Horse Welfare Programs

(Large Animal (Equine) Control Officer)

The SCHC Horse Welfare Committees strives to Connect, Communicate, and Educate for the betterment of SC horses, SC horse owners and the SC horse industry. Addresses major horse welfare issues such as the Unwanted/Unhomed horse epidemic. Reaches out to extend help where needed. Provide emergency grant funding to assist rescue groups and individuals with emergency situations. Revises the Horse Help Hotline which connects owners with organizations that will help them including the Stallions to Geldings programs.

Horse Welfare Committee is committed to the welfare of the horses of SC and offer the following:

Maintain Horse Help Hotline which lists rescue and animal control contacts.
Check out Horse Help Hotline area.
Stallions to Geldings Grant funding which assists rescue groups and hardship individual cases through low cost gelding procedures.
“Owning Responsibly” information.
Emergency grant funding which assists rescue groups and individuals with emergency situations.
Euthanasia Assistance grant
Large Animal (Equine) Control Officer Course

We invite all SCHC members to provide suggestions for our committee. This is a huge undertaking and effort on the part of SCHC.

Stallions to Geldings Grant

Objective: To reduce the number of unwanted horses in South Carolina by offering assistance to qualified horse owners willing to geld their stallions and by partnering with horse welfare organizations to offer free gelding clinics. Stallions to Geldings grant provides funding statewide. It is available to those who could not otherwise afford the cost of the procedure, who no longer want to use their stallion for breeding and to those who have stallions in the same pasture with mares, and, as a result, are producing unwanted foals. Funding: The HWC of the SCHC will raise funds at the yearly EXPO and through separate fund-raising activities (i.e. trail rides, planned events, etc.). Donations to Operation Gelding may also be made. Qualifications for Participation:

Any barn, horse welfare organization, or saddle club shall be considered for assistance if they wish to put on a free gelding clinic. It is recommended that they first apply for a grant under the Unwanted Horse Coalition and follow their guidelines for putting on a free gelding clinic. Then the SCHC Horse Welfare Committee shall partner with said organization and provide up to $300 in assistance per clinic as funds are available. Each request shall be taken on an individual basis, reviewed, and voted on by the SCHC Horse Welfare Committee. For information, please contact Horse Welfare Committee.
An individual horse owner may apply directly for assistance with a recommendation from a veterinarian, horse welfare organization, or animal control shelter. Each application to be reviewed on a case by case basis to determine need. When approved, payment for castration shall be made directly to the attending veterinarian by SCHC.
Forms to be required are as follows: Requester of Assistance Application, a signed Consent Form releasing SCHC, SCHC Horse Welfare Committee, attending veterinarian and/or his veterinarian students, technicians, and volunteers from liability should a stallion experience any complications or death from this procedure, along with a signed acknowledgement of Aftercare Instructions.
A site visit to applicant may be scheduled.

Please read and fill out the following documents.
Email application to Horse Welfare Committee

The Unwanted Horse Coalition (UHC) has initiated Operation Gelding. The new UHC program will provide funds and materials to assist organizations, associations and events that wish to sponsor clinics in which horse owners can bring their stallions to be castrated. A number of associations have sponsored such clinics, and the UHC wants to help more organizations, associations and events get involved in this effort.
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SCHC provides qualifying equine rescue and retirement facilities with complimentary equine vaccines for horses in their care. The applicant must have a 501(c)(3) tax exempt status. To download an application and the American Association of Equine Practitioners Care Guidelines or to learn more about the program, visit UHVRC.org. Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health and AAEP are very proud to support equine rescue and retirement facilities.

Horse Health Hotline

The SC Horse Council Horse Welfare Committee offers the HORSE HELP HOTLINE to those in need of help for their horses. Its purpose is to link people with horse help facilities and programs that can offer options before the “Unwanted Horse” becomes neglected, abused, or the object of a legal seizure. It further hopes to link rescue operations to one another so that they may connect, communicate and reach out across our state to each other when help is needed. This hotline is by no means definitive or complete. It will be updated periodically as more organizations and facilities are discovered to assist horses. The initial list is comprised of statewide organizations, local area organizations and facilities, and specialty programs/offerings that may be of help. SCHC does not conduct investigations of abuse or neglect. If you feel an equine is in need of assistance, please call the local animal control. Please give as many details as possible when calling. Such as location of equine(s), house or pasture, how many are there, descriptions, or what is the problem. It is very important to know what county you are in for a map of SC counties Click here. As a note, some counties in SC do not provide animal control service at all; others may rely on local Humane Societies and not all have equine facilities, but may refer you to other organizations that provide help.

Emergency Assistance

Our emergency funding assistance is for immediate funding for rescue groups & individuals with emergencies that arise from a disaster. That is explained in the emergency funding application information.

For example:

Rescue groups that receive large numbers of any equine from a seizure for starvation or cruelty. Typically, funds are needed for gelding procedures or food & hay.
Individual emergency funds are available for barn fires (we had one in 2022 where the entire barn burned with loss of some horses, food, hay, and all tack), flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.,
– natural disasters that require immediate attention.

We do not approve emergency funding for equine that have diseases, on-going health problems, a person’s choice to pull sick horses from a kill pen, long term treatment for sick animals, and so on. We not provide feed and hay for a horse you’ve decided to rescue.

We are a non-profit organization that cannot provide the funding for every individual in need of financial assistance for equine medical issues.

Regards, Merry Roberson
Chair SC Horse Welfare Committee

Knowing When: Euthanasia

Euthanasia – this is a topic that stirs the passions of many, but we cannot be afraid to do what we think is right.

Who We Are

The purpose of the South Carolina Horse Council Euthanasia Program is to assist with end of life care for aged, injured, or unwanted horses whose owners could not otherwise afford to euthanize their equine.

In the event that euthanasia is the best option for a horse, but the cost of service and burial is unaffordable, an individual may complete and submit the application below for financial assistance from the SCHC.

L.A.E.C.O

Large Animal (Equine) Control Officer

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The South Carolina Horseman’s Council certification class taught to Law Enforcement and Animal Control Officers in South Carolina. After hearing from local Law Enforcement and Animal Control Officers that there was a lack of training for officers in the large animal field, the South Carolina Horseman’s Council offers a seminar that would not only train the officers dealing with large animals, but would also give the officers a creditable certificate for the course, which is important in the law enforcement field when going to court.

The Large Animal (Equine) Control Officer Certification is being taught by two of the Council’s Board Members, one member who has over 31 years of law-enforcement experience, and another member who has more than 50 years of training horses, and conducting clinics, both in the United States and Europe.

The course consists of South Carolina laws pertaining to large animals, Officer Safety, Horse Care, Horse Condition, and Standards for Horse Care.

The class is taught in a one-day seminar with the officers interacting with live horses. The class is taught upon request at the requesting agency for a low-cost fee, with complimentary slots for the hosting agency.

Any agency wishing to host the seminar can contact SCHC at: info.schorsecouncil@gmail.com

Certification Class Register fee $95.00