Two event riders have been cautioned for breaking passport laws.
Andrew Heffernan, of Congleton, and fellow event rider Neil Fox of Delamere, were given Home Office cautions by Cheshire West and Chester Borough Council on 6 July.
Council spokesman Sue Key-Parlin said Mr Heffernan gave the eight-year-old warmblood mare Heavenly Trouble (Angel) to Mr Fox on 15 July 2008 without passing on her Sport Horse Breeding of Great Britain (SHB(GB)) passport.
She said Mr Fox then had the horse repassported with Weatherbys and sold her on, having changed her name.
It is an offence to transport a horse, or for it to change hands, without its passport and to apply for a new one knowing it has an existing passport.
Ms Key-Parlin said the council was contacted by Angel’s breeder, Adrian Ross, who was concerned the horse had been renamed.
Mr Heffernan told H&H he gave the horse to Mr Fox and forgot he had not passed on the passport until contacted by trading standards.
He said: “I was happy to sign the caution because I was guilty of the passport offence, but it was just a mistake.”
Mr Fox said he should have asked Mr Heffernan for the horse’s details so he could get a duplicate passport, but did not think to do so.
British Eventing investigated the situation but will take no further action.
This article was first published in Horse & Hound (27 August, ’09)
