The finishing line is only the beginning .........

Greatwood provides - The Safety Net. We believe in Welfare and Never Putting a Healthy Horse to Sleep.

The majority of owners, trainers, lads and lasses, having loved and respected their horses, do their utmost to ensure that the horse will be looked after once retired from racing.

The first home found for the horse upon its retirement may break down; financial constraints, marital breakdown, and inability to cope with the demands of the thoroughbred are just a few reasons.

Despite the best endeavours the horse may begin the downward spiral, passed from one home to another, and looked after with an ever increasing level of incapability and innocent ignorance, finally ending in misery and neglect. We have to help just such horses, like the colt on the right who arrived in a terrible state and as you can see after months of care is thriving.

Here are just a few case histories:

• A horse abandoned in a field having been ‘won’ in a pub over a game of cards
• A horse left in a scrap yard, the remains of his rug had to be cut from him, his leg had been broken at some stage and had been left unnoticed
• A horse left alone in the dark to starve in its stable
• A horse dumped at a livery yard, and no-one stepped forward to help him, let alone give him a morsel of feed
• A horse advertised free on the internet, its feet were so bad that he couldn’t take a step without agony.

Our ultimate aim is to rehome the horse. A firm contract is put in place whereby the horses cannot be sold on or moved without Greatwood's agreement and regular welfare checks are undertaken, ensuring care for life. However, we cannot always rehome a horse due to the nature of the horse’s injuries, which is why we cannot be categorised purely as a retraining centre.

The majority of the horses we take in are flat horses, as opposed to National Hunt. The rescued horses may be damaged mentally and physically, and therefore the period of time required to ‘get them back on their feet’ again may be significant.

We believe that every horse deserves a chance of a fulfilling future, and for that reason we do not impose a time element on the time a horse remains with us.

We also believe that if a horse is in pain and suffering, that it deserves a humane, kind and decent exit. This is welfare.

The five freedoms that our horses can expect at Greatwood are:

• Freedom from hunger and thirst.
• Freedom from discomfort.
• Freedom from pain, injury or disease.
• Freedom to behave like a horse.
• Freedom from fear and distress.