Giving a horse a home

Rehoming a horse

If you and your family have decided you’d like to give a home to a horse or pony from Blue Cross, please have a look on our rehoming pages to see the horses currently available for loan or potentially to own.

We have a range of horses available for rehoming; from miniature Shetlands to cobs to thoroughbreds. We have companions and ridden horses and ponies, both backed and unbacked, and a range of ages from foals to veterans.

Blue Cross horses are initially rehomed on a monitored loan basis, which means we check in to see how they’re doing from time to time so we can make sure that they – and you – are happy.

We can now transfer the ownership of Blue Cross horses and ponies after a successful loan period. This enables us to take in even more homeless horses that need our help.

We are also always in need of horse foster yards, where our horses are provided with temporary care and support on a private yard until a suitable permanent home is found. If you are interested in becoming a foster yard rather than loaning a horse, please visit our volunteering pages for further details.

Can't find the right horse for you?

If you've had a look at our horses currently available for loan and can't find the right one for you, or if you need to speak to someone regarding your situation, please call 0300 777 1846.

Rehome a horse

Benefits of rehoming a horse from Blue Cross

There are a number of benefits of becoming a borrower and rehoming a horse or pony from Blue Cross:

• The horse will be individually matched to you
• You’ll have the most important history of the horse necessary for their new home
• Each horse has a veterinary health check, and all routine care will be up to date
• A training assessment is undertaken for every horse in our care
• After a successful loan period, ownership of the horse may be transferred to you
• If your circumstances change, we will help you find a new home for your horse, even if you have taken ownership
• There are fewer risks than buying privately
• You are giving a second chance to a horse looking for a new start in life
• You’re supporting a charity and enabling us to help more horses in need
• You will become part of a large community of Blue Cross horse owners who support each other

Rehoming costs (inclusive of VAT)

• Companion (non ridden) – £180
• Project Horse and Pony – from £400
• Lead rein – from £400
• Hacking Horse and Pony – from £600
• Established Ridden Horse and Pony – from £800

Do I own the horse?

Blue Cross owns the majority of our horses and most are rehomed on a loan agreement initially. Our regional adoption facilitators will visit you every so often to give advice and support where needed. The number of visits will depend on you and your horse’s needs.

We can transfer ownership of horses that have been in their loan homes for a successful loan period.

What happens if my situation changes and I can no longer keep my horse?

Should this happen, if you have loaned the horse from us we would find them a new home. They would either come back to one of our centres or we would ask you to keep them in the short term while we found a new family for them to go to directly.

We ask you to give us three months’ notice if you want to return a horse to us, so we can ensure we have the space available at our centre or to give us time to find them a new home. If we have transferred ownership of a horse we will still do all that we can to assist the rehoming of that horse should we be asked to.