Mark Phillips reviews the current global travel and competition challenges facing riders and their support teams
Mark Phillips in his role as USA team coach at Greenwich Park, London during the 2012 Olympics. COVID-19 has changed life so much – it’s a struggle even to begin to understand what the new normal will be. Add Brexit on top of that and we almost have the perfect storm, certainly for those of us who have to travel to make a living. The paperwork involved in moving from one country to another, particularly with animals, is off the scale of ridiculousness.
Having to take your truck to mainland Europe or Ireland to get it certified – and the cost involved – is just the start. The 32 pages of vet papers to go abroad and the time that it takes to get them processed at the border is unbelievable, and if you want to take your dog as well, that’s another whole raft of time, money and bureaucracy gone mad.
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This exclusive column is also available to read in this Thursday’s H&H magazine (1 April, 2021)
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