Could you condition score this horse for me please? The RSPCA...

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Im never ever going to report any emmaciated horse ever again....

It might have a reason for being that thin, it might be contented, it may have just had and op, illness, injury,

YEA RIGHT!

If everyone thought like that, nothing would ever be done about anything,

Better to be reported and found to have 'story' behind it, than to be ignored and left to rot

Well done OP, hope you get some help for this animal
 
FionaM12 said:
Wagtail, I asked where it said the horse had been this thin since summer. It hadn't, in fact the OP said:



I did not at any point say the horse doesn't look very, very thin. I just said we need more information before knowing why this could be and whether anything's being done about it.

I have spent much of my life helping animals in distress (including times when the rest of the local equestrian community refused to get involved) and am hurt by your conclusion that I contribute to "nothing being done about welfare cases" not to mention the suggestion I have less than half a brain.

These threads get heated and things are taken out of context. Could the personal insults stop now please?
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I stand by what I said. Look at it this way - someone (perhaps the OP as she has in fact suggested) link to this thread on the RSPCA facebook page. What do they see? Lots of people saying the horse is emaciated and action needs taking NOW. But amongst those replies are others saying it doesn't look that bad and that there could be a multitude of reasons for it not to be as bad as it seems. What is the effect of these posts (such as yours)? The RSPCA see it isn't a resounding 'do something now!' but some people are defending the fact that no action is being taken. So they are therefore likely to think they were in the right in the first place to do nothing. Can't you see the harm your posts and others might cause? :confused:
 
AshTay said:
Anyone can see that horse needs help.

Having read the various RSPCA-bashing posts, I'm wondering whether a huge part of the problem is that the inspectors aren't sufficently trained to recognise when a horse is really in trouble.
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If relating to other threads too... Part of the problem and absolutely agree they should have more training. (Or work with whw and bhs to pass on cases that they cannot deal with).

However both my complaints against them related to

1. A very badly dealt with situation where anonymity was guaranteed. They failed to do this, not only notifying the owner but actually bringing round the owner themselves and ended with police being called out to a violent situation.

2. Tresspass and criminal damage (damaged secondary fencing) posting a note to an internal fence.

Another complaint was that they diagnosed a horse as very lame, yet failed to point out which one (must have come instantly sound :rolleyes:) however that I wasn't so concerned about.

I definitely think that if not well trained they should be making connections with whw and bhs to work together.
 
Well done OP for getting involved, this horse is an obvious welfare case and needs help now. Its ironic that the RSPCA issued a statement in regards to the programme on Clywds horses saying those horses were seriously thin, well if those horses were thin this one is seriously skelatal.



My daughters old pony used to have a mot by my equine vet every September to see if he was able to go through the winter without struggling. My vet says the trouble with oldies when they lose body weight they also lose it on the inside as well causing organs to fail so good body condition is vital. This old pony had hardly any teeth and could no longer eat hay or haylage so had 4 feeds a day and on the day he was pts due to heart failure still looked fantastic.
 
PandorasJar said:
If relating to other threads too... Part of the problem and absolutely agree they should have more training. (Or work with whw and bhs to pass on cases that they cannot deal with).

I definitely think that if not well trained they should be making connections with whw and bhs to work together.
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I definitely think there should be a formalised referral system for the RSPCA and all of the other wildlife charities.

Heck, if it became a legal requirement for all wildlife charities to be under the RSPCA it would enable them to act as a front for donations and with all the truly brilliant people it would bring under the RSPCA umbrella we could be sure that animals receive the best possible care. (Similar organisation to an animal Social Services/NHS)
 
Their lack of training is very worrying, last year we called out the RSPCA to a prone badger, this poor badger was lying in our haybarn and was obviously in a coma. The Inspector took quite a few attempts to shoot this badger and when I asked if he was going to test it for TB he said do Badgers get TB:eek:. At the time the possible badger cull was all over the papers so even with the lack of training you have to question the calibre of people they are employing.
 
The horse in this picture looks very similar to one owned by a friend of mine that died recently at the age of 36 or 37 ish.
This old horse had huge amounts of feed and ad lib hay. Yet she still became a hat rack.
She had been seen by the dentist a week before she died, no problems.
She was regularly wormed and was seen by the vet routinely.
The vets opinion was she was healthy, but old, much older than horses are meant to be.
She enjoyed her life up to her last day.
If anyone had just seen her in a field though, I can understand why they would call the RSPCA not knowing the facts.
 
Pale Rider said:
The horse in this picture looks very similar to one owned by a friend of mine that died recently at the age of 36 or 37 ish.
This old horse had huge amounts of feed and ad lib hay. Yet she still became a hat rack.
She had been seen by the dentist a week before she died, no problems.
She was regularly wormed and was seen by the vet routinely.
The vets opinion was she was healthy, but old, much older than horses are meant to be.
She enjoyed her life up to her last day.
If anyone had just seen her in a field though, I can understand why they would call the RSPCA not knowing the facts.
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Well this obviously isn't the case with this particular horse. It has had the same tatty rug on all through the summer and the winter. It has only just been given some hay in the muddy field (where there is no grass) because the RSPCA inspector had been. I wonder how long they will keep giving it hay though. :rolleyes:

We all KNOW there are some well cared for horses that look very thin. But this horse is NOT well cared for.
 
It's not just the thinness of the horse-it's coat looks awful too. If the part of the field visible in the pic is representative of the rest, then there are serious issues here.
 
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undertheweather said:
say that... "We are not that worried it has a belly on it and has just lost it's back muscle because it is old" after visiting it today.

A horsey person removed the rug that the horse has been wearing since summer to see what the horse was like underneath to find this:


1544_10151377686456014_1026504296_n.jpg


:mad: :mad: :mad:

It's not rocket science is it?!


WHW have been notified, hopefully we can get this horse moved before the next cold snap.
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This is awful, the horse is a very poor 1, and due to age alone .... My arse ive a 29 yo thats nothing like that and she has arthritis and has had a stroke.
I hope whw do something and soon
 
OP - You may as well remove that poor horse yourself, it doesn't look like anyone else will anytime soon. Also (please dont shoot me down if I'm wrong - I got bored reading all the bitching to one another in the middle of the thread and it fried my brain!) I'm sure you said that your friend put hay in for the horse? Noone will do anything for the horse if it is being fed etc. I KNOW it's impossible to sit back and watch it starve though! The owners clearly don't care so I very much doubt that they would notice if you removed the horse yourself!
 
Oh. I knew Spud had died a while ago, but must have missed the carrot update. I know they were old men and had a happy ending, but still feel a little sad to hear that :(
 
Not surprised with RSPSA - know they do loads of great work and better than nothing but unless the horse cant stand up they are pretty unless with equines

That said I still notate monthly to them
 
Wagtail said:
I stand by what I said. Look at it this way - someone (perhaps the OP as she has in fact suggested) link to this thread on the RSPCA facebook page. What do they see? Lots of people saying the horse is emaciated and action needs taking NOW. But amongst those replies are others saying it doesn't look that bad and that there could be a multitude of reasons for it not to be as bad as it seems. What is the effect of these posts (such as yours)? The RSPCA see it isn't a resounding 'do something now!' but some people are defending the fact that no action is being taken. So they are therefore likely to think they were in the right in the first place to do nothing. Can't you see the harm your posts and others might cause? :confused:
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I'm sorry you feel I was doing harm. All I was asking was people try to be a bit more rational and find out more facts, of which we were given few, especially early in the thread. Speculation and assumption don't usually help in these cases in my experience.

It's very hurtful when people start suggesting that by saying we need more information, people (not just me) have the standard of care our own horses receive questioned, or are assumed to think we think a horse in that condition "is fine" and nothing should be done. Which no-one on this thread said.

I do hope the OP updates the forum with the result of the WHW involvement.
 
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FionaM12 said:
It's very hurtful when people start suggesting that by saying we need more information, people (not just me) have the standard of care our own horses receive questioned, or are assumed to think we think a horse in that condition "is fine" and nothing should be done. Which no-one on this thread said.
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Try not to feel hurt. People (including me btw) write all sorts of thoughtless comments when their blood is up. Have a good objective look at your own horses and let comments such as that roll off your back. :)
 
amandap said:
Try not to feel hurt. People (including me btw) write all sorts of thoughtless comments when their blood is up. Have a good objective look at your own horses and let comments such as that roll off your back. :)
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What a lovely and very thoughtful comment to make. Very refreshing to see. :)
 
There's no doubt this horse is in very poor condition and I'd score is as between a 1 and a half and 2. However those questioning why the horse is in this condition do have a point. None of those posters have said the horse is in an acceptable condition so I'm confused why some other posters are claiming they have :confused: If it is a very old or sick horse there is nothing wrong with questioning this. We don't know whether this horse has been like this since the summer as no-one took the rug off. If it has been like this since summer then there is probably a reason for why it looks the way it looks and how it has managed to survive for 6 months in this condition. If this is a recent deterioration then it should be a greater cause for concern. If the horse is very old then yes it could easily have become like this over a short space of time so anyone who says differently has not had much varied experience with very old horses. They are highly suspectible to change and can drop weight easily. Even something as 'harmless' as giving very old horses vaccinations can lead to great metabolic changes. Having said all that, calling the RSPCA was the right course of action OP and contacting the WHW is the right thing to do now IMO. It is possible the RSPCA inspector has spoken to the owner (and maybe even the horse's vet) and has been satisfied with their response, but not one which the inspector is willing to share with a member of the public. Contacting WHW will be the second opinion that is required for the horse to either be seized and taken care of properly or if they leave it there and do not take any further action then we should all feel comfortable knowing that there must be a valid reason for why the horse is allowed to remain with the owner.
 
As a result of a malicious report to the RSPCA about a horse on livery on our yard one of their inspectors had a stand-up row with a vet a couple of months ago. Vet said horse (shiny coat, well-covered but not fat, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, feet up-to-date, recently wormed and vaccinated) was in peak condition. RSPCA man said it was reported as a cruelty case and the report was correct and he was a going to impound horse.

YO came to see what the kerfuffle was all about & kicked the RSPCA inspector off the yard with instructions to come back later with a police officer if he wished to continue with the case.

Nothing further has happened.

I was a witness to all this and it was quite clear that the RSPCA man wouldn't know the difference between a 4-legged horse and a clothes horse
 
Spring Feather said:
There's no doubt this horse is in very poor condition and I'd score is as between a 1 and a half and 2. However those questioning why the horse is in this condition do have a point. None of those posters have said the horse is in an acceptable condition so I'm confused why some other posters are claiming they have :confused: If it is a very old or sick horse there is nothing wrong with questioning this. We don't know whether this horse has been like this since the summer as no-one took the rug off. If it has been like this since summer then there is probably a reason for why it looks the way it looks and how it has managed to survive for 6 months in this condition. If this is a recent deterioration then it should be a greater cause for concern. If the horse is very old then yes it could easily have become like this over a short space of time so anyone who says differently has not had much varied experience with very old horses. They are highly suspectible to change and can drop weight easily. Even something as 'harmless' as giving very old horses vaccinations can lead to great metabolic changes. Having said all that, calling the RSPCA was the right course of action OP and contacting the WHW is the right thing to do now IMO. It is possible the RSPCA inspector has spoken to the owner (and maybe even the horse's vet) and has been satisfied with their response, but not one which the inspector is willing to share with a member of the public. Contacting WHW will be the second opinion that is required for the horse to either be seized and taken care of properly or if they leave it there and do not take any further action then we should all feel comfortable knowing that there must be a valid reason for why the horse is allowed to remain with the owner.
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Thank goodness for such a sane post. :) And you're quite right, no-one said it was in acceptable condition, nor do we know if it had been like that since summer, as it hadn't been seen without a rug. Entirely agree with the rest of your post too. :)
 
Today the horse was visited by WHW and a very kind lady from Trading Standards Welfare Dept who kindly got in touch to help.

WHW left a welfare notice on the gate of the field advising ad lib hay and a vet check for the horse in question, asking the owner to contact them. There were also feed buckets by gate that have had chaff and ? Mix or some sort of straight in them.

The lady from Trading Standards has been in contact also said that the owner has now been located and that they have spoken to her, the horse is under veterinary care and the relevant organisations are going to work closely with her and will follow this through. This is being taken very seriously.

I am very thankful for all the kind words that have been said on this thread. I promised an update so here it is. Myself along with more than a few others will be keeping an eye on this boy, and are hoping to see improvements.
 
undertheweather said:
Today the horse was visited by WHW and a very kind lady from Trading Standards Welfare Dept who kindly got in touch to help.

WHW left a welfare notice on the gate of the field advising ad lib hay and a vet check for the horse in question, asking the owner to contact them. There were also feed buckets by gate that have had chaff and ? Mix or some sort of straight in them.

The lady from Trading Standards has been in contact also said that the owner has now been located and that they have spoken to her, the horse is under veterinary care and the relevant organisations are going to work closely with her and will follow this through. This is being taken very seriously.

I am very thankful for all the kind words that have been said on this thread. I promised an update so here it is. Myself along with more than a few others will be keeping an eye on this boy, and are hoping to see improvements.
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Sounds a brilliant outcome. :)
 
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