Horse left alone at abandoned yard

[Fools Motto]

Just heard that a horse has been 'forgotten' about and left alone at an abandoned livery yard (same yard I was on several years ago). The owners of the yard live abroad, (I have no further details of their whereabouts) and had let it to what was the YM when I was there. This YM was, shall we say 'different'. I left after a good 6 months, and rumour has it, she got asked to leave sometime earlier this year due to her behaviour.
Most of the livery owners had clearly found other yards, but the owner of this lone horse (I do know the horse from when I was there) had asked the YM to care for it. (I think they are also abroad), quite possibly this horse was left to the YM. YM has taken hers but left this one. Mare been on her own now for a good few weeks, since the horse transporter picked up her companion (owned by another person, and unaware of leaving just one behind.

I feel so tempted to A) go and check for myself, B) if this story is true (good authority it is, literally just been told by a good source) that I go and take the mare to ''my yard'' to care for her, - but can I do this? As far as I know, I'm the only one who knows the mares name!
I'm worried about the water supply... it can freeze/be turned off, or it's manual in which case she won't have any! Poor thing.
Really worried actually... Shocked too. Poor mare.

 

[bluehorse]

Shame on the YM for leaving this poor girl. If you are able to please go and check and make arrangements for her. I'm sure rescue charities will help under these cirumstances. I'm actually not sure why you're asking on here it must be obvious something needs to be done and it sounds like you are the only person well placed to do it, through no fault of your own. Take action, please.

 

[Lintel]

Oh dear how horrid. I'd defintley go and check it out, see how the horse is and the condition it is in. If bad enough contact WHW or RSPCA straight away but if not leave a message with your number making owner/carer aware you have been and to contact you ASAP regarding the horses welfare. If no contact after 24hours(longest I would ever leave my ponies without a check) I would leave a notice saying you have her and with your number. Then I'd take her

Poor wee mare though hope she is ok, keep us up to date ! X

 

[GirlFriday]

I'm sorry but you have no reason to suppose that the mare has been 'abandoned' at this stage, no?
- Owners of yard are unlikely to have asked a tenant to leave without alternative plans (sale? new tenant? return themselves?) any of these would involve someone on the ground fairly soon (to get keys etc off the old tenant for one thing)
- Plenty of horses up and down the country are kept alone for periods of time, sometimes for long periods, you don't know that someone isn't attending to the mare's (non equine company) needs on a daily basis
- In fact you don't actually know it is still there at all

I'm not saying it doesn't happen, just that, at the moment, it is a little soon to be jumping to conclusions or panicking. Can you do a little web-stalking tonight for the mare's owner or the YOs - you might still have them in a whatsapp group, on FBook etc? - tonight and then pop around a check (from public rights of way only) tomorrow if no joy?

That being said, without someone getting hold of the YOs it is going to be pretty hard to prove that mare is not visited daily unless you actually camp out there for 24hr... WHW/RSPCA for advice if mare looks in a bad way/is clearly without water?

ETA: stealing the horse is a pretty terrible idea

 

[Beausmate]

If you know the horse, how well do the owners know you? How do you think they would feel if you were to go and pick their horse up, take it home and look after it while you tried to contact them?

If you know for sure that the horse has been abandoned and the rightful owners are unaware, can you find them to let them know? If my horse was left like that, I would be extremely grateful for someone to collect it and tell me what had happened, rather than leave it to its fate, alone in the winter.

But some people wouldn't be happy about that at all.

I would go and have a look for any evidence that the horse was being looked after, or not, then decide what to do.

 

[Sandstone1]

Can't you go and look and see if it's true that she's there alone.
With the weather we have had recently if no one is careing for her then she will be in a poor state surely?
Find out if it's true then ring rspca who I know are not great but if she's been abandoned will have to do something.

 

[MrsNorris]

A, moniter the situation if it’s close enough for you to do easily, you’ll soon know if she’s being attended to or not by her condition at this time of year. If not, report to WHW, don’t bother with RSPCA, they are useless and once you’ve contacted them, WHW won’t get involved even if the RSPCA fail to act, which seems to be most of the time. Definitely not B, that would be a last resort to save a horse in imminent danger for me. Hope it all works out, just glad that people are concerned and that this one won’t slip through the net.

 

[blitznbobs]

A. Is fine b is theft...

 

[meleeka]

Go and see. You really don’t need the RSPCA at this stage and I would advise against it for now because it will just drag on. A very similar thing happened to me. WHW were very helpful in explaining what to do. We put an amandonment notice on the gate and waited 7 days, then took the pony to a rescue lady that we’d already arranged with. It was simple really and the poor pony didn’t go hungry because we fed him. The owner did surface after a couple of months and wanted her pony back but when the sanctury owner explained she owed two months livery plus vet, Farrier and dentist costs she went away again. This pony was 40

 

[AmyMay]

Just go and have a look and then phone whw if there seems to be a problem.

 

[Alec Swan]

Theft is 'Taking away with the intention of permanently depriving the owner …. etc'. Were you to go for option B that would be 'Taking away without the owners consent' and there's a subtle difference. As the owner appears to be unknown and should you report your actions to your local police (being certain to get a report number) then the aspect of taking care and control of the animal would almost certainly be accepted that there was no criminal intent.

If the yard concerned has now been abandoned, then the owners, even if they live abroad will, in the eye of the Law, be considered as the Keeper and responsible so contact with them would be a good idea too.

The very last people who I would contact would be the rspca.

Alec.

 

[ycbm]

A. Is fine b is theft...

Not unless there is intent to permanently deprive, as Alec says. If the OP takes the horse but lets everyone locally know where it is and posts a note on the gate where she has taken it and her contact details, she will never be arrested for theft.

Of course she shouldn't do this until she is sure that the mare has actually been abandoned. I wouldn't go to the Police first though, as they will probably tell her not to do it, and then she would be more likely to be in trouble. But reporting when the mare is safe is probably a very good idea.

Girl Friday you have a very limited imagination if you think this can't have happened. No-one would ever evict a troublesome yard lessee and leave a yard unused? Really?

 

[popsdosh]

Go and see. You really don’t need the RSPCA at this stage and I would advise against it for now because it will just drag on. A very similar thing happened to me. WHW were very helpful in explaining what to do. We put an amandonment notice on the gate and waited 7 days, then took the pony to a rescue lady that we’d already arranged with. It was simple really and the poor pony didn’t go hungry because we fed him. The owner did surface after a couple of months and wanted her pony back but when the sanctury owner explained she owed two months livery plus vet, Farrier and dentist costs she went away again. This pony was 40

To use an abandonment notice you need to be the owner of the property or acting for them ,you cannot just go and claim a horse that you have nothing to do with. For all anybody knows the owner may have an agreement with the property owner that it can stay there under the circumstances.Even so that is then for them to sort out and they may have unwittingly become responsible for the horses welfare. Has anybody actually tried to contact the owner rather than just fire off about it being left.
S1 above why would the horse 'surely' be in a bad state ? If it has plenty of grazing it should not be an issue at all . It is perfectly possible that somebody is checking the horse.

Slightly different scenario but we recently had an approach from trading standards because the cattle we kept in a neighbouring village were not being checked to the liking of all the cattle experts living next door. They just did not see us doing it and a few knocks on the door at 5.30am to put their minds at rest we had just checked them soon got the message across.

 

[sunshine100*]

Just heard that a horse has been 'forgotten' about and left alone at an abandoned livery yard (same yard I was on several years ago). The owners of the yard live abroad, (I have no further details of their whereabouts) and had let it to what was the YM when I was there. This YM was, shall we say 'different'. I left after a good 6 months, and rumour has it, she got asked to leave sometime earlier this year due to her behaviour.
Most of the livery owners had clearly found other yards, but the owner of this lone horse (I do know the horse from when I was there) had asked the YM to care for it. (I think they are also abroad), quite possibly this horse was left to the YM. YM has taken hers but left this one. Mare been on her own now for a good few weeks, since the horse transporter picked up her companion (owned by another person, and unaware of leaving just one behind.

I feel so tempted to A) go and check for myself, B) if this story is true (good authority it is, literally just been told by a good source) that I go and take the mare to ''my yard'' to care for her, - but can I do this? As far as I know, I'm the only one who knows the mares name!
I'm worried about the water supply... it can freeze/be turned off, or it's manual in which case she won't have any! Poor thing.
Really worried actually... Shocked too. Poor mare.

you must go today-you will never forgive yourself if you do not check up on this horse!--update us after

 

[Equi]

Surely the first port of call would be to try and contact the yards owner and try to identify the horses owner? I assume you still know who the yard owner is and presumably they have the internet.
If the owner left the care of the Horse to the yard manager then there will have been money exchanged, so either the yard manager or the yard owner is still getting money for the care of this horse. If the owner just told ym to have it, then they are the ones who nees Contacted to ask what’s happening.

Just going to see the Horse will only tell you what condition the horse is in, you won’t know if anyone’s looking after it so a few messages to the aforementioned people will clear it all up.

 

[tristar]

well done for caring, whatever path you decide on, so many animals have died from no one taking any action, even when lots of people are around, i know this to be a true fact that many just walk on by, have seen this many times, keep updating on progress please.

this time of year is critical for horses who need attention twice daily, every day, and ice removing from water at least twice a day

horses go downhill very quickly dec thru mar

 

[teddypops]

When I moved away from where I had lived for 10 years, I was absolutely slated for abandoning my horses. I didn’t, I moved them too, but someone with 2 very similar horses had taken over my grazing so people had put 2 and 2 together and come up with whatever they wanted! No one contacted me to find out, so the point of this, is all may not be what it seems! But good on you for being concerned. Make some enquiries and take it from there.

 

[Fools Motto]

I've been, and using the public footpaths have seen a lot. The place is totally abandoned, the fencing is horribly dangerous, very broken, nails ect all over the place. Upside down bath tubs, old silage bales with shredded wrapping, even a gas canister in the field. There is a horse too. One horse, not the pony I was lead to believe it was, and it is a gelding, quite possibly pure TB, not the mare I was told. Good news is, he's wearing a good enough fitting rug, has a water supply, and has good grass. Loads of empty buckets, which I assume did have food in, now all filled with water are randomly dotted about. His headcollar and leadrope are going mouldy in the wet grass. His feet are in need of attention, and his tail dragging on the floor.
The footpath entrance to the place has a water supply, currently detached from the tap and therefore sprouting gallons of water all over. (I will contact water people/council).
Walked past a barn, (which we could have used as an indoor), now full of rubbish, old furniture, and many many fuel cans?!? The stables haven't been mucked out, but everything like grooming kit, mucking out stuff gone. (OK, I did veer off the footpath to look!)

So, I have a few contacts of people who might know more, and am trying to go down this route to locate the owner... see what come back.
Anything else anyone can suggest?

 

[only_me]

Leave a note somewhere and see if horse has been checked? A good method is to leave a card with a £10 in it. Check in a weeks time and see if the money has gone, then at least you know someone has been to the yard!

There were 3 horses abandoned at a yard near us. One was dead, with shoes and a rug on (very odd), another was v thin and there was a shetland also. The council took the thin one away as it was thin, removed the dead one but left the shetland as it looked fine...
So we ended up taking the shetland lol. Why would you leave one horse on it’s own??

 

[Goldenstar]

Go and look for yourself .
If you find a cared for horse on its own there’s no issue .
If you find a horse in trouble then I would be contacting the YOers and the horses owner .
If things are bad then you need to act in some way .
It’s a fact that most welfare issues are dealt with out any involvement of the welfare charity’s people like OP deal with it within the local horsy community .

 

[PeterNatt]

Please report this immediately and without delay to the Welfare Department of the British Horse Society:
BHS (British Horse Society) Tel: 0247 6840 517 24/7
WHW (World Horse Welfare) Tel: 0800 0480 180 8.00 a.m. – 5.30 p.m. Monday – Friday
RSPCA (Royal Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals) Tel: 0300 1234 999 24/7

 

[ester]

I don't understand why anyone would suggest reporting it immediately on the basis of heresay??

FM I would go and check it out, it is perfectly possible that the mare is there, but also possible she is being cared for adequately, I am sure you will be able to tell.

 

[GirlFriday]

Girl Friday you have a very limited imagination if you think this can't have happened. No-one would ever evict a troublesome yard lessee and leave a yard unused? Really?

Actually if you read the post I specifically said it *could* happen - but I was also trying to caution about those with over-active imaginations...

 

[JFTDWS]

I don't understand why anyone would suggest reporting it immediately on the basis of heresay??

FM I would go and check it out, it is perfectly possible that the mare is there, but also possible she is being cared for adequately, I am sure you will be able to tell.

I'd report it on the strength of FM's post of what she saw though...

 

[ester]

Ah missed that one, will be difficult if horse out, rugged, with grazing and water though no?

 

[JFTDWS]

Ah missed that one, will be difficult if horse out, rugged, with grazing and water though no?

I thought you might have It depends on how bad its feet are, what it looks like under its rug etc - but the welfare people can go and make a judgement with more legality than a member of the public trying to stick to PROWs anyway. I'd rather report it than not.

 

[GirlFriday]

Ah missed that one, will be difficult if horse out, rugged, with grazing and water though no?

^This. There are loads of horses kept alone and loads with lousy fencing (how many posters on here have horses in fields with barbed wire in at least some places?). It is hard to see what one would be reporting here really... a barn used as storage and messy stables are hardly a welfare issue when the horse isn't in them. Nor is a long tail or wet head collar (I've been on many yards where they are left at field entrances routinely in all weathers)...

Are there are any properties nearby where residents may have an idea if anyone is checking regularly? Are the feet bad enough to be an issue or just 'due'?

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

I thought you might have It depends on how bad its feet are, what it looks like under its rug etc - but the welfare people can go and make a judgement with more legality than a member of the public trying to stick to PROWs anyway. I'd rather report it than not.

Technically nobody from any agency can trespass, only the police can enter. Agency welfare can officially only go in with a policeman or vet to accompany (inc the rspca). However, most people don't know this. Its actually easier for a member of the public to get away with trespass.....

OP, do you feel minded to look at the body score under the rug? If not good then call BHS welfare or whw who will sort out a visit.

 

[GirlFriday]

I *think* the fire service can also enter if there is an immediate danger of conflagration - I was told that when I had a leak through a ceiling cable from a property above if I recall correctly... But that doesn't help unless the fuel was stored highly improperly?

 

[JFTDWS]

Technically nobody from any agency can trespass, only the police can enter. Agency welfare can officially only go in with a policeman or vet to accompany (inc the rspca). However, most people don't know this. Its actually easier for a member of the public to get away with trespass.....

Ah, I know that - I more meant that they can approach the owners regarding access and check the horse over - which is more legal than a member of the public trespassing and interfering with the animal (i.e. removing its rug to check it). But it was a spectacularly poorly worded post / thought.