We call what we do adoption, just as an animal shelter does, because ownership stays with CWER for a set period of time. In the case of most shelters, the shelters continue to own the animal for its entire life. CWER realizes that an adopter has an enormous amount of time and expenses tied up in a horse, and feels that we must trust our adopters to accept full ownership of the animal and provide the proper care and future for it. We keep ownership with us during the first 180* days that the adopter has the horse living with him/her to ensure the situation is a proper fit for animal and human alike. Additionally, we call our program adoption because we screen our adopters carefully via application and references, unlike most “horse sales” wherein the first person with the right amount of money walks away with the horse. We are not a for-profit “horse trader” operation, but rather a nonprofit charity rescue, with our primary focus being finding out what each horse is best at, and fitting him/her with a home that will best utilize those skills and fit the animal’s personality and any special needs s/he may have.

Please see “How to Adopt”.

After becoming a member (as required by our Bylaws – $25/year donation), the adoption application is the first stage of adopting a horse from Crosswinds:

Application as a paper pdf (Open this, print it, fill it out and mail it to us.)

Application as a pdf form — you will need to download the form to your device, then you can fill out, save then visit our contact us page and submit the form.

Contact us to mail you a paper copy.

Yes. Crosswinds adopts horses all over the country, with proper references. We also provide delivery to most locations for a reasonable transportation fee.

Yes. Crosswinds adopts horses all over the country, with proper references. We also provide delivery to most locations for a reasonable transportation fee.

Yes, we have requested a horse be returned to Crosswinds. It was an amicable, mutual agreement situation wherein the horse and rider simply did not click well together, and the boarding situation was not a good fit for the horse’s particular needs. There were no harsh words or hard feelings, and the horse was later placed in another home which was a far better fit for her personality.

Yes, a representative of Crosswinds will periodically check in on the horse during the “180 day” period prior to transfer of ownership, to ensure that horse and adopter are both happy and everything is working out well. While the contract allows for unannounced visits, every effort is made to work with the adopter to visit at times easiest for the adopter.

Every situation is different, but in general we work out payment arrangements with those adopters who cannot afford to pay in full at the time they select a horse. Once they have been approved and a contract is in place for the horse, that horse is considered theirs and is no longer offered to other adopters. Typically our payment terms are over a 3-month period to give the potential owner some time to gather the funds, while still not being so long that it keeps us from helping another horse. In this general scenario, the horse stays at Crosswinds’ facility until 2 of the 3 payments have been made, with the 3rd payment due within 30 days after delivery.

Absolutely! We do so all the time. In general, we strongly recommend/require that a first time owner board the horse for at least 3 months. This helps ensure that the new owners have the help they’ll need to learn the basics of horse care and ownership. Special circumstances have been met where a first time horse owner was allowed to immediately keep a horse at home.

Absolutely! We do so all the time. In general, we strongly recommend that a first time owner board the horse for at least 3 months. This helps ensure that the new owners have the help they’ll need to learn the basics of horse care and ownership. Boarding is a GREAT way to have support, help, friends, and increased enjoyment from your horse ownership, and we encourage it, assuming the facility is able to meet the basic needs of the horse.

Except in special circumstances, we will not adopt a horse into a single-large-animal situation. They MUST have a companion — ideally another horse, donkey, mule or pony, although we do allow goats as companions, particularly for ponies who seem to really enjoy them as partners. Horses are herd animals and we do not feel it is fair to deprive a horse of such companionship.

The 180 day “placement period” begins after the horse has delivered to the adoptive family’s location. (If the horse is delivered prior to payment in full, ownership transfers 180 days after payment in full has been made, NOT 180 days after delivery.) Ownership of the horse remains with Crosswinds during this placement period. The horse is living in its new home, and we certainly expect the relationship will work out. For all intents, the adopter ‘owns’ the horse, but it is just like adopting from an animal shelter — ownership of the animal stays with the rescue/shelter for the safety of the animal during this time period. During this six month period of CWER maintaining ownership, the adopter may not breed, use the animal in a professional capacity (ie riding lessons or a carriage business) without prior written approval, or, of course, sell or give the animal to anyone else. However, the adopter is fully responsible for the animal, and any liability associated with it, including veterinary bills, boarding, feed, or training bills, etc. 

This 6-month period gives us — and the adopter — the chance to ensure this is a proper fit for horse and human alike. Should either the adopter or CWER decide the situation is not working, then s/he is returned to Crosswinds at the adopter’s expense.  (In the first 3 years, this happened only once, and it was by mutual agreement.) At the end of the “placement period”, ownership of said horse is transferred in full to the adopter, and they own the animal completely. At this time, we have really had a chance to get to know our adopters, and trust the adopter to do what is best for the animal. We still encourage them to return him/her to CWER should they no longer be able to care for him/her for any reason, but there is no requirement that they do so.