How do I tell the owner there's no grass?

P

Pablo349

Well-Known Member
Joined
1 July 2010
Messages
88
Location
Winchester, Hampshire
Visit site
Hi,
Over the past few months I have been sharing two horses, who are lovely. However, The owner persist's to not give the right amount of hay. The horses live in a field which has no grass and when she feeds them they only get half a bale of last years hay a day, between the two horses and her youngster. We love these horses to bits and have tried to help the owner by ringing up local hay merchants for prices. We pay over £100pcm for feed and shoeing, but can no longer see were it is going. Does anyone have any suggestions for how we can get the owner to realise that half a bale of hay(between 3) and one bucket of hard feed a day(each) is not enough for an ex-racehorse and warmblood type horses as well as her youngster.
Pablo349
 
What kind of condition are the horses in? And why not just buy some hay if you feel they need it. Works out far cheaper than hard feed.
 
The problem is that we are giving a substantial amount of money (£150 per month) for food. The horses are getting worse. the ex-racehorse is quiet bad. I haven't seen them this week yet, but i am tonight as i have a lesson on the warmblood type. Our instructor has tried to help. The thing is though we have tried to help the owner by ringing people up and trying to find cheap prices but as the H&H magazine said this week, prices will go up.
 
Fields can often be deceiving - the grass can look sparse but that is often because the horses are eating it as fast as it grows so they are actually getting quite a lot! If the horses are in good condition then the owner doesn't need to increase the hay. However, if they are losing condition (ie their ribs are starting to be visible) then more hay should be fed. What size is the field and how many horses on there in total?
 
Why not say offer (in some sort of way without causing upset or argument) that instead of giving £150 a month, you wll purchase the hay and feed (in which case you could buy hay and maybe a good balancer and something extra for the tb) which will be better than giving the money and not knowing wheres it goes!!

x
 
The problem is that we are giving a substantial amount of money (£150 per month)
Click to expand...

Well you can buy quite a bit of hay for £150 - so keep your money and spend it on the hay instead.
 
The filed is 2 acres. The owner moved there in February, the horses had just had a poor winter and she wanted better fields. So she put the horse on the 2 acres for 3 months, the grass was really badly damaged from the horses eating it so fast. The condition on the ex-racehorse is worse than when we first started riding them (we have cut down on amount of riding to help with condition) Then a month ago, out of the blue she buys a horrible looking youngster and has quartered the field to 'help grass grow' so know there are 3 horses on what must be 1 acre.
My mum went and bought Baliy's no 4 which is a conditioning cube for horses. So the ex-racehorse is on that.
 
Sometimes you just have to be blunt. You take the owner to the horse and say "Look at those ribs and hips, your horse is starving. What are you going to do about it?" Have they got storage so you could buy hay off the field? You'd be needing to think in terms of 100's of bales, not 10's, because it sounds as if these horses need to have forage brought year round.
 
Cross posted with you. The Baileys is good, but won't help much unless the horse can get enough hay or grass into his guts. These 2 acres are obviously not enough for these particular horses. 2 acres can sustain 3 horses, but it depends on the land and how it's managed.
 
Dear Tinypony

We contacted a woman who was advertising 150 bales of hay at £4 each. We asked the owners of the field and other liveries if they would be happy to put some money in so we could store all 150 bales in the barns for everyone to use. But the owner of the horses we share didn't want in. So that idea went out the window!
Pablo349
 
You'll end up having to report the owner, maybe to BHS welfare, they are pretty good. Not the RSPCA... please!
I'd stop sharing the horses though, the owner isn't spending your money on getting the horses healthy, and in a way you're just prolonging the inevitable.
 
A couple, who know what they're talking about when it comes to horses. It's raining as we speak, if it continues all day hopefully the grass will grow. We believe the couple have approached the owner after our instructor chatted to us.
 
Is the TB the only one in poor condition? If so, why not buy a few bales of hay or small bale haylage and let him scoff some of that on his own every day.

I would say to the owner that you are not happy with his condition (show the owner a condition score chart if you need to) and that you will be deducting the money you are spending on hay and hard feed from the amount you pay him each month.
 
Tinpony,

I like your thinking, my mum and i have been discussing what to do, and that has come up. But it would be so hard as the horses are lovely and brilliant it's just the owner! if that did happen than we would get a horse on full loan and then we would be in-charge of everything!
Pablo349
 
Pablo349 said:
A couple, who know what they're talking about when it comes to horses. It's raining as we speak, if it continues all day hopefully the grass will grow. We believe the couple have approached the owner after our instructor chatted to us.
Click to expand...

Well, your next job is to go directly to them. Tell them of your concerns - and hand it over to them to deal with - as they too have a duty of care on these horses (you may want to remind them of that), and then walk away and look for a share with people who understand what having an animal entails.
 
No, you wouldn't necessarily get the horse on full loan. The welfare agencies try to support and advise the owner first, and if that fails and the horse gets really poor they can sieze it. But at least you'd maybe get some help for the horses.
 
TGM,
He's not the only one. I reckon when we go there tonight the warmblood will be bad, we've been able to see the racehorses ribs for sometime now. I mean the youngster arrived with lice. It just says something doesn't it?
Pablo349
 
I would say you should withhold the £150 a month and spend it on hay and feed. Sounds like each horse requires at least half a bale each per day so you're looking at going through about 4 bales per horse per week. £150 per month should cover that and to be honest you really shouldn't need much in the way of a bucket feed on top.

Sounds like owner has some financial problems. May be worth trying to have a friendly chat. Do you have photos of what the horses looked like 'before'? might be worth taking some recent ones and showing her to compare. some people don't realise how bad their horses look until they see a comparison in black and white...
 
I think the best thing for me and mum to do may be to tell the land owners and instructor, take our things and leave. Then leave it two months and find a loan for ourselves so we are in-charge.
Pablo349
 
Don't post photos of the horses here. You do not have the owner's permission, it could really go pear shaped if you do that.
 
Dear JenJ,

1. I at first didn't want to realise the overall amount of which we pay. Although now I see this as a mistake. This is why i said 'over£100' and then said that we pay £150.

2. I would rather wait two months as then the show season will be slowly backing down at the end of august. Most owners will see that winter is coming and look for a loan home then.
I hope this answers your queries.
Pablo349
 
Pablo349 said:
Dear JenJ,

1. I at first didn't want to realise the overall amount of which we pay. Although now I see this as a mistake. This is why i said 'over£100' and then said that we pay £150.

2. I would rather wait two months as then the show season will be slowly backing down at the end of august. Most owners will see that winter is coming and look for a loan home then.
I hope this answers your queries.
Pablo349
Click to expand...

Yes, I was puzzled by the apparent inconsistencies, but thank you for clarifying.
 
Dear paternalfred,

Lice can be transferred from horse to horse, therefore the horses that we shared were at risk of getting lice as were the other liveries. Luckily a special shampoo for the lice was used.

Pablo349
 
It looks to me as though the money you are paying isn't being spent on feed/hay.....

I haven't a great deal of grass ATM....I have quarted my field and my 3 have totally eaten away the winter paddock ( not bothered by that, thats what its for) whilst I pray for rain and rest the grazing for few weeks ......they are not losing condition because they have plenty of hay at night and the one that needs feeding gets his tea. Do yours come in at night at all? It may be a good idea if the grass is poor.....
 
Hi,

I have just taken on a share in a horse and the owner pays for feed, but all she feeds in happy hoof and if you look at my past pics of him, he is quite ribby. however she keeps them at my house where the grazing is poor, and we have decided to bring them in during the day which gives the fields a rest and gets them out the flies and heat, both are given hay (currently hers but we will buy more together soon) and I give mine his happy, plus cool condition cubes and leisure time balancer. he has only been on this regime 5 days and is looking remarkedly better for it. I recommend you stop paying the money to her and say you will pay for the shoes and feed and go and source your own. if she doesn't like this plan then the only sensible thing IMHO is to walk away from her. At the end of the day they are her horses and you can only try and help her see their condition. if she is unwilling to let you feed them yourselves then there is no point trying. agree with above post, dont put pics up.......its dangerous.
 
Last edited:
Pablo349 said:
Dear paternalfred,

Lice can be transferred from horse to horse, therefore the horses that we shared were at risk of getting lice as were the other liveries. Luckily a special shampoo for the lice was used.

Pablo349
Click to expand...

yes I'm aware of that, I am a parasitologist lol!

your post implied it was somehow indiciative of poor care or the fault of the new owner.
 
Why not just buy a big bale (they're £15 here) and get it put in the field??? At least then you know they're getting it as they need it...
If you would like any info on feeding for condition, I now know every trick in the book thanks to having a VERY poor doer!
I've also managed to keep him looking good during an awful time when I was earning just £30 a week, so it can be done on a shoestring if it has to be!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top