Absolutely incensed!!!!

To quote her
"they shouldn't be put in a field where everyday people can feed them"


Exactly!

Her emphasis was on the feeding part, not the field part. She just thinks the countryside is one big petting zoo - it drives me nuts. Just after f&m we saw people who live within easy walking distance bringing fruit and veg to feed the horses on the local stud, the sheep in any field they could reach and pygmy goats that they passed along the way, with no thought whatsoever about traceability, or even general hygiene as they touched animals belonging to different owners and in different fields.
 
I hate this with a passion - I don't want to sound like an 'us vs them' townie/countryman situation but our local area has been flooded with people who don't even know what side of the country road to walk on for their own safety, let alone how to safely act around animals.

^^^ people from our very rural town have been complaining loads about bird scarers/shooting/smells/tractors ect in the surrounding fields... They have always been happening, they aren't going to stop for the 2 months they have off work haha

An 'entitled attitude' is the perfect way to describe it, one person I confronted literally as my horse was struggling to breathe on the other side of the field while they were feeding my others said 'oh we saw other people feeding them' so I pointed out the sign they were stood 2 ft from and their response was 'It's not a proper sign, its only a laminated bit of paper' and walked away.... Not quite sure why that changed anything but that was their excuse.
 
I was stood by my own van once stopping a woman from feeding a mint to my horse that was still inside it. She insisted that horses like mints, in spite of me telling her that mine didn't and even if he did she wasn't going to climb on my ramp to give one to him. Unbelievable.

People seem to think horses belong to everyone.


.
 
We have a public footpath running through our yard and we know the regulars but since this situation it’s been absolutely mental and everyday we have people wandering into the fields, barns, walking past ‘this is not the footpath, you are trespassing’ signs. My fields are near the footpath although my friends fields have the footpath running through them. We dread to think what goes on when we aren’t there because we see so much when we are there.

A few years ago I stopped a family from feeding my friends horses 2 whole loaves of bread. In all fairness, they were very apologetic and genuinely didn’t know, but they had brought the bread with them specifically to feed the horses. I think they thought it was like going to the park and feeding the ducks...
 
We've had problems with people feeding horses, but the incident that really took the cake for me was a cyclist telling me I had no right to be hacking on one of the tracks on the farm. Not only do I pay good money in livery fees to have access to the tracks, but the spot in question isn't even a footpath or bridleway so he had absolutely no right to be there.

I bloody hope you told him!
 
While my livery yard was so locked down that we were only allowed to visit the horses in the fields, without touching the gates, and scheduled to only be one person at a time, my friend met an absolute stranger happily wandering down the drive. She'd followed the 'footpath' round, come out in the stableyard, and was "just trying to get out". The 'footpath' was the yard's farm ride, the entrance to which was behind a locked gate.

My friend absolutely flipped his lid. He's normally extremely pleasant and mild-mannered, but he's previously been an officer in the Royal Navy, so is extremely good at chewing people out. She won't be coming back.
 
We've had problems with people feeding horses, but the incident that really took the cake for me was a cyclist telling me I had no right to be hacking on one of the tracks on the farm. Not only do I pay good money in livery fees to have access to the tracks, but the spot in question isn't even a footpath or bridleway so he had absolutely no right to be there.

We have very limited hacking around us now the new farmer has decided to not let us use certain paths (the old farmer - his grandfather - was happy for us to but there we go!) but one of those is an actual bridleway where a short section runs along a canal path. Before lockdown I rode down this path almost every day, passing the occasional runner or cyclist. Currently this canal path is like Clapham junction so I have mainly been avoiding it but decided to go down there on Saturday...passed many cyclists fine apart from one who loudly 'muttered' "bloody horses" as he passed! How rude! I've ridden down there for 20 odd years, as have many people from my yard :D just because you've recently discovered a nice straight path doesn't mean no one else uses it :p

That and the horse poo that had been sprayed like people do with dog poo has convinced be to avoid the canal path more....

Our field also has a footpath running through it but with the smallest horse in there being mine at 14hh I don't think many people have been approaching them luckily as they're all pretty intimidating. Our yard is in a tiny hamlet with some confusing footpaths and I've never seen so many lost looking people!
 
I’ve had this problem. One of my fields is on a footpath, the path doesn’t go in the field but runs past the gateway.
My horses luckily are not down there as there’s too much grass for them but i have two horses from work and keep finding carrots on the floor. Both the horses out there are very friendly and will eat like pigs so I hate to think of the sheer amount of stuff they must be getting given to be leaving carrots on the floor. ?
It’s not so bad for them but if it were mine would be a huge problem. I’m assuming that a lot more families than usual are using the footpath and feeding them on their way.
 
Having seen families with young children feeding bags of carrots to the ponies roaming in the New Forest, nothing surprises me. I wouldn’t want those hooves and teeth fighting over carrots anywhere near me, let alone my kids.
 
I get that everyone is feeling a bit stressed at the moment but really there is no need to be “absolutely incensed” over a Facebook comment from a friend of a friend about some strangers shetlands ! Lots of people say things that lots of others don’t agree with on the internet, just ignore them is my advise, no one will change their mind because someone they don’t know is annoyed about it.
This!
A guy posted in fb the other day asking folk not to build jumps on forrestry land for mtbikes as its dangerous.
What ensued was totally amazing.
Bikers hating horses..horses hating bikers bikers hating bikers with t5s and santa cruz bikes..e bikers being very hated by everyone. Its not good.
Op. If this does leave you incensed stay off fb..that way you csn concentrate on your own worries and not that of total strangers ...not belittling how you feel..just saying its easily avoided!
 
We have also had a lot of people who think it is OK to feed other peoples horses, we need grazing, and were going to ask the farmer where we used o keep them, it is the field where the idiots in the houses opposite used to throw grass clippings over the fence, but could not remember why we moved, your moan probably saved our horses.
 
A friend of mine used to ask people not to feed his ponies and explain why and put signs up to that effect. Then he got very ill and was unable to leave the house and remonstrate with them. One particularly arrogant woman used to feed them whole loaves of bread and carrier bags of apples. The ponies developed laminitis and some-one reported him to the RSPCA. I still think it was her.
 
This!
A guy posted in fb the other day asking folk not to build jumps on forrestry land for mtbikes as its dangerous.
What ensued was totally amazing.
Bikers hating horses..horses hating bikers bikers hating bikers with t5s and santa cruz bikes..e bikers being very hated by everyone. Its not good.
Op. If this does leave you incensed stay off fb..that way you csn concentrate on your own worries and not that of total strangers ...not belittling how you feel..just saying its easily avoided!
Eh? It was a dear friend's FB post who I've known over 20 years. It was my friend's friend who made the infuriating comment. I enjoy my FB, and am rarely riled. But this really got me.
 
We have also had a lot of people who think it is OK to feed other peoples horses, we need grazing, and were going to ask the farmer where we used o keep them, it is the field where the idiots in the houses opposite used to throw grass clippings over the fence, but could not remember why we moved, your moan probably saved our horses.
Bless you. Possibly. But I'm sure my moan has probably saved someones ponies. ?
 
A farm cat owned by my mum received catastrophic injuries during an attack by a bull terrier type dog being walked on her private estate off the lead. Mum confronted the dog owner who said, “Yeah, my dog kills cats.” She came home once to find a woman parked on her drive picking armfuls of her daffodils. When asked what the hell she thought she was doing she responded this was the countryside and she could do what she likes. I really think many people no longer care how their actions impact upon anyone else as long as they are gratified.
 
Eh? It was a dear friend's FB post who I've known over 20 years. It was my friend's friend who made the infuriating comment. I enjoy my FB, and am rarely riled. But this really got me.
Ohh sorry!! I just didnt get the insensed bit..it seemed a bit ott when i thought you didnt know the owner or how they felt but i inderstand now..sorry !
 
A farm cat owned by my mum received catastrophic injuries during an attack by a bull terrier type dog being walked on her private estate off the lead. Mum confronted the dog owner who said, “Yeah, my dog kills cats.” She came home once to find a woman parked on her drive picking armfuls of her daffodils. When asked what the hell she thought she was doing she responded this was the countryside and she could do what she likes. I really think many people no longer care how their actions impact upon anyone else as long as they are gratified.


SO much entitled, ignorance out there isn't there?
I have a field, been expecting one of the many walkers up and down our lane who have appeared since lockdown to be in it having a picnic, so I have placed a muckheap of cow manure in the middle to waft the fumes about and have 3 Beltex rams in there to ward them off, haven't seen any yet though!
Oz
 
I spent much of my youth feeding other people's ponies. Often with my horsey mother.

I must admit as a small child over 40 years ago I used to go with my dad on walks and always took a bag of bread crusts and sometimes carrots to feed the horses near the local woods. We weren’t completely un-horsey either as my sisters had had a pony when they were younger and one sister was doing her BHSAI. I think feeding horses was the norm back then.
 
It's the entitled attitude that gets me. We have so many people trying to access our private farm areas because they look nice and they want to walk their dogs, it's very clear it isn't public and they get very sh*tty with you when you say you can't come through "

You don't need to have horses either! Where we lived in Dorset was a rhododendron paradise. We used to get people turning into our shared drive and blocked us in simply so that they could look at the flowers at the edge of the wood 300 feet away.

Our additional land was a couple of rented fields with no footpath but a local councillor regularly accessed the fields by crossing a stream via stepping stones she had placed in the stream. One day she phoned us to say we had campers in a secluded part. She could not have seen them from her garden!
We lost count of the walkers we caught; and then there was the new age travellers who cut the padlocks, drove in and found the ground was not to their liking so left leaving the gate wide open. Fortunately the horses had the sense not to nip out and play with the traffic or indeed the passing army tanks!
 
Because people are stupid!.. I've never understood why people think its acceptable to feed other peoples horses, they wouldn't walk upto someone else's garden and feed random dogs!! I also find it highly irritating when people take it upon themselves to feed other peoples cats just because the rock up at their door (and I'm not even a cat person)
Not a cat person.............yet. You live, therefore you have time! I was once as deluded as you...
 
One of the girls on the yard had to stop and shout at a girl to get away from my youngster. He had his ears back but she was still trying to get her hand round his head to get a selfie. She told the girl that the face he was pulling means that there was a high chance she might get bitten as he wasn’t enjoying her being in his space and he didn’t know her.

Then again mind you if she’d reached into the field a little then chances are a zap from the leccy fencing might have made them take a hike.

Too many people with no sense walking about these days :(
 
We have a public footpath that goes past one field and along the edge of the next. My sister's two are in the one it goes past. Someone on the local facebook site posted this picture. When I commented on it I was asked were these the two that were 'getting it on'. I was puzzled so asked what I had missed. Apparently someone had posted a video of Tommy (chestnut) having his wicked was with Mia. He has been gelded since long before my sister bought him but still enjoys himself. Can't find the video so suspect it got deleted, shame:D.
Mia & Tommy.jpg
 
Top