The whole chain, explained: when a journey counts as economic activity, which permits you need from Jordbruksverket and Transportstyrelsen, driving-licence classes, tachographs, insurance and the customer's duty to check – step by step.
Few things in the horse world are as widely misunderstood as the rules on horse transport. It is not one authority and one permit – several separate regimes apply at the same time, depending on who is driving, why, and how far. This guide walks through the whole chain: the vehicle, the transporter, the driver, and you as the person placing the booking. One point from the outset: it is always you who must judge whether a journey counts as economic activity. Jordbruksverket (the Swedish Board of Agriculture) is clear that the driver and the business are responsible for getting that assessment right.
Before you get into the detail, decide which situation looks like yours. Three common paths lead to entirely different requirements.
Everything turns on this question, because it decides which set of rules applies.
If you transport your own horse in your own vehicle, you can avoid both a transporter authorisation and a certificate of competence – but only if you stay inside one of these two exemptions:
If you go further or more often – even if it is still only your own horse, to training or a competition – the requirements in step 3 start to apply. An urgent veterinary journey with an injured or sick horse is always exempt, whatever the distance or frequency.
If the journey is tied to economic activity, or you travel more often or further than the private-person exemption allows, three separate things are required – in a set order. Länsstyrelsen is the County Administrative Board.
Before you can apply for a transporter authorisation you must complete an approved one-day course for horses and obtain a certificate of competence. The certificate is personal, remains valid indefinitely (unless you are convicted of an animal-welfare offence) and is required both for the driver and – if that is someone else – for the person responsible for the horse's care during the journey. Jordbruksverket publishes the list of approved training providers.
Your vehicle (car plus horse trailer, or lorry) must be inspected by länsstyrelsen, which certifies that it meets the EU requirements for animal transport. You receive form D103 (inspection ahead of registration) and D104 (certificate that the road vehicle meets EU requirements).
If you want to run journeys longer than 8 hours, the vehicle must meet extra requirements – including bedding, adjustable ventilation, movable partitions and feeding and watering equipment – and be inspected specifically for that use. That produces a separate vehicle certificate from Jordbruksverket, valid for at most five years. In the trade, shorter journeys are often called Type I and longer journeys Type II.
With the certificate of competence and the inspection papers in hand, you apply to Jordbruksverket for the transporter authorisation. You can do it online (Swedish e-ID required) or on a paper form. It costs 1,300 kr through the e-service (1,600 kr on paper) and is valid for five years. You must not have been convicted of serious breaches of animal-welfare law in the past three years.
This is the most common misunderstanding: a transporter authorisation from Jordbruksverket is not enough if you charge for carrying other people's horses. Jordbruksverket says so plainly: when you are paid to transport someone else's animals you also need a professional haulage licence – applied for separately at Transportstyrelsen, under an entirely different set of rules.
The company must also be approved for F-skatt (Swedish business tax status) and registered for VAT. At least one natural person must be appointed as transport manager – the person who actually and continuously directs the transport operation, has a genuine link to the company, and has passed the professional-competence exam.
A smaller horse-transport firm without its own haulage licence can in some cases run professional traffic as a subcontractor to an established transport company that already holds the licence – provided the established company is the contracting party towards the end customer and issues the invoice. Your own company then invoices the transport firm for the work, never the end customer directly.
Driving-licence class is separate from every permit above and applies to every driver – private or professional – based solely on the combination's fully laden mass (car + trailer, fully loaded). A common mistake is to count only the kerb weight; it is the fully laden mass (horse, feed, tack) that decides.
| Licence | Limit | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| B | Car + trailer max 3,500 kg combined (a trailer of max 750 kg is not counted in) | Light trailer with a pony |
| B96 | Car + trailer together max 4,250 kg | A typical horse trailer with 1–2 horses |
| BE | Car max 3,500 kg, trailer max 3,500 kg (BE after 19 January 2013) | Larger horse transport, 2–3 horses |
| C1E / CE | Required when the trailer's maximum mass exceeds 3,500 kg | Lorry combinations, several horses |
If you drive horse transport by lorry at C/C1E level in professional traffic, a YKB (certificate of professional competence for drivers) and a digital tachograph are added – mandatory in vehicles over 3.5 tonnes maximum mass that fall under the EU driving- and rest-time rules.
Since 1 July 2026 the EU driving- and rest-time rules also apply to lighter combinations (2.5–3.5 tonnes) on international transport or cabotage for someone else's account. That means a smart tachograph version 2 (SMT2), a driver card, and compliance with the driving- and rest-time rules. If you transport your own horses (not for payment) you are not covered, even on an international journey.
Länsstyrelsen's animal-transport inspection (D103/D104) checks that the vehicle meets EU animal-welfare requirements and is done before you apply for a transporter authorisation. The ordinary periodic roadworthiness inspection (kontrollbesiktning) checks traffic safety and is required on an ongoing basis whether or not the vehicle is used for animal transport.
| Vehicle type | First inspection | Thereafter |
|---|---|---|
| Light trailer (max 3,500 kg) | No later than 48 months after registration | Every other year |
| Passenger car / light goods vehicle | No later than 36 months after registration | Every other year |
| Heavy goods vehicle, bus, heavy trailer | No later than 12 months after registration | Every year |
This section is aimed at you if you book and pay for transport in the course of a business – not at a private person who occasionally books their own horse home. Since a tightening that took effect on 1 July 2018, Yrkestrafiklagen (2012:210) 5 kap. 2 § contains rules on customer liability (beställaransvar): the person who ordered an unlawful transport can themselves be convicted of an offence – not only the illegal transporter.
The rules apply to actors in the contractual chain, not only the person who contracted directly with the transporter. If a yard books transport through an intermediary that in turn hires the actual transporter, both the yard and the intermediary can in principle be held liable if the licence was missing. Anyone who contracted directly with the transporter also has an express duty to check.
Criminal liability applies to the person who ordered the transport professionally, on their own or someone else's behalf – that is, in the course of a business. Riding schools, studs, horse dealers and brokerage platforms that book transport on a recurring basis are clearly covered. A private person who occasionally books transport for their own use falls outside the criminal customer-liability rules.
You can be sentenced to a fine or imprisonment of at most one year if, at the time of the booking, you knew, or had reasonable cause to assume, that the transporter lacked a haulage licence. If you book directly from the transporter, you must also, intentionally or through negligence, have failed to check the licence in a way that can reasonably be required.
For international goods or passenger traffic without a licence, or in breach of the cabotage rules, a corresponding liability applies but with a fine as the only sanction. Transportstyrelsen is clear that it is the police, the prosecutor and the court that decide in each case whether a customer has met the duty to check – the agency does not issue fixed guidance on how often the check must be made, particularly not under standing contracts for recurring transport.
Transportstyrelsen points to two ways of meeting the duty to check:
| Situation | What is required | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Private person within the exemptions (65 km/8 times or <50 km) | No special permit – the animal-welfare rules still apply | — |
| Private person/amateur outside the exemptions | Certificate of competence + inspected vehicle + transporter authorisation | Länsstyrelsen + JV |
| Company transporting its own horses | The same as above | Länsstyrelsen + JV |
| Charging to drive other people's horses | All of the above + professional haulage licence with a transport manager | Länsstyrelsen + JV + TS |
| Booking transport in the course of a business | Duty to check – verify the haulage licence (YTL 5 kap. 2 §) | Transportstyrelsen |
| Every driver | The right driving-licence class for the combination's fully laden mass | Transportstyrelsen |
As a private horse owner you rarely need a permit yourself – but you should know what must be in place at the operator you hire. If you run a business that regularly books transport: check the haulage licence before every job, or book through a channel where the transporters are already verified. Also read our report on how transport affects horse welfare, and our guide Buying a horse if you are planning a remote purchase with transport home.
It depends on distance and frequency. If you stay within 65 km and a maximum of 8 journeys a year, or under 50 km from the horse's holding, you can do without a permit. If you go further or more often, or if the journey counts as economic activity, you need a certificate of competence, a vehicle inspection and a transporter authorisation.
No. You then also need a professional haulage licence from Transportstyrelsen, with a transport manager, F-skatt and VAT registration. Jordbruksverket's authorisation governs animal welfare – the haulage licence governs paid-for traffic.
It depends on the combination's fully laden mass. Many combinations with one or two horses need B96 (car + trailer max 4,250 kg) or BE. Always count the fully laden mass with horse, feed and equipment – not only the kerb weight.
For purely domestic driving in Sweden with a combination under 3.5 tonnes: no, not normally. For a heavy goods vehicle in professional traffic: yes. For lighter combinations (2.5–3.5 tonnes) on international professional traffic for someone else's account, the tachograph requirement has applied since July 2026.
Ask to see the transporter authorisation, the inspection certificate and – for paid transport of your horse – that the company holds a professional haulage licence. On bokahasttransport.se you can book JV-verified transporters who have already documented their permits.
Yes, if you book transport professionally and knew or ought to have understood that a haulage licence was missing. Customer liability in Yrkestrafiklagen (5 kap. 2 §) is aimed at traders – not at private persons who occasionally book transport for their own horse. Check the haulage licence through Transportstyrelsen's e-service before you book, or use verified transporters.
As the buyer you do not need a permit yourself, but you are responsible for booking lawful transport. Ask about the transporter's permits, insurance and experience – especially on longer journeys. See also the guide Buying a horse for the full purchase process.
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