World Horse Welfare: helping all horses, ponies, donkeys and mules across the world
World Horse Welfare is the only charity working to help all horses, ponies, donkeys and mules across the world. Internationally, their work includes collaborating with communities to develop horse care knowledge, skills, and services so that owners can better care for their working animals and improve their own lives. Around 100 million horses, donkeys and mules play a vital role in sustaining livelihoods across the planet. World Horse Welfare also supports the welfare of vulnerable horses in the UK, many of which are the victims of abuse and neglect. In 2024, the charity dealt with 1,870 welfare concerns and rehomed 304 horses.
The challenging nature of this work is visible in the story of Seamus. When Field Officer Seema discovered Seamus, his field was stripped bare of grass and it seemed these had been his living conditions for some time. She was shocked to see a giant skeleton, with bare patches of flesh where there should have been a thick, chestnut coat. Seema could see he’d had to crane his neck through the fence to reach any morsel of forage but there was simply not enough to sustain him. He was starving to death and had even resorted to chewing his field fences in desperation – his life was in the balance.
Thankfully, World Horse Welfare was able to act quickly to move Seamus to the safety of one of their rescue and rehoming centres for emergency treatment. Seamus’s gentle character never faltered and thanks to months of dedicated compassion and care he made a miraculous recovery. Seamus found a loving new home, returning to his ancestral roots in Scotland, where he is thriving and happy. He will always remain part of the World Horse Welfare family – one that promises him lifelong security.
On average it costs the charity £7,000 a year to provide the daily care and veterinary treatment for one horse from rescue to rehoming. As Field Officer Seema explains, “It’s only thanks to donations from those that care about horses that we are able to do this, and we desperately need to be there for so many more horses like Seamus. Donations could help us rescue horses in need and provide them with round the clock care, rehabilitation and a bright future.”
World Horse Welfare depends on gifts in Wills to fund six in ten of their rescues. Your support is crucial to horses like Seamus, who are victims of abuse, neglect and cruelty. You can give more horses like Seamus a brighter future, free from suffering.
