Equine rehoming process

Rescue horses and ponies can make wonderful companions and it's extremely rewarding knowing you've made a real difference to an animal's life.

We're really pleased you're considering adopting a rescue horse and on this page we explain our equine rehoming process.
 

In this short video Sue Walter, manager of our Millbrook Animal Centre in Chobham, Surrey, talks about the rehabilitation and adoption process of equines that come into our care.

(Please note the horses and ponies featured in this video have now been happily rehomed.)

Finding the right horse for you 

Our rehoming process aims to make sure horses and owners are perfectly matched.

Generally it will be in your favour if you have owned or had sole charge of a horse before and made a success of it.

Many of our horses need experienced people to bring them on so unfortunately if you do not have this experience you may not be eligible to adopt one.

If you're looking for your first horse, read our advice on how you can get experience in our horse ownership page.

If you believe that you have the necessary skills, time and money to meet the welfare needs of horses and ponies, here's how you can find horses for adoption.

• Use our Find a horse search above on the right.
  Simply enter your postcode or town.
   
• Browse our horses and ponies special appeals.
  For horses looking for a particular type of home.
   
• Download our adoption form for horses that may not be advertised: 
  Horse and pony application form (PDF 33KB)

There is an adoption fee to adopt an RSPCA horse or pony which can be anything from £150 to £500, depending on the type of equine and the animal's rehabilitation.

It costs us at least £5,000 to care for, rehabilitate and rehome each horse so the adoption fee really is a small contribution towards this cost.

It also helps to cover the costs of microchipping and vaccinations.

Viewing an RSPCA rescue horse 

If your application is successful, you will be invited to either:

• meet your chosen horse
  or
• meet an equine that may be better suited to you.

Horses cannot easily be moved about among our animal centres.

RSPCA specialist equine centres are in County Durham, Shropshire and Surrey. Our centres in Wales also have a selection of ponies for rehoming.

So you may have to travel if you want to adopt a horse because they are never rehomed unseen.

If you are looking for a riding horse, please be honest about your riding skills.

You may need to travel to an equine centre to try the horse more than once if this is felt to be necessary to ensure that you and the horse are right for each other.

Home visit

Before a horse or pony can be adopted from the RSPCA, a home visit is always carried out. 

This gives us the opportunity to assess both your expertise and your facilities and also helps us to decide whether you have the commitment to be a horse owner.

Do not be surprised if a home visitor discusses the end of a horse's life with you. Accidents and old age happen to horses just as they do to ourselves, and it is only practical to have a working knowledge of what needs to happen when that time arrives.

Read more about having an equine retirement plan.

Happy endings

There is nothing quite like the feeling we get from successfully rehabilitating and rehoming a rescue animal.

Through horse adoption, you'll be ensuring we continue to have heart-warming horses and ponies success stories.