Boodle
Well-Known Member
This is a post I have considered a few times before. With the help and support of one person in particular on this forum (who I will not name, but will let her come forward if she wishes to be named she deserves a lot of credit) I have built up the courage to post.
In Autumn 2005 I started grooming Bill a 5yr old Friesian Stallion. It was understood I would be paid to groom him a few times a week. This continued and eventually I began riding him.
In Jan 2006 Pally arrived, a 17hh 9yr old gelding. He apparently had teeth problems and had been sent to this place to keep Bill company as he was too much for his owner.
Pally went lame with a superficial flexor tendon injury in May 06. I established he was lame, called the vet, and arranged for him to have a stable at the yard I kept my horses at. I looked after him for the time he was in, cleaned him out, fed, bandaged, lead out, etc etc. I received no payment for my services and the rehabilitation of him.
The injury was not serious and he was turned back out in June 2006.
Bill and Pally lived well together for about 15months, with me riding, grooming, caring for, checking, rugging, watering etc both horses. Pally dropped quite a lot of weight in the winter but regained it in Spring and Summer. I took Pally to the beach, out to Rowallan and generally rode them both, improving their manners both on the ground and under saddle. I also ensured the farrier came out when he was required to and wormed both horses off my own back.
In September 2007 I found Pally lame on his near hind. I arranged for the vet to come out and was advised to put Pally in. There was a shell of a 20 stable block being constructed. However there were no doors to the stables, no running water etc. We used large hay bales to keep Pally in for one night and bedded him on old hay as that was all that was available.
We managed to order in hay for feeding, hard feed, shavings for his bed and the gardener found a gate which was used as a stable door.
The vet came out on a few occasions to do scans etc and it was thought that it was Pallys annular ligament that had been damaged.
He was kept on box rest and myself and my mother cleaned him out, gave him hay, fed him, watered him, groomed him, rugged him etc. We ensured he had all that he needed and ordered feed, hay and shavings as and when it was required. We billed it all to his owners.
We did not receive payment, once again, for caring for him.
In Oct/Nov (I cant remember exact dates) we noticed Bill had lost a lot of weight and so my Mum asked the lady owner if we could open the gate to the other field to allow him through to better grass. She said she thought thatd be ok etc.
After a short while the male owner turned up at the stable and had a huge go at my Mum, telling her she was not to go up to the castle (their house) again and that she had bullied his wife. (Anyone who knows my Mum will know she is anything but a bully). And that he wasnt going to be having a 16yr old girl (I was 17) telling him what to do with his horses. (Even though he has no clue).
After that, we did not return to the place for a week or so, until I cant remember if we were asked to go back or went back out of sheer pity for the horses.
When we got back, Pally was on hardly any bedding, standing on the hard floor, his water bucket was inches deep and full of soaking hay, he had no fresh hay and no other water source.
We discovered all the sugar beet was gone and found it had been fed to him dry.
We returned to our routine and continued with what we had been doing.
After about 6 months of box rest for Pally vet instructed 2 x 30 min walks daily for a week, then light lunging on a surface etc. This was simply not possible at his current location (I did not have an hour per day spare to walk him out in hand, and there was no where to lunge him).
We explained this to female owner and explained that he would need to be properly rehabilitated or hed go back to square one. We explained this could not be done at their place.
She said shed phone the vet and find out what he said, but she never did and then they just turned Pally out.
The following is the post from when they did it.
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/sh...amp;Search=true
Shortly after this, we walked away. This was his fetlock after he had been so wrongfully turned out.
Since then I have not talked with the owners, we have given up on that front. We have had to walk away.
I stopped at the roadside the other day and saw the horses.
Pallys fetlock now;
He walks strangely on it. He is hustled and bustled by Bill who is a stallion. Pally has cuts down his swirl/flank where either he has caught himself on the barbed wire fence or Bill has been trying to mount him.
Their feet are long (though luckily I arranged for their shoes to be taken off).
Bills foot.
In my opinion, any welfare organisations could not do anything yet? The horses are in relatively good condition. They are up to weight, they have plenty of grazing and I *think* they have water. Their feet are long but not so much so it impedes their walking. Pally is lame but not hopping and can walk around the field.
My fear is when winter comes, last winter Bill wrecked the rugs in his quest to find food, hanging over the barbed wire fences. There is only one entire rug, but the owners do not know how to put it on correctly. I fear the horses feet will go without attention and Pallys leg will get worse with more mud etc.
This is Pally and I when I visited him, strange of him to show any affection but he stood with his chin in my hands and his head against me for a few minutes.
I dont know what, if anything, I can do.
I have picture upon picture upon picture of me with these horses, of Pally on box rest, of how I cared for them.
It is clear how their owner (who by the way is loaded) does not give them the care and attention they require.
He is a wealthy man, and in my opinion he does not show his animals the attention the require, and he treated us, the people who helped him and kept his horses well for more than 2 years, he treated us like something on the bottom of his shoe.
I am now appealing for help. What can I do? Can I act?
I want to alert people to this, I want to make a difference, I want these horses to have the homes they deserve. He has no excuse for the lack of care he is showing. It is ignorance and his attitude that is causing this problem.
If you can help me and would like more information, if there is anything I can do please tell me.
I am a young girl (nearly 18) trying to stand up for what I believe is right. I have had enough of shoddy horsemanship and I want to make a stand here, to make an example.
I intend on getting clear photographs, I intend to keep an eye on the inevitable deterioration of the horses, and not only the horses, the herd of highland cattle he also keeps.
I appeal to anyone and everyone now to please PM me if they have any advice they can offer to me, or just to tell me this is a lost cause.
Yours hopefully,
Kirsty.
P.s I do not like confrontation, I do not like any sort of argument. I am doing this and appealing for advice as I believe something has to be said. I would ideally like to do this without having to myself physically stand before him, or for my name to be mentioned. But I will, if needs must.
In Autumn 2005 I started grooming Bill a 5yr old Friesian Stallion. It was understood I would be paid to groom him a few times a week. This continued and eventually I began riding him.
In Jan 2006 Pally arrived, a 17hh 9yr old gelding. He apparently had teeth problems and had been sent to this place to keep Bill company as he was too much for his owner.
Pally went lame with a superficial flexor tendon injury in May 06. I established he was lame, called the vet, and arranged for him to have a stable at the yard I kept my horses at. I looked after him for the time he was in, cleaned him out, fed, bandaged, lead out, etc etc. I received no payment for my services and the rehabilitation of him.
The injury was not serious and he was turned back out in June 2006.
Bill and Pally lived well together for about 15months, with me riding, grooming, caring for, checking, rugging, watering etc both horses. Pally dropped quite a lot of weight in the winter but regained it in Spring and Summer. I took Pally to the beach, out to Rowallan and generally rode them both, improving their manners both on the ground and under saddle. I also ensured the farrier came out when he was required to and wormed both horses off my own back.
In September 2007 I found Pally lame on his near hind. I arranged for the vet to come out and was advised to put Pally in. There was a shell of a 20 stable block being constructed. However there were no doors to the stables, no running water etc. We used large hay bales to keep Pally in for one night and bedded him on old hay as that was all that was available.
We managed to order in hay for feeding, hard feed, shavings for his bed and the gardener found a gate which was used as a stable door.
The vet came out on a few occasions to do scans etc and it was thought that it was Pallys annular ligament that had been damaged.
He was kept on box rest and myself and my mother cleaned him out, gave him hay, fed him, watered him, groomed him, rugged him etc. We ensured he had all that he needed and ordered feed, hay and shavings as and when it was required. We billed it all to his owners.
We did not receive payment, once again, for caring for him.
In Oct/Nov (I cant remember exact dates) we noticed Bill had lost a lot of weight and so my Mum asked the lady owner if we could open the gate to the other field to allow him through to better grass. She said she thought thatd be ok etc.
After a short while the male owner turned up at the stable and had a huge go at my Mum, telling her she was not to go up to the castle (their house) again and that she had bullied his wife. (Anyone who knows my Mum will know she is anything but a bully). And that he wasnt going to be having a 16yr old girl (I was 17) telling him what to do with his horses. (Even though he has no clue).
After that, we did not return to the place for a week or so, until I cant remember if we were asked to go back or went back out of sheer pity for the horses.
When we got back, Pally was on hardly any bedding, standing on the hard floor, his water bucket was inches deep and full of soaking hay, he had no fresh hay and no other water source.
We discovered all the sugar beet was gone and found it had been fed to him dry.
We returned to our routine and continued with what we had been doing.
After about 6 months of box rest for Pally vet instructed 2 x 30 min walks daily for a week, then light lunging on a surface etc. This was simply not possible at his current location (I did not have an hour per day spare to walk him out in hand, and there was no where to lunge him).
We explained this to female owner and explained that he would need to be properly rehabilitated or hed go back to square one. We explained this could not be done at their place.
She said shed phone the vet and find out what he said, but she never did and then they just turned Pally out.
The following is the post from when they did it.
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/sh...amp;Search=true
Shortly after this, we walked away. This was his fetlock after he had been so wrongfully turned out.
Since then I have not talked with the owners, we have given up on that front. We have had to walk away.
I stopped at the roadside the other day and saw the horses.
Pallys fetlock now;
He walks strangely on it. He is hustled and bustled by Bill who is a stallion. Pally has cuts down his swirl/flank where either he has caught himself on the barbed wire fence or Bill has been trying to mount him.
Their feet are long (though luckily I arranged for their shoes to be taken off).
Bills foot.
In my opinion, any welfare organisations could not do anything yet? The horses are in relatively good condition. They are up to weight, they have plenty of grazing and I *think* they have water. Their feet are long but not so much so it impedes their walking. Pally is lame but not hopping and can walk around the field.
My fear is when winter comes, last winter Bill wrecked the rugs in his quest to find food, hanging over the barbed wire fences. There is only one entire rug, but the owners do not know how to put it on correctly. I fear the horses feet will go without attention and Pallys leg will get worse with more mud etc.
This is Pally and I when I visited him, strange of him to show any affection but he stood with his chin in my hands and his head against me for a few minutes.
I dont know what, if anything, I can do.
I have picture upon picture upon picture of me with these horses, of Pally on box rest, of how I cared for them.
It is clear how their owner (who by the way is loaded) does not give them the care and attention they require.
He is a wealthy man, and in my opinion he does not show his animals the attention the require, and he treated us, the people who helped him and kept his horses well for more than 2 years, he treated us like something on the bottom of his shoe.
I am now appealing for help. What can I do? Can I act?
I want to alert people to this, I want to make a difference, I want these horses to have the homes they deserve. He has no excuse for the lack of care he is showing. It is ignorance and his attitude that is causing this problem.
If you can help me and would like more information, if there is anything I can do please tell me.
I am a young girl (nearly 18) trying to stand up for what I believe is right. I have had enough of shoddy horsemanship and I want to make a stand here, to make an example.
I intend on getting clear photographs, I intend to keep an eye on the inevitable deterioration of the horses, and not only the horses, the herd of highland cattle he also keeps.
I appeal to anyone and everyone now to please PM me if they have any advice they can offer to me, or just to tell me this is a lost cause.
Yours hopefully,
Kirsty.
P.s I do not like confrontation, I do not like any sort of argument. I am doing this and appealing for advice as I believe something has to be said. I would ideally like to do this without having to myself physically stand before him, or for my name to be mentioned. But I will, if needs must.
