Non-Ridden Horses Find Loving Homes Thanks To Charity Scheme

As one of the UK’s largest equine welfare charities, Bransby Horses has around a thousand unwanted, mistreated and abandoned horses in its care.

The charity’s welfare work involves responding to calls about equines in need, working with the local community to improve equine health and wellbeing and assisting with large-scale rescues, involving multiple animals, often in collaboration with other charities.

Having the space and resources to be able to continue with this work is key to their sustainability as a charity and this is achieved in part through a bespoke rehoming scheme.

Currently the rehoming team oversee over 600 horses in foster care as all of them remain under the ownership of Bransby Horses.

Rehoming Manager Rosanna Elliott Hart said: “If we didn’t rehome some of the horses we have, we wouldn’t be able to help those most in need. For the ones that can be rehomed, we do everything we can to match them with the right person or family.”

Under the Perfect Partner scheme, a fosterer looks after the horse as if it were their own but, the Bransby Horses Team continue to oversee them with regular visits and updates, and should a situation change, the horse could be returned.

Rosanna added: “Its piece of mind for us and the owner to know that if they really needed to, we could take the horse back. Fortunately, this doesn’t happen too often, as we spend a lot of time beforehand making sure we have a good match and then providing the fosterer with ongoing support and advice.

“We pride ourselves on our rigorous matching process, ensuring every potential foster home is vetted thoroughly.”

In most cases, the animals being put up for rehoming are under 15hh and can’t be ridden. This can make finding them homes doubly challenging, as most people want a horse to do a job, such as riding club activities, hacking or competition.

Rosanna said: “People are starting to see the value of companion ponies. We’ve had a growing interest in applications for nonridden horses that can be taken on walks, which is great.”

“Seeing Bransby Horses’ residents happy and settled in their foster homes gives us a great deal of joy.”

Consider rehoming before buying

Taking on a horse is a big commitment and something that should be considered very carefully. It is Bransby Horses’ hope that anyone thinking about becoming a horse owner considers a rescued equine first and all the advantages that they bring. For more information, advice or to see which horses are looking for new homes now, visit BransbyHorses. co.uk/rehoming