The journey to safety: how horses come into our care

When horses come into the care of one of our rescue and rehoming centres, they can do so for a wide variety of reasons and from all kinds of different backgrounds. However, one thing that remains the same, regardless of a particular horse’s background, is that we take every step necessary to ensure that each horse’s future is secured for the rest of their life. Sam Chubbock, our Head of UK Support, explains more.

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Security for life

Every horse, pony, donkey or mule who comes into the ownership of World Horse Welfare will continue to be owned by our charity for the rest of their lives. This way, we can ensure that their wellbeing is safeguarded both whilst at one of our rescue and rehoming centres and in any future home with a rehomer.

How horses legally come into our care

Whether a horse comes into our care from a welfare situation, has been abandoned, their owner can no longer care for them, or they’ve been left to World Horse Welfare in a Will, we follow the correct legal process to ensure that they are transferred into our ownership.

In practice, this means that every horse comes into our ownership through a clear, formal and properly documented route. Often, this is done with the agreement of the owner, who recognises that they are no longer able to provide the care their horse needs.

In other cases, horses may come to us after welfare concerns have been identified and appropriate action has been taken by statutory agencies, local authorities, the RSPCA, or SSPCA, acting based on veterinary opinion and often working alongside the police. In all situations, the transfer of ownership is handled thoroughly, transparently and in line with the law, so that each horse’s future is secure and we have a clear, ongoing responsibility for their care.

Assessing and rehabilitating every horse in our care

In addition to transferring ownership correctly, we need to comprehensively assess every equine who comes into our care. This ensures that they get the correct treatment and that, in time, we can find them the right new home to suit their needs. Many of the horses who come into our rescue and rehoming centres will require specialist treatment and extensive rehabilitation. Each will receive a bespoke care programme from our farm staff, working alongside external professionals including vets, farriers, physiotherapists and Equine Dental Technicians to take a truly whole-horse approach.

Helping horses to stay in familiar homes after an owner’s death

Sometimes, when owners leave horses to us in their Will, they will nominate someone to rehome them who they and their horses already know. If this if the case, provided that the person nominated to take the horse on is happy to do so and able to comply with all our standard rehoming processes and terms, the horse can stay in familiar surroundings with ownership passing to us and a friend or family member becoming the official rehomer. If that person’s circumstances change in the future, the horse will come into one of our four rescue and rehoming centres, just like any other of our rehomed equines returning from a home. 

Finding the right homes for our horses

Sometimes we get asked why we don’t give horses back to previous owners or even their original breeder if they’ve been found in a welfare situation. We can completely understand why people who’ve discovered that a horse they’ve known and loved has ended up in such circumstances will be very upset by this and may feel that they should be the first port of call for a new home. However, things are not as simple as that.

If a horse has been rescued as a welfare case, the horse will need to come into one of our centres for comprehensive assessment and, usually, specialist rehabilitation. Once that horse is ready for rehoming, anyone who’s known and loved them earlier in their life will be able to apply for them through our website.

All applications to rehome a particular horse or pony are assessed in the order in which they are submitted. This means that we cannot guarantee a previous connection will get to rehome a horse as a suitable rehomer may have applied sooner. Our rehoming page is updated weekly, usually on a Wednesday afternoon, so if a particular horse is of interest we would advise keeping a close eye on our website and applying for them promptly. Please note that we’re not able to keep a waiting list of interested rehomers, although it is possible to pre-register on the website to make the application process quicker when a suitable horse appears online.

Putting the welfare of horses at the heart of rehoming

We make sure we find all of our horses and ponies the right home once they’ve completed their rehabilitation – and the role that’s suitable for them at that point may be very different than it was earlier in their life. For instance, after a comprehensive assessment by our specialists, a horse who was previously ridden or driven would be rehomed as a companion if being worked would now compromise their physical and/or mental wellbeing. We also have a no breeding policy, so none of our rehomed equines are allowed to be used for breeding purposes, even if they have been in the past. Ultimately, the wellbeing of each horse, pony, donkey and mule who comes into our care is at the centre of every decision we make about them.

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Could you offer one of our horses a safe and loving home?

Rehoming is a vital part of our work. It gives horses and ponies the chance of a fulfilling future, while also creating space at our rescue and rehoming centres for other equines who urgently need our help. If you think you could provide the right home for one of the horses in our care, please take a look at those currently available for rehoming.