only process applications that are submitted with completed and correct paperwork.  

The BHS cannot accept application forms from any other organisation and such paperwork will not be processed and will be returned to the sender. 

It is an offence to apply for a new passport when one already exists for the horse-by law, a horse must only have one UELN (passport number) for the duration of its life, this must be used in all countries.  

If your horse’s application form is received outside of the statutory time limit, your passport must be produced as a replacement and Section IX Part II (or Section II Part II for passports issued from 1 January 2016) will be signed by a BHS representative to declare the horse is not intended for human consumption. 

BHS cannot be held responsible for any passports that are lost or damaged in the post. 

Please note if you send in an incomplete application or a passport without a covering note we will attempt to contact you to request the supporting documentation or payment up to a period of six months. If we have not received the additional paperwork/payment from you within that time we will destroy any documentation already received in order to comply with GDPR. 

Payment for BHS passports/updating existing passports must be made within 45 working days from the day that the office made contact for payment. If payment has not been made within this time frame, the application will be terminated and destroyed.

The BHS is only able to make changes to passports that were originally issued or overstamped by the British Horse Society.  

You do not have to be a member of the BHS to obtain a passport or to complete any updates on a BHS passport.

Microchipping

It is a legal requirement that horses are microchipped and the microchip number must be recorded on the passport application.

The microchipping of horses is classified as an act of veterinary surgery; therefore, microchips must only be implanted by a veterinary surgeon. This differs from other species because horse microchips must be implanted into the nuchal ligament rather than simply under the skin. This is to ensure that the microchip does not move around the body and can be easily located for scanning purposes. 

The vet must first check the horse for an existing microchip and any evidence that a microchip has been removed prior to the implantation. Further details are available from the RCVS. 

To check a microchip, visit the Equine Register.   

General information

What does a BHS equine passport look like?

The front cover of the BHS passport has been amended four times. All four versions remain valid.  

The most up-to-date version is the red covered passport, which is bound together using two rivets.  

All pages contained within the passport have ‘Equine passport’ written in the background diagonally across the pages. Any pages which do not carry this watermark were not issued by the BHS and suggest that the passport has been tampered with. This should be reported to Trading Standards. 

The first page features a black The British Horse Society stamp and the page is laminated. If this mark is missing, it again suggests that the passport has been tampered with, and this should be reported to Trading Standards. 

Can BHS update all passports?

No –BHS can only update passports that have been issued/overstamped by the society. To check which organisation you should apply to for passport updates, refer to the passport or call BHS passport office for help.

Digital Stable

You can view all your equine passports and information in one place, the Equine Register Digital Stable, where you can:

-          Check your equine microchip details are correct on the Central Equine Database (CED)

-          Check the data held about you and your equine on the CED is accurate

-          Quickly report if your horse missing to the relevant authorities

-          Set statuses and alerts on the National ChipChecker.

All changes made to a horse’s records via digital stable must be endorsed by the issuing body of the passport. In most cases, to endorse these changes the passport will need to be submitted to the office along with an application form and the appropriate fee in order for the changes to be made. It is insufficient to simply request changes via digital stable.

ScotEquine

ScotEquine is a free compliance checker service to ensure the correct data is held on the CED for equines in Scotland and essentially functions as a full census. It also offers traceability and helps disease control by providing real-time health alerts. 

A ScotEquine Smart ID card is issued for every connected equine. 

Exporting

The British Horse Society passports are ‘ID only’ so you will need to complete an Export Health Certificate (EHC) and some supporting documents to export or move a live animal from Great Britain to the EU or Northern Ireland. The EHC is an official document that confirms your export meets the health requirements of the destination country. Find out more here.