Am I overreacting... someone fed my horse and I don't know what.

Unless your horse has some underlying medical condition she should be absolutely fine with whatever might have been in the feedbowl assuming there was no malicious intent which is very unlikely. Mention your concern to the YM but certainly only once you are in a rational frame of mine.

To be honest you don't sound as though you are an experienced horse owner and are panicking over nothing.

When you say your friend said she was 'down' in the field did she mean she was lying down? If I see a horse lying down in the field I will watch it for a few minutes to see how it is behaving - it is usually pretty easy to spot a horse that is colicky versus one that has just gone down for a roll or a rest.
 
Overreact away it can be a scary time if you know they can colic.

Personally I'd be loving it if someone fed my horse for free 😂
 
These types of posts make me wonder why anyone wants to be a yard owner/manager! Honestly, talk about an over reaction. Unless your horse has some serious underlying issue then having a feed by mistake isn't going to kill her. To suggest ' a hell of a meeting' needed to be had is simple over the top. Just ask who gave it to her and move on. It is highly unlikely that a feed would have caused her to get colic and I think crying over it is totally over reactive. I am afraid I wouldn't want you in my yard, we run everything with precision but occasionally mistakes happen . How on earth would you react in a real crisis?
 
I've got a horse who is on a strict diet and last year she was accidentally fed something she shouldn't have had. I could see how the mistake happened so there was no point in getting angry with people - but there is now a sign on her door asking people not to feed her.

As someone who is usually the first on the yard in the morning and throws pre-prepared feeds over the doors of all the stabled horses I can see why feeds sometimes get mixed up. I also know that if an owner hasn't left a feed outside and a horse is properly kicking off I will often give it a handful of chaff in a bucket (I think this is preferable to a horse kicking a concrete wall for 30 mins. Other people may disagree). To avoid anyone ever giving mine a handful of the wrong stuff my feed buckets are always by their door and clearly labelled!
 
Our horses are invariably 'down' and quiet in the field at this time in the morning, mainly because they'll all having their morning snooze, they're most put out if you take them out of the field to ride.

Yes, you're overeacting. Its very doubtful that this will cause any issues with your horse.

Also if this is your reaction to the sight of an unknown bucket near your horse, maybe horse ownership isn't for you, far more stressful things than this happen, if you reacted this way everytime you'd have a heart attack in no time.
 
You really need to calm down. You are making a massive deal out of nothing. What do you think she's been fed, meth?

Is this your first horse? Maybe you could book yourself some basic horse-owning courses.
 
Yes, I'm sorry I agree you're overreacting.

If an unknown bucket had appeared in your stable and your horse was colicing, then yes, panic but as far as you know, the horse is fine and nothing bad has happened (yet).

Most likely there was a feed mix up or your horse was fed a little bit of chaff. If it's not on a strict diet then it shouldn't cause it any problems. I would just go and ask the staff who's bucket it is and who fed your horse. If you panic this much about others feeding your horse then put a sign on your stable saying no one should feed this horse.
 
Goldenstar said:
Fair enough ! I would have had a mini panic as well .
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I didn't say anything to her though, horse was fine, I may have got the wrong end of the stick, the scattered dry speedibeet could have been an accident or it could have dried out, who knows maybe it wasn't how it seemed. I didn't bring it up. Not worth the agro. He was fine thus I was fine.
 
Shadowdancing said:
Currently trying to calm down as upset... I visited my horse on part livery this morning. I see her every day and feed her. The staff do not, and have never fed her and are aware to leave her bucket in her box where I take, clean and refill usually on an evening.

Today I found a strange bucket in her box. A big one! It's empty but has got a few traces of feed in it.

I don't know why she has it or where it's come from. I'm now beside myself that she's had something random fed to her and it could have made her ill.

I feel like this is straight to yard manager and a what the hell sort of meeting requirement at the moment. Would you feel the same?
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IME it is best when on livery to not overact about small things, as you then are less likely to be taken seriously about big things that matter.

Save your powder and influence for things that do matter, and don’t dilute your authority.
For example I saw groom at my livery yard put a plastic feed bucket with handle in with my stressy box walking horse.
I asked for a bucket with no handle at all times. They understood my reasoning were happy to comply.
Other things I let slide, as whilst not what I would do, there is no risk.

I would ask yard manger what happened, who the feed bucket was meant for, what it contained, and figure out why it was given to your horse.

My new yard has a feed board, maybe you need written on the feed list that YOU give feeds? So new groom would always know.
It is possible your horse was upset when rest fed, and someone gave her some chaff to pacify her.

Most normal horses are un-impacted by one bucket of atypical feed. Just check it didn’t have supplements / medication in it.

If it was a big feed bucket / big feed it was probably some fibre based soaked feed which is pretty unlikely to do harm.
 
I'm going to take a guess and say that had OP received replies saying 'OMG YANBU, I'd be going wacko at the YO and all staff', that the horse wouldn't currently be down in the field.

Now, I could be wrong and the horse may have been fed something poisonous in this one feed but...
 
Am I the only one who read "down in the field" as "out in the field" or "up in the field" - I mean, any horse who is lying down is likely to be "quiet".

I think this is a very strange thread.
 
Rowreach said:
Am I the only one who read "down in the field" as "out in the field" or "up in the field" - I mean, any horse who is lying down is likely to be "quiet".

I think this is a very strange thread.
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That was my first thought when I read it - I read it as my friend is in the field with the horse and the horse is quiet.

I can see how it can be interpreted the other way.. that the horse IS down in the field...
 
Shadowdancing said:
I'm sorry it's upset everyone so much that I had to get something off my chest. My horse has colicked before so I actually cried finding this and am very worried.
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No one is "upset" - they just disagree with your reaction.

I would not be going off on one at anyone until I had found out what actually happened. If something really has gone wrong, I would politely but firmly request for different actions to be taken in future. If, as we all suspect, your horse is absolutely fine, then you need to take a deep breath and question your response to minor issues.

If something as trivial as getting a slightly different feed gives your horse severe colic, then there should be huge signs on your horse's door and in the feed room reminding people of her regime and the consequences of changing it.
 
I think enough people have said YABU now for the OP to get the gist and it is unkind to keep going on about it.

People overreact when they are frightened or scared. I bet many people have got angry with their children for example when they they've got too near the cooker or something.
 
For a good few weeks in winter I had the neighbouring horse climbing under the tape between the two paddocks and eating my horses feed. My horse is a very dominant mare, but I've seen with my own two eyes her let him eat all her food with her standing right there. She's a poorer doer, he goes nuts on some of the stuff she gets. Did either myself or the other owner get upset? No. We laughed about it, and made alterations to prevent it from happening. Would I be put out if someone fed my horse? Probably, but that's because she's a bit delicate and can react to a few things. Would it be worth this much drama? No. Bigger fish to fry.

Calm the fricken farm dude. If your horse was gonna get sick it probably would have by now.
 
SaddleUpSin said:
I asked a friend to look after my old horse once, she fed him unsoaked speedibeet :) yup I panicked a little, but thankfully he was fine
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Same, a full scoop. Even though she feeds it herself and KNOWS it needs soaked (and I had it soaked in the bucket for her but she took a new bucket)

Thankfully yard owner noticed and stopped her lol

I didn't mention it to her, what's the point. I just said thank you very much for feeding my horse for me and didn't ask her to again.
 
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equi said:
Same, a full scoop. Even though she feeds it herself and KNOWS it needs soaked (and I had it soaked in the bucket for her but she took a new bucket)

Thankfully yard owner noticed and stopped her lol

I didn't mention it to her, what's the point. I just said thank you very much for feeding my horse for me and didn't ask her to again.
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We went to equine college together! Did exams on feeding and nutrition etc.! I guess some people just get confused when its not their own routine
 
OP, you're getting a right hammering on this thread, but I would have been very unhappy too if it had happened to one of mine.

Ho ho ho to all these who think it's no big deal, but I think giving a horse the wrong feed potentially IS a big deal. It all depends what was in the feed, and OP doesn't know yet.

However, after taking several deep breaths, the correct reaction is have a quiet word with the YM to find out what actually happened, and take it calmly from there.

Hope your ned is fine.
 
Tiddlypom said:
OP, you're getting a right hammering on this thread, but I would have been very unhappy too if it had happened to one of mine.

Ho ho ho to all these who think it's no big deal, but I think giving a horse the wrong feed potentially IS a big deal. It all depends what was in the feed, and OP doesn't know yet.

However, after taking several deep breaths, the correct reaction is have a quiet word with the YM to find out what actually happened, and take it calmly from there.

Hope your ned is fine.
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I agree, whilst I do think OP is over reacting, I don't think she deserves the stick on here saying she should reconsider horse ownership.

There are worse things in life then having a conscientious owner..
 
Damnation said:
I agree, whilst I do think OP is over reacting, I don't think she deserves the stick on here saying she should reconsider horse ownership.

There are worse things in life then having a conscientious owner..
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Conscientious or neurotic though? Sounds like a YM's nightmare! I was expecting this thread to be about something shocking. Not a horse that *potentially* has been given a different feed also manufactured for horses.
 
Q. Am I overreacting?

A. Yes you are.

Relax, horse will be fine unless there was something horrific in there. Perhaps ask politely if there was a mix-up with feeds on this occasion but don't fly off the handle.
 
To be honest I would be annoyed.

In a yard I was at I was training two cobs, and they were both good doers, eating a token handful of chaff so they had a feed when the others did.

Some of the other horses were on what I thought were ridiculously large feeds, not least ridiculous because they would often not finish them. I found that the grooms did not like to waste feed, so put the remnants in my cobs' stables for the excess to be hoovered up.

Yep, feed designed to fatten up skinny horses was being fed to fat cobs!

It was annoying!

However, it did not cause tears, upset or whatever, I knew the grooms meant no harm. The feed was going spare, the cobs had mastered the begging face, and they just gave them the feed in the same way as a mother acquiesces to a greedy child.

TBH I am not sure the habit stopped, even when I asked for it not to happen again, but that is one of the reasons I keep my horses at home, so I am the only one who deals with them! OP, i'm afraid that unless you keep them at home you have to communicate, compromise and sometimes bite your lip with other people near your horses.
 
Whilst I would be mildly peeved, I would put a smile on face and have a very brief friendly chat with YO. 2 issues for me would be a) mine goes a bit bonkers on most commercial feed and b)if competing I wouldn't want any contamination risk.

But this is not a situation for neurosis, hysterics, tears or tantrums. It is probably just a genuine mistake/oversight.
 
OP, is everything else in your life all right? Your reaction strikes me as being that of a person who's very very stressed.
 
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