Worried about a horse?
Find out how to report an emergency or a less urgent situation in Great Britain.
Find out how to report an emergency or a less urgent situation in Great Britain.
**Please note: our head office is closed from 5pm Friday 20th December until 8:30am Thursday 2nd January. If you’re concerned about an emergency during that time which can’t wait until the next working day, please contact the police or a vet for advice. You can find details of a local vet through the RCVS Find a Vet page.
If your concern relates to a non-emergency situation, you can report it via our form at any time and our team will review the information you have provided during hotline hours when the office reopens.**
If you’re concerned about a horse’s welfare in Great Britain, you can report this to us online, unless it’s an emergency in which case please call us via the telephone number below. If you’re unsure whether the situation needs reporting, or how urgent it might be, please follow our guidance about what kind of situations should be reported.
Before you call or submit a report via our online form, please make sure you have the following details ready so we can progress your report:
- The precise location of the situation you’re concerned about (ideally using what3words)
- The specific issues that are causing concern
- A description of each horse at the location
- When you last saw the horse/s – if you haven’t seen this situation in person, please ask someone with first-hand information to get in touch with us themselves
If you’re at least 18 years of age, have seen the situation yourself and it’s not an emergency, you can report your welfare concern to us via our form using the button below. Please note that if you wish to report more than one situation, you will need to submit a separate report for each.
Report a welfare concernThe information you provide in this form will be assessed by our expert team in working hours (Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm) who will triage each report to work out whether a visit is required, and the level of urgency.
Examples of situations classed as an emergency:
Horses will lie down to sleep so it is important wherever possible to distinguish between a horse which is collapsed and one which is simply lying down.
Where the horse is unable to put one foot to the floor or clearly unable to put any weight on one limb. Horses will often ‘rest’ a hind leg when they’re standing, so it is important wherever possible to distinguish between a lame horse and one which is resting a leg.
This is a serious condition which affects the hooves of the horse and severely affected animals will have a ‘pottery’ walk and may stand in a particular way, leaning back on their heels to relieve the weight on their front legs.
Anything which is obviously causing serious pain or distress to the horse.
This could include caught in fencing, stuck in a ditch, tangled in a tether or anything similar.
Please note: this list of emergency situations is not exhaustive – if the situation you’re concerned about isn’t on the list but you do think it’s an emergency, please give us a call.
If you’re at least 18 years of age, have seen the situation yourself and it’s not an emergency, you can report your welfare concern to us via our form using the button below:
Report a welfare concernThe information you provide in this form will be assessed by our expert team in working hours (Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm).
If you’re unsure whether the situation is an emergency or not, you can find out how urgent different situations are in the guidance about what kind of situations should be reported. All reports are handled by an experienced, knowledgeable team and are dealt with in the strictest confidence.
If you are struggling to care for your own horses, or you’re worried about a client or someone you know who is finding it difficult to cope with looking after their animals, find out how to request a support call from our team in the Help for Horse Owners guidance.
Worried about a horse you’ve seen in a field with ragwort?
If you’ve seen a horse in a field full of ragwort you can find out more about the best course of action on our ragwort page.
Why do we need you to call if it’s an emergency?
We need people to call us to report emergency situations so we can check our Field Officers’ availability if it’s really urgent.
Calls to our Welfare Line may be recorded for training purposes but remain confidential. Our Welfare Line is staffed 8am to 5pm Monday-Friday – in the event of an emergency outside these hours please telephone your local police or veterinary practice for advice.
Prefer to remain anonymous?
All reports are dealt with in strict confidence, but if you’d prefer not to share your details with us, you’ll need to call us rather than using the online reporting form. This is so that we can ensure we get all the necessary information in one conversation since we won’t be able to contact you with any queries about your report.
Situation not listed above and you’re not sure how urgent it is?
If the situation you’re concerned about isn’t mentioned in the list of emergencies above, you can find out how urgent different scenarios are in the guidance about what kind of situations should be reported.
Report a welfare concernStill need more guidance?
If you still need more guidance, are concerned about a horse outside Great Britain, or want to report information which may be helpful to us but isn’t about a welfare concern, you can find links to more advice below.
What kind of situations should be reported?
Should I share it on social media?
