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Keeping a Horse or Donkey in Portugal

Researched and written with AI tools from official sources. How we make our guides

Every horse, donkey, and mule in Portugal needs a passport, a microchip, and a registered holding. Fees, deadlines, sales, imports, and fines explained.

The Portugal Brief 9 min read

Keeping a Horse or Donkey in Portugal

Last verified: October 2026.

Who this is for

  • You own, are buying, or are looking after a horse, pony, donkey, or mule in Portugal.
  • You have a foal on the way, or you are bringing a horse into Portugal.
  • You have inherited an animal with a rural property and do not know what paperwork it has.

Not for you if: you are bringing a dog or cat. Read SIAC Microchip Registration for Pets instead.

Every horse, donkey, mule, and zebra in Portugal must have a lifetime passport, called the DIE, and a microchip fitted by a vet. It must also live on a registered holding. The duty falls on whoever keeps the animal, even for a few weeks. A standard passport from the national veterinary authority, DGAV, costs €8.09, or €16.20 for a studbook animal. A foal must be identified before 12 months of age. A late or replacement passport costs €48.58. Fines start at €250.

Who is responsible

The law calls the responsible person the keeper (detentor). A keeper is anyone who owns the animal, has it, or is in charge of it. It does not matter if you are paid or not, or if it is short term or permanent. It includes transport, markets, competitions, races, and cultural events.

If you are looking after a friend's horse this winter, you are its keeper this winter. Keepers must make sure their animals are correctly identified and registered on time.

DGAV runs the national equine register (Registo Nacional de Equídeos, or RNE). The register now works on an online platform called GesEqus. Your vet records the animal there.

The passport (DIE)

The passport is the Documento de Identificação de Equídeos, or DIE. DGAV describes it as unique, lifelong, and compulsory for every equine. Without it, the animal is not identified.

There are two kinds for animals born in Portugal:

  • Blue passport. For animals entered in a studbook recognised by DGAV. These include the Lusitano, Sorraia, Garrano, Thoroughbred, Arab, and several Portuguese breeds, ponies, and donkeys.
  • Green passport. For all other equines, called "production and income" animals. Most crossbreds, working donkeys, and companion horses without breed papers get a green passport.

You apply through DGAV's regional veterinary offices for both colours. The one exception is the Lusitano. Blue passports for Lusitanos are issued through the Lusitano breeders' association (APSL).

When a foal must be identified

The passport must be issued by the time the foal is 12 months old. It must also be issued before the foal leaves its place of birth for more than 30 days. Whichever comes first applies.

A foal born in April that stays at home has until the following April. A foal born in April and sold in June needs its passport before it moves. Some breed studbooks require identification earlier, while the foal is still with its mother.

Older Portuguese pages may say "six months or 31 December". That was the old rule. DGAV now applies the 12 month and 30 day rule from the EU regulation.

How to get a passport

  1. Make sure you have a holding. See the next section. The passport form asks for a holding mark.
  2. Book your vet. The vet scans for an existing chip, fits a new one if needed, and draws the animal's markings.
  3. Fill in the form with the vet. Use Modelo 1139/DGAV for horses, or Modelo 1140/DGAV for donkeys, mules, and zebras. You date and sign it.
  4. The vet registers the data on the GesEqus platform.
  5. Submit and pay at your DGAV regional office, or through APSL for a Lusitano.

Documents and details you need

  • Form Modelo 1139/DGAV or 1140/DGAV, completed with the vet and signed by you
  • Your holding mark, matching your tax number (NIF), or a riding centre's authorisation if the animal lives there
  • For a blue passport: the animal's entry in the studbook, in the name of the breeder or current owner
  • Payment

Until 31 December 2026, DGAV still accepts paper forms at its regional offices, as a transition measure. Even then, the vet must still register the identification data on the platform. If your vet does not complete the registration, or you need help with GesEqus, contact the DGAV regional office for the area. You can also email the register at [email protected].

The microchip and the markings

The first time an equine is identified, a vet implants a microchip (transponder). It goes in the left side of the neck, halfway between the poll and the withers, in the area of the nuchal ligament. The chip must meet the international ISO standards for animal chips.

Before fitting a chip, the vet must check for one already in place. The vet also checks for signs that a chip was removed. If an earlier identification turns up, DGAV takes over the case.

The passport also carries a drawing and written description of the animal (resenho). It shows white markings, colours, whorls, and scars. A chip alone has not proved enough to confirm identity. The drawing helps stop fraud, such as an animal excluded from the food chain being slaughtered for meat.

If the chip is lost or stops working, you must replace it as soon as possible. The deadline is set by the authority and cannot be more than 30 days. It must be replaced before the animal leaves its usual home.

The holding comes first

You cannot register a horse to nobody. DGAV says the holding mark (marca de exploração) on the passport form must match the species and the maximum capacity of the holding. The mark is linked to the owner's tax number.

In practice, you have three options:

  • You have your own registered holding with its own mark.
  • You are an associated producer of someone else's holding.
  • The animal lives at a riding centre (centro hípico). In that case, the centre's authorisation for the animal to stay there replaces your own mark.

Two horses or donkeys can be kept as a household holding, registered with DGAV for a small fee. See Keeping Chickens and Other Small Livestock for the steps and limits. If your land is not yet mapped, see Registering Rural Land on BUPi.

What it costs

DGAV publishes these prices for passports it issues:

RequestPrice
Green passport (production and income)€8.09
Blue passport (registered animal)€16.20
Duplicate or replacement, green or blue€48.58
Urgent service (48 hours)add €32.38

DGAV counts as duplicates both passports reissued after a loss and any passport requested after the legal identification deadline. So a late green passport costs €48.58 instead of €8.09.

A normal request takes 30 days. The urgent service takes 48 hours, if all the information is complete and correct. You can pay DGAV in cash, by Multibanco, or by bank transfer, but options vary by office. Ask the office first. For Lusitano passports, ask APSL for its prices.

Buying or selling: four days

When an equine changes owner, you must go to a DGAV regional office within four days. Bring:

  • The green or blue passport, for an animal born in Portugal, or the identification document from its country of origin
  • For a green passport: the original change of owner form, filled in and signed
  • For a blue passport: the breed association's registration slip in the new owner's name
  • A riding centre's authorisation, if the animal lives there; otherwise, proof that the new owner has a holding mark or is an associated producer
  • Copies of the identity documents of everyone named on the form

DGAV's change of owner form is available in Portuguese and English.

If the passport is lost

Report the loss to DGAV straight away. What happens next depends on whether the animal's identity can still be proved.

  • Duplicate. Issued when the original is lost but the identity can be confirmed, for example from the chip. Also issued when the animal was not identified on time.
  • Replacement. Issued when the identity cannot be confirmed.

As a rule, an animal with a duplicate or replacement passport is excluded for life from slaughter for human consumption. In some cases, the authority may instead suspend slaughter for at least six months. This depends on the loss being reported quickly and on proof that no treatment has ruled the animal out.

The food chain and medicines

Under EU rules, every equine is treated as intended for slaughter for human consumption, unless its passport says otherwise. This is not about anyone planning to eat your horse. It affects which medicines a vet may give.

Some medicines can only be used if the animal is first excluded from the food chain. The vet records this exclusion in the passport. It is permanent and cannot be undone. Many private owners sign the exclusion early, so the vet has more treatment options. Talk it through with your vet before treatment is urgent.

Moving your horse

The passport must travel with the animal. It holds the ownership record and the record of vaccines and medicines.

If the passport is with DGAV for an update, the authority can issue a temporary document. It allows movement within Portugal for up to 45 days. An animal on a temporary document may not be taken to a slaughterhouse.

Bringing a horse into Portugal

From outside the EU. You have 30 days after customs release for free circulation to apply for a Portuguese lifetime passport, or to register the existing document. If that document does not meet EU rules, the authority may complete it or issue a new one.

From another EU country. If the animal has a valid passport, go to the DGAV regional office for your area. The office enters the animal in the national register and updates the documents.

When the animal dies

If your equine dies or is lost, including by theft, you must return its passport to the authority named in it. The deadline is set by the authority and cannot be more than 30 days from the death or loss.

Fines

The equine identification law sets fines of €250 to €3,740 for private persons, and up to €44,890 for companies. They cover failures such as:

  • not marking, identifying, or registering the animal
  • missing the identification deadlines
  • duplicating or replacing a passport improperly
  • using unauthorised microchips
  • late or missing entries in the register
  • breaking the movement and transport rules
  • not meeting the keeper's duties when the animal dies

Negligence is also punished, with the minimum and maximum fines halved. Extra penalties can apply. They include losing the animals, losing public subsidies, and bans from sporting events, fairs, or markets for up to two years.

Free-roaming herds

DGAV can decide that equines living wild or semi-wild in certain areas, such as nature reserves, are identified only when they are removed. The local council tells DGAV that the herd exists, and DGAV decides. This covers wild herds, not a horse you keep on a large plot and rarely handle.

Quick checklist

  • Every equine needs a passport (DIE) and a microchip.
  • Foals: passport by 12 months, and before leaving the birth holding for more than 30 days.
  • Get a holding mark, associated producer status, or a riding centre authorisation first.
  • Budget €8.09 for a green passport or €16.20 for a blue one. Late or duplicate passports cost €48.58.
  • Bought or sold an animal: update the owner at DGAV within four days.
  • Lost passport: report it at once.
  • Decide the food chain question with your vet.
  • The passport travels with the animal.
  • On death, return the passport within 30 days at most.

This guide is general information, not legal or veterinary advice. Only a vet can identify and chip an equine. Confirm fees and procedures with your DGAV regional office before you apply.

Sources

This guide is written from official sources and, where relevant, organisations' own websites.

Last verified October 2026. Rules and fees change; check the official source before acting.

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