Horse alone

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rebeccaandgrace

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I keep my horse on a farm a DIY yard all the horses share the grazing, the other evening all the horses came in but I was late 20 mins as I was at a party with my son no one brought my horse in and when I got there he was galloping around and was coverd from head to toe in sweat and breathing quite fast! I had to stay with him a while while he cooled and calmed down now ever since I've had horses it's always been comen sense to make sure there is no horse left alone! now two people in a click at the yard say its our responsibility for our own horses but could you do that to an animal knowing its on its own even tho they might be ok I still think its cruel! Even tho some people don't get along etc i could never do that to a horse?
 
Whilst I understand your predicament, and like you I would have brought your horse in in a heartbeat, it is not really fair to expect others to volunteer assistance.

Unfortunately, yard cliques are the norm and there will always be a bit of niggling and jingling. Everyone is busy, and time with their horses in the winter months is at a premium. Having learned the hard way, and lost the horse to boot, I have found that I need to mitigate for any lateness by having an arrangement with my paddock sharers. We now have an agreement that if one is going to be left, he gets brought in. A quick text to another livery asking for their help because you find yourself in a bit of a predicament can help avoid the subsequent backbiting. Just try not to make it a habit and make sure you reimburse the favour at some point.
 
That's the thing I always help out a lot maybe to much,totally agree my horse my responsibility were all adults tho and it wasn't realy about me just find it cruel they could do that and say watch An animal panic and suffer I know where I stand now tho with them and lucky I have a friend that would help, but what would you do if the role was reversed and it was there horse left out and I had to bring mine in just leave them or give in becouse i am soft that way I do a lot for others?
 
Sorry, I wouldn't bring someone else's horse in unless it had been arranged previously. Or maybe I would text them and say 'your horse is charging round, would you like me to bring it in'. If it's a DIY yard, then really it's exactly that.
 
It's always a hard one at a livery yard. Who's to say if someone had brought your horse in without your prior agreement that you wouldn't have got cross and said he would have been fine left out?

Ideally there should be a yard rule/agreement that no horse is left out solo, then everyone knows what to expect.

The yard my daughter was at did this and my daughter was annoyed because in the end they were bringing her pony (who is absolutely fine left out alone) in around 2.00pm and like me she disagrees with stabling for longer than 12 hours at a time unless a horse is on boxrest.
 
I was always been told from the beginning if there was such a yard rule.

If people didn't tell me because there wasn't such a rule then I always asked what to do in such case.

The only problem I can see is if there are inexperienced owners of a small pony who then are facing the task to bring in a very large horse where they don't know nothing about how it will behave.

Another problem is when you don't know to which stable the other horse belongs.

And surely horses act completely differrent when left alone in a field. From being not bothered at all to trying to jump over the fence.
 
i agree with OP i think its disgusting how any 'horse lover/owner' could leave a horse in distress!! (although if the horse is hyped up and there isnt anyone confident enough to handle it around not much can be done)

in my experience its the smaller yards that are friendlier and usually have the rule that no horse is left alone but unfortunaly many (not all!) of the larger so called 'posh' yards seem to only look out for them selves, bitching and back stabbing is rife and the welfare of anyone elses horse is rarley consisdered.

its a shame because any horses welfare should take take presidence over the oppertunity to slag someone off! :mad:

so glad i have my own yard and dont have to deal with any of this!
 
You might think its common sense but if it isn't a yard rule then no one is going to automatically do things for you unless you ask (even if you would do it for them)... I don't think it is automatically cruel to leave a horse out, depends what it is like but I wouldn't want people bringing my horse in mid afternoon like yasandcrystal mentioned. Also they might not know what your horse is like and not be confident handling it.

Personally I don't like to interfere with people, if something is obviously amiss or a person is not there when they normally would be, then I would always text/call to ask the person if they wanted help before deciding if it was worth having them upset with me for interfering. I'm sure someone would have bought the horse in if it was a case of going home for the evening and it still being out, but you were only a little bit late...
 
I disagree. It's such a common sense thing to do that we have a yard rule. If you go to bring your horse in and it would mean leaving just 1 horse out on its own, you bring that last horse in too.
 
Now I'm getting older I wouldn't be confident bringing in someones large panicy horse. I dont have that problem myself as my three have their own field. I wouldn't expect anyone to bring our warmblood in if it did happen as she can be stressy.

However if I see this situation I do immediately tell the yard staff. I believe they either bring the horse in or contact the owner. I wouldn't just walk away.
 
Common sense to not leave a horse out alone.
Especially bad as these people are ment to be horse lovers.

Cant you speak to yard owner and make it a rule?
Or find someone who needs help and offer to bring their horse in so yours isn't left out alone.
 
Have to say I would not bring in said horse either unless I had been asked too. Iw ould however either text you and tell you your horse was out on his own or text the YO. I once found myself ina really annoying position that my horse and one other horse were always the last ones out in an evening. The woman with the other horse was always up about half an hour after me so always had her horse in already, to an extent she did it delibertly as she knew I would bring it in, it really began to annoy me so I had a word with the YO who sorted it out. Have you had a word with the YO/YM? This is one of the main reasons I am now at a small full livery only yard!
 
Mine is always the last one out. I am the only person on the yard that seems to have a 'proper' job and don't get down til 5.30ish. Everyone else seems to bring in mid afternoon. He occasionally runs about and whinnies, sometimes someone will bring him in for me. But we are supposed to pay for bring in's these days and im on DIY so dont get that luxury! :rolleyes:

Always makes me laugh when people comment on the fact he's out til 5.30pm, when they all know I have a 9-5 job that is 20mins away from the yard and can't afford to add 'extras' on to my livery bill!!
 
We have a yard rule that nothing gets left out by its self to prevent some that can't cope on their own from charging and hurting themselves.
 
I'm sorry but I'm from the 'don't touch someone else's horse unless told to' camp. I would not want responsibility if something happened and what if something happened to me? If you had previously expressed a wish for your horse to be brought in by whoever was on the yard then I would do it provided it wasn't a difficult horse. When it happened on my last yard to someone else's horse (not because of my horse) and the horse was doing laps I texted the owner and YO but neither suggested I should intervene with a hyped up warmblood.
Mine will happily stay out solo and I'd be mortified if he got dragged in without my knowledge so he didn't get 'lonely'!
 
Our horse is a warmblood, quite nervous and fearful, and he is often on its own in a large field. There are only horses in an adjacent field from a neighbouring livery yard.

On another yard there was once a pony that went through a beck to another field used by cows until the owner of that field appeared after a week and required that pony to be removed.

It depends really on the horse's character and on the situation how a horse will act when left alone in a field. On a field with not much grazing for example most horses only want to go back to the stable to get some "real food", and a single horse left behind surely looks very sad for two reasons: no companion and no "real food".

I think all the problems with handling other horses arise when there is no staff and no yard owner in reach.

It can be difficult and it is easy to do the wrong thing dependent on experience. For example, no one expects a ten year old girl to get an unpleasant shire horse from a field.
I have even been kicked by a very small pony when I tried to catch it running loose on a yard. Fortunately, that pony was that small that it didn't hurt.
 
This issue is why I hate winter and livery yards. Everyone races back after work to get their horse in early so its not the last one left out. Such a nightmare. In these circumstances a responsible yard owner needs to take control and if not there should be a policy of no horse being left out on its own and all agree to this when they arive at the yard. Then it saves any tricky running about situations. Its an awful part of winter and livery. Ive expereinced the exact same situation myself. So you are not alone! Just wish everyone could be genine and help each other out. Humph.
 
Difficult one. I've found with my 6yo, if he's out in company and that horse is brought in, he will jump the fences to get back to the yard (he became obsessed with my other horse this summer, which didn't help), despite having horses all around him. But if he's out alone (as he is now), he isn't bothered by the horses next to him being brought in. He might have a bit of a neigh but he stays out longer than everything else at the yard and just carries on eating.

So I don't think there should be a rule, just common sense. If everything else at my yard was in by 3 or 4pm and my horse was fine out alone, I wouldn't want him brought in for the sake of it. But, if he went nuts and got upset then I'd hope people would use common sense and bring him in, as I would do. If my horse is galloping around and upset I wouldn't mind him being brought in by someone else at all. But not if he's fine, in that case leave him alone please :)
 
We have a rule that no horse is left on its own, there are only a couple of us (out of about 25!!) who work full time and so it does work out that mine is often brought in for me. I do really appreciate this, and will happily help people out in the mornings, at the weekend when I am about in return.

I think it depends on the yard, we all get on well and know each others horses, so only people who are capable of handling my horse would even attempt to get her in.

I can totally understand how it could get annoying if you always had to get someone's horse in as they were late up, but if they are at work there is not a lot they can do about it, especially on a 'proper DIY' yard with no services...and leaving the horse would seem to be punishing the animal for something it has no control over.
 
I think it is a difficult one but if someone is always the last person and is relying on others bringing their horse in then others will get irritated as if takes up some of their time to get someone else horse in and they too may be in a hurry and they don't ever benefit from having the favour returned. It also means that the 2nd from last person has to factor in extra time to allow for bringing in the last person's horse which not really fair if it is always the same two people coming at the same times.

Just because people don't work does not mean they should bring in the horses of people who do work for free!

I have never been on a yard where there has not been staff and they bring in the last horse if it is distressed and there has been no other arrangement made with another livery and will charge the owner. This means no-one has to handle a horse they are not comfortable with and no-one feels resentful as they are always bringing in others horses without being asked first.

I would say that if you are on a totally DIY yard and you think you are going to be the last person on a regular basis and want your horse bought in so it is not on its own you have to look at paying somone to do it or asking someone if they will do it in return for you doing something for them so they do not feel they are always helping you out but you are not grateful.

You should not rely on the goodwill of others to bring your horse in unless you have some agreement in place as not everyone will feel comfortable handing every horse. If you don't you could end up putting someone in an uncomfortable position where they are in a hurry or they are not comfortable handing your horse and don't know what to do.
 
We're on a large yard of 65 & all the DIY's know what horses can & can't stay out alone.. (Full liveries are looked after by 2ladies) we never have that problem.. I would b very annoyed if someone I'd that to my horse as he goes nuts left alone & I could never do that to someone else's horse.
 
I am on a DIY yard. The YO's rule is no horse must ever be left in a field alone. Period. Its not difficult, everyone is very good, and when once there was a horse that was constantly having to be brought in by everyone else but its owner, the YO had a word and that problem was resolved.

I work full time and tend to pay to have mine brought in, so I'm not freeloading off those who don't work.
 
Box_Of_Frogs said:
I disagree. It's such a common sense thing to do that we have a yard rule. If you go to bring your horse in and it would mean leaving just 1 horse out on its own, you bring that last horse in too.
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Totally disagree that it is common sense. If you have a horse that stresses when left out alone, it is up to you to make sure that it isn't! In summer my pony is turned out with a pony that becomes stressed if left out in a field by itself and stressed if brought in to an empty barn. By your "common sense", every time I wanted to bring my pony in I would have to bring in the other pony AND another horse to keep it company. Get real.
 
I'd never leave a horse like this. However, yards I've been on have always had a no horse left on it's own at bringing in policy.

I've always had my horses brought in during the winter by the YO though, to avoid this sort of situation happening, even by accident.


baran said:
Totally disagree that it is common sense. If you have a horse that stresses when left out alone, it is up to you to make sure that it isn't!
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It is absolutely common sense - apart from anything else situations crop up that are totally out of our control sometimes, resulting in arriving late at the yard. So a policy like this ensures the wellbeing of the horse.

How awful to stable somewhere where no one gave a damn.....
 
Well on my yard it's just our two ponies and the two(three if you count my sister who is a sharer of my pony) of us tending to them. As it is just two they are very attached and therefore we would never leave one out on it's own. HOWEVER. If I was at a busy livery yard and I had to bring in someone's horse I would be very apprehensive. I am always nervous when it comes to handling horses I don't know (particularly if they are bigger-- I am a skinny 5'5 that wouldn't be able to hold on very well if something were to happen frankly). I would tell the YO, or text/call the owner if I had their number. It's common sense in the respect that you need to act if a horse is distressed--eg-- letting the YO know and thus putting the ball in their court. But I personally wouldn't want to immediately step into the field to catch and take in a stressed out 16.2 Warmblood or something.
I think it's better to come to a practical arrangement regarding bringing the last horse in, so everyone is on the same level and knows what's going on.
 
amymay said:
I'd never leave a horse like this. However, yards I've been on have always had a no horse left on it's own at bringing in policy.

I've always had my horses brought in during the winter by the YO though, to avoid this sort of situation happening, even by accident.




It is absolutely common sense - apart from anything else situations crop up that are totally out of our control sometimes, resulting in arriving late at the yard. So a policy like this ensures the wellbeing of the horse.

How awful to stable somewhere where no one gave a damn.....
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Like another poster, I have had the irritating experience of owner of other pony regularly bringing in my pony when she brought her own in as "he shouldn't be left out alone". My pony couldn't care less and I did object to him losing several hours of turnout. Yard rule is now that no one handles another livery's horse, except in dire emergency and in the total absence of yard staff.

If the comment about no one giving a damn is directed at me, it is true to the extent I do not see everyone else's horse as my responsibility! Nor do I expect them to see my animal as their responsibility.
 
baran said:
Like another poster, I have had the irritating experience of owner of other pony regularly bringing in my pony when she brought her own in as "he shouldn't be left out alone". My pony couldn't care less and I did object to him losing several hours of turnout. Yard rule is now that no one handles another livery's horse, except in dire emergency and in the total absence of yard staff.

If the comment about no one giving a damn is directed at me, it is true to the extent I do not see everyone else's horse as my responsibility! Nor do I expect them to see my animal as their responsibility.
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Yes, I should be clear that I'm talking about bringing in time - not the middle of the day. So can perfectly understand your annoyance.

Other horses are not our responsibility I agree. But they should always be our concern.
 
amymay said:
Yes, I should be clear that I'm talking about bringing in time - not the middle of the day. So can perfectly understand your annoyance.

Other horses are not our responsibility I agree. But they should always be our concern.
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I agree with you on that. But like a previous poster, I am small and I also have physical problems. I certainly would not be able to handle a large or bargy horse or one that was desperate to get into its stable for tea! Not safe for me or horse.

It does sometimes depress me that someone will neglect to teach a horse manners then wonder why people are unwilling to handle it
 
baran said:
It does sometimes depress me that someone will neglect to teach a horse manners then wonder why people are unwilling to handle it
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But often it has nothing to do with manners - just the situation that the horse finds itself in.

My previous horse had manners to burn - leave him out on his own and late and he turned himself inside out.
 
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