What costs are involved in rehoming?
Before you take the horse home you will need to pay a one-off rehoming fee (displayed on the individual horse’s profile) and become a ChampionPlus Member of World Horse Welfare. You will need to maintain this membership for as long as the horse is with you – this is our way of ensuring that all of our rehomed horses are covered by third-party liability insurance. Our horses are not rehomed with any tack, rugs or equipment and rehomers are responsible for all day-to-day costs, including any veterinary fees, as well as transport from and to the relevant rehoming centre.
How do rehoming fees work?
The rehoming fee is a one-off non-refundable fee paid before the horse is taken home in the event of a successful application. Each horse’s rehoming fee – generally ranging between £20 and £500 – is determined by their category and potential and is displayed on their profile.
Do I purchase the horse from you?
No – the rehoming fee is a loan fee, not a purchase price. We retain ownership of our horses throughout their lives – but many of our rehomers have their World Horse Welfare horse for life and consider them very much part of the family.
What does the horse come with?
Our horses are not rehomed with any tack, rugs or equipment and rehomers are responsible for arranging transport to take the horse home. If you arrange for a professional equine transporter to collect the horse on your behalf they should have all the equipment necessary, but if you are collecting the horse yourself do make sure you bring a headcollar with you as well as any travel boots/bandages – plus of course a haynet to keep your new friend occupied on the way home! The farm team will be able to advise on the appropriate headcollar size and whether the horse is used to wearing boots or not. Our farms have second-hand tack available for purchase so they may be able to advise on whether anything suitable is available through that route.
Do I need to take out insurance for my rehomed horse?
All our rehomers must be World Horse Welfare ChampionPlus members prior to the horse leaving our centre and continue as members throughout the time that they have the horse – this is our way of ensuring that all our rehomed horses are covered by third-party liability insurance. We appreciate many people will already have such cover in an existing policy, but in order for us to readily check this is in place we must insist on our membership being taken out – it would simply not be realistic to check the insurance policies annually for nearly 2,000 rehomed equines. However, we do offer a special discounted rate for our rehomers. We strongly recommend that rehomers also take out veterinary cover as veterinary fees are the responsibility of the rehomer.
