There’s less than one week to have your opinions heard on how the cost-of-living crisis is affecting you as a horse owner.

More than 7,000 people have already completed the survey, launched by a group of equine charities just before Christmas to allow them to gauge how people are coping this winter.

The survey – which can be found here – closes on Tuesday (31 January). It is completely anonymous as no personal data will be collected.

Whether you’re coping well or really feeling the pinch, your experience matters and as many owners as possible are being encouraged to take part.

“We want to establish how those of us who care for horses are dealing with the current economic climate,” said Carolyn Madgwick, Chair of the National Equine Welfare Council (NEWC).

“The questions being asked include things like ‘what changes, if any, have you seen in horse care costs in the last year’ and ‘what changes have you made, or are considering, to save money?’.

“NEWC intends to use the anonymised results to produce a report which will be shared with the public and, where relevant, the UK Government, Devolved Administrations and local authorities and will enable us to develop and publish guidance and advice to support those caring for horses across the UK.

“The survey should take no longer than 20 minutes to complete, please do fill it in if you can and help us to understand how we might be able to help you.”

The research is being undertaken on behalf of NEWC by Redwings Horse Sanctuary, World Horse Welfare, Blue Cross, The British Horse Society, Oak Tree Animal Sanctuary and the British Farrier and Blacksmith Association.

Advice for horse owners on Cutting Costs Not Care can be downloaded for free from the NEWC website.

Lead image of Redwings Connor. Credit: Redwings Horse Sanctuary


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