Concerned for the new baby at the yard

wheres abouts in the uk are you? if they cant cope with him, tell them i will take him off their hands and he will have a very good life, with lots of company his own age, and 24/7 turn out.

this has got to stop,they shouldnt have had him in the first place by the sounds of it.

if i was in you situation, i'd just take their hay and give him some morning and night, regardless of what they say, if they are not bothering to give him any, then you have to!
 
the problem is if he really has not eaten in so long and was just given a pile of hay he needs monitoring to make sure he is ok. If you really cannot say anything to them, you need to either let someone else know where he is who can come up and talk to the owners or call ILPH out. You do not want a situation in a few days time where you are saying "poor baby he died, I wish I had done something!"
 
Thanks Tia. They told him off for eating hay through the bars of the gate as they said he could choke on it, and I've not seen him eating any hay/them put hay in for him. However, yes, I've seen him try to eat the straw.

Anyway, I've spoken to them. He was happily munching on the hay I gave him so I casually went up and said something like 'oh I gave him some hay because the poor bun was looking at the others eating and wondering why he couldn't have any'. Feeling very nervous at this point. The woman just said 'ah thanks' in an avoidant way. So I said, 'does he get through much hay?' and she said they give him a bit of silage in the morning and then some at night before they lock up and it seems to keep him happy (in her words - she obviously thinks a bit of silage twice a day is enough). The conversation went on but I basically said that he needed as much hay/haylage as they could give him and probably not great to give silage, then asked whether they were considering feeding him a hard feed over winter as I have a friend who works at the feed store and I could get him to advise them/give them a hand. She wasn't as they wanted to hold off as long as possible, but she's going to talk to my friend and I'm going to pass on a book I have about bringing up foals.

I said it in an 'anything I can do to help' kind of way, and added that he needed to be kept warm and be allowed to move around, but I admit he has a coat like a shagpile rug!

So I've told her he needs lots and lots of hay and they need to start giving him feeds as well, and she's going to go to the food store and I also advised they she call some feed companies, and gave her a couple of numbers that I took off the net. She was OK about it, and quite embarrassed I think - she just didn't realise. I was embarrassed too though, because I'd accused her of starving him, when she's actually been giving him a few handfulls of silage morning and night (I know that's still not right and not enough, but I'd imagined he'd been not eating a thing).

IMO that foal is still not being kept right, but at least he's going to get plenty of hay (hopefully) now, and I've alerted them to the fact that they need to feed him. I explained about strengthening his bones and good growth, as well as the fact that he needs nourishment.

I just end up banging my head on the stable door, though, sometimes. I'm not up there with THE most knowledgeable people, but I feel a bit of common sense and a lot of research goes a long way. At the moment it just feels like they're all excited because they have a baby to play with (or not as the case may be). I get annoyed with the kid because she shouts at my horses for absolutely NO reason - tonight her trick was walking past G's door with a bucket of goat feed, rattling it as she walked past about a metre from the door, looking in at him slyly. and then shouting at him because he stretched his neck as far as it would go to try and get some. She didn't know I was in the stable with him!!! Argghhh... it's the little things you know! They're being slow even putting in the drainage for the school, there's the t/o issue... it's just bugging iyswim. Trouble is, the only other 2 yards with places are our old yard (no-go) or our old old yard which we left because it was too far away (10 miles from home but 20+ miles from husband's work). Dear me. They'll learn I guess.
 
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wheres abouts in the uk are you? if they cant cope with him, tell them i will take him off their hands and he will have a very good life, with lots of company his own age, and 24/7 turn out.

this has got to stop,they shouldnt have had him in the first place by the sounds of it.

if i was in you situation, i'd just take their hay and give him some morning and night, regardless of what they say, if they are not bothering to give him any, then you have to!

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TBH, if they couldn't cope, I'd take him on!!
 
QR- Christmas Carrie, dont feel bad about it, you could bluff your way through and say something like" god that foal must eat alot everytime I come up he doesnt have anything" then see how they respond... then they should tell you what it is being fed
 
Just read your reply after I posted. Glad something positive is being done, hopefully the woman will do a bit of research and start feeding him properly. Well done for saying something .
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This has been on my mind all day. The poor foal is being sadly neglected and even if he gets some hay, he's still sadly lacking in the things that foals need. Why are they keeping him? Will they consider letting him go to a knowledgeable home where he can go out with other youngsters? Can't they at least pay the price of a vet call-out to get some advice on what to do - and quickly. They need advice on worming, jabs, food, turnout, handling... Even though he's getting a bit to eat now, the situation over the last 3 days could have done him some damage. I just don't think this is a situation for a softly softly approach.
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I know
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Well, he's getting hay and they're going to get advice on feed tomorrow, and I'm going to give them that book. I can't do any more for the poor little thing.

I know he is being neglected and I find it quite upsetting, because even I, unknowledgeable as I am, can see he needs to be allowed out, exercise, proper feed/hay, all the vet care etc. They handle him of sorts - they go to the back of the box to stick the head collar on and then take him onto the concrete yard to walk round in circles a few times each way and then have to drag him like a dog, back to his pen! I wouldn't call that positive handling, but I may be wrong??
 
It's awful, and so hard for you to watch. At least you're doing something. If only they would get a vet out, it might give them a wake-up call.
 
I think you handled the situation perfectly Carrie - well done
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There are a lot of people around where I live who simply don't know what to do; no point shouting at them, it is always best to be calm and helpful and try to teach them what they should be doing in a non-confrontational way. I think they have hopefully taken on board some of the advice you have given her.
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well done..

i thought he must have been getting SOMETHING...as he would be very poorly after 4 days withot food..and silage is very moist, so he would be getting a little moisture too.

just quietly offer to help..then work in a few ideas to help them along.

i wouldntworry too much at this stage about hard food/foal creep etc...just ad-lib hay will be sufficient..and a damn good worming....
 
QR
Well done!
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The main thing is that you have planted the seeds of future improvements in his owner's mind. You just have to keep working on him...and develop a 'fictitious friend's foal' to compare him with.
So say 'How much hay does your foaly get through? Only 3 sections?! My friend says her 6 month old foaly eats more than that. Mind you she feeds him X scoops of stud and youngstock mix too.'
And keep it up til you brainwash them!
Good luck.
S
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yeah agree with others, well done, i think you handled it really well. I know it was difficult for you. At least you will be there to keep an eye on him. i know it's not your responsibility but sometimes things happen for a reason and perhaps you are meant to be there for little foalie. sort of like his guardian angel.
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eta, i didn't think that silage was good for horses, due to high acidity and high protein levels, it is also low fibre. I believe that because of the high moisture of it, it can cause botulism. someone will no doubt correct me, but that is what i thought.
 
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eta, i didn't think that silage was good for horses, due to high acidity and high protein levels, it is also low fibre. I believe that because of the high moisture of it, it can cause botulism. someone will no doubt correct me, but that is what i thought.

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I agree, four horses died at a riding school I used to livery at after being fed silage. Although in this case, its probably better than nothing!
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Well Done ChristmasCarrie, you might well have saved his life.
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Phew, good for you Christmas Carrie! I was reading the thread at lunch time, and wanted to know the update now, was delighted to see how brave you were to go up at 2pm and give him hay and water, as well as the big "Confrontation" tonite!

Well done you, you deserve him far more than them by the sounds of it xx

Please keep up updated on the little fella
 
Glad they are taking some notice and at least the little guy has you to look out for him. Well done, you should feel really proud of yourself.
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Well done for getting stuck in. I was so worried about the little chap yesterday.

Those people sound like they are certainly lacking in a few brain cells and they need someone like you around to keep them on the right path!
 
Not a very good start for this baby - first he is bought by idiots who can't hold a toddlers hand and keep him out of danger, then he is given to people who don't know anything much about horses. Brilliant! If the foal is only 7 months and has come from the sales, there is every chance he was weaned only on the day of the sale - I've seen this before. He will go down very quickly if something isn't done immediately. I would certainly ask the local HAPPA or BHS rep to come as a matter of urgency. Chances are the latest owners will hand him over. In the meantime, any chance you could handpick him some grass in the hedges or something? He will be dehydrated now too.
 
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Not a very good start for this baby - first he is bought by idiots who can't hold a toddlers hand and keep him out of danger, then he is given to people who don't know anything much about horses. Brilliant! If the foal is only 7 months and has come from the sales, there is every chance he was weaned only on the day of the sale - I've seen this before. He will go down very quickly if something isn't done immediately. I would certainly ask the local HAPPA or BHS rep to come as a matter of urgency. Chances are the latest owners will hand him over. In the meantime, any chance you could handpick him some grass in the hedges or something? He will be dehydrated now too.

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keep up, fatpiggys....the OP has this under control...
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Thanks everyone! He got hay today woooo! AND I told them a great idea to stop him tipping his water and therefore not getting dehydrated, is to place a suitably sized bucket in a tyre, so they've done this and it's worked (for now!) - same used to happen with my old mare!

I'm quite pleased as the little chap looked brighter today and was moving around his stable more, coming up to see me etc. He's still in but I am working on that. I didn't see them when I was at the yard this evening but they went to the feed store today as well. Woohooo. Progress!

Things are looking up a bit and hopefully they'll get a vet out to check him over as well (have mentioned this).
 
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