with the late Sheikh Hamadan bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Shadwell Farms and gained work experience with the relocation of their mares and foals and the runners that would move from the UK to the USA and the UAE and back to the UK. I moved to the UAE and helped establish the equine department of U-Freight that was the inhouse operation for Shadwell UK, USA and Derrinstown. Having established and run the equine movements over seven years we grew the business commercially beyond Shadwell. After my seven-year stint here in the UAE, I returned to the UK for a short while in 2002 before heading back to set up Equitrans Logistics. Horse racing has always been a huge passion of mine, so I work as a racing steward with the Emirates Racing Authority during the season. I have 15-year-old twins who are avid rugby players and my daughter loves her animals and loves her pony club. At Equitrans we are a team of 20, many of whom have been with us for more than a decade. The business continues to grow and with them capable of overseeing day to- day operations, I have shifted my focus to strategic growth and special projects.
AR+: Can you tell us more about your business and what sort of operations is Equitrans involved in?
DR: We offer stable-to-stable movement of horses, where we manage the preparation of all bloods, vaccines, quarantine, flights and delivery to the final destination after import, under the watchful eye of our very own professional flying grooms, that travel with the horses all the way. We cover everything from single horse owners to large charters and supervise the health, veterinary and logistics for special projects.
We diversified, adding GCC road transport using our own EU spec lorries and domestic pets in 2007 to add value to our equestrian clients, which grew into a mainstream business during the pandemic.
AR+: Equitrans is one of the biggest players in the animal transporting business worldwide. Can you talk more about your presence globally?
DR: We are strategically based in the Middle East, which is a great position geographically as we manage trade from East and West and many large events that happen in the
Middle East.
We have an established network of partners around the world, from airlines to foreign agents and our very best professional grooms that accompany our shipments worldwide.
We continue to manage shipments from every corner of the earth and have shipped over 60,000 horses over the last two decades, with our primary markets being the UK, Europe, South America and North America.
AR+: High Value Cargo & Consultancy what part of your business is that? Can you reflect briefly please?
DR: We work with Organising committees for large equestrian events to consult on quarantine facilities, stabling, veterinary protocols and providing support teams to manage parts of the events.
.jpg)