HELP Does This Need Reported???

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scotlas

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i have created this account purely to get some help with a situation I have come across so i hope someone can give me some advice :)
I am a horsey person however have been out the game for a couple of years so feel I am a bit out of touch. The situation is that there is a lovely little pony in a field across the road from my house that I am a bit concerned for.
I first too notice of this little guy when I seen the pony was tethered by a rope in a grassy patch next to a childrens play park down the road from me. As I drove by in my car I made sure he wasnt caught in anything and that he had access to water, which he did. I thought about it all night then decided I would go an check on him the next day, but when I did he was gone.
Now the pony is in a rather marshy, swampy looking small paddock and he doesnt look too thrilled about the situation. For starters he is on his own which I dont like seeing however I realise this is not a reportable offence. I cant see any water source however he has been there long enough so there must be some there somewhere. Food wise I only ever see handfuls of hay on the ground, definitely not enough to sustain him through the winter, also in the area it is now reaching around -6 and he does not have a rug and no shelter. As I say I am out of touch and not sure whether this is normal.

So my issue is due I report this to anyone or is the situation acceptable? i know hes not being abused and he isnt underweight but with the winter months coming in I dont want this poor pony suffering when I should have acted.

thanks for reading !
 
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So, he isn't underweight which is good, so the main concern would seem to be if he has water or not? Can you walk over and see if he has water?

Being alone isn't ideal but lots of horses live alone either out or in.

He's not tethered now but you say he is in a field and being given hay, so he is being given food, presumably you are not there all the time so he may be given a bucket feed as well but even if he is not, you say he is not underweight so he does not seem to be suffering from lack of food.

Being out without a rug isn't a problem if he has a winter coat and isn't clipped. I look after 2 different lots of horses and one lot of them are out 24 hours a day all year round even in heavy snow and the only one that wears a rug is the elderly one. (They are all natives - so they grow thick winter coats and they aren't clipped so no need for rug)

As for no shelter, do you mean there is just no building? Are there trees or bushes around the field/fence line that he could stand in front of to protect himself from the elements? Even if there isn't, I don't see it as a huge problem (others might) it would be better if there was but doesnt mean its cruel unless he is visibly distressed and losing condition.

Obviously none of us can see him or his situation but from what you have said so far, it doesn't sound like he is in trouble apart from you are concerned he might not have water, but it is good that you are watching over him :)
 
Thank you penks for replying, you have put my mind at rest.
He still has his winter coat so I guess by what you are saying he is fine with no rug which is good. Having only had horses on livery in full work I guess I dont know how to judge more 'natural' conditions.

I will take a walk over tomorrow and check his water and I suppose I will just keep watch over him and make sure his weight is stable,

Thanks again for the advice !
 
Have asked Admin Team to ascertain whether / how you can register with such a similar user name as we are not the same person
 
scotlass said:
Have asked Admin Team to ascertain whether / how you can register with such a similar user name as we are not the same person
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Sorry didn't realise there would one so similar! I take you are also a girl from Scotland ;)
I won't be using the account accept from this thread anyway, I just needed some fast, well informed advice.
 
Just wanted to say, how good it is to read that you care and are willing to take the trouble to check the pony is ok. You could always take advice from World Horse Welfare, they say on their web site they would rather people ask advice than leave an animal.

First winter we moved in their were a group of young ponies in an exposed field in front of us, we had bad snow and ponies stood without moving through the blizzard in front of a piece of machinery for three days, I found it really upsetting, but there were OK when the snow stopped and survived winter fine.

Is the pony there with permission, or is it fly grazing? It must be nicer for it to be loose than tethered. My two young cobs are out 24/7 without rugs and came through last winter really well.
 
There was a pony near me for a week or so in a tiny area (fenced off) that had no shelter, no grass (just mud) and a handful of hay occasionally. I reported it to the RSPCA who said because it was being fed, had water and wasn't underweight they wouldn't act. They asked ME to keep an eye on it. Unreal. A week later it was gone. Hopefully somewhere better.

And I know you shouldn't otherwise no one will act but I was on my way to chuck a bale of hay in when I discovered it had been moved. Seems the only way the RSPCA will act is when you wait until the horse is actually starving to death - but I couldn't bear it.
 
If hes a native, they rarely need rugs, they are generally gois doers so can live on not nice looking grass with no extras.

If horse is looking well, has a proper source of water and there is grass and the field is safe then I don't think you have anything to worry about.
 
If he looks ok, then he probably is. We have tethered and untethered horses locally and while its certainly not ideal, they mostly do ok. I keep an eye out for them, look them over, check hooves,tethers etc.
They often don't have water 24/7 but may be visited a couple of times a day when water/hay is brought, otherwise, apparently, they knock the buckets over.(So I'm told).
If the pony is now turned out in a field, see if the fenceing is secure as being alone it might be more inclined to wander and cause an accident.

If you're not sure about this pony phone WHW or RSPCA and they'll advise and send someone out if necessary, although in some areas, the owners are local and the inspectors know the horses and conditions.
 
I'm glad you don't live opposite mine then, they're out without rugs, don't get hay, and you can't see their water from the gate, you'd have to go for a walk through the field. I'd be pretty miffed if I found someone checking up on mine tbh. It's good that people care but it doesn't sound like there is a problem here, and to go searching for water is surely trespassing?
 
ridefast said:
I'm glad you don't live opposite mine then, they're out without rugs, don't get hay, and you can't see their water from the gate, you'd have to go for a walk through the field. I'd be pretty miffed if I found someone checking up on mine tbh. It's good that people care but it doesn't sound like there is a problem here, and to go searching for water is surely trespassing?
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I can't see why anyone would be annoyed at someone checking to see if the horses are okay if things like water are not visible.. If your providing them with all their needs then there's nothing to worry about is there?

If no one checked horses they thought were maybe not getting there daily needs then a lot would go unnoticed and cause undue suffering.

I wouldn't be annoyed at least some people care.
 
risky business said:
I can't see why anyone would be annoyed at someone checking to see if the horses are okay if things like water are not visible.. If your providing them with all their needs then there's nothing to worry about is there?

If no one checked horses they thought were maybe not getting there daily needs then a lot would go unnoticed and cause undue suffering.

I wouldn't be annoyed at least some people care.
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Because people are stupid these days, so chances are what starts out as someone checking that a horse has water could quite easily turn into a court case where crazy horse has attacked human who shouldn't have been there in the first place? Stranger things have happened.
 
ridefast said:
I'm glad you don't live opposite mine then, they're out without rugs, don't get hay, and you can't see their water from the gate, you'd have to go for a walk through the field. I'd be pretty miffed if I found someone checking up on mine tbh. It's good that people care but it doesn't sound like there is a problem here, and to go searching for water is surely trespassing?
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I agree. Don't get me wrong; I love the fact that people living near my horses 'keep an eye' on them, and phone me straight away if they suspect there's a problem - even if this usually means an impromptu visit to check a sunbathing horse :)

There's a difference between taking an interest in the welfare of horses, and looking for a problem when there isn't one - which is not going to go down well with the owner (who I assume OP has't tried to contact) and is a wast of the welfare organisations time.
 
Maybe this is going the wrong way.....
I do not mean to offend anyone, I am not criticising he way any of you keep your horses, that is none of my business, and I am by no means educated enough in this area to make a judgment anyway.

The reason for my interest in the pony in the first place was seeing it tethered at the children's park, which seems a little off to me.
I did not want to report it straight off because I didn't want to waste valuable time and resources, hence my post.

Thank you for all the helpful comments, they have made me feel better about the situation and I have a look to see about water.

No one has to worry about me tress passing, the field faces into the road I drive past to go to work so I do not have to climb any fences and I certainly would not voluntary get in beside a horse I do not know.

Thanks again for your help.
 
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pennyturner said:
There's a difference between taking an interest in the welfare of horses, and looking for a problem when there isn't one - which is not going to go down well with the owner (who I assume OP has't tried to contact) and is a wast of the welfare organisations time.
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How can you find out who the owner is, Pennyturner? I can't quite see why you are having a pop at the OP. Rather than bother the welfare organisations she has asked opinions on a forum frequented by experienced horse people to canvas whether the pony's conditions are reportable or merely undesirable. The consensus is that the pony will be ok. Seems a reasonable course of action to me. What did I miss?
 
For goodness sake peoples, get a grip!! OP has come on here to ask for advice because of genuine concerns for the welfare of an animal, and some of you are only to happy to jump to the wrong conclusions and have a go at her. One day, you might be grateful to someone like OP who actually cares about an animal and does something about it. eg: Checking her facts first...rather than turn a blind eye.
 
I agree - why have a go at someone who just wanted to check things were acceptable or not?

When I first got my mare it was a cold winter, she was underweight, with a long coat and she was scared of rugs. I would far rather have had someone reporting me to a welfare organisation, who could then check I knew what I was doing, than someone ignoring what could easily have been a problem horse.

JFTR, my mare put on weight and accepted that rugs were nice things to wear after a relatively short time in my care!
 
Magnetic Sparrow said:
How can you find out who the owner is, Pennyturner? I can't quite see why you are having a pop at the OP. Rather than bother the welfare organisations she has asked opinions on a forum frequented by experienced horse people to canvas whether the pony's conditions are reportable or merely undesirable. The consensus is that the pony will be ok. Seems a reasonable course of action to me. What did I miss?
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Fair enough MS. I posted without thinking it through. You're right about OP - asking advice on here and taking an interest is perfectly reasonable.
I think I'm guilty of projecting the frustration of my own personal experience. I've had people get in touch with rescue organisations a couple of times, basically because the horses are out naked in a field, when anyone in the street in the very small town where I live could have told them who owned the horses, and how to contact me. I appreciate not everywhere is like that - happily we got stuck in the 1950's here, and still have a pretty tight community.
 
scotlas said:
Maybe this is going the wrong way.....
I do not mean to offend anyone, I am not criticising he way any of you keep your horses, that is none of my business, and I am by no means educated enough in this area to make a judgment anyway.

The reason for my interest in the pony in the first place was seeing it tethered at the children's park, which seems a little off to me.
I did not want to report it straight off because I didn't want to waste valuable time and resources, hence my post.
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If you've upset anyone - that's their problem.

Thank you so much for taking the time to worry about this pony and making time to ask some very legitimate questions.
 
Pony doesn't have to have free access to water technically, so long as it is 'watered' regularly. So if it is a good weight it sounds like it is being cared for ok - and if there are remaining handfuls of hay on the ground you can suspect that there was more and that he hasn't got round to eating those bits (they wouldn't be left if it was that hungry!)
 
scotlass said:
Have asked Admin Team to ascertain whether / how you can register with such a similar user name as we are not the same person
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So long as it is not exactly the same it will go through, and the new user will not be told that there is anything similar just whether what they want is available. It's why we have a few princesssparkles ;)
 
scotlas said:
Maybe this is going the wrong way.....
I do not mean to offend anyone, I am not criticising he way any of you keep your horses, that is none of my business, and I am by no means educated enough in this area to make a judgment anyway.

The reason for my interest in the pony in the first place was seeing it tethered at the children's park, which seems a little off to me.
I did not want to report it straight off because I didn't want to waste valuable time and resources, hence my post.

Thank you for all the helpful comments, they have made me feel better about the situation and I have a look to see about water.

No one has to worry about me tress passing, the field faces into the road I drive past to go to work so I do not have to climb any fences and I certainly would not voluntary get in beside a horse I do not know.

Thanks again for your help.
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Not many people would bother to ask questions or try and find out whether a situation is a problem or not - you shouldnt worry about doing something that is clearly aimed at ensuing the horse is ok.
 
OP sounds very sensible much better to ask on here and get advice than go about ringing the police, etc etc and wasting time and resources like they said. It's nice to see people still care and are aware of what's going on with animals around them.
 
good on you op, and pennyturner for apologising.
With horse welfare being such a huge issue at the moment it is good people ask for advice on such matters without troubling the welfare folk who have a huge amount of work at the moment.
op fwiw there are 5 horses where mine is kept. mine is a tbx and is rugged , the others are Clydesdales and percherons with massive winter coats and are out 24/7 unrugged and take no harm evan in the snow. mine is older and I feed a hard feed to help him through the winter but the others manage really well with ad lib hay alone.
shame he is on his own though I allways feel sorry for them when I see them stood on their own!
 
Is the pony being flygrazed? I'd guess that this is the case given it was first tethered and now is in a field that doesn't sound particularly suitable for horses (I wouldn't put mine in a boggy swampy field personally).

The lack of rug wouldn't bother me, but the rest of OPs post makes me wonder if the owner is simply moving it around to provide free grazing, which is illegal and also unfair on those of us who do the right thing and fork out for livery every month. You could try reporting it to the council, if the pony is being grazed on their land without permission they'll take action to have it removed. I've had to do this before, years ago, and they took the pony to a local animal centre until the owner was located, then billed the owner for it's care and made them move it to somewhere that was more appropriate than the tiny allotment it had previously been kept on.
 
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