Welcome to our dedicated page for World Horse Welfare rehomers 

If you would like to move a rehomed horse, we ask that you give at least two weeks’ notice of any intended change, giving the new address and date the horse will move on. We will then task one of our Field Officers to contact you to arrange a home check and once this is passed, you can move the horse.

To inform us of an intended move, please email rehoming@worldhorsewelfare.org or call 01953 497238. If the move is due to an emergency, please get in touch as soon as possible.

If you would like, or need, to return a rehomed horse we ask that you give at least one month’s notice by emailing rehoming@worldhorsewelfare.org or by calling 01953 497238.

The relevant rescue and rehoming centre will then contact you to arrange a return date. The rehomer is responsible for transporting the horse back to our centre, ensuring vaccinations are up to date and the horse’s passport is updated and returned with the horse. In emergency situations please contact us as soon as possible. Due to the number of horses World Horse Welfare owns, we are simply not in a position to keep previous rehomers updated. Unfortunately, that means rehomers will lose contact with any returned equines.

We are here to help with this sensitive topic. Understandably, considering the end of a horse’s life can be extremely distressing for owners. Unfortunately, accidents and illness can occur at any time in a horse’s life, so we encourage owners to give this some thought even when their horse is young and healthy.  

In the case of any death, regardless of whether it is due to euthanasia or natural causes, there are matters that need to be considered and this is far easier to do in advance of any problem. Therefore, it is important to make an end of life plan.   

For more advice and guidance, visit our webpage on equine end of life which contains an array of resources to support you.  

Knowing when the time is right to consider making an end of life decision for a horse is often the hardest part of being a horse owner or carer.  

If you are facing an end of life decision for your rehomed horse, you do not need to ask our permission to have the horse put to sleep, if a vet is in agreement. However, we are of course always available to support our rehomers with this decision if needed. You must inform us via email using rehoming@worldhorsewelfare.org or by telephone on 01953 497238 at the earliest convenience after the horse has died or been put to sleep. We will then send a stamped-addressed envelope asking for the horse’s passport and end of life form to be returned to us. Following this, rehomers can have the passport back after cancellation if they would like it.  

Whether you use your own transport, hire a horsebox or trailer yourself or use a transporter, head over to our dedicated webpage on travelling horses safely which offers advice on how to make sure a trailer or lorry is safe to travel your horse in and how to pick a professional transporter. 

Bringing a new horse home will change the social structure of a herd and this can often lead to an initial period of increased conflict and potential aggression. While this is a normal and natural process, it carries with it the risk of stress for both horses and owners. Our advice page on introducing new horses sets out a range of possible approaches to make the transition as smooth as possible. 

If you’re not sure where to begin with, or would just enjoy a helpful structure for, managing your horse’s routine health and welfare requirements our Annual Horse Health Plan will point you in the right direction. It includes an interactive document to create a bespoke annual health plan to meet your horses’ individual needs and help keep track of what needs to be done and when.  

This plan can be completed using a smart device, saved to a laptop/desktop or can be printed. It has been designed to log vet and practitioner visits over the course of a year and can be started at any point in the year.   

If you’re not sure how to prepare your horse to be left on their own, or you have a horse with separation anxiety, check out our top tips for training your horses to be left alone. 

Horses are herd animals – being on their own, whether they’re the one being taken away or the one being left behind, can be very frightening for them if they’re not given the chance to get used to it gradually. However, with time, patience and a systematic approach, most horses can learn to be comfortable being left on their own for short periods of time.   

We have put together some notes on social media “dos and don’ts” for rehomers. It’s always great if rehomers are happy to promote rehoming, whether you choose to do so by sharing updates with your friends and family using your personal social media accounts or by sending updates to us. However, there are some considerations to be aware of. To ensure the safety of everyone, take a look at our top tips. 

If you are at work or away on holiday, there is always a chance that your horse could injure themselves when you’re not around – and we may end up being called by passersby, or the vet might get called out be someone else. Find out how you can best prepare for an emergency when you’re not about by reading our guidance. 

Do you know if your horse is a healthy weight? Learn how to assess your horse’s condition and find practical tips for weight management on our dedicated webpage which includes access to our fat scoring resources which are available to download as a leaflet or poster pack. 

When it comes to veterinary care, the rehomer is responsible for all vet bills during the loan period and for ensuring vaccinations for flu and tetanus are kept up to date.  

You do not have to update us about vet visits, but we are here to talk things through should you want to get in touch as we are always here to help. If your vet needs to get in touch with us, please ask them to email rehoming@worldhorsewelfare.org or call 01953 497238. 

ChampionPlus membership is compulsory throughout the duration of the loan and is one of the Terms and Conditions of our Rehoming Agreement. ChampionPlus membership is available to our rehomers at the special discounted rate of only £47 a year (or £135 should you choose to upgrade to ChampionPlus with Veterinary membership) and provides Public Liability Insurance and Personal Accident cover. As this is an annual payment, many rehomers choose to set up a Direct Debit to ensure that the cover is renewed automatically. 

Should you have any questions about membership please do not hesitate to contact us by calling 01953 497270 or email membership@worldhorsewelfare.org  

Find out more about our ChampionPlus membership. 

We love to see and hear how our rehomed horses are getting on in their new homes. If you would like to share photos and updates with us, please email us at rehoming@worldhorsewelfare.org or call us on 01953 497238. When getting in contact, please let us know if you are happy for us to use photos on our website and/or social media channels and if you are happy to be contacted by our Communications team.  

To find out more about the finer details of our rehoming agreement, you can read the full terms and conditions on our website.  Bear in mind that these have changed over time so rehomers who first took their horse on years ago may have a slightly different agreement in place. 

Across our website, we have a host of resources which you may find useful and interesting as you travel on your rehoming journey. These include advice pages on a broad range of subjects, our Horses Explained video series which explores key health, management and behaviour topics, and our Welfare Webinars which bring you free, expert advice on a variety of issues.  

Simply head over to our advice webpage and search our topics for further guidance.