Leisure Horse Ireland produce passports at a very reasonable cost for first time equine registrations. However we no longer offer discounted rates on duplicate passports.

There continues to be a pattern where little care is given to safeguarding passports or other nefarious reasons, where either no passport, or the wrong passport is passed on to new owners.
Both parties need to remember that it is illegal to sell or buy a horse, without its correct passport. Therefore the onus is entirely on both parties to ensure the correct passport is given and received during the transaction. If not, the cost of obtaining a duplicate passport will be unavoidable.

If you find yourself in the situation where you must apply for a duplicate passport for a previously registered equine. Firstly, you need to establish where the equine was registered.

• For horses registered in Ireland or abroad and where the passport issuer is still in operation, you must go to that agency that first issued the passport to obtain a duplicate.

• For all other LHI / IPSA registrations, you must get your vet to complete a marking chart for the equine and submit to us a completed duplicate passport application form.

Be aware, that where an animal is issued a duplicate passport, under EU and Irish law they will be permanently excluded from the food chain and the duplicate passport will stamped to reflect this. Delays can also arise in issuing duplicates, where further background checks are deemed necessary.

Equine Registration & Passports in Ireland

The Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine are the competent authority in this jurisdiction.
Equine Identification Leaflet (Download)

Further General Information (Link):

The Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine are the competent authority in this jurisdiction.

Equine Identification Leaflet (Download)

Further General Information (link):

Leisure Horse Ireland is the trading name of The Irish Piebald & Skewbald Association Ltd (aka The IPSA).

We are a Passport Issuing Organisation (PIO) approved by the EU and Irish Department of Agriculture to issue equine Identification documents for horses & donkeys in the Republic of Ireland which meet all legal requirements.
What type of Horse Passports does LHI issue?

Leisure Horse Ireland maintains the studbooks for Piebald & Skewbald (coloured) horses and their progeny in Ireland. Welsh Pony & Cob Studbook of Ireland and The Clydesdale Horse Studbook of Ireland

LHI also maintains a separate Equine Identification Register for solid colour animals of all types that do not meet the criteria of any studbook.
And… we maintain The Irish Donkey Studbook.

Leisure Horse Ireland maintains the studbook for Piebald & Skewbald (coloured) horses and their progeny in Ireland. Welsh Pony & Cob Studbook of Ireland and The Clydesdale Horse Studbook of Ireland.

LHI also maintains a separate Equine Identification Register for solid colour animals of all types that do not meet the criteria of any studbook.

And… we maintain The Irish Donkey Studbook.

Please note:
Passports issued by any agency at all times remain the property of that agency and must be returned on demand.
A passport is issued as an aid to the identification of a horse and recording medication.
The owner recorded on a horse’s passport is registered as such for correspondence purposes relating to that animal and does not reflect any legal standing in relation to ownership should a dispute arise.

Horses come in all shapes, sizes and types, with one major distinction – Colour.

Here in Ireland we use the terms “Piebald” or “Skewbald” to describe certain horse colouration. In other countries you will see references to “Coloured” or “Paint” horses which in many cases these descriptions really have the same meaning.

Piebald / Skewbald – Colour Definition: A Skewbald and Piebald is defined by its external visible coat colouration and markings and not by its genetic makeup or type. They are therefore distinctive and unique from other “coloured”, splash marked, or extended leg marked breeds or types.

Piebald: Large irregular patches of black and white (usually black on a white base).
Skewbald: Any other colour or colours and white i.e. bay, brown, chestnut, grey, dun or palomino and white. There may be some black marks in addition.

Skewbald: Any other colour or colours and white i.e. bay, brown, chestnut, grey, dun or palomino and white. There may be some black marks in addition.

Since July 2009, under Irish and EU law, all equidae must be microchipped and have their identification document (passport) applied for within six months of their birth.

The new identification system will build on a single identification document – one passport – issued for life when the animal is born or imported. The document will be linked to the animal by their microchip, and the fact that it was issued will be recorded in a database under a Unique Equine Life Number (UELN) for the animal that will remain the constant reference even when the animal’s name is changed.
The lifetime passport is also a record of the equines medication history.

The Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine are the competent authority in this jurisdiction.

Equine Identification Leaflet (Download)

Further General Information (Link):

Leisure Horse Ireland offers the facility to register a prefix . Any horse named with a registered L.H.I. prefix cannot have its name changed in the L.H.I. Studbooks and Registers, without the permission of the person who owns the prefix. Prefix forms are available to download or upon request from us and the following rules apply:

• Fee of €50 applies
• Prefix may have a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 20 characters
• Prefix may be one word only
• Breed names are not allowed
• Prefix is registered only with Leisure Horse Ireland.

Note:
• If a horse or pony has white markings on the head, legs, belly and / or mane or tail in isolation, it cannot be considered as a Piebald or Skewbald.

• Clyde markings do not constitute a Skewbald or Piebald in isolation from other colour.

• Pinto\Paint is an American term which generally means either Piebald or Skewbald; however there is also a technical difference in that they have different meanings. The Pinto Horse Association is a colour registry, and Pintos can be any breed. Paints are APHA-registered horses that can prove parentage from one of the three approved registries AQHA, TB and APHA, as well as meet a minimum colour requirement. While a loud-coloured horse could be double-registered if it met the breed standards specified by each registry, the two registries are independent.

If you have a horse registered with another studbook you may wish to have that animal recorded in the L.H.I. studbooks for breeding or competition purposes. The horse will retain its original passport and breed code but will be recorded in the L.H.I. studbook. For endorsement, send the passport plus the appropriate fee to us.

Currently, we are taking phone calls between the hours of 10am and 1pm weekdays. At all other times we are concentrating on the actual processing of applications.

All forms are available for download from our website and there is an extensive help section which covers most enquiries… and you can always contact us by email through our website contact form.

Please also be aware of the following:

We do not offer an urgent or same day processing of applications service, so please do not ask.

We have moved away from taking over the phone card payment. Payment can be made by including it with the application or via our payments page on our website.

We do not accommodate the drop off of applications or pick up of passports in person. It has no effect on turnaround times anyway, so the most efficient way right now is submission and dispatch by post or courier and you must allow at least a week for this process and needless to say this is only where applications are complete and correct in all respects.

We are now discouraging this and ask that you send all applications via the postal services. It would also be of no benefit to you as all applications are strictly processed on a first-come first-served basis.

We are now discouraging this. All completed registrations will be dispatched by post or DPD Couriers only.

We are no longer set up to be able to offer an urgent turnaround service. The onus is on you to plan ahead properly and you need to allow at least a week from sending an application to receiving it back.

Leisure Horse Ireland produces passports at a very reasonable cost for first-time equine registrations. However, we no longer offer discounted rates on duplicate passports.

There continues to be a pattern where little care is given to safeguarding passports or other nefarious reasons, where either no passport or the wrong passport is passed on to new owners.

Both parties need to remember that it is illegal to sell or buy a horse, without its correct passport.

Therefore the onus is entirely on both parties to ensure the correct passport is given and received during the transaction. If not, the cost of obtaining a duplicate passport will be unavoidable.

If you find yourself in the situation where you must apply for a duplicate passport for a previously registered equine. Firstly, you need to establish where the equine was registered.

• For horses registered in Ireland or abroad and where the passport issuer is still in operation, you must go to that agency that first issued the passport to obtain a duplicate.

• For all other LHI / IPSA registrations, you must get your vet to complete a marking chart for the equine and submit to us a completed duplicate passport application form.

Be aware, that where an animal is issued a duplicate passport, under EU and Irish law they will be permanently excluded from the food chain, and the duplicate passport will be stamped to reflect this. Delays can also arise in issuing duplicates, where further background checks are deemed necessary.

Yes you do.

We are not permitted to issue a passport or register an imported horse without a valid EPRN being provided.

Cattle Herd Numbers in the past also worked, but now you need to have had added equine to it.
If you do not have one, you need to contact your local Dept of Agriculture District Veterinary Office:

https://www.agriculture.gov.ie/contact/regionalveterinaryoffices/

Application Form:
https://www.gov.ie/en/form/19428-application-for-registration-of-an-equine-premises-under-the-control-on-places-where-horses-are-kept-regulations-2014/

The owners of horses whose passport was originally issued by a Passport Issuing Body (PIO) based outside of Ireland, must now have the passport details recorded by an appropriate PIO approved in Ireland and uploaded to the National Equine Database.

This means that owners/keepers who import horses, or have horses registered on foreign passports, must notify an appropriate PIO based in Ireland within 30 days of importing /registering the equine.  This also applies to owners/keepers who import horses for competition purposes which will be located in Ireland.

This Legislation came into effect in January 2016, the purpose of which is to ensure that each Members State has a record of all of the equines located in their jurisdiction.

The passport and completed declaration form must be posted to the PIO of your choosing and once completed, it will then be possible to submit the equines details on any upcoming equine census etc.

Click Here to bring you to the page where you can download the declaration form and make online payment.

Many horses in Ireland are still registered without any pedigree information, unfortunately.

Leisure Horse Ireland does not breed, buy or sell horses & donkeys. Breeders and Dealers avail of our services to obtain the legally required identification papers for their horses, so (and we are asked many times) we do not have pictures of these equine when they were foals and if breeding is not recorded in the passport, we will not have that information.

If you are trying to trace this information, your only option presently is to write to the first registering keeper, their name and address are in the passport. Under current data protection laws, we are not permitted to share registrants’ email addresses or contact phone numbers.
If they were the breeder they may be able to help, but if they were a dealer, then all history is most likely lost.

It is not possible presently to submit a DNA sample to find the parent(s) of a horse. You can submit a sample to confirm parentage in situations where you are almost certain of the claimed parentage.

A Horse passport from any approved agency is issued purely as an aid to the identification of the equine to which it refers. The information detailed is only as accurate as the information originally supplied by the identifying veterinary surgeon and first registering keeper. A horse passport is not a certificate of age nor indeed is it a certificate of ownership should a legal dispute over ownership arise.

By law, every equine should have a passport while still a foal so there should be no scope for error on its foaling year. However, in practice, many owners are still applying for passports for older equines, and the possibility of inaccuracy increases with time. Some recent studies have also suggested that aging equine from their dentition does not offer an acceptable level of accuracy and the opinions of different veterinary surgeons can vary.

Some unscrupulous dealers and first registering keepers may also try to purport the year of birth of an equine as younger or more experienced than it actually is to increase its value. Therefore any prospective buyer must always carefully consider the issue date on the passport and the stated date of birth. If there is any inaccuracy, the passport should be amended by the issuing agency before any sale is completed and the cost of this, if due diligence is correctly observed along the supply chain, should be borne by the first registering keeper.

However, if you now find yourself in a situation where the year of birth is genuinely inaccurate and you have no recourse to the first registering keeper, the year of birth can be changed on foot of a written request from you and a detailed letter from your vet outlining the equines passport details and what in their professional opinion the correct year of birth should be. New markings completed by your vet are also required.
The cost for this service currently is Euro 70.00  and you must also be the current registered owner/keeper of the equine to request this.

If you have a horse registered with another studbook you may wish to have that animal recorded in the L.H.I. studbooks for breeding or competition purposes. The horse will retain its original passport and breed code but will be recorded in the L.H.I. studbook. For endorsement, send the passport plus the appropriate fee to us.

The Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine are the competent authority in this jurisdiction.

Equine Identification Leaflet (Download)

Further General Information (Link)

It is illegal to sell a horse without also providing a valid passport.

It is illegal to buy a horse, knowing it has no passport.

However, if you find yourself in this situation…

Firstly, you (and/or your vet) must thoroughly scan the animal for any previously implanted transponder.

Where a pre existing (15 or older 10 digit number) transponder is found, you must check if the animal was registered previously. If it was registered previously, your only course of action is to apply to that organisation for a Duplicate Passport.

Where to check an existing transponder:

Irish Department of Agriculture Equine Database (Email):

[email protected]
or
Tel 01 5058881

UK Online Equine Register
https://www.equineregister.co.uk/chipchecker

French Online Register:
https://www.haras-nationaux.fr/utilitaires/moteurs-de-recherche/info-chevaux.html

Belgium Online Register:
https://www.horseid.be/public/nl/horses

Netherlands Online Register:
https://webform.rvo.nl/formule1/formulier/nl-NL/DR/ScZoekenChipnummerPaarden.aspx

If the existing transponder is found to be unregistered and is of a compliant type, proceed to have the animal marked by your vet and they will handwrite this number on the chart.

If the transponder is not a compliant type (eg , 900*, 972* etc) your vet must implant another compliant transponder and record both (all) numbers on the markings.

If no chip is found, get your vet to implant a compliant transponder, complete the markings and apply for a passport in the usual way.

List of Approved PIO’s and Transponders (Download):

Microchip Country Codes:

If an ISO Transponder’s code starts with a number other than 9, the manufacturer has placed the ISO assigned Country Code as the first three digits.

Following is a list of some of the countries that have been assigned a code by the International Standards Organization

(ISO)

32 Argentina

36 Australia

40 Austria

44 Bahamas

52 Barbados

56 Belgium

60 Bermuda

76 Brazil

124 Canada

152 Chile

156 China

158 Taiwan

203 Czech Republic

208 Denmark

214 Dominican Republic

246 Finland

250 France

276 Germany

300 Greece

348 Hungary

356 India

360 Indonesia

372 Ireland

376 Israel

380 Italy

392 Japan

442 Luxembourg

458 Malaysia

484 Mexico

492 Monaco

528 Netherlands

554 New Zealand

578 Norway

604 Peru

608 Philippines

616 Poland

620 Portugal

630 Puerto Rico

642 Romania

643 Russian Federation

710 South Africa

724 Spain

752 Sweden

756 Switzerland

764 Thailand

792 Turkey

804 Ukraine

818 Egypt

826 United Kingdom

840 United States

858 Uruguay

862 Venezuela

891 Yogoslavia

900 – 999

Private Use Chips starting with 900 – 985 is a manufacturers code, not a country code. It is not the same standard chip.

However Weatherbys has approval to use 9851010

Leisure Horse Ireland produces passports at a very reasonable cost for first-time equine registrations. However, we no longer offer discounted rates on duplicate passports.

There continues to be a pattern where little care is given to safeguarding passports or other nefarious reasons, where either no passport or the wrong passport is passed on to new owners.

Both parties need to remember that it is illegal to sell or buy a horse, without its correct passport.

Therefore the onus is entirely on both parties to ensure the correct passport is given and received during the transaction. If not, the cost of obtaining a duplicate passport will be unavoidable.

If you find yourself in the situation where you must apply for a duplicate passport for a previously registered equine. Firstly, you need to establish where the equine was registered.

• For horses registered in Ireland or abroad and where the passport issuer is still in operation, you must go to that agency that first issued the passport to obtain a duplicate.

• For all other LHI / IPSA registrations, you must get your vet to complete a marking chart for the equine and submit to us a completed duplicate passport application form.

Be aware, that where an animal is issued a duplicate passport, under EU and Irish law they will be permanently excluded from the food chain, and the duplicate passport will be stamped to reflect this. Delays can also arise in issuing duplicates, where further background checks are deemed necessary.

Yes, you do.

We are not permitted to issue a passport or register an imported horse without a valid EPRN being provided.

Cattle Herd Numbers in the past also worked, but now you need to have had added equine to it.

If you do not have one, you need to contact your local Dept of Agriculture District Veterinary Office:

https://www.agriculture.gov.ie/contact/regionalveterinaryoffices/

Application Form:
https://www.gov.ie/en/form/19428-application-for-registration-of-an-equine-premises-under-the-control-on-places-where-horses-are-kept-regulations-2014/

In order to obtain a passport for your horse, your vet must now only implant a transponder, commonly referred to as a microchip, obtained from one of the Irish Passport Issuing Authorities (PIO’s). Where an application is received detailing any other type of microchip and/or not issued by an Irish PIO, it will be returned and another compliant type chip must be implanted in the animal by a Vet. Both chip numbers would then be recorded in the passport.

This requirement has been implemented by the Department of Agriculture to ensure that the correct type of microchip is used in equines and that microchip number ranges are precisely controlled.

List of Approved PIO’s and Transponders (Download):

We are no longer set up to be able to offer an urgent turnaround service. The onus is on you to plan ahead properly and you need to allow at least a week from sending an application to receiving it back.