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Memphis, above and far left.
Winchester with adopted owner, Kathy in the photo below.
Each incoming horse to our rescue goes through a 30-day quarantine to protect the current horses already on the farm from possible contamination of contagious illnesses. During this time, they are thoroughly evaluated by our team of skilled equine experts, from veterinarians to our trainer to our farrier. We provide all necessary care for them and make sure the transition into their new herd is as stress free as possible so that they can start to thrive.
When each horse is ready, they slowly start into a training program. Our trainer works closely with the veterinarians to assure the best possible outcome for each horse. We believe that horses are happier and healthier when they have a job. The Dorset Equine Rescue has a full time trainer who evaluates each horse’s abilities and physical condition. Because we rarely get much history on the horses that come to us, we treat each horse as if they do not have any training. We make sure that we get to know our horses very well and continue their training for as long as they are with us. We want to assure the best possible home for them, so the better we know what they are capable of, the better we can match them with their future adopter. An educated horse is far more adoptable than an uneducated horse.
Sometimes age or injury prevents horses from being ridable but that doesn’t mean that they are useless. Some of those horses are the best companions to our younger horses that are insecure and need stability. Some of them end up being good lead line horses, or therapy horses for people to pet and brush, or they get adopted out as a companion to another horse who is alone. All of our horses, including the ones who are not ridable, are brought into the barn regularly and taught to have excellent ground manners so they are a pleasure to be around and well behaved for the veterinarian and farrier.
When a Dorset Equine Rescue horse is ready for adoption, it is listed on our website and shared on social media. Anyone who is interested in one of our horses is asked to fill out an adoption application as well as provide references, after which point we also require a barn check. We require every new home to provide a certain level of care including shelter, a good sized turn out area, and basic vaccinations. After a home is approved, the new owner will sign a contract to help insure the horse continues to be well
cared for. If they can no longer keep the horse, the adopter is required to agree to notify us first before rehoming their horse, so that we are part of the rehoming process. Once a horse comes through our rescue, we do everything in our power to keep it forever safe from falling on hard times again. We strive to make sure each horse and adopter is compatible so they both have the best chance of developing a life-long and successful relationship.
When good people blindly buy a horse from an auction or rescue a horse from a kill pen, it’s always a big risk. This is because many people really don’t know what they