Horse abuse/neglect

[Roxylola]

There's a psychological reason why we victim blame - it's a way of dealing with our own fears. We placate ourselves by rationalising that the victims must have done something that makes them somewhat to blame as otherwise it could just as easily happen to us...
Its more complicated than that but it's a real thing.
The reality is - being paid to do a job and actively not doing it despite being capable in any sphere is gross misconduct. Nobody would say an employer paying someone to do a job which they've previously been doing capably should have been checking weekly to make sure it was being done. Most people would be appalled to be micromanaged in that way at work.
Now, I agree it is different when sentient beings are involved, but, people pay for care for elderly and disabled relatives all the time and there is no requirement to "check up" on them. The expectation is that you can choose a professional person to do a job based on their record, qualifications, credentials, and the evidence that they are currently doing the job and expect that they do that job for you. There is nothing wrong with that expectation.

There are plenty of people who have horses very successfully with pros and don't necessarily check them frequently, that's the point of paying the pro - to do a job! We just don't hear about them, and understandably when people who deserve every sympathy for having been conned and their poor treasured animals been abused are being vilified for not doing more nobody is going to pop up and say well I have a horse with a pro and I only see it once a year...

 

[Goldenstar]

It sounds like he was a very sneaky con-artist, sending people pictures of their horses regularly when they first arrived and were still in good health, and then making up excuses later down the line as they deteriorated about being too busy to send updates. One person in the comments said that they sent their horse to him last year and spent a whopping £7k on backing and schooling livery, only to bring back a worm-ridden, underweight, wired horse who was worse off than when he went there.

In other comments people talk about past dealings with him, even years back, where they were scared to report him for his abuse and neglect because he was blackmailing and threatening them. He sounds like a nasty piece of work and I hope that he is never allowed to own an animal again, although knowing the justice system, he will probably get away with it.

Once again, I think this highlights why it is so important to not blindly believe what you see on social media. Just because someone has a big following, it doesn't mean that they are a good person or what they are sharing is an accurate representation of who they are. It kind of scares me that anyone would want to send their horse off to X trainer on the other side of the country who they've never even met before, never seen their premises. I'm not victim-shaming or referring to this particular case, but I know in general it is commonly done. If you haven't met someone irl and spent a significant amount of time with them, how do you know that they are trustworthy?

Sneaky con artist
Or mentally unwell
Or extremely nasty abuser
It makes no difference why he’s doing this these pictures are damning .

This is extremely common, people will attack owners who have serious medical conditions, sick babies/children, elderly relatives to consider, difficult pregnancies, away for business. There's almost no circumstance where people don't blame the victim rather than the abuser. It's also not as simple as it seems to get a third party to go trespassing on someone's private property to check on your horse which is at livery. Many yards have some sort of security and friends / relatives don't always want to get involved in some altercation which ultimately involves the police. If the yard allows anyone and everyone to come and go unchallenged supposedly checking up on a mates horse people would also complain that this was a security risk.

Wouldn't it be amazing if there was a service where you could pay someone to look after your horse and they would be able to do that without having to be monitored .

There’s no need for a third party visiting horse to be a not simple procedure, the owner Texts and Hi my friend Y is popping to take a look at Dobbin . If I had a horse away I would but this in place at the beginning .
When they attempt to visit ANY obstacle or difficulties this presents is a howling red flag and the owner should remove the horse without delay .
There’s muddy water here in the horse world you will hear horses referred to as X professional riders horse the truth is it’s not X’s horse , X may feel like it’s their horse but it’s not it’s the owners horse and really it’s the owners who have to make sure right is being done to the horse .
No decent yard should resent this .
No decent yard should have anything to hide .
Any sensible horse owner knows horses get muddy they get minor cuts and things like that it’s not about micromanagement .
The horses in the care of this slimeball did not get like that in five minutes .
It’s not victim blaming to say you can’t be alsleep at the wheel when your horse is away from your care .
It’s a statement of fact .

 

[KiwiRiaUK]

He's already known to the RSPCA at least. One of the accusations I've read is that he must have a friend within the Society as animals have been removed and returned to him, despite protestations from the local branch and the fosterer

Yes and the wee white dog died

 

[PeterNatt]

I very much hope that there will be an independent investigation and report carried out which investigates the neglect of these animals and why the reports have been ignored by the welfare organisations that they were reported to.

 

[_GG_]

Not been on tis site for years, but have been signposted to this. I have been quite guarded in what I have posted on SM about this, as initially wanted to ensure the RSPCA involvement wasn't hampered, but my first post did put me in contact with an old friend at WHW and they are fully aware of the situation. The RSPCA is taking it seriously, so that needs to be left for now. I will keep getting updates and there are many people willing to shout loudly if the RSPCA don't follow through with this.

What I will say here though is the MH defence simply cannot work in this case. His own horses, who remain with him are in good condition. It is only client horses that have suffered, along with the many other animals. You can't switch off a MH issue to give good care to your own horses and turn it back on again to neglect the livery horses.

I faced a barrage of accusations when I originally posted to help find the owners of a few remaining liveries, and it has taken all the horror stories to come out for them to back down and admit the seriousness of the situation.

To anyone asking why owners didn't visit, they shouldn't have to. You wouldn't pay to put your dog in a kennels and fly back from your holiday to check it was okay. You pay a lot of money for a professional service and you should be able to trust that the service is provided.

Now, I will say, to any owners sending their horses away, and from my perspective as someone who ran a retirement/rehab yard with some owners living overseas or far away, there are a few things you can do as owners to mitigate any risk of this happening to your horse.

I had it written into the contract that an owner or agreed representative could visit their horse without notice. This came with a set of rules for the owner/representative as outlined below, but it was incredibly important to me that owners were free to do this, for their own peace of mind and to avoid scheduling conflicts. Very often, by that I mean at least twice a week, I would have an owner knock at the door to let me know they'd just been to see their horse and they knew it was never an issue. I'd often wave at them from the garden as they walked up through the fields.

The rules were simple.
1. Visiting restricted to daylight hours (this was to prevent causing stress to the herd)
2. Only two adults to enter the herd at a time. Larger numbers and children could visit ONLY when accompanied by me. This was because larger numbers and loud/excited children could upset the herd dynamic and cause them stress. This rule was to ensure the safety of the visitors as I knew which horses to keep an eye on and the horses wouldn't get stressed if I was present.
3. No food/treats to be taken into the herd unless accompanied by me. Owners were able to take their horses into an adjoining field if they wanted to give treats, but taking treats into a large herd was unsafe unless I was present.

I maintained a regular schedule of photo/video updates on social media and every owner received regular messages with photo's. We had an owner in America who was not on SM, so we exchanged monthly emails and I ensured all professionals involved in her pony's care independently sent reports to her following their visits.

I engaged with owners at all times. We had a request for a new livery that was shod behind and that horse was only accepted following confirmation from all clients that they were happy for me to go ahead. This level of engagement offered peace of mind to owners.

There was more to it, but if I had to schedule visits, I'd see that as a red flag. I understand some yards have security in place that means you need to give notice, but in today's digital world, if I was running a yard like that, I would video call the owner, whilst with the horse, or arrange for a groom to do so. There is no reason a yard manager should not be able to show you how your horse is if you make that request. If a rider is at a show, it is reasonable to assume they have a groom taking care of the horses back at the yard and that groom can let an owner in to visit, or take photo's, or jump on a quick video call.

I refuse to victim blame in this scenario. The bullying and threats have been so effective for so long, and his SM presence so big and clear, that there was no reason to doubt that anyone's horses would be in safe hands. It was an owner refusing to be fobbed off AGAIN and going to visit anyway that blew the lid on this abuse and thank goodness it's given others the courage to come forward with the historic incidents.

 

[Miss_Millie]

Not been on tis site for years, but have been signposted to this. I have been quite guarded in what I have posted on SM about this, as initially wanted to ensure the RSPCA involvement wasn't hampered, but my first post did put me in contact with an old friend at WHW and they are fully aware of the situation. The RSPCA is taking it seriously, so that needs to be left for now. I will keep getting updates and there are many people willing to shout loudly if the RSPCA don't follow through with this.

What I will say here though is the MH defence simply cannot work in this case. His own horses, who remain with him are in good condition. It is only client horses that have suffered, along with the many other animals. You can't switch off a MH issue to give good care to your own horses and turn it back on again to neglect the livery horses.

I faced a barrage of accusations when I originally posted to help find the owners of a few remaining liveries, and it has taken all the horror stories to come out for them to back down and admit the seriousness of the situation.

To anyone asking why owners didn't visit, they shouldn't have to. You wouldn't pay to put your dog in a kennels and fly back from your holiday to check it was okay. You pay a lot of money for a professional service and you should be able to trust that the service is provided.

Now, I will say, to any owners sending their horses away, and from my perspective as someone who ran a retirement/rehab yard with some owners living overseas or far away, there are a few things you can do as owners to mitigate any risk of this happening to your horse.

I had it written into the contract that an owner or agreed representative could visit their horse without notice. This came with a set of rules for the owner/representative as outlined below, but it was incredibly important to me that owners were free to do this, for their own peace of mind and to avoid scheduling conflicts. Very often, by that I mean at least twice a week, I would have an owner knock at the door to let me know they'd just been to see their horse and they knew it was never an issue. I'd often wave at them from the garden as they walked up through the fields.

The rules were simple.
1. Visiting restricted to daylight hours (this was to prevent causing stress to the herd)
2. Only two adults to enter the herd at a time. Larger numbers and children could visit ONLY when accompanied by me. This was because larger numbers and loud/excited children could upset the herd dynamic and cause them stress. This rule was to ensure the safety of the visitors as I knew which horses to keep an eye on and the horses wouldn't get stressed if I was present.
3. No food/treats to be taken into the herd unless accompanied by me. Owners were able to take their horses into an adjoining field if they wanted to give treats, but taking treats into a large herd was unsafe unless I was present.

I maintained a regular schedule of photo/video updates on social media and every owner received regular messages with photo's. We had an owner in America who was not on SM, so we exchanged monthly emails and I ensured all professionals involved in her pony's care independently sent reports to her following their visits.

I engaged with owners at all times. We had a request for a new livery that was shod behind and that horse was only accepted following confirmation from all clients that they were happy for me to go ahead. This level of engagement offered peace of mind to owners.

There was more to it, but if I had to schedule visits, I'd see that as a red flag. I understand some yards have security in place that means you need to give notice, but in today's digital world, if I was running a yard like that, I would video call the owner, whilst with the horse, or arrange for a groom to do so. There is no reason a yard manager should not be able to show you how your horse is if you make that request. If a rider is at a show, it is reasonable to assume they have a groom taking care of the horses back at the yard and that groom can let an owner in to visit, or take photo's, or jump on a quick video call.

I refuse to victim blame in this scenario. The bullying and threats have been so effective for so long, and his SM presence so big and clear, that there was no reason to doubt that anyone's horses would be in safe hands. It was an owner refusing to be fobbed off AGAIN and going to visit anyway that blew the lid on this abuse and thank goodness it's given others the courage to come forward with the historic incidents.

Thank you for sharing, it reminds me of a similar case a couple of years ago where a woman who was meant to be an animal rescuer was starving the 'rescued' animals to death, sadly by the time anyone realised many animals were rotting corpses, it was horrific. She also tried to play the mental health card, but that didn't fly because her personal pets (who were kept on the same property) were in perfect health just a few yards away from where the others were dying.

I hope that he is brought to justice for his abuse.

 

[SilverLinings]

Thank you for the informative post @_GG_ , it sounds like a really awful situation for the animals and owners involved.

It is really nice to see you back on HHO, I have missed reading your posts (I was a long time lurker before joining a few months before you left).

 

[_GG_]

Thank you for the informative post @_GG_ , it sounds like a really awful situation for the animals and owners involved.

It is really nice to see you back on HHO, I have missed reading your posts (I was a long time lurker before joining a few months before you left).

Oh hey - I remember your username I don't have the yard anymore, funnily enough given the topic of this post, the land owners failed on numerous promises and I was unsure I could safely get the horses through the next winter as I could no longer guarantee getting hay to them in the fields, so rather than take the risk, I gave my notice. Every owner appreciated that I was unwilling to risk the welfare of their horses and I am still in contact with every client I ever had.

I'm unlikely to ever do it again though. I have my two, George and Bert and I also have Dottie living with me now, who many on here know, I have two young children and my daughter was born with Down's Syndrome, so I decided to go back to the corporate world to have financial stability. Means I don't get much time for things like HHO, lol

 

[KiwiRiaUK]

Yes and the wee white dog died

Here is another victim or the horse abuser - unfortunately it looks like most the dogs have died
The owner of Beau has now put a post up

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