How to Set up a Horse Rescue

Horses occasionally suffer from neglect. Typically they are underfed or their feet are left to grow to painful extremes. Additionally owners sometimes send unwanted horses to the auction market, where meat buyers await. Horses are often shipped live to other countries where they are slaughtered. Many concerned people want to help and think that starting their own horse rescue is a great idea, but how exactly is this done?

Before You Begin

Check local laws and bylaws on land use to be sure you can have a horse rescue on your property, also check to see if there are legal restrictions on how many horses you can have on your property at a given time. 

Understand what rescue is, and be sure it is what you want to do. Indeed, rescue means taking the most undesirable horses and trying to place them in new homes accordingly. Rescue is not an excuse to take free horses to make them into your own pets.

It may be best to form a charity so you can apply for government grants and offer tax receipts for donations. Check local laws in regards to forming a charity.  Forming a charity usually means you have to have a board of directors to make sure funds are handled honestly, and for fund raising purposes. 

Check to see that your facilities are adequate for your plans. You will need several pens, including isolation pens for new horses who have not seen a veterinarian or been vaccinated. A barn may not be necessary in the beginning but a riding arena and training areas are highly desired.  Your fences must be in good repair.

You will want to be sure of finances. You must be able to provide feed, farrier services, veterinarian care, and other daily care for the horses. Remembering that most rescues operate as non-profits. Be sure you can afford the venture as a genuine rescue, rather than just becoming somebody who wants to buy and sell horses.

Apply for a business license if one is needed in your area. In some areas you may have to appeal to your neighbors to be tolerant of increased traffic to your property.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25463685@N03/2908619528/ A very skinny Arabian horse. 

Setting Up

Establish what your relinquishment fee will be, if any. Establish what your adoption fee will be and what criteria people need to meet if they wish to adopt.

You will need documentation in the form of relinquishment papers, these are the contracts people sign when they are signing over ownership of their horse to you. You will also need adoption applications, for people who wish to adopt, and adoption contracts, to finalize adoptions.

You will need to create awareness of your rescue operation. This can be done in several ways, a story run in your local newspaper, or on a local television station, posters, and signs, will all work to attract attention and awareness of your horse rescue.

Acquiring Horses

Typically rescues do not pay for their animals, they have owners relinquish the animals to them. Some shelters will accept stray horses (although not as common as stray cats and dogs) and if you agree to do so, you must make efforts to find their original owner before the horse is considered legally yours (check area laws regarding this).

Horses who are impounded under cruelty laws may be placed in your care for rehabilitation, sometimes their owner is given an opportunity to recover the animals, but often the horses can be put up for adoption. Finding who is in charge of enforcing these laws in your area will put you in touch with getting these animals who may be in terrible condition and are often starving or suffering from neglect.

Some horse rescues make a point of buying up horses destined for the slaughter yards. People attend the bottom end auctions and become familiar with the meat buyers and out bid them on horses, but never outbid the general public who are interested in buying horses for pets. Again rescues only take the animals nobody already wants as pets.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/crimfants/2620250534/ Days End Horse Rescue

Remember

Horse rescue is a very expensive animal rescue venture. Be sure there is a need in your area and that you are fully able to fill the role. Also make sure you are doing rescue for the right reasons, this being to help horses in need, rather than to acquire cheap horses for your own enjoyment.