Concerned members of the public! Oh Dear!

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NeilM

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Had a phone call this evening from the lady who owns the paddocks next to ours. Apparently she had just had a 'discussion' with a gentleman who had come down the footpath just to see the horses / ponies in the fields (there are four fields and 16 equines). My OH would normally have been there, but had a meeting, so I whizzed over and did the (frozen) water, feed, poo pick, hay / grass routine at lunchtime.

Apparently we are all cruel b'stards for not putting our (native) ponies in stables and he is going to report us to the RSPCA!

It would appear the chap came along deliberately to bump into us, unfortunately he also bumped into another of the owners and her rather fiery little partner. All of the owners / partners are horsey and have been for 30 years apiece and between the group they own Highlands, NF's, Welsh cobs and Exmoors.

It appears the gentleman left with a slight flea in his ear...a rather Anglo-Saxon one I gather, as he set the fiery chap off with his comments about the conditions.

I'm away on business for a couple of days, so it looks like I may miss all the 'fun'.

It IS nice that people are concerned, but it would be nice if they actually knew what they were talking about BEFORE they got all high handed with some of the most diligent, caring and knowledgeable owners I have ever come across. It would also be a good idea if they did NOT park on our (private) land and then come and call us names!

Ah well, central heating's on, hot coffee on my desk, mmmmm cozy.
 
Each day I pass a large field with maybe 8 shetlands in it. This morning I looked over as I drove past and saw three of them lying down in the snow obviously dozing. I did think then that there could well be reports of dead ponies reaching the ears of the local charities!
 
we once had the rspca called on us back at my mums as someone walking past the field couldnt see the water trough and assumed we didnt give our horses access to water! Rspca officer was very apologetic!!!!
 
This is our shetland yesterday morning...

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:D
 
Oh no! I neglected my horse last year. i only gave him ad lib haylage a very nice full neck rug and two feeds a day. He was out in all weathers and i didnt pull his mane... and i left mud on him. I know he was neglected cos the jordan wanabee with the horse she cant ride said so.
 
I got this once because the gate-way to the field was muddy :o

The RSPCA was very apologetic aswell unfortunatly their time is wasted on things like this when they could be visiting equines in real need.
 
Well - I just get this eccentric old bat who is pretty close to retirement that takes pictures of the ponies and is happy enough to go wondering across the fields. The boys all say hello and are very polite to her.

But she ocasionally tries to do it in the snow and gets stuck in her old Micra, and someone pulls her out

Gently demented. I don't have the heart to tell her not to, she seems to take such pleasure in it.

Turns out she's a teacher at the local primary school, and the pictures are up on one wall of the classroom.

Rather that than your ranting nutter!
 
luckyoldme said:
Oh no! I neglected my horse last year. i only gave him ad lib haylage a very nice full neck rug and two feeds a day. He was out in all weathers and i didnt pull his mane... and i left mud on him. I know he was neglected cos the jordan wanabee with the horse she cant ride said so.
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:eek::eek::eek::eek: Left MUD on him!!! Shocking! Dont know which is worse, that or the mane not being pulled!!!
 
Most of our lot are rugged and those that aren't don't need to be. All have hay every day, or plenty of long grass (fibre) and there are water troughs in every field. They are all checked at least twice a day and are as happy as you like.

When I went down at lunchtime it was bitterly cold, I checked inside both the rugs on our two and they were toasty.

I don't mind someone voicing concerns, but to pick an argument and get abusive when it is politely pointed out the observations are incorrect is just ignorant. Over and above that, does he really think a stable is warmer?

Perhaps they should have suggested he go home, turn his heating off and then open all the door and windows in his house! :D
 
Our elderly neighbour once rang my mum because the horses in the field behind our house were lying down & she wanted to check they were ok! they're not our horses & my mum is no horse expert but she explained horses do sometimes sleep lying down. the neighbour wasnt being rude or accusatory, she just wanted to check! quite nice actually, not like your guy! I just think its amusing that my mum was the resident horse expert!
 
Someone called the RSPCA last year on a friend of mine because they couldnt see the pile of hay in the field for snow, the round bale was due to be replaced the next day. The RSPCA officer accused him of not feeding his horses and was given the number of the farmer who put the bales in. The next day the RSPCA officer turned up again after a conversation with said farmer and accused him of causing suffering because the horses were being overfed! Now even I cant manage an explanation for this one!
 
NeilM said:
Apparently we are all cruel b'stards for not putting our (native) ponies in stables and he is going to report us to the RSPCA!
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Oh dear!!! But the scarey thing about your experience is that a BHS welfare officer (after such a report) actually told a BHS AI that she had to put a rug on her perfectly healthy section D!!!!................ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As you say it is nice that people mean well and are looking out for animals in general, and in your instance you can have a laugh about it.
 
spaniel said:
Each day I pass a large field with maybe 8 shetlands in it. This morning I looked over as I drove past and saw three of them lying down in the snow obviously dozing. I did think then that there could well be reports of dead ponies reaching the ears of the local charities!
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Glad you can laugh about it, in the reverse it makes me a little cross to se shetlands with rugs on!!!!, where on earth where they bred to live?????

At least he was sent with a flea in his ear
 
whilst its nice ppl care i have WHW number in my phone and if anyone challlenges me i say" report me pls" earlier this year when we had that bad weather we had a talk at yard from WHW rep, a vet and rep frombaileys feed and all said do not rug your m&m esp if carrying weight they praised me for my feeding regime and fact baby is naked 24/7 so any one who stops me will get told like said "report me" and then i will smile lol
 
lol daisy my daughters first pony - a shettie - livid on moors of rossendale had stable to go in but always wanted hay outside even when inches of snow on back - whats a rug lol. in winter he always reminded me of a dandelion clock ready to blow -so fluffy and warm
 
luckyoldme said:
Oh no! I neglected my horse last year. i only gave him ad lib haylage a very nice full neck rug and two feeds a day. He was out in all weathers and i didnt pull his mane... and i left mud on him. I know he was neglected cos the jordan wanabee with the horse she cant ride said so.
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Gosh :eek: I just fell off my chair in horror. Bring back capital punishment - you must be brought to justice. Mud - that's incredulous. I can't believe you even admitted to such a crime :p At the very least my lad comes in on a night to a lovely stable with velvet wallpaper, underfloor heating, bedsocks, memory foam mattress for if he's sleepy & the full SKY package :D
 
Some people, eh? I had a woman in work who was always telling me I was cruel for not bringing my horses in at night. She would not believe THEY PREFER TO BE OUTSIDE!
 
My neighbours knocked on the door today to tell me that my horses were covered in snow. I pointed out that if it wasn't melting then the heat was staying in ;) They're natives and fine. I did bring my yearling in later in the day though but not because of the snow - more because it was minus 8 at 6pm and there was freezing fog and a really cold wind. He's still unrugged though...
 
babymare said:
lol daisy my daughters first pony - a shettie - livid on moors of rossendale had stable to go in but always wanted hay outside even when inches of snow on back - whats a rug lol. in winter he always reminded me of a dandelion clock ready to blow -so fluffy and warm
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Love the dandelion description - our section A was like that in the snow and frost. I always used to think she was getting too fat, but she measured the same with the weight tape - it was just fluffed up coat!

We used to get people stop and ask us why we were cruel and took her rug off in cold weather (she had sweet itch in summer,so wore a fly rug!).

Loving those fly masks with the eyes!
 
YO once had a man knock on her door and urge her to come quickly as one of the pony's had a flower pot stuck on its head.
When she explained it would be a bucket style muzzle, he insisted that he was sure it was a flower pot. They went out to the field,found the pony..explained why it had a muzzle on. Man walked away shaking his head, still convinced it was a flower pot.
 
daisydo said:
in the reverse it makes me a little cross to se shetlands with rugs on!!!!, where on earth where they bred to live?????
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Someone strike me down!!!! Mine has a full selection of turnout rugs from light to heavy with NECKS available too.

But he is fully clipped out and WORKING FOR HIS LIVING

Someone call the rspca for me please........

:p :p :p:p :p :p :p :p
 
Interestingly they've had a piece on breakfast news this morning with reporter up with an RSPCA woman talking about what you need to do for livestock, wildlife and pets during bad weather and one of the things they covered was the amount of calls the RSPCA get about horses in fields without rugs...the woman said they had had 20 such calls yesterday and attended and all of them were fine. So she did try to explain that native breeds with thick coats and option of shelter can cope.
 
I must be really really cruel then!!! I have 2 living out - covered in mud as well - I haven't groomed them this week - Oh the neglect!! they are comfy and warm in lovely new rugs though!! plenty of hay and feed and I am great at ice bashing and water lugging now!! My riding horse is one of only 2 on a 20 horse yard that are turned out too - and I do get some comments like "your'e not turning out in this are you??" and "poor pony he'll be cold" I hardly think so in his 300g mark todd, even though he's clipped!! and he's a native for gawds sake!!
 
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