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Donating a Horse To HETRA

Our horses are some of the most important members of the HETRA team, and we frequently get calls from individuals wanting to donate their horse. 

There are many qualities that HETRA looks for in a Therapy Horse:

1.  Quiet patient healthy horses that enjoy working and being around people.

2. Horses that are free from injury and have no lameness or health issues.

3. Therapy horses are ideally between 13 and 15 hands tall.

When we get a call on a horse that has all the above qualities we have a process that we go through with the owner.  First we set up a time to come out and visit the horse at their home, we evaluate the horse and see if we think that the horse would fit into our program.  If we decide that the horse is a prospect, we will then sign a contract with the owner taking the horse for a 30 to 60 day trial period.  During this trial period we work on getting the horse fit and ready to work.  We also see if the horse is willing to work around wheelchairs, walkers, toys and ramps.  If the horse passes all these tests the horse will then become part of the HETRA herd! 

The majority of the Horses HETRA uses are not owned by the program simply for the fact that many of the horses the program uses are older.  If for some reason the horse becomes unusable in the program for either health or behavioral reasons the horse is able to go back to its original home, and the program is not financially responsible for caring for a horse that is unusable. 

If you are interested in donating your horse, but you don't think the your horse fits into HETRA's guidelines there are other options.  We encourage you to visit www.donatemyhorse.com  which is a web site that assists individuals interested in donating their horse. 

Click here for more information about donating horses to therapeutic riding programs!