Welcome to the Racehorse Rescue Centre, (RRC) an animal shelter and re-homing Centre run 100% by volunteers. The RRC received the Points of Light award from the U.K. Prime Minister in 2017 for the work it does with the community and the horses in it’s care. The RRC uses rescued ex racehorses to run free programmes to help build confidence and educate in animal welfare for veterans, disabled and young adults suffering from self-harming, depression, trauma, bullying, PTSD, Autism, FASD and ADHD.

The Racehorse Rescue Centre is a registered charity No. 1150864 based in Carlisle, serving the whole UK and is an Approved Retraining Establishment for the care of ‘vulnerable or unwanted’ former racehorses, by the Retraining of Racehorses (ROR). We help rehome horses internationally through our website and direct from our Centre. By rescuing former racehorses we give them a secure safe environment and the opportunity to move onto new careers once they have finished racing.

We are not just a Rescue Centre, we provide free programmes to disadvantaged groups throughout the UK to help them develop their skills in the community such as injured soldiers, probation services, disabled, employment services, colleges and therapy for people suffering from trauma. We are 100% volunteer run so any help goes direct to the horses and not on salaries. We also provide free sessions for children age 10 to 16 suffering from self-harm and bullying through our weekend club and school holiday events.

The Racehorse Rescue Centre works with the community through its highly motivated volunteer team. Horses that come to the Centre are given time to go back to their roots and allowed to socialise with the other horses to build up development and confidence. We retrain former racehorses to their best ability and find new caring homes that will secure their future. Other horses that work well with our programmes will stay at the centre to help educate the community in that there is more to keeping horses than riding and in the importance of how equine therapy can help disadvantaged groups. The RRC do not sell horses on and keeps ownership for the rest of their lives.

Our aim is to open more Centres based on the success of our Centre here in Carlisle. The Racehorse Rescue Centre relies on donations from the caring public, companies and its trustees.

Any funding is spent directly on the horses and to help secure their future. We can make this promise because we are committed to all involved being volunteers who believe these horses are worth saving and we don’t take a salary. Even our Admin is voluntary, so we can truly say 100% of your donations go to the horses. The trustees have been rescuing former racehorses for the past 25 years and started the charity in 2010 to help create awareness of the problem and to get the community more involved. We believe it has a bright future ahead thanks to the hard work the volunteers put in and with the support of the community we hope to continue to grow.