What you should know before offering your horse “FREE TO A GOOD HOME”

You’ve asked your friends if they’ve got room for one more in their barns – but your friends are struggling just as you are.

 

Your boarding barn says you have to be out by the end of the month.  You don’t want to just abandon your horse there, because you don’t run away from your responsibility, and your horse will just end up going to auction to pay for back board.

 

You don’t want to send your horse to auction.  Auctions are excessively stressful for horses, where they can be kicked, bitten, roughly handled, exposed to dread diseases, and at the end of the sale, wind up on a truck bound for the slaughterhouse. 

 

You called the rescues -- all of them – but they are all full and short on funds.  They put your horse on their wait list, but time is running out for you.

 

You are not alone.

 

Thousands of horse owners across the country are struggling with the same weighty decision about what to do with their horses now that they cannot take care of them any longer.  It seems so easy to list your horse on  list for free.

 

And then the “good home” offers start showing up. 

 

You should know that that “good home” may not be the paradise forever home it seems.  As with anything, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.  There are confirmed cases across the country of horse owners innocently offering up their beloved companions to the first “good home” that shows up in the driveway with a horse trailer, only to discover that the “good home” was a fantasy, and their horse’s "savior" sent them straight to the slaughterhouse.  Horse buyers and horse dealers can and will present themselves as a great family looking for a pet to love on, only to take the horse from your home to the l auction.  Not only will your horse most likely NOT find a good home in the auction ring and instead meet a grisly, cruel end as horse meat, but that kill buyer will walk away counting the money she got per pound from your pet, without having to pay a penny upfront.

 

Kill buyers don’t look like monsters.  They have nice trailers and nice stories about how their granddaughter is going to just love spoiling your horse rotten. 

 

So what can you do? 

 

By all means, if you must re-home your horse, make every effort to connect with anyone who might be interested.  There is nothing inherently wrong with listing your horse on Craig list or facebook or other websites.  Networking is important.  Contact the rescues, even if they don’t have room for your horse. Heaven’s Gate  is constantly receiving inquiries from genuine good homes looking for very specific types of horses.  And, never fear, that “type” often includes older pasture ornaments (they may just be looking for a personality type or a particular breed or size).  We can put you in contact with these genuine good homes and help you check references.  Heaven’s Gate can also help you with creating a protective adoption contract for your horse.

 

Provide as much information as you can to prospective homes.  While you are not selling your horse (you’re giving him away), you still can help your horse find a home by really “selling” your horse!  What’s special about him?  What training does he have?  Be sure to include photos showing your horse at his very best.  If he’s not up-to-date on his medical or Ferrier work, get him ready to go.  He deserves no less.  

 

So, before you send your horse off “free to a good home,” do your homework.  Remember:

 

A “good home” WILL answer your questions.

 

A “good home” WILL give you references.

 

A “good home” WILL give you the name of the veterinarian and farrier they use or intend to use.

 

A “good home” WILL let you visit the facilities where your horse will be kept.

 

A “good home” WILL have no objection to signing a “right of first refusal” protective adoption contract.

 

Don’t be afraid to ask for help.  Don’t wait until you have no choice but to give your horse to whoever is willing to haul him away (to the auction or to the slaughterhouse).  Don’t wait until it’s too late.

 

 Do this for your horse it was your best friend !!!!!

 

All Rescues and Shelter  need your help, without you we can’t rescue Animals . We volunteer our time, we spend our money.  We share our tears, our love, and our homes to so many Animals in need. Caring for all these rescued animals is a full-time job, and we need your help. ...

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