Recently, we have seen a large increase in the number of calls from owners having to consider finding new homes for their horses as they cannot afford to keep them. There are over one million horses, ponies and donkeys in the UK and we, like most other charities, have limited space available and must prioritise welfare and rescue cases. However, we will try to help as best we can and are always on hand for advice, even if we are unable to offer the horse a home ourselves.
HorseWorld is a member of The National Equine Welfare Council (NEWC) who, alongside their member charities, have put together some useful information for cutting the cost of keeping your horse without compromising their welfare.
NEWC has produced two detailed guides, both of which can be downloaded below. In situations where owners are considering rehoming their equines because they can no longer afford to keep them the ‘Cut cost not care’ guide suggests where sufficient savings may be made to help them keep their animal without making any compromise on health or welfare.
If care costs are still too great and rehoming remains the only option NEWC’s ‘Rehome responsibly’ guide helps equine owners consider the options whether selling, loaning or retiring. Euthanasia is also discussed in cases where quality of life is diminishing and rehoming solutions are not appropriate.
The guides can be downloaded below
