Help! Owner on yard padlocking their stable!

[SadKen]

Mijods - In the interests of brevity I left out the part from my post where I said that the lock was pointless to repel theives due to only needing a screwdriver. On review, this does seem like a rather too enthusiastic cut! In the interests of clarity - a stable door should never be locked, ever.

 

[khadijah]

Im shocked at the people who said ... 'Leave it be.. Not ur business'
Are u kidding... No animal lover in their right mind cud tolerate seeing a horse padlocked in a stable

I think its a moral obligation to stand up to this

If thers no cctv on yard then i wud suggest that wen no ones there magical pixie fairies shud appear and cut the lock off... If new one goes on that gets cut off too

 

[Fides]

Im shocked at the people who said ... 'Leave it be.. Not ur business'
Are u kidding... No animal lover in their right mind cud tolerate seeing a horse padlocked in a stable

I think its a moral obligation to stand up to this

If thers no cctv on yard then i wud suggest that wen no ones there magical pixie fairies shud appear and cut the lock off... If new one goes on that gets cut off too

Waaaah please not text speak - it's too early on a Monday morning for that...

 

[Maesfen]

Totally agree with MyJodhs but I'd also show her the press releases about the horse killed by fire, particularly Boyd Martin's (IIRC), they might just put the fear of God into her for the horses sake.

 

[Polos Mum]

Im shocked at the people who said ... 'Leave it be.. Not ur business'
Are u kidding... No animal lover in their right mind cud tolerate seeing a horse padlocked in a stable

I think its a moral obligation to stand up to this

If you thin having a padlock in the door is a major welfare issue that needs we should all have a moral obligation to sort I'd suggest you pop down to your local blue cross or redwings center and offer to do some voluntary work for them

It's not right and not sensible but in the grander scheme of thing there is a lot more direct cruelty that goes on that I'd rather use my energy to address.

 

[3OldPonies]

It's direct cruelty if the YO does some welding and the whole place goes up and all the horses are saved apart from the one that burnt to death because no one could get the padlock off.

If it happened on my yard, the 'padlock faeries' would be out in force, getting it off and given the broken remains to the owner along with a huge telling off for being so stupid.

 

[Wiz201]

I would report to YO, its more than a 'bickering' issue in this case, it could potentially affect the horse's welfare.

 

[thatsmygirl]

I agree with cutting the padlock off, each one that goes on gets cut off. Simples

Can't believe though that people could be that stupid. I worked as a firefighter for several years and that horse would stand no chance in a typical barn fire.

 

[khadijah]

Polos Mum
I never said anything about cruelty or neglect !
The horse doesnt know its padlocked in.

I stand by what i say, its a moral obligation to speak out against this health & safety hazard. Thats just plain common sense.

 

[*hic*]

I agree with cutting the padlock off, each one that goes on gets cut off. Simples

Can't believe though that people could be that stupid. I worked as a firefighter for several years and that horse would stand no chance in a typical barn fire.

So, given the quote above that a horse lasts four minutes in a fire, how many times have you got to a callout within four minutes of the fire starting?

 

[Moomin1]

Im shocked at the people who said ... 'Leave it be.. Not ur business'
Are u kidding... No animal lover in their right mind cud tolerate seeing a horse padlocked in a stable

I think its a moral obligation to stand up to this

If thers no cctv on yard then i wud suggest that wen no ones there magical pixie fairies shud appear and cut the lock off... If new one goes on that gets cut off too

Should, could, would. If you can spell 'obligation' and 'tolerate' I am more than sure you can spell those three aswell.....

As for the padlock, there would be nothing anyone could do to force the owner to remove the padlock by law. It's highly dangerous, but sadly there's nothing written in law that would make it illegal if an owner wants to do that. All that can be offered is strong advice IMO.

 

[khadijah]

Its not about a fire starting in that horses stable .... What if there is a fire anywhere on the yard or at the farmhouse.... The fire services will most certainly be there as quick as they can.. At which point all horses have been safely moved so they can crack on.

People post on here for genuine advice and they just get 'some' useful advice and mostly weird defensive and antagonistic comments. This forum must be a psychology students dream... Spot and identify the Personality Disorder!

Seriously its just Weird

 

[khadijah]

Moomin
Why couldnt you just reply in a normal manner - why mention what I can spell to make your point. ???

 

[*hic*]

People post on here for genuine advice and they just get 'some' useful advice and mostly weird defensive and antagonistic comments. This forum must be a psychology students dream... Spot and identify the Personality Disorder!

Seriously its just Weird

Pot Kettle Black

 

[Fides]

Moomin
Why couldnt you just reply in a normal manner - why mention what I can spell to make your point. ???

I mentioned it too. Text speak is annoying and against forum rules. There are people on the forum for which English isn't their first language and text speak makes understanding unnecessarily difficult.

 

[Moomin1]

I mentioned it too. Text speak is annoying and against forum rules. There are people on the forum for which English isn't their first language and text speak makes understanding unnecessarily difficult.

Not just the above, but there are kids who read these forums, and I for one am sick of kids actually thinking this is how you spell correctly, because they see it everywhere on the internet.

 

[Polos Mum]

To all those recommending criminal damage (cutting the padlock) would you also take off another liveries muzzle if the thought those were cruel or sneak in some more hay to a liveries horse that in your opinion was too thin, or even call in the farrier if another liveries horse needed shoes in your opinion???

every day I come on here I am thankful I don't have to deal with the interfering fairies that seem to be more and more common on livery yards.

OP if it isn't against the law and you have mentioned nicely that there might be some remote risk involved then you have done your best.

 

[smellsofhorse]

All you can do is ask her to keep a spare on a hidden place, and tell everyone on the yard where it is.
Or if she gets one if those combination padlocks and tells everyone the code.

No it's not the smartest thing to do, but it's she horse.
She's not mistreating it by doing this.

 

[3OldPonies]

To those who say she is doing nothing wrong - quite frankly what planet are you on? We've all seen and read the horror stories about horses dying in fires or other emergencies - in stables that aren't locked, how on earth do you think locking a horse in a stable is an acceptable thing to do? I just don't get it, I really don't. A padlock is not going to stop a thief if they really want something so why be so stupid as to endanger a horse's life when the delay caused by getting a padlock off could mean the difference between life and death. As the firefighter on this thread will no doubt corroborate barn and stables fires spread extremely quickly and are extremely hot, dry bedding, wood, hay etc go up really fast. There probably wouldn't be time to get a spare key before the place was too hot to go near, in which case the horse would be dead anyway. A combination lock wouldn't solve the problem either, fingers have a nasty habit of not working properly in a hurry and fumbling around with one would put a human life at risk as well. There are literally minutes involved here, any waste of time no matter how small could be vital.

Just one more question - presumably the horse is locked in all day - otherwise what is she doing to 'secure' it during time out in the field? Bolting one leg to the ground?

 

[_GG_]

Don't cut the padlock off. That is criminal damage.

Don't expect her to listen to you if you go about it the wrong way.

Try to approach this whole thing from a different angle.

Maybe like this...

Ask her for a chat one day and bring up the fact that a few things have been stolen from the yard recently and is she worried about it...because you are. Ask her if she would consider chipping in for some signs for the yard and maybe some CCTV cameras, old non working ones off ebay just as a deterrent. Tell her you totally understand why she has padlocked her stable and that if that's what she really wants, no problem, but could she perhaps leave a spare key somewhere, maybe that just the two of you know about so that if for any reason she can't get to the yard or there's an emergency and the horse needs to be out of the stable, e.g. fire, horse freaking out inside for some reason, that you can make sure the horse is safe.

Go at it in the wrong way and you could easily alienate her. Go at it in a way in which you want to help and be supportive and it could open communication a bit so that she might see how dangerous a padlock is or at least, agree to leave a key for emergencies somewhere on the yard.

 

[happyclappy]

How absolutely stupid, the risk should a fire break out or there be a storm and the roof gets hit and falls in, or something panicks the horse, the horse gets ill/injured and needs someone in there instantly...and more. Yes, bolt cutters would enable the horse to be stolen. I do hope together the yard occupants and owner can stop this, and before it's too late.

 

[ChesnutsRoasting]

I'd tell the owner a b******** story about a friend who padlocked her horse in it's stable and a subsequent fire in which it perished - horrifically. Stupid, stupid girl.

 

[Tobiano]

I think this is appalling. How can someone be allowed to be so idiotic? It has to be the YO's concern, whether he likes it or not. OP, I wonder if maybe you could find an document from an accredited source (eg BHS Welfare) stating that a horse should never be padlocked in the stable and give it to YO with a suggestion that he publishes it as a rule (or if he really won't play ball, pin it up somewhere everyone can see it). OP I would find this incredibly upsetting too if it happened on a yard I was on and I can quite understand why you are having sleepless nights over it. Sorry that's all I can suggest though. Fingers crossed she sees sense.

 

[Holly Hocks]

Honestly OP, I do feel you could explore the avenue of interpretive dance here (you acting as her horse obviously!), it may help to get yourself stuck over stable doors or just hop/roll around stable in fake agony or better yet pretend you are on fire?!

Am I the only one who burst out laughing at this? It really brightened up my evening. Thank you!

Should, could, would. If you can spell 'obligation' and 'tolerate' I am more than sure you can spell those three aswell.....

I agree with you wholeheartedly Moomin - and I normally never agree with you...........

 

[Mrs B]

I agree with you wholeheartedly Moomin - and I normally never agree with you...........

Agrees with HH agreeing with Moomin. *Goes to lie down in a dark corner of the tack room*

 

[Holly Hocks]

Agrees with HH agreeing with Moomin. *Goes to lie down in a dark corner of the tack room*

Sweet Lord what have we done????

 

[Mrs B]

Sweet Lord what have we done????

*pops head out of dark corner* I know. And I blame you.

*disappears again, muttering*

 

[Holly Hocks]

*pops head out of dark corner* I know. And I blame you.

*disappears again, muttering*

I'm going to find a bottle of wine - I need something to soothe my nerves...

 

[tallyho!]

Yeah well, people do stupid things unfortunately. Don't lose sleep over it. All you can do is advise. We did have a fire in one of our barns. It does happen.

 

[Capriole]

makes me sick to think about if im honest. I HAVE seen a stable fire and it was hands down the most terrifying experience of my life. And as someone who has experienced this, I can say right now, I would do my best to free all the horses I could but I wouldnt be spending precious minutes looking for bolt cutters and/or screw drivers and removing padlocks or hinges, id pass that stable by Im afraid. The speed a stable fire moves is appalling.
I dont think theres a lot you can do with people like this, if it were me Id tell them how it will be if theres a fire and let them think about it. I think the YO is also mistaken if he thinks he can just wash his hands of what goes on on his yard.