In January 2024, a small group of National Equine Welfare Council (NEWC) members, led by World Horse Welfare, conducted a follow up survey to the 2023 Cost of Living Survey with the aim of investigating where horse owners were still feeling financial pressures and how this was impacting horse health and welfare.
Similar to the previous survey, the response was huge – over 6,000 horse owners took part – showing that horse owners were still engaged with informing NEWC charities about the financial challenges they were facing and how they were affecting their horse care.
Overall, the results of this year’s survey were similar to last years, with the overarching message being that owners are still making significant sacrifices in other areas of their lives in order to maintain their horses’ standards of care. Additional questions were added this year to enable us to drill down deeper into different horse owner demographics. These questions gave horse owners the option to identify their employment status and annual salary. This allows us the opportunity to tailor support and work with government to provide support to those most in need.
However, it is worth noting that across all demographics, the message was clear – horse owners were concerned about further rising costs and how they would manage over the next year.
You can read the full report here:
NEWC Caring for Equines and the Cost of Living Survey Findings | June 2024 (PDF)
Additionally in January and February 2024, World Horse Welfare conducted a survey on behalf of NEWC, with the objective to gather evidence about the impact of the continued high cost of living on equine rescue centres, sanctuaries, and rehoming organisations across the United Kingdom, with the aim to share the information gathered, alongside findings from a survey aimed at horse owners, with the United Kingdom and devolved governments, and to identify what educational material may be helpful.
This is a follow-up to a similar survey from December and January 2023. The results from the 2023 survey were shared with the UK Parliament’s Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee as part of NEWCs effort to inform decision makers on equine welfare issues.
You can read the full report here:
Founded in 1977, the National Equine Welfare Council (NEWC) was established as an important point of contact on equine welfare in the UK. Building on its beginnings as a forum for equine welfare organisations to discuss welfare issues, exchange experiences and air views, NEWC has evolved to become a united voice on equine welfare matters and continues to increase its advisory and education scope. For more information, visit newc.co.uk or follow NEWC on Facebook