The impact of World Horse Welfare

In 2009, World Horse Welfare's four rescue and rehoming centres took in 172 new horses (down from 192 in 2008), with a further 147 being returned from loan (an increase from 137 returns in 2008). Those returns were mainly due to changes in the rehomers' circumstances, or children outgrowing ponies.

 

230 horses were rehomed during 2009, through our Rehome a Horse Scheme. These horses went on loan as either companion, ridden or driven animals.

 

The UK welfare office dealt with around 33,000 calls. Many of these came from distressed, or even abusive, callers.

 

During the year, our team of field officers made 1,882 initial visits to welfare concerns - this figure was up from 1,712 in 2008. They then made a further 798 follow-up visits to ensure that conditions improve. This figure increased from 525 in 2008.

 

Overseas, our international training teams completed 344 days of training in 2009 - down from 373 days the previous year. This is largely because our training project in Nicaragua was unexpectedly cancelled, following civil unrest. A total of 50 saddlers and 62 farriers were trained, providing sustainable solutions for working horses and their owners in developing countries.

 

The campaigns team achieved a number of successes during 2009, which will assist the campaign to end the long-distance transportation of horses to slaughter in Europe. These successes include the handover of the Make a Noise petition to the European Commission, demonstrating that 132,565 European citizens are in support of ending the practice.