What HS code is my horse? Mares, geldings and stallions explained

The short answer

Your mare, your gelding and your stallion all sit under the same customs heading: 0101, live horses. Sex is not a tariff distinction anywhere in the world. What the tariff does care about is whether the horse is a pure-bred breeding animal (code 0101.21) or anything else (code 0101.29), and that turns on paperwork and purpose, not on the horse itself.

That is the whole answer in two sentences. The rest of this article is why, what each code costs in the countries our buyers ship to, and the one way sex does creep back in.

What an HS code is

The Harmonized System is the World Customs Organization's numbering for everything that crosses a border. The first six digits are identical in every member country, which is nearly every country on earth. Each country then adds its own digits on the end: the UK and EU go to eight or ten, the United States and Canada to ten. So the first six digits of your horse's code are the same whether it lands in New York, Toronto, Rotterdam or Riyadh; only the tail and the duty rate change.

The two codes for horses

"Pure-bred" here is a customs term, not a compliment. A warmblood in the main section of a recognised studbook (KWPN, BWP, Zangersheide, Holsteiner, Hanoverian, AES and the rest) counts. But the code also requires that the horse is being imported for breeding. The same registered mare bought to jump is 0101.29; bought to breed from, she is 0101.21. The evidence is her pedigree or zootechnical certificate and the purpose you declare, and customs can and do ask.

What HS code is my mare?

0101.29 in almost every case we handle, because almost every mare we sell is bought to compete. She becomes 0101.21 only if she is studbook-registered and you are importing her to breed from. If she is in foal, nothing changes: she travels as one live horse under 0101, and the foal she is carrying is not classified separately.

What HS code is my gelding?

0101.29, always. A gelding cannot be a breeding animal, so the pure-bred line is closed to him whatever his papers say. This is the only place sex settles the code, and it does so by ruling one line out rather than by having a line of its own.

What HS code is my stallion?

The same rule as the mare: 0101.29 to compete, 0101.21 to stand at stud if he is registered. Where a stallion genuinely costs more to move is not customs but the veterinary side. Contagious equine metritis testing applies to sexually intact horses over two, and in the United States a stallion spends a month or more in CEM quarantine against a fortnight for a mare and nothing for a gelding. Our import calculator prices that difference; the tariff does not.

What the codes cost, country by country

The duty is only one line on the bill. Import VAT or sales tax is a separate line, charged on the horse's value plus freight, and it applies whichever code the horse takes.

Into the United Kingdom. 0101 21 00 (pure-bred breeding) is free of duty. 0101 29 90 (other) carries 10% from outside the EU, and 0% from the EU with a statement of origin under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. So a Belgian-bred mare bought to jump comes into Kent duty-free with the right paperwork; the same mare bought from the United States would not. These are the rates on the UK Trade Tariff as we write; check the live entry for 0101 29 90 before you rely on them.

Into the European Union. The mirror image. Pure-bred breeding is free; "other" carries 11.5% from outside the bloc, and UK-origin horses go in at 0% under the same agreement with proof of origin.

Into the United States. Both lines are free of ordinary duty. Since 24 July 2026, however, goods of UK origin carry an additional 10% duty under Section 301, and horses are not among the exclusions. A horse entering temporarily to compete and return home is not subject to it; a horse being sold is. Twenty-five state attorneys general are challenging these duties in court, so confirm the current position with your customs broker on the day.

Into Canada. Both lines are free at the ordinary rate, so there is no origin paperwork to chase and no trade-agreement saving to be had. What applies is tax: 5% GST, or provincial HST for a private buyer, on the landed value.

Everywhere else. The six digits are the same. The rate is whatever that country sets against 0101.21 and 0101.29, and a broker there will tell you in a minute.

Do HS codes for horses change around the world?

The first six digits do not. 0101.21 means the same thing in every member country, which is the whole point of the system. What differs is the national tail on the code and, more importantly, the duty rate attached to it.

The codes do change over time. The World Customs Organization revises the system roughly every five years, most recently in 2022, with the next edition expected in 2028. The current split for horses, 0101.21 and 0101.29, came in with the 2012 edition. Before that, horses were 0101.10 (pure-bred breeding) and 0101.90 (other). If an old export document or a dated web page shows those numbers, it is the previous numbering for the same two categories, not a different rule.

What is not under 0101

Embryos and semen are not live animals. They fall under heading 0511, animal products, with their own rules and none of the veterinary quarantine a live horse faces. A recipient mare carrying your embryo, on the other hand, is a live horse and travels under 0101 like any other. Tack, rugs and equipment travelling with the horse are classified under their own headings, not the horse's.

What to actually do

You do not classify the horse; your customs broker does, and they will want three things from you: the passport, the studbook registration or pedigree certificate, and a straight answer on whether the horse is for breeding or for sport. Give them those and the code takes a minute. For a Horses Smith horse we supply the passport and pedigree with the export paperwork, and we book the flight and quarantine through our shipping agent, so the classification question usually lands on the broker's desk already answered.

If you want a number before you speak to anyone, the import calculator costs the whole journey for a mare, gelding or stallion to the United States or Canada, tariff included. And if the horse you are asking about is one of ours, ask us and we will tell you what she will be coded as before you buy her.

Frequently asked questions

Is a warmblood "pure-bred" for customs purposes?

Yes, if the horse is entered in the main section of a recognised studbook and is being imported for breeding. Both conditions have to hold. A registered warmblood bought to compete is classified as "other" (0101.29), not as a pure-bred breeding animal.

Does a pregnant mare need a different HS code?

No. A mare in foal is one live horse under heading 0101, coded by her own registration and purpose. The unborn foal is not classified separately. Her pregnancy does matter for the export health certificate and for whether she can fly, which is a veterinary question rather than a customs one.

Does a horse travelling to compete pay duty?

Generally not. A horse entering a country temporarily to compete and then return home moves under temporary admission, often on an ATA Carnet, and is not treated as an import for duty. The moment the horse is sold abroad, it becomes an import and the ordinary rules apply.

Is the HS code the same as the commodity code or the HTS code?

They are the same idea with local names. "Commodity code" is the UK and EU term for the ten-digit national version, and "HTS" (Harmonized Tariff Schedule) is the United States version. All of them begin with the same six HS digits.