Reviewed by Hugo Gonçalves, Founder & Risk Management Specialist at Adler & Rochefort · Degree in Business Management (University of Hertfordshire) · Ongoing training at the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), London.
A valuable horse is a living asset that can be lost to colic in a night, and a keeper’s liability for what a horse does is strict in both Portugal and Spain. Yet horses are often insured casually, if at all, and the stables and arenas around them sit on a home policy that was never designed for them.
We arrange cover for horses, stables and equestrian property through specialist equine markets and co-brokerage partners, for owners, breeders and riders in both countries.
Owners for whom horses are a serious interest, a sport or a breeding business.
The losses that matter are death or humane destruction after illness or injury, theft, veterinary and surgical costs, a horse that survives but can no longer compete or breed, fire in stables and hay barns, and injury to people. The last is the one that can be ruinous, because both legal systems make the keeper of an animal liable for the damage it causes:
| Portugal | Spain | |
|---|---|---|
| Keeper’s liability | Whoever uses an animal in their own interest is liable for damage resulting from the specific danger its use involves (Código Civil, art. 502) | The possessor of an animal, or whoever uses it, is liable for damage it causes, even if it escapes or strays; only force majeure or the victim’s fault excludes it (Código Civil, art. 1905) |
| Breeds and sport | Lusitano breeding, classical dressage, working equitation | PRE breeding, polo, show jumping and dressage circuits |
| Movement and identification | Equine passport and registration rules under EU animal-health law | The same EU framework, with regional registers |
Horse insurance is modular. The right combination depends on the horse’s value and use.
Death, humane destruction and theft, at an agreed value supported by purchase price, competition record or breeding record, and normally a pre-purchase veterinary examination.
Treatment and surgery after illness or injury, up to an annual limit, including colic surgery.
A percentage of the agreed value when a horse can no longer perform the use for which it is insured.
Loss of breeding capacity for stallions, and cover for mares in foal where relevant.
Horses in transit by road, sea or air, to competitions, sales or breeding centres.
Saddles, tack, horseboxes and trailers against theft and damage.
Stable buildings, arenas, hay barns (a significant fire risk), and equestrian-centre property at rebuild value.
Liability for injury and damage caused by the horse, extended to grooms, riders, lessees and people who look after it.
Specialist underwriters need to see each horse on paper before they will agree a value.
Before any proposal you receive a written note: what the exposure actually is, where your current policies stop, and what a well-placed policy should contain. It is yours to keep whether or not you proceed.
Equine mortality and veterinary cover is written by specialist markets. We place it through co-brokerage partners who know those markets, and coordinate it with the stables, estate and liability cover so the horses and the property around them are insured consistently.
The same person handles the file from the first conversation through placement, every renewal and any claim. You never re-explain your circumstances to somebody new.
If something happens, we notify the insurer, assemble the documentation, and stay with the claim until it is settled, in writing, with a record of every step.
Adler & Rochefort is an ASF-registered insurance intermediary, not tied to any insurer, with its head office in Lisbon and clients across Portugal and Spain. No client names are published, and information about what you own or how you live goes only to the markets approached on your instructions.
Tell us briefly what you would like to protect, and where. We reply in writing, in English, within 24 hours, with a first assessment and the information an underwriter will need. No call is required at any stage.
By sending this form you agree to us using your details to prepare and discuss the cover, in line with our privacy policy. We never sell your data, and we do not publish client names or details of what we insure.
We will reply in writing within 24 hours.