Julia0803
Well-Known Member
Hello all,
I was wondering if anyone has been successful in deterring people feeding over the fence?
It’s been a bit of an ongoing issue for a few years, families with kids petting the horses over the fence and giving the odd carrot. Not ideal but not the end of the world when it happens once or twice a week. It was getting more of a problem over the past few weeks due to warm weather and increasing numbers. However, it now seems to have ramped up. As well as the usual small kids with carrots I’ve been told by the woman with a strip of land and donkeys in the next field that people have been coming up with CARRIER BAGS full of food, including vegetable peelings and whole loaves of bread and lobbing them into the field.
My lovely little cob is food obsessed. The lady ‘next door’ said the first she noticed of that particular time was hearing thundering hooves and looking up to see him charge from one end of the field to the fence line having spotted the bags. She asked them to stop and they told her to mind their own business!!
We increased the number of ‘do not feed the horses’ signs and posted on the village Facebook page. Lots of nice reasonable people have taken note.
However some persist and yesterday morning I went up and he had what looked like burger sauce/ketchup all over his nose. FFS!!! Clearly some moron on the walk home with a late night kebab or similar.
Do you know if there is any legal clout in not feeding horses? I know that sounds bizarre but I’m thinking, as the law views horses as property and by feeding human junk food despite warning signs they are damaging my property? Some sort of criminal damage?? I appreciate it’s a tenuous link but wondering if I can change the signs to something along the lines of you can be prosecuted. Or possibly under the animal welfare act?
I’m looking into either faux cctv or possibly the wildlife cameras. The yard doesn’t have electric and even if it did, the spot the horses get fed is in the bottom corner farthest from the yard.
I love our yard. I like the people, the yard instructor, the 24/7 turnout, close to my parents so I can leave my toddler with them a few times a week so I can ride, all of it works for us and both horses are happy and settled. Moving is not an option.
Has anyone else got any ideas or success stories?
Thank you
I was wondering if anyone has been successful in deterring people feeding over the fence?
It’s been a bit of an ongoing issue for a few years, families with kids petting the horses over the fence and giving the odd carrot. Not ideal but not the end of the world when it happens once or twice a week. It was getting more of a problem over the past few weeks due to warm weather and increasing numbers. However, it now seems to have ramped up. As well as the usual small kids with carrots I’ve been told by the woman with a strip of land and donkeys in the next field that people have been coming up with CARRIER BAGS full of food, including vegetable peelings and whole loaves of bread and lobbing them into the field.
My lovely little cob is food obsessed. The lady ‘next door’ said the first she noticed of that particular time was hearing thundering hooves and looking up to see him charge from one end of the field to the fence line having spotted the bags. She asked them to stop and they told her to mind their own business!!
We increased the number of ‘do not feed the horses’ signs and posted on the village Facebook page. Lots of nice reasonable people have taken note.
However some persist and yesterday morning I went up and he had what looked like burger sauce/ketchup all over his nose. FFS!!! Clearly some moron on the walk home with a late night kebab or similar.
Do you know if there is any legal clout in not feeding horses? I know that sounds bizarre but I’m thinking, as the law views horses as property and by feeding human junk food despite warning signs they are damaging my property? Some sort of criminal damage?? I appreciate it’s a tenuous link but wondering if I can change the signs to something along the lines of you can be prosecuted. Or possibly under the animal welfare act?
I’m looking into either faux cctv or possibly the wildlife cameras. The yard doesn’t have electric and even if it did, the spot the horses get fed is in the bottom corner farthest from the yard.
I love our yard. I like the people, the yard instructor, the 24/7 turnout, close to my parents so I can leave my toddler with them a few times a week so I can ride, all of it works for us and both horses are happy and settled. Moving is not an option.
Has anyone else got any ideas or success stories?
Thank you