Horse/pony locked in horsebox for hours....

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Clare85

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My mum has just called me to tell me that the guy who lives in the house behind hers has got a horse/pony locked in a lorry which has been parked behind her house for hours - at least since lunch time. Looks as though he's left it in there for the night. She has reported him to the RSPCA before as he often turns up with a pony in the back of this lorry and leaves it there for a few hours before driving it away again. They have never seemed very interested, but I am concerned that he is stealing ponies and selling them straight on somewhere. This pony today however, seems very distressed - it is calling constantly and banging around in the lorry. I doubt very much whether it has food or water in there. I have called the RSPCA and they seem a little more interested this time. I have had bad experiences with the RSPCA before, handling situations very badly. I prefer to deal with the BHS but their offices are closed now for the night. Is there anything else anyone can suggest I can do, in case nothing comes from the RSPCA?
 
Can you or your mum make a note of the lorry's number plate, maybe a photo if you can do so without putting yourselves at risk, try World horse welfare (tho don't know if they have 24hr helpline) otherwise call police if you can hear an animal in distress. Hope it gets resolved soon.
 
Why do you think they may be stolen? i can't see anyone in the current climate making much out of stolen ponies but I'm not saying it never happens. there must be a reason you suspect they're stolen though?
 
Well, he turns up with a different pony every 2 or 3 weeks on the back of this lorry. There are no equestrian facilities at all, it is just a residential estate. The ponies are very rarely removed from the lorry, they are left there for a few hours and then he drives off with them again somewhere. Just seems a bit suspicious to me.
 
Just an idea: but most council offices have an 0ut of Hours helpline for "nuisance noise", if the poor pony is making a racket and potentially causing a disturbance (as it would most certainly do during the nighttime) then IMO that would classify as "nuisance noise".

RSPCA are as much use as a nun in a punchup, but this might be another way of going about things? and just might ensure some action.

Poor pony, this sounds like a really awful situation. Hope it gets sorted PDQ.
 
Clare85 said:
Well, he turns up with a different pony every 2 or 3 weeks on the back of this lorry. There are no equestrian facilities at all, it is just a residential estate. The ponies are very rarely removed from the lorry, they are left there for a few hours and then he drives off with them again somewhere. Just seems a bit suspicious to me.
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Sounds to me that he could be running a dodgy horse transporting business, or trading ponies from another address. I think that's more likely than their being stolen tbh.
 
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I'd be more inclined to thing the pony/horse is being transported and the owner thinks it's overnighting in a lairage yard somewhere, and the others were left on the wagon outside his house because of unavoidable delays in traffic (dinner and a kip). Bringing stolen property home and leaving it outside making a racket is less likely I imagine.
 
Festivepony said:
Of course, if he's moving ponies about they must all have their passports with them by law so he should be able to produce these to the police.
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Quite. I've called them this evening and they have said they are going to send an officer out within the hour so hopefully it'll get resolved. Whether they're stolen or not, he's definitely up to something and there is definitely a welfare issue, if nothing else. Fingers crossed it'll get resolved.
 
Its reasonably common for horses to be bought at one sale and taken almost straight to another in the hope of a profit

It could be that the horse has all the partitions back to lots of room and food and water and is just feeling a bit alone. Not necessarily a welfare case and not necessarily stolen

Plenty of dodgy seeming people out there not operating as we would like but not always outside the law!
 
Hope this gets sorted asap!

As others have said he is either a dealer or illegal horse transporter.

World horse Welfare are fabulous with situations like this
 
WelshD said:
It could be that the horse has all the partitions back to lots of room and food and water and is just feeling a bit alone. Not necessarily a welfare case and not necessarily stolen
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Possibly but I still don't think it's right to have a horse locked in a horsebox for this length of time - or legal for that matter. Also, mum has seen him bring a pony off the back of it once or twice before that had been standing there for at least 3 hours, and there definitely was no food or water in sight.
 
The Welfare Act is very apt just for this as well as the WADT 2006 for the transporting rules

The horse should not be on the lorry for more than 8 hours
 
Odd question- does said man drive carriages? I don't mean carts here- thinking driving trials. A few drivers open out the box into a small loose box and the horse stays on board for the weekend. I'm just wondering (as you have said the pony isn't ever removed so it may be the same one/s) whether he's getting ponies ready for trials.

I know of livery yards to run out of stabling and a livery choose to keep her extra pony in the horsebox as a stable for a few months- with turnout!

Just an idea.
 
Yes its very common at shows for horseboxes to be used as looseboxes. I dont know why people think the worst, if you cant see inside the box how can it be definite the horse doesnt have food or water?

The chap certainly doesnt sound terribly responsible and the poor horse is no doubt between homes, not everyone's cup of tea but that doesnt mean he isnt looking after its basic needs
 
WelshD said:
Yes its very common at shows for horseboxes to be used as looseboxes. I dont know why people think the worst, if you cant see inside the box how can it be definite the horse doesnt have food or water?

The chap certainly doesnt sound terribly responsible and the poor horse is no doubt between homes, not everyone's cup of tea but that doesnt mean he isnt looking after its basic needs
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Yes, it's not ideal but I don't personally see how keeping a horse shut in a stable is all that different to being in a horsebox. It does sound like they are being transported and maybe the driver has to have a break. Not great for the pony at all but hopefully it will be checked on by rspca, just in case.
 
I an not see how this is any different than leaving your horse on the lorry at a show. People often go to shows and spend the whole day there and some prefer to leave them on the lorry than have them tied up outside Its not perhaps ideal to leave them for long but some of the show jumpers horses will be on the lorry for hours.
 
Clare85 said:
Well, he turns up with a different pony every 2 or 3 weeks on the back of this lorry. There are no equestrian facilities at all, it is just a residential estate. The ponies are very rarely removed from the lorry, they are left there for a few hours and then he drives off with them again somewhere. Just seems a bit suspicious to me.
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Genuine question: If they are rarely removed from the lorry, how do you know they are different ponies each time?
 
You cannot seriously expect any agency to go out and deal with this late at night. It is not an emergency. It can wait until the morning.
 
If the guy had just run out of space on his yard then why wouldn't he put the ponies in the horsebox at the yard, rather than drive it to a residential estate and leave it there?

If he is transporting horses, I know I wouldn't be happy for him to leave my horse on the lorry for the length of time he does. Others may leave their horses on lorries at shows, etc but this wouldn't be acceptable for me and I believe there is actually a legal requirement which says they have to have a break (i.e. be removed from the lorry) every 4 hours.

He rarely unloads them but mum has seen him unload a few times and they have always been different - also, she has seen them on the back of the lorry without being unloaded, and again, always different. It's just that this particular one she has not seen.

There just seem something very suspicious about him to me - I would rather act than not and if he is genuine then he has nothing to worry about. If it was my horse on the back of that lorry, whether it was stolen or being transported, I would want someone to do something.
 
Apologies, max journey time is 8 hours - however, in this case (and in others) the guy leaves horses on the lorry for longer than this - and I have no idea how long he has traveled them for prior or how long they travel for when he leaves again.
 
First of all why not just ask him? At the top of my road lives a old fashioned knacker horse dealer, they have nothing to hide, in fact they will try and sell you a horse, just be pleasant and interested.
Then if you are still not happy and you think has running a business contact DEFRA and find out if he has the right licences. For the noise contact environmental health at the local council and keep a diary.
 
Mum has spoken to him before, she saw him bring a pony off the back of the lorry from her kitchen window and his sons rode it around for a bit in a headcollar and lead rope, then it went back on the lorry. She saw him later on that day, so she asked him about the pony and whether he still had it in there. He flatly denied all knowledge of any pony and refused to discuss it - despite the fact that mum could hear it still....?
 
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