ILPH Horse Gifting In A Will Scheme

* Do you own a horse, pony, donkey or mule?

* During your lifetime you ensure your equine is well cared for, but how could you safeguard their future if something happened to you?

The ILPH Horse Gifting in a Will Scheme can help!

As a responsible and caring equine owner, you may worry that no-one else will care for, or understand your horses as well as you do, should they outlive you.

To help with this concern, our Scheme enables you to leave your equines to us in your Will so that in the event of your death, your horses will be well looked after for the rest of their lives.

Our scheme also relieves your family of the burden and responsibility of looking after equines at a time of bereavement, especially if they don't share your interest, knowledge and expertise in the care of such specialised animals.

Conditions of the Scheme:

In principle, once the request is written into your Will, the ILPH can accept your horses if you died. However, in the best interests of your horses and you, we ask that three simple conditions are met concerning all equines entering the scheme:

If you are not already a member of the ILPH, we ask that you become and remain a MEMBER. If you are already a member, we ask that you maintain your ILPH membership. Life Members automatically fulfil this condition.

As well as indicating your wishes in your Will to gift your horses to the ILPH, we ask that if possible, you make some financial provision for their future care and supervision. This is discretionary and based upon your personal circumstances and we don't specify any set figure, but you will know from experience the cost of caring for your horses. We also hope that you'll want to help the ILPH to alleviate the suffering of other equines less fortunate than your own through the gift in your Will.

Ownership of all equines gifted in your Will passes absolutely to the ILPH upon your death and remains so until their own demise.

How The Scheme Works:

Once your have stated your wishes in your Will and registered your horses onto our scheme by completing an Equine Details Form (EDF) for each equine, should you predecease them, your Executor(s) will contact the ILPH, and we will act immediately to ensure your horses' immediate needs are met and then take them into our care.

Further to a period of assessment at one of our Centres, new homes will be sought for your equines through our LOAN SCHEME, either for riding or as companions, as appropriate, but they will remain the property of the ILPH for the rest of their lives.

Every horse is treated as an individual with specific needs and we aim to provide all equines with caring, well-matched and loving homes – we never loan them to anyone seeking commercial gain, nor are they ever sold.

When rehoming an equine, the local ILPH Centre Manager will assess a potential new loan owner/borrower for suitability, experience, competency and compatibility and likewise the paddocks and stabling at the equine’s potential new home are inspected and approved by the local ILPH Field Officer.

Once rehomed, your horses are visited regularly, unannounced, to ensure that they are receiving a suitable standard of care.

If requested in your Will, we can also place horses gifted to us in a loan home nominated by you - some owners may have a friend they wish to nominate. Like any ILPH approved loan home, your nominated loan home must meet our standards of care and accept our conditions. We can then assure the future well being of your horses, both in their nominated loan home and in the event of that home being unable or unwilling to care for them.

We ensure that all equines gifted to our care receive the best possible attention and quality of life for the rest of their days. As the new owners after your death, the ILPH reserves the right to take informed and pragmatic action for an equine’s health, welfare and quality of life, including, if it became unavoidable and subject to veterinary advice, compassionate euthanasia.

I Am Interested - What Do I Do Now?

If you wish to register your equines on to the ILPH Horse Gifting in a Will Scheme, you can either email me, Dawn Witney, at DawnW@ilph.org, telephone 01953 497225 and request a scheme brochure and an Equine Details Form (EDF) or download an Equine Details Form to complete for EACH EQUINE to be included on our Scheme. Please state how many equines you have when contacting me, so I can send you the correct number of forms.

The information you include on this equine 'CV' is vital to our understanding of the needs of your horses – after all, we can't ask your horses to tell us their history and relevant needs when you have passed on! We also ask that with each completed EDF you return, you attach a recent photograph of the equine concerned for identification purposes.

Returned completed EDF's are kept in a confidential file in your name about your horses. Of course, if any details about your horses change over time, I'd be grateful if you could keep me informed, so that I can update your file.

Your Will Safeguards Your Horses’ Futures

Only once your wishes are written into your Will are your horses’ futures legally assured. If you have not done so already, you will need to see your Solicitor and advise him or her that you wish to leave your equines to the ILPH in your Will, including any financial provisions you want to make for their future care. If your require a copy of our suggested Will wordings for this Scheme, please ask.

- When your Will (or codicil) has been finalised, we would respectfully ask that you provide the ILPH with a copy of the relevant details to include with the confidential file we will hold on your horses.

Equine welfare is our primary concern, and we know it is yours, too. By considering our Horse Gifting in a Will Scheme you can ensure that your horses, ponies, donkeys or mules never fall into the wrong hands. Our Scheme can also provide you with peace of mind knowing that your much loved equines will be cared for in a loving, suitable, ILPH monitored home should they outlive you.