help neglected horse

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ew1801

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a horse in the village hasnt had any water since sunday and no hay for months and is in a paddock that is apsolutly bare with a foot of snow over the top.
i know this horse as she used to be on the same yard as me until she was kicked off for non payment of rent. the woman at the time had 3 horses but she has given one away to a friend (he was 27) and gave the other one to the owner of the current field she is on as payment for the field rent of the other for a year.
the horse has dropped alot of weight and is on her way to being very skinny. her rug has slid slightly which ive left on purpose to see if it gets straightened as wasnt sure if she was going to check on her and guess what its still like it after a week.
its breaking my heart seeing her like this as she is 19 years old and half the horse she used to be
ive phoned whw who have said they cant get anyone to her due to weather and ive got to phone back on monday.
im tempted to feed her but i know if i do the welfare charities wont act
im also tempted to ring her owner up and give her a mouthfull. i could probably persuade her to give/sell her to me but im not in the situation to take on another
what else can i do im at my wits end
also owner of the field is not bothered as she has had her money for rent so couldnt care less
 
I would suggest you ring the owner if you have her number - but don't give her a mouthful. Just stay calm and say that you have been past the field several times and the horse does not have water and does not appear to be foraging for grass under the snow and can she bring some hay up. If the horse is rugged then unless you have a look underneath can you see if she's losing weight?

The horse might be getting some moisture from the snow.

Above all, stay calm, ring the owner and ring WHW again on Monday even if the owner has said she will come and see to the horse - it might be that WHW will go and have an 'educational' word with her.

Hope it turns out ok
 
Ring her up and tell her your concerns, suggest she 'gift' the horse to you. If she doesn't then ask her what her intentions are and if you are not satisfied with what she says then tell her you'll offer her a bit of money for her (but only if you're sure you want her).

If you still get nowhere tell her that if you don't see her feeding the horse regularly and daily taking care of the horse then you will report her.

I had to do the same thing to a 'friend' of mine - crap thing to do but if they don't look after the animal properly then they shouldn't have them in the first place. The woman I reported ended up with two horses being removed. The RSPCA said they hadn't seen horses so thin still alive.

Act now and stick by your guns. Keep hassling the authorities if you have to just to ensure it is resolved. The horses I reported nearly died because the RSPCA didn't monitor them like they said they would!
 
kerilli said:
ring the RSPCA. Stress that she hasn't had any water.
If they really won't do anything, I would take her water and hay asap, I wouldn't let her suffer for another moment.
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This. And unless your roads are impassible, inist they come out as a matter of urgency.
 
ew1801 said:
ive phoned whw who have said they cant get anyone to her due to weather and ive got to phone back on monday.
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The poor horse might be dead by Monday if she doesn't get any hay or water. Can you take her rug off, take a photograph as evidence, put the rug back on and then feed her for the weekend. Then hopefully she will still be around by Monday. Nobody will be able to blame you for feeding her, considering the alternative.
 
thanks everyone just needed to get it of my chest.
shes not emaciated but she has lost so much weight to what she used to be. i can see that from over the rug and how thin and withdrawn her face looks.
i cant stand the owner personally shes a selfish horrlible person which is one reason why i havent phoned as i dont think i could keep my cool as my standards and hers of horse care are worlds apart.
i will take her some hay an water to get her over the weekend then will be back on the phone again monday.
ive looked on the rspca website and it states not to ring unless an emergency aand has she isnt at deaths door YET i dont think they will class it as an emergency.
will keep ringing whw and if no look will try and see if she will let me take her. i dont really want to as i havent got the time or money for another but i will deal with that bridge when i get to it
 
think shes getting her moisture from the snow as we have plently at the moment but there has been no water in the baths since sunday morning.
i feel awful as i know if i feed and water her the organisations wont act as they will see it as me takiing responsibility for her. but nw i know they wont come at least until monday i will make sure she gets some food and water to last her over the weekend.
 
I would be suprised if she is getting sufficient moisture from the snow. We have snow here and ours are drinking more than they usually would.
I would class no acess to drinking water an emergency tbh so I would give the RSPCA a call too. I am shocked WHW won't come out unless your roads are totally impassable. Sad as it is, animals don't stop being in need just because of the weather!
 
Feed and water her til Monday but ensure you take away the food and water before they arrive. They will not act if they see the horse has access to food and water.
 
ive looked on the rspca website and it states not to ring unless an emergency aand has she isnt at deaths door YET i dont think they will class it as an emergency.
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You don't have to wait until they are at death's door - please make the call.

i feel awful as i know if i feed and water her the organisations wont act as they will see it as me takiing responsibility for her.
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This is not the case.
 
Perhaps take some photos of no hay, no water before you give her some yourself. Poor horse, how does the owner sleep at night knowing the horse is out there like that.
 
The BHS have a welfare dept (still, I hope) and they were good when I had to seek help for some horses. They came out, got a vet and then removed the horses very quickly.
 
spoken to rspca officor who has said that they are only dealing with emergencies at the moment and since there is snow on the ground she can get her moisture from there.
ive got to got down and have a look at her body condition if i can see her ribs then i have got to ring back and someone will come. so am going down to her now will update later
 
would not be able to rest knowing poor horse is out in this weather without food or water. do what you can in providing for her and possibly get together with couple of neighbours/friends to contribute. take photographs and keep records~~pursue owner seperately and dont let it drop.
 
I would phone the RSPCA back and tell them that this is an emergency. No water till Monday and she will be dead. If she's not dead, whoever has to rehabilitate her will have more problems because she will be dehydrated and could go downhill fast. Any fluid she can get from the snow will likely only make her lose more condition as her body will lose energy converting the snow into water.

Could you possibly go down with a bucket of water and electrolytes for her? And a few leafs of hay? It could mean the difference between life and freezing to death for this poor mare.
 
as above. snow does not hydrate, you (and she)can't drink snow! stranded climbers have to melt the snow first then drink it. Please don't rely on the snow to hydrate this poor mare.
whereabouts in the country is she? Is there another HHOer nearby who could help? i hate to think of her being out another night with nothing to eat or drink...
 
Oh and in mean time I would take her water at the least even if you stand with her whilst she drinks then take it away until morning... at least she will have had something rather than going another night without.
 
The horse will be dead if someone does not act! The welfare agencies are too pushed to help I am sure. I would feed some hay if I were you, if the horse cannot access ANY food because of the snow it will not simply becomie thin and emaciated overnight but gradually as every day it starves and uses its fat reserves to stay alive. I would feed and perhaps if you mentioned your location somone on here could offer to help/take the horse, with the consent of the owner, who will clearly not do anything. Please let us know where you are and stick half a bale of hay over the fence.
 
ew1801 said:
think shes getting her moisture from the snow as we have plently at the moment but there has been no water in the baths since sunday morning.
i feel awful as i know if i feed and water her the organisations wont act as they will see it as me takiing responsibility for her. but nw i know they wont come at least until monday i will make sure she gets some food and water to last her over the weekend.
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if this animal needs a home..I am looking.
 
just got back in. i had one hell of a shock when i took her rug off. all her ribs are visible and her hips are protuding. i phoned the rspca back straight away while i was there and they were useless. they said as shes still alert and moving around then it is not an emergency and have asked me to keep an eye on her and phone back when the weather is better. lost my rag a bit then and said so she has to be dying on the floor before you will act and the reply was yes. couldnt believe it. anyway i phoned the owner of the field up who was quite shocked by what i had to say and between us she now has hay and water, but she needs regular feeding. she confirmed that the owner couldnt give a s**t about her and wont pay for hay to be put into the field.
anyway im going to ring round some local sanctuarys tomorrow and see if any of them would take her if i could persuade the owner to sign her over to me.
if not i will buy her as field owner has told me that her rent is up in january and then she is going to ask her to leave, then what will happen to her?

its so upsetting as she is a lovely mare. i had to take my two year old daughter up with me and she was running round and throwing snow about and she never flinched at her and nuzzled her affectionatly
i will be back on the case in the morning
 
God the RSPCA are useless aren't they? Well done for getting her food and water though. I can't believe they told you she could get sufficient water from the snow. Sometimes I don't know where they get these people!
 
Thank god for you......God I hate stuff like this.....
Please make sure you take photographs as others have suggested just in case the owner swans off with her at any point.
Also get onto WHW again on Monday, i'm sure they'll get out to you next week - especially with evidence.

Teds mum was looking to rehome - so you never know
As for the RSCPA, they are a waste of space!!!
I thought the whole point of the Welfare act was to give them powers to remove animals before they become the walking dead???
 
Moisture from the snow is no good for her, as someone said climbers have to heat and melt it, her body melting it inside is using extra calories so will actually be worse for her!

Isn't it stupid how much you have to jump through hoops when it's something like this.
 
right another update. just had a phonecall from field owner who has phoned the owner up and played hell with her apparntly and she has gave the horse to her.
shes planning on asking weather a woman who has her own yard and breaks horses in will take her on as she will have a good home with them.
she asked the owner when the last time she had been down to see her and it was last wednesday. cant believe it
at least she will get seen to now and i can sleep easy at night
 
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