Why do rescues retain ownership of horses after adoption?
Rescues retain ownership because they have made the committment to the horse that they will never be in an abusive situation again. This is normally not an issue with adopters because they do make the committment to the horse for the life of that horse when they adopt a horse. We have seen situations such as in the case of Mustangs adopted out by the BLM,in which adopters have full ownership after one year. We have seen Mustangs in serious situations because the adopter has sold or given them away to people that have ended up abusing them. There is no way to regulate how the horse will be treated or whose hands they might fall into after one year. It is not fair to the horse. We trust the adopters that we adopt to and they in turn trust us. As long as the horse is being cared for there is no issue.
