Loan Scheme Information
The word 'horse' includes horses, ponies, donkeys and mules.
World Horse Welfare centres
World Horse Welfare horses are rehomed from our four recovery and rehabilitation centres, which are located in Norfolk, Somerset, Lancashire and Aberdeenshire. Applicants must therefore be prepared to travel to the centre that their chosen horse is at to have a riding assessment and to collect the horse. It may be necessary to meet the horse on several occasions before the loan is agreed. The borrower is responsible for meeting the costs of transporting the horse to its new home.
Matching up horse and borrower
Once the horse is fully rehabilitated, all Horse Loan Scheme applicants are considered in order to match the horse with the most suitable home. When a potential match is found, we will call the applicant and ask them to visit the centre in order to meet the horse and, in the case of all ridden horses, to have a riding assessment. This may involve several trips back to the centre to get to know the horse and ensure that the best possible match is found.
If this is successful we will then send one of our field officers to check the potential home for safety and suitability. Please note that World Horse Welfare horses are not rehomed for commercial use. They may be stabled in livery at riding schools provided they are not used in the school.
Once a horse comes into our care, we retain ownership of that horse for the rest of its life in order to permanently guarantee its welfare. We ideally look for long-term homes for all our horses but, naturally, personal circumstances change and riders outgrow ponies or move on. Should the circumstances of a loan home change we will always be happy for the horse to be returned to one of our centres, although we do ask for at least one month's notice of any return.
Definition of use
Each horse available for loan has an allocated use. The meanings of these are as follows:
Companion - Strictly non-ridden
Youngster - To be handled regularly until ready to come back into a
World Horse Welfare Centre to be backed.
Lead Rein - Suitable for use only on a lead rein
First Pony - Suitable for a child on or just off the lead rein.
Second Pony - Suitable for a more experienced child, may be more
forward-going.
Hack - Only suitable for hacking.
Pleasure competition - For novice to intermediate riding club type competition.
Competition - Advanced riding club type and affiliated competition.
Ride & Drive - Suitable for both ridden and driven work. See
individual horse's details for more information.
These definitions are not a guarantee of use or character. Horses and ponies can be unpredictable and a change in environment (for example, a new home) can affect their behaviour.
Taking the horse home
Once the horse and borrower have been matched up, the local field officer will complete a home check to make sure the proposed premises are safe and suitable. The relationship between the field officer and the borrower is ongoing, as they will be the first port of call if any problem should arise. They are responsible, along with Loan Visits Officers in some areas, for carrying out regular checks to make sure everything is running smoothly - these checks can be unannounced.
The borrower will be given a loan pack, which is a record of all the worming, shoeing and veterinary care. It is a condition of loan that all of these procedures are kept up to date and are paid for by the borrower, including any extra veterinary costs that arise.
Once the horse is taken on loan the borrower takes on all the costs of the horse, including a minimum of third-party insurance. The horses are not loaned out with any tack, rugs or equipment. We ask that all borrowers are members of World Horse Welfare for the duration of the loan. For each horse there will also be a loan agreement fee, payable upon collection, which will be between £20 and £400 depending on the type of horse.
