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Heavenly Pastures Horse Cremations
Supporting You When Your Horse Passes
Heavenly Pastures provides specialist horse cremations from New Bartons Farm near Burscough, caring for horses, ponies, donkeys and mules across Lancashire, Merseyside and Cheshire. When a horse dies, the team takes care of collection and cremation with dignity and compassion, so that owners have space to grieve rather than arrangements to make.
Collection is usually made within two to three hours of a call, from yards, farms and family paddocks across the North West, with collections further afield by arrangement. Whether a loss is sudden, through the cremation service following natural death, or planned with the vet through planned euthanasia, one phone call is all it takes to begin.
Owners can choose an individual cremation with ashes returned in an oak casket with an engraved brass nameplate, or a cremation without ashes returned. The full list of areas we cover shows where collections are made.
Horse Cremation Options
Choosing the Right Farewell
Individual Cremation
The horse is cremated alone, so the ashes returned belong to that horse and no other. They come home in a handmade oak casket with a brass nameplate, engraved with up to seventy characters including spaces, enough for a name and a few words from the family. Many owners keep the casket at home beside photographs and rosettes, while others wait until spring and scatter the ashes in the field the horse knew best. There is no deadline, and the choice can be made in the owner's own time.
Cremation Without Ashes Returned
For owners who feel a horse is best remembered through the years they shared, a cremation without ashes returned is carried out with exactly the same care and dignity. It often suits horses kept on livery or rented grazing, where there is no field of the owner's own for scattering. The ashes are handled respectfully in line with the owner's wishes, and there is no casket to decide about at an already painful time. Keepsakes such as a plait of mane or a shoe can still be gathered first.
When a Horse Dies Suddenly
Colic, an accident in the field or a sudden collapse in an elderly horse can leave an owner in shock. The vet should be called first to confirm death and check that other horses are not at risk. One call to Heavenly Pastures then arranges collection, usually within two to three hours, and the team explains exactly what will happen before the vehicle arrives. Covering the horse with a rug and moving companion horses to a neighbouring field both help while waiting, so nothing has to be worked out alone.
Planning a Peaceful Goodbye
When the vet advises that a horse's comfort can no longer be maintained, planned euthanasia allows the time and place to be chosen with care. A level, accessible spot near hard standing is usually far kinder than a stable, both for the horse and for the collection that follows. Collection can be booked to follow the vet's visit, so the horse is not left lying for longer than necessary, and the final hours can be spent grooming, hand grazing or simply standing quietly together.
After a Horse Has Died
The horse's passport must be returned to the issuing authority within thirty days of death, so it is worth keeping it somewhere safe. Letting the vet, farrier, dentist and physiotherapist know stops appointment reminders arriving at a painful moment, and livery owners should tell the yard manager so that others can be told gently. Companion horses may call or go off their feed for a few days. Families are also warmly invited to share a photograph and a memory in the Remembrance section of the website.
North West Horse Cremations
Local Knowledge on Every Yard
Horse cremations begin with a collection, and every yard is different. The flat mosslands of West Lancashire hold water long after rain, the Sefton coast brings paddocks close to houses and busy roads, the moor edge above Bolton and Chorley has steep lanes and winter ice, and the Cheshire plain has private yards reached along shared drives. Before a vehicle sets off, the team asks about gates, ground and access, so the right equipment is sent and the collection is quiet and unhurried.
Local pages explain how this works in each place, including Ormskirk horse cremations close to the Burscough base, Southport horse cremations on the coast, Preston horse cremations in central Lancashire, Culcheth horse cremations on the mosslands near Warrington and Chester horse cremations in west Cheshire.
Every collection follows our standards. The vehicle arrives empty, covered and leak proof, and each horse is tracked with an Animal By Products transfer document that stays with it from the yard to the crematorium. Families are also warmly invited to share a photograph and a memory of their horse in the Remembrance section of the website. To arrange a collection or talk through the options, the team can be reached on 01704 776976.
WITH YOU
every step of the way
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