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Bransby Horses launches revolutionary rehoming process on Valentine’s Day

14th February 2020

Bransby Horses, is launching a new rehoming matching process on Valentine’s Day. The charity has designed a strategy to ensure they receive more ‘right fit, first time’ rehoming applications in the future. To do this, they are challenging the ‘norm’ of simply advertising the available horses that they have on their website and promoting them on social media.

 Rehoming has always been an important part of the work Bransby Horses does. It gives companion and ridden equines, who have had a tough start in life, a second chance to live a happy and healthy life, in a one-to-one home. Many equines live on the site at Bransby but many more live in foster homes across the UK, having found their perfect partner. The flooding of 2019 has pushed rehoming into the limelight as good rehoming is necessary in order to maintain the high level of care the equines need on the main site but also make room at the charity for more welfare cases needing help.

Working with Nottingham-based agency Fifteen Design, the new online application process will be smooth, easy to follow and it will allow the rehoming team to more efficiently match potential Perfect Partners to the right equines. The matching process will be based on the potential Perfect Partner’s ability, experience, personality and potential. The better the match, the less likely there are to be issues going forward or result in the pony or horse being returned to Bransby Horses later in life.

The new scheme already has the backing of some big names including gold medallist Ros Canter. Ros Canter, 2018 Team and Individual Eventing Gold medallist, 3rd and 5th at Badminton and currently ranked 2nd in the world, heard about the campaign and said:

“Horses have not only given me success but also a huge amount of pleasure and empathy ever since I was a child. Every horse deserves the chance to be loved, well cared for and content, and Bransby Horses’ new rehoming process will enable each equine to be matched with their perfect person. Bransby Horses has years of experience in rehabilitating and giving horses their second chance at life. Being a part of that is hugely rewarding and I give it my full support.”

The charity believes that the new system will revolutionise the way equine charities match their rescued residents with new homes. The process is expected to reduce the number of unsuitable applicants by half in 2020, saving valuable time and resources.

The charity, based in Lincolnshire, was started 52 years ago and now has almost 1,000 equines in their care. From humble beginnings, the charity now covers all areas of welfare including; rescue, specialist care, rehabilitation, riding training, rehoming and sanctuary. The charity rehoming team, made up of seven people, are tasked with finding the right owners for equines who are ready for a home and also travelling to visit and support more than 520 existing equines in foster homes, across the UK.

All applicants will be asked to agree to eight key care promises, before proceeding to the main part of the application. Applicants will then be asked a series of questions designed to assess their qualities as a potential equine fosterer. If an immediate match can’t be made, they will then have regular contact from the charity, to check the status of their ongoing search.

Rosanna Elliott Hart, Rehoming Manager at Bransby Horses said:

“There are so many reasons why this is a good idea. We love the interest we get in our equines; we just want to make sure those applying understand what is involved in rehoming, from the start. Some of the applicants we currently get don’t fully complete the forms or agree to all the necessary criteria. By making these changes, we are improving the quality of the applications coming through to us, so our team can focus on making the right match and supporting our ‘fosterer’ family across the country.”

“We also understand how busy horse owners are. They don’t have time to scroll through hundreds of options to only discover the equine isn’t the right fit. They may also be looking at a number of charities to rehome from and hopefully, this new approach will get more of our equines in good one-to-one homes, right fit first time, and help lots of people looking for an equine find their Perfect Partner of the four-legged kind.”

A Bransby Family Fosterer plays a vital role to enable the charity to carry on with their rescue and welfare work. Not only do these fosterers provide knowledgeable and loving homes but they are also ambassadors for Bransby Horses and do a fantastic job of ‘flying the flag’ for the charity. 100% publicly funded, the charity relies on the generosity of its supporters to continue to run. The charity is always looking for ways to be more efficient whilst continuing to deliver exceptional care. The fosterers also play a huge part in caring for the equines; the charity couldn’t continue to run without them.

In the summer of 2019, Bransby Horses was almost full to capacity at their site at Bransby and in November 2019, when severe flooding hit, the charity hit crisis point. With the support of the public, they raised enough funds to keep the hundreds of equines on site fed and cared for and quickly move 42 equines to a temporary site in Langworth. The problems are far from over as the true impact won’t be known until spring 2020.

If you would like to rehome an equine from Bransby Horses and think you have the knowledge and skills to do so, please visit https://bransbyhorses.co.uk/rehoming-application-form/ to start the journey to finding your Perfect Partner. For more information about Bransby Horses, visit www.bransbyhorses.co.uk