Equine Donation + Lease
Our therapy herd is the foundation upon which all of our programming is built. These horses and donkeys are incredible animals, providing connection, patience and movement to those who need it. A great therapy horse must show intelligence, good temperament, and general mental and physical soundness to do the job. They must be able to distinguish cues from spastic movements, take unbalanced loads and conflicting directions with ease, enjoy attention, and remain calm when an unplanned event occurs. Because of the important role they play within our organization, we must be selective in determining which horses are accepted. If you are considering donating or leasing your horse to us, please read through the following information.
What We Look For
Preferred Age: The ideal age range of a therapy horse for our program would be 7-17 years old; other ages considered.
Gender: Geldings and mares accepted; no stallions.
Height: We prefer horses under 16 hands.
Soundness: Must have a free moving stride with no physical issues that would cause the animal to be uncomfortable (with or without a rider) at the walk, trot, and canter. Must be serviceably sound and comfortable without the need of expensive corrective shoes, feeds, supplements, or medications.
Condition and Conformation: Must be in good physical condition. (Horses that come from a pasture life with limited handling, or have had several years off are generally not good candidates.)
Personality/Temperament: Must be tolerant of their environment and of their riders. Must enjoy attention, have great ground manners, and are able to handle having people on all sides of them while being ridden. Because our clients actions are not 100% predictable, great therapy horses tolerate the occasional shout or spastic movement. Great therapy horses are by nature, very quiet and forgiving. Must not bite, buck, rear, kick, pace, crib or wind-suck.
Training: Must be completely saddle broke and trained. We are not able to accept green or untrained horses.
Trial Period: Owner/donor must agree to at least a 30 day trial period where the horse is stabled at our facility while its suitability for our programs is thoroughly evaluated. During this trial period, the horse will be exposed to therapy equipment, mounting blocks, walkers, wheelchairs, toys, balls, sidewalkers, leaders, loud noises, sudden movements, unbalanced riding weight, and applied pressure on all parts of the body.
Completion of this form does not guarantee acceptance into our program. If we do not currently have room to accept an equine into our program, we will give you an idea of the wait list time.
> > Click on the following links to download:
Equuvation’s Equine Standards of Care . | . Equuvation’s Equine Lease Agreement
A note about tax benefits: Donations are tax deductible. Owners donating a horse will receive a letter of donation from our organization for their records. If the owner wishes to take a tax deduction of $5,000 or more, the IRS form 8283 provided by the donor must be completed and filed, including an appraisal summary. This is made on Schedule B IRS Form 8283, and needs to be signed and dated by the charity and a qualified appraiser, and contain information specified in Schedule B relating to the donor, the horse, the donee and the appraiser. The burden of proof of the horse's value lies with the original owner.