anyone else think this was cheeky?

Just being argumentative here, frankly, so don't take this seriously!

Funny, isn't it, tho, that most people wouldn't dream of going into your back garden and feeding the dogs endless sausages, yet horses are fair game. Why should someone have to educate others about care, feeding etc? I'm sorry that they might want but not be able to have a pony of their own, but I don't want to spend time teaching when not at work (teaching) and nor do I think all horse owners should have to be outgoing sociable types who need to be nice to every passerby. They're privately owned and shouldn't be fed/harassed just because someone's pony mad. I know all too well the dangers of going into a field with the fear of being trampled!

SpottyTB recently put up a picture of two girls riding some cobs bareback in a field. The owner saw them and went mad, the girls wrote a foul letter saying not only the owner loves horses, so do they so they can do as they please and the owner is a word starting with c. Where does it stop? I believe DS also had this issue.
 
SpringArising said:
Are you confusing humans with horse-eating zombies? What exactly do your horses need protection from?

So far in your posts all you've done is call people arses and stupid; perhaps if you spent as much time being educational as you do being rude, there wouldn't be so many 'stupid' people bothering you.
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I haven't been rude to anyone, even the woman whose child tried to let our chickens out.
Having lived in an area where there was someone who enjoyed slashing horses and having known people with ponies fed with dollops of grass cuttings, and having had to deal with a horse made nippy by too many tidbits from passers-by, I now feel that avoidance is the best way forward.
 
Stroking horse over a fence is different to going into a garden to feed a dog sausages, or the girls that were pictured climbing all over the horses. I dont think anyone is disputing that is wholly unacceptable.

Want to know what is worse than having a horse (in the sense of getting harassed?!) - owning a French Bulldog - my dog is like a celebrity, can't go for a walk / pub drink without people falling all over him wanting a squeeze! Should i tell them not to touch as he is private property??!
 
cobgoblin said:
I haven't been rude to anyone, even the woman whose child tried to let our chickens out.
Having lived in an area where there was someone who enjoyed slashing horses and having known people with ponies fed with dollops of grass cuttings, and having had to deal with a horse made nippy by too many tidbits from passers-by, I now feel that avoidance is the best way forward.
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maybe getting the majority of people on side would mean the person slashing the horses and the one feeding grass cuttings would get less opportunity because people would be looking out for the horse that belongs to the nice friendly person that says hello and lets them pat the horse sometimes?
 
if I was there I wouldn't mind, but non horsey folk don't always follow the rules! my lot are very friendly.. too friendly! pats and hugs and attention is great but i used to put signs on the gates to not feed for a reason, these are ignored and then they are poorly!

I love when people are interested in my poines but really wish they would follow signs, they are there for a reason! not a problem though now we are out of the way!
 
stilltrying said:
As a pony mad child i spent many an hour seeking out horses in fields and calling them over to give them a stroke / feed a handful of fresh grass.

When did everyone get so miserable!
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I was exactly the same. And if I was ever lucky enough to see their owner in the field I'd always offer to help groom them/poo pick/fill water...anything that meant I could experience what it was like to own a pony, just for a moment!

pip6 said:
Stand on road, fine, watch, odd but fine, invite child to pat, no. That involves touching someones private property when they have asked you not to. BTW I'm a highway engineer so pretty au fait on laws regarding highways.
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The thing is they didn't even go near the OP's horse. They went and called over the YO's horses in a different field that it seems runs alongside a road. If the YO had a problem with this surely it's down to them to ensure the horses can't be reached from the fence?
 
Well I can see both sides to this, as a pony mad kid I'm sure I was a pain to people.

As an adult that kept a horse near a primary school I came to HATE seeing people hanging over the wall as they fed ridiculous amounts of apples/other stuff despite a big sign saying do not feed, once I caught a particularly cocky 11 year old calling mine over then thinking it hilarious to take a swing at her face, she's a sensitive soul so would really react, the idiot girl then got a treat out and tempted her in again, I was furious as I could see this as I approached on foot. I shouted and she said it's ok this is my horse , I then Obviously put her right and could so easily have lost my temper with her.

So yes whilst it would be nice in an ideal world to encourage kids to partake, I now keep mine well away from the public, sad but I'm happier knowing that right now some twit isn't messing around with her.
 
Well, I guess I prefer to be seen as a Grinch of the equestrian world, than to have to sacrifice my less than sufficient me-time with my horse. I don't see why every horse owner should be an ambassador for the friendly world of horses if they just aren't too social and don't want to use their horse as a form of public entertainment.
Don't get me wrong, though, I am kind and polite in normal situations or when I have enough time, but I know when to draw a thick and firm line.
 
cobgoblin said:
I haven't been rude to anyone, even the woman whose child tried to let our chickens out.
Having lived in an area where there was someone who enjoyed slashing horses and having known people with ponies fed with dollops of grass cuttings, and having had to deal with a horse made nippy by too many tidbits from passers-by, I now feel that avoidance is the best way forward.
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Rule no1 for here cobgoblin never justify yourself you are entitled to your opinion and on the whole people will respect that. Shame people feel the need to be personal about your other posts which are nothing to do with this.

I was a rampant horse feeder as a child and fortunate enough not to be ticked off by kind local owners. If the people followed you after you said no then bad manners but no crime on the highway. I've been lucky as mine have never been next to the road. I know someone who does and she has a do not feed sign which is ignored. I would be uncomfortable with trespass up any yard though for risk to horses and property.
 
SpringArising said:
Are you confusing humans with horse-eating zombies? What exactly do your horses need protection from?
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No, but recently on here we've had a horse that died after being fed grass clippings, people having huge trouble with walkers (including putting babies on the loose horses in the field) and someone who discovered that strangers were going into their field regularly and riding their horses. Now I of course know that these are rare incidents, but they do happen, so it is wise to be cautious.

PS. I generally do let people pat my horses as long as it's safe to do so, but I'm not afraid to say 'no' when it's not wise.
 
Faracat said:
No, but recently on here we've had a horse that died after being fed grass clippings, people having huge trouble with walkers (including putting babies on the loose horses in the field) and someone who discovered that strangers were going into their field regularly and riding their horses. Now I of course know that these are rare incidents, but they do happen, so it is wise to be cautious.

PS. I generally do let people pat my horses as long as it's safe to do so, but I'm not afraid to say 'no' when it's not wise.
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If someone asked me if they could feed my horses some grass cuttings (or if I saw someone feeding them), I'd say something like 'That's really sweet to offer, but horses can't eat cut grass because X and Y. You are more than welcome to come and have a pat/brush, however'. Person = both educated and happy, and will know not to do it in the future.

Some people are such bad sports. No one is saying don't take the health of your horse seriously, but don't tar everyone as 'stupid' and refuse to let anyone near them 'just in case'.

(Post not aimed at you in particular, Faracat).
 
cinnamontoast said:
Just being argumentative here, frankly, so don't take this seriously!

Funny, isn't it, tho, that most people wouldn't dream of going into your back garden and feeding the dogs endless sausages, yet horses are fair game. Why should someone have to educate others about care, feeding etc?
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It's double standards. I suppose it happens in all walks of life - there are a LOT of people on this forum willing to get defensive about the general public so much as looking at their horse, however they don't think twice about trespassing onto the farmers' fields at stubble time.

And I'm being argumentative here, because whenever horse riders are challenged on their trespass their response is "oh, but we're not doing any harm. Probably a million more times more harm to the direct drilled crop underneath then, than some 12 year old pony mad child wanting to stroke your horse.
 
I thought the OP's post was very sad. The little girl could have had a short experience that she might have remembered all her life, not to mention the gratitude from her mother to a person who gave a small act of kindness to her child.

An opportunity missed for the price of a couple of minutes and a little generosity.
 
strangers feeding my lot is enough for the red mist to descend in my head but..I generally am nice, explain that there are things that might seem harmless for a horse to eat but are actually very bad for them (bread, grass cuttings etc) and that they are welcome to come and ask me to visit them or leave carrots/apples for them to go in their tea. I also explain that small fat pony is my disabled step-daughter's pony and I dont want him nipping/mugging her for food (which is true). I also stop to chat to kids/walkers when out and about as well and even talk to cyclists (perversely I like being very cheery to the really up themselves ones :p )

I don't like my privacy being invaded and I certainly dislike most people but these are people I will see driving cars when I am out hacking, who hopefully won't now think all horse owners are *****holes.
 
PollyP99 said:
Well I can see both sides to this, as a pony mad kid I'm sure I was a pain to people.

As an adult that kept a horse near a primary school I came to HATE seeing people hanging over the wall as they fed ridiculous amounts of apples/other stuff despite a big sign saying do not feed, once I caught a particularly cocky 11 year old calling mine over then thinking it hilarious to take a swing at her face, she's a sensitive soul so would really react, the idiot girl then got a treat out and tempted her in again, I was furious as I could see this as I approached on foot. I shouted and she said it's ok this is my horse , I then Obviously put her right and could so easily have lost my temper with her.

So yes whilst it would be nice in an ideal world to encourage kids to partake, I now keep mine well away from the public, sad but I'm happier knowing that right now some twit isn't messing around with her.
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Have you ever gone and had a word with the school? I live next to an outward bound school and some DofE kids were camping. From my stables I could see and hear them all hanging over the goat pen annoying the goats. I went over, found the teachers and told them what was going on (the goat pen was around the back). They want and had a word with the children and it all got sorted..
 
RunToEarth said:
It's double standards. I suppose it happens in all walks of life - there are a LOT of people on this forum willing to get defensive about the general public so much as looking at their horse, however they don't think twice about trespassing onto the farmers' fields at stubble time.

And I'm being argumentative here, because whenever horse riders are challenged on their trespass their response is "oh, but we're not doing any harm. Probably a million more times more harm to the direct drilled crop underneath then, than some 12 year old pony mad child wanting to stroke your horse.
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Now this is getting a bit strange!

Stroking a horse is one thing, what it can lead to is quite another!
Why are you getting so worked up about it? Some people like having their horses stroked by strangers whilst in the field, and some don't - so what!
 
I am very crabbit and anti-social and frequently encounter children when I hack out. Have I told them my horse might bite? You bet (she doesn't). If I am having a depressive, unhappy day, the last thing I can deal with are children. Does this make me a crap ambassador for the equestrian community? Probably. So be it. This summer, I've been particularly antisocial because the clegg flies have been horrible and as soon as you stop, they attack. I can just see some kid getting taken out by the horse going for a fly.
 
All the treat feeding/patting arguments aside, what I do find a little cheeky/weird is the following. I mean, if they were familiar to the yard and horses being there and regularly walked around there anyway then fair play to them. But if they had no idea where they were going and actively followed you to the yard (say if it wasn't just on a straight path from where you were, but with different turnings etc.) then I say that isn't acceptable behaviour. Following people in the street is strange no matter where they are headed.
 
cobgoblin said:
Now this is getting a bit strange!

Stroking a horse is one thing, what it can lead to is quite another!
Why are you getting so worked up about it? Some people like having their horses stroked by strangers whilst in the field, and some don't - so what!
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I'm not worked up about anything.

The thing is, all horsey people have to encounter the general public, and vice versa. We collectively have a bad reputation, and you don't do any favours by being a massive grump to small children, especially not when her mother is flying around the corner in her Honda Civic at 60mph. Every deed of kindness and all that.
 
RunToEarth said:
It's double standards. I suppose it happens in all walks of life - there are a LOT of people on this forum willing to get defensive about the general public so much as looking at their horse, however they don't think twice about trespassing onto the farmers' fields at stubble time.

And I'm being argumentative here, because whenever horse riders are challenged on their trespass their response is "oh, but we're not doing any harm. Probably a million more times more harm to the direct drilled crop underneath then, than some 12 year old pony mad child wanting to stroke your horse.
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But I find that equally as bad, if not worse and in fact rollicked a bunch of runners who thought it was fine to stay four abreast by running over a new sprouted crop rather than stay on the footpath. Even the dogs weren't allowed on it. Trouble with the stroking thing is that it potentially becomes regular, kids start encouraging the horses over with treats, the yearling gets kicked cos she's in a crowd eager to get to the carrots and it's a total PITA. My last yard was a trauma, on a big road, tons of people wanting to come in and treat the place like a petting zoo or have a pop on a pony. It's unbelievable what cheeky things you get asked just because you're on a yard that's accessible and visible. A woman came on with her little boy one day to my first yard and asked if he could have a ride cos he was bored. It wasn't an RS and she was politely told so and offered names of riding schools in the vicinity but she kept asking because she lived nearby.

I don't see why we're expected to be ambassadors for horse owning, anyone can see I'm not posh or stuck up, nor am I rude, but my time at the yard is precious and when I volunteered at the RDA, fine, I'd educate, whatever. Now, however, I really just want to do my own thing. I don't go and pester the nearby llama farmer or try to feed them, even though I'd love to find out more about them, it's just, IMO, incredibly rude.
 
I think you are being exceptionally mean- they stayed on the public road, didn't go on private property and I think us as horse owners should be nice and friendly to non horse owners. We are to often perceived as snobs, what harm would it have done to let a little girl see your horse? I was once that little girl.....
 
my bfg said:
Was walking up the yard this morning and two women with a little girl in tow stopped me and asked which house sells eggs, told them it was on my route so I would show them, was walking along and they asked what was in my bucket, said it was my horses breakfast. They then asked if they could come and see it, don't like the idea of allowing strangers down the yard so said no she's a grumpy begger who bites (she's not) then showed them the house that sells eggs and headed off. They then said to the little girl do you want to go and see the horse which the girl said yes to, they started following me at a distance. I headed down the yard (my girl had spotted me so couldnt walk past) and they stood at the roadside calling the YOs horses in the front field over, one of them is a bit bitey so went and warned them and asked them to leave, they stood there for a bit watching me then left. Thought this was very cheeky as 1 they didn't know that wasn't my horse which I had already said was grumpy and bites and 2 I had said no, anyone agree with this or am I being possessive over my girl? X
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You're being possessive, but it can be upsetting when people don't take "no" for an answer, so I think I get where you're coming from :)

Having said that, I'd have left them to it. If they were bitten by the YO's horse that would have been their own fault. Horses have teeth, therefore they can bite. Had they followed you onto the yard or climbed into the field etc, then yes, that would have been rather *ahem* persistent and I could understand it bothering you. Public road is rather different - in the sense that it is their own lookout and not your fault if the horse that does not belong to you injures them.
 
RunToEarth said:
I'm not worked up about anything.

The thing is, all horsey people have to encounter the general public, and vice versa. We collectively have a bad reputation, and you don't do any favours by being a massive grump to small children, especially not when her mother is flying around the corner in her Honda Civic at 60mph. Every deed of kindness and all that.
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Horsey people are part of the general public, one just hopes they are better behaved around horses in general.
As for being grumpy to small children, well, if they can't get near the horses in the first place the problem never arises.
 
Arizahn said:
You're being possessive, but it can be upsetting when people don't take "no" for an answer, so I think I get where you're coming from :)

Having said that, I'd have left them to it. If they were bitten by the YO's horse that would have been their own fault. Horses have teeth, therefore they can bite. Had they followed you onto the yard or climbed into the field etc, then yes, that would have been rather *ahem* persistent and I could understand it bothering you. Public road is rather different - in the sense that it is their own lookout and not your fault if the horse that does not belong to you injures them.
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Sadly "it was their own fault" doesn't wash when something goes wrong and the solicitors letters start flying in. My parents-in-law ended up with a potentially very expensive situation when a local boy decided to go scrumping in their garden and fell out of the tree and broke his wrist. It was not the boy's fault, according to the solicitors letters demanding compensation, it was the PILs fault for not securing their garden, for not properly maintaining their trees and for growing fruit thereby creating temptation.
 
To me the issue here is that the adults asked if they could come and see the horse and were told 'no' - to my mind, the OP gave the right response because there was the potential for strangers to end up on a yard and it would be wrong to give the impression that it's OK for members of the public to wander on to livery yards to pet horses. In spite of being told 'no' they then went on to ask the child if she wanted to see the horses - so actually you could say that they should take some responsibility for any disappointment the child may have experienced.
I learnt the hard way that not all horses are cute and cuddly when I was bitten at the age of 9 - I was also knocked over by a pony who moved suddenly, and this was before I'd even got on a horse! I was pony-mad enough to keep up my obsession but I do worry about kids (and adults) feeding and petting horses. We live in such a litigious society; I do let children stroke my horse when out hacking if they ask, but I worry like mad that parents will sue if their children get hurt, even through no fault of the horse. Sad but true.
As for educating the general public, it doesn't always work. I had a lot of abuse and got reported to the RSPCA because my horse was wearing a 'thick coat' (sweet itch rug) in summer, apparently because I wanted him to lose weight!! My attempts to explain all about sweet itch were in vain. Apparently I am cruel and a disgrace and shouldn't be allowed to keep animals.
 
As annoying as it is, sounds like they didn't do anything wrong.
They didn't enter the property, just called them over the fence.

They should be aware horses can hurt people, as could any animal, be it dog, cat, cow etc, field owner could put up a sign but shouldn't have too.
 
To be honest, our local residents recently kicked up a stink when our rented paddocks were going to be sold off for housing and got the plans thrown out, so if any of them want to come and say hello to my ponies, I'm more than happy about that. :)

I think it's good to keep the locals on side and it's nice that they see us as a valued part of the community. :)
 
I spent a good deal of my childhood leaning over 5 bar gates looking longingly at horses. If I was lucky enough to be able to get the horse to come over for a pat it made my day.
Although I can sort of see the ops point, it does seem a bit of a over reaction.
 
I can see all sides to this but have to say I'm used to having slot of attention when out and about. ...I have 3 French Bulldogs which people fall in love with instantly as well as 2 massive Newfoundland dogs. The Newfies cause every 5 min trip into an hour of hugging and questions etc :D
 
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