News about innovative programs that help horses find new homes catch my eye. This, despite the fact, that I have so far kept all of the horses I have owned until death.
I also know that life can throw curve balls. All of us can get knocked off-course from our intended path with a one-two punch by a health concern, financial downturn, family issue, etc . . .
For these reasons, I think it important to keep my eye out for rehoming options in case I am not able to keep my horses in the future.
Safe Landings, hosted by the EQUUS Foundation, is one such rehoming platform. It acts as an information hub and connection point for folks looking to rehome their horses outside of the typical sale or auction situation. In fact, Safe Landings focuses on horse donation, something that isn’t widely talked about within many equestrian circles.
Horse folks may not realize that there are colleges, universities, camps, police units, equine assisted learning programs and therapeutic riding centers in need of horses to fulfill their program requirements.
Beyond the issue of awareness is the fact that finding the right match among the donating owner, the horse in question and the receiving organization is not always simple. Safe Landings seeks to make the process easier.
“Safe Landings is a new online platform featuring organizations that are looking for program horses to provide opportunities for horse owners, rescues, and transition centers to find homes for their equines in need of a next chapter.
For horses to remain an important part of American life and have a viable future, it’s imperative that we increase opportunities for horses to naturally transition from one career to the next without risk of abuse, neglect, and the threat of slaughter, and provide the means to retrain horses in transition to prepare them for these opportunities,” says Lynn Coakley, EQUUS Foundation President.
Safe Landings offers resources for horse owners who are unable to retain ownership of their horses with viable options other than sending horses to auction where they are likely to be purchased by “meat brokers” and sent to slaughter across our borders.”
-From the North West Horse Source Magazine November 2021 Issue
Safe Landings is hosted by the EQUUS Foundation. The foundation is a non-profit organization that seeks to promote horse welfare and the horse-human bond.
According to a recent email I received from the EQUUS Foundation, their goals include “minimizing the conditions that lead to abuse and neglect, and the threat of slaughter by finding homes for at-risk horses and horses in transition, providing a safety net for owners enduring hardship to keep their horses, ensuring a safe haven for aged horses, and increasing opportunities for more horses to engage and partner with people in new and innovative ways.”
Designing the Safe Landings program is one way they are meeting their mission. Their website also contains many articles on what to consider when rehoming a horse. Things like asking questions about how horses are incorporated into a center’s program and what the center does when the donated horse no longer fits their program needs.
To learn more about the Safe Landings program and to see the list of collages, universities and other organizations currently looking for horse donations, go to
https://www.equusfoundation.org/next/next-chapter-display-quest.php
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