Rehabbing horses—even just one—isn’t an inexpensive endeavor. It typically requires more than the recurring expenses for feed, veterinary and farrier services, and routine barn supplies. | Photo: iStock

Heart-wrenching images of horses that have been starved, abused, neglected, or shipped to slaughter are hard to ignore, and sometimes the pictures are enough to get equestrians thinking about starting a horse rescue of their own.

But getting a rescue up and running—and keeping it that way—takes more than a desire to save skinny horses. Here are some practical points to ponder.

It’s a business.

Failing to approach rescues as business operations is one of the reasons many falter, said Nicole Maubert Walukewicz, founder the Palmetto Equine Awareness and Rescue League, in Anderson, South Carolina