EquiDiaryHorse papers in the US: Coggins, health certificates and state rules
Last checked: 6 August 2026
There is no national horse passport in the United States and no federal register. What your horse needs depends on the state you are travelling to — and a Coggins that is fine for one weekend can be too old for the next state over.
This page summarises published requirements and is not legal or veterinary advice. It covers the United States. Requirements are set by each state, so the destination state's rules are the ones that count — and the pages at the foot cover countries that work completely differently.
There is no national horse passport, and that is the whole story
Owners arriving from Europe keep asking which office issues the American horse passport. None does. There is no federal register, no lifetime identification document, no national database that every horse must appear in. What exists instead is a set of travel documents whose requirements are written by each state — which means the answer to "what papers does my horse need" depends on where you are going, not on who your horse is.
| Document | What it proves | Typical validity |
|---|---|---|
| Negative EIA test (Coggins) | the horse is not an EIA carrier | 12 months commonly; some states 6 months; some by calendar year |
| Certificate of Veterinary Inspection | the horse looked healthy on the day | most states 30 days; some as short as 10 |
| Brand inspection | ownership, in the western states that run one | per state — Washington requires one for every horse leaving, even returning |
The Coggins test is the one constant
Proof of a negative EIA test from an accredited laboratory is required for entry into all fifty states. That is as close to a national rule as this subject gets. What is not national is how old that proof may be: some states want it dated within the past twelve months, others within six, and some regulate by calendar year instead of a rolling window. A show may be stricter than the state it sits in.
The practical consequence. A Coggins that is fine for one weekend can be too old for the next state over. Owners who travel regularly keep the test current well ahead of expiry rather than to the day — and USEF's own guidance is to contact the state veterinarian's office for the destination state, because the rules are theirs, not the federation's.
The health certificate is a snapshot, not a licence
A Certificate of Veterinary Inspection is issued by a licensed veterinarian after confirming the horse's identity and examining it. It attests that the animal showed no obvious signs of disease on the day it was written. That is why it expires so quickly — most states accept one written within thirty days of travel, some far less. Several states also offer an extended version aimed at horses that travel constantly; whether one is available, and for how long, is again a state question.
Identity comes from private registries, not the government
What a European would recognise as the identity document is, in America, whatever the relevant private body issues: a breed registry certificate, competition records, a microchip number recorded with a registry or federation. These are real and useful — they are just not state documents, and no single one of them is compulsory for owning a horse.
What to keep together
The current Coggins, the most recent CVI, brand inspection paperwork if your state uses it, the bill of sale, the pre-purchase exam report, insurance, and registry papers. The Coggins in particular is the document people hunt for in a trailer at six in the morning.
Where EquiDiary fits
Because nothing here is a single lifetime document, the wallet on each horse earns its keep: the current Coggins, the last CVI, registry papers and the bill of sale in one place, readable by everyone the horse is shared with and editable only by the owner. Logging the test as an event also means the date is somewhere other than the sheet of paper itself.
Sources
- USEF — Interstate travel for horses (all states require a negative Coggins; most require a CVI within 30 days)
- The Horse — State travel requirements, a state-by-state starting point
- USDA APHIS — Animal health, for international movement
- Your destination state's veterinarian's office, which is the only authority that can confirm the current rule for your trip.
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See also: horse vaccination schedules — what the AAEP actually recommends, and how shows differ.