Before Starting a Horse Rescue

So you're thinking of starting a horse rescue? Here are some things you need to realize or at least consider before you jump in.

First off, find out how many horses you are allowed to have on the property you have or are considering for the rescue. This can vary from city to city or even from county to county. For example one area may only allow 1.5 horses per acre while another may allow 5 per acre or have no restrictions at all. You may have facilities for 20 horses, but may only be allowed 15. Check it out.

Next you need to make sure that you have more than adequate shelter for the horses that will be coming in. Depending on where you live this may vary from just a roof to a fully enclosed barn. Many horses coming into a rescue may be ill, old, or starved. Having to live out in the blazing sun, freezing cold, or getting rained on is not healthy for these horses. They need protection from the elements.

Also make sure that you have good, safe fencing. I do not consider barbed wire to be safe fencing for horses!

Depending on what type of horses you plan on rescuing can change what sort of facilities you need. For generally healthy horses such as PMU mares and foals, pastures where they live as a herd are okay. But if you'll be taking in elderly, sick, starved, neglected, or abused horses then individual pens are often better. These types of horses don't need to be in situations where they must compete with other horses for food, water, shelter, etc.

If you are one person wanting to start and run a rescue, I would not recommend it. Instead I suggest putting together a team of people to help run it. A big part of running a rescue is the care of the horses, but you also have things like paperwork, fundraising, and managing volunteers. If you plan to do it all by yourself, you'll quickly burn out.

There are also start up costs involved in starting a horse rescue. These include (but are not limited to): filing fee to become a non-profit corporation, tax-exempt status filing fee, website, business cards, brochures, and more.

Also up until you have donations coming in how do you plan on buying hay, grain, supplements, take care of vet bills, farrier, worming, and everything else horses require?

If you haven't done so, I would also encourage you to get some hands on experience and spend some time volunteering at a horse rescue not only working with the horses but fundraising and everything else.

Overall get a plan together and research things out before you rush into starting a horse rescue. It is a time consuming effort often filled with heart ache and frustration, but has more than it's share of rewards too.