HWH wants to help you help your equine. We know how difficult and heartbreaking it can be to have to surrender a horse that may have been your companion for many years. If you are at a point where you can no longer keep your horse because of his behavioral issues, or your health, loss of a job, death in the family or some other unexpected event, please contact us so we can assist you. Sometimes there are alternatives and we will be happy to discuss those with you.
Please know that we give our all to every horse that comes to us. However, in spite of our best efforts, arriving at a new facility is stressful for any horse. Arriving somewhere new, hearing new horses that they have never met before. And the people! So many new faces and voices! Even the facility can cause stress for a sensitive horse. There are so many new sounds and sights in a barn and pasture they have never known.
If you are considering surrendering your horse because he or she is very old, very lame or otherwise unadoptable, please think about whether this is really what is best for your horse, or whether you want to discuss other alternatives with us. Sometimes all the remedies, treatments and prayers we can offer are not enough to help a very old or very lame horse live out his days free of pain. If your horse is suffering, might it be time for you to say goodbye and give him the peaceful ending that he deserves in his own home, where he knows you and his surroundings, and feels comfortable and secure? We can assist you in making those plans.
When we take in horses that are not adoptable either short-term or long-term, it not only drains our financial resources, it also drains the time and, most importantly, emotional resources of our staff. Good people who get up every day and put a smile on their face in spite of the sadness they often see. They rise to every challenge and do everything in their power to help all the horses, but it takes an emotional toll when there are many that will not ever regain their health.
As an organization, we both want and deserve your honesty. It will not affect whether or not we can take your horse but it may help us identify alternatives for you. If you want to surrender a horse, please be truthful about anything and everything related to your horse. Tell us the actual age of the horse and about any lameness, medical or behavioral conditions he has. Supply vet records, farrier records, a negative Coggins test, and anything that your horse can use to be comfortable. It would help if you supply some of the hay and feed that your horse currently eats to allow us to safely switch him over to our feed. Help us to ease your horse’s transition. And if you are getting out of horses altogether, please donate your tack, buckets, halters, leads and the like. We can use them.
So we can have all the information we need to help you, please download and complete the Surrender Application below and send to HWH.adm.assist@gmail.com