2025 in review: highs and lows in the world of welfare

As the year draws rapidly to a close, we caught up with our Chief Field Officer Claire Gordon to hear her insights into the challenges our charity and the wider horse world have faced in 2025. Claire also highlights some great successes, achieved despite the pressure the welfare sector is under.

2025 has been a challenging year for horse owners due to the continuing impact of rising costs combined with the additional challenges the summer drought has put on forage yields and supply. Horse charities too are not immune from these challenges and the worrying impact we’re starting to feel is the resilience of the welfare sector shrinking – at a time when the demand for our services is increasing. We’ve seen charities having to shut some of their centres, make redundancies, close to new intakes, or decrease stocking levels to reduce running costs. Sadly, we’ve lost some equine charities who have closed permanently, finding the ever-increasing costs unsustainable.

Welfare cases involving large numbers of horses continue to further deplete capacity within rescue centres. The number of jobs involving unwanted horses is rising as owners struggle to meet the needs of their equines. Some of the big rescue operations this year have involved horses who have been sold or passed on by their owners to unknown fates, with many later being rescued from dealers and hoarding situations. Sadly, we’ve also seen cases where owners and breeders of horses have passed away or become very ill with no succession plan in place to manage their herd, leaving charities to pick up the pieces and manage the care of the equines in situ until a resolution can be found.

Changing weather patterns are creating additional challenges for horse owners. Warmer, wetter winters have resulted in increased cases of conditions such as rain scald and mud fever, while summer droughts have reduced grazing availability and affected the supply of hay and straw. Worm burdens have been noticeably higher because of horses grazing closer to dung piles due to poor grass growth.

Despite these pressures, we are proud to have rehomed an outstanding 313 horses, ponies and donkeys so far this year. Every successful rehoming frees vital space for another animal in need – a lifeline that becomes even more critical as we head into winter.

We have taken in 200 horses across our farms this year – in addition to 157 of our 2200+ rehomed horses and ponies returning to us in 2025 – and have supported the placement of many more vulnerable animals through our close partnership with fellow members of the National Equine Welfare Council (NEWC). This collaborative approach ensures that, as a sector, we can make the most effective use of our pooled resources. At a time when challenges continue to escalate, working together has never been more important if we are to help as many horses as possible.

We continue to rely on the generosity of the public to sustain this essential work. Whether by donating or by offering a home to one of our wonderful horses in need of a second chance, your support enables us to be there for the horses, ponies, donkeys and mules who depend on us.

If you’re feeling inspired to rehome after reading Claire’s blog, to help us rescue more horses in need, you can check out all our horses, ponies, donkeys and mules ready to find new homes on our rehoming pages.