I found the gypsy mare & foal - now what?! *pics*

M

mollymurphy

Well-Known Member
Joined
6 March 2007
Messages
886
Location
Cheshire, UK
Visit site
Some of you may remember a post i made a while ago regarding a gypsy mare who was suffering quite badly from St. John's Wort poisoning. She had a foal at foot, and was in foal again. Well you know i said i wanted to buy them? Well i went up to the yard the day after this post and they were gone. The YO had asked them to leave because they hadnt been paying rent. I've been looking for them ever since.

Well, yesterday i saw a livestock trailer pulling up at one of the regular fields the gysies use to squat their horses on. I went to have a look this morning and there are 4 horses in there - the mare & foal, a stallion (the daddy of her current foal and the 1 she's preggers with) and another coloured mare.

The mare i'm after has a horrifically burnt muzzle - doesnt look that bad in the pics, but it is. I put some solicare on it, but she was flinching a LOT. The foal is also burnt around her eyes and a bit on her muzzle.
frown.gif
The mare has put a bit of weight on, but she's still skinny for a cob.

Here are the pics:

First off, the beatiful diverse grazing, complete with ragwort, nettles and docks. Oh, and the odd blade of grass thrown in for good measure! And also, no sign of any water!!

DSC00258.jpg


DSC00259.jpg


The mares muzzle

DSC00250.jpg


The filly's eye

DSC00253.jpg


The mare

DSC00252.jpg


DSC00251.jpg


The stallion - 'Lion King'

DSC00254.jpg


The other mare

DSC00255.jpg


And finally, the unlocked gate!

DSC00257.jpg


What do you reckon? What should i do?

I could either.....(1) report them to the ILPH (but at the end of the day, what can they do? The gypsies will just move the horses away again!), (2) steal them (but this would have to wait until my friend gets her new house - it has 12 stables and 26 acres, but the sale hasnt been finalised yet - the horses might be gone by then - please dont give me lecture on stealing - the owners are b*****ds and dont deserve them, so i dont care) or (3) leave it / something else.

If i report them, do i tell the ILPH the full story, or just say i'm worried about some horses in a field and let them come out and find out for themselves?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. The owner wont sell them apparently!
mad.gif


Thank you in advance.

Lou. x
 
I would steal them ! as the gate is open, withing a few weeks of good care they wouldn't be reconisable anyway
wink.gif
where are you? want some grazing til September?
 
We're in cheshire. I've been debating finding a far-away field for them, but i'd be scared of them being re-stolen! Even my mum (who is as hard as nails) said that she'd take them if only our yard wasnt so close to the gypsies. I just cant leave them like this. They're planning on putting the filly in foal as soon as she's 1.
mad.gif
 
I would make some noise to the ILPH immediated.. Obviously you can't steel them. They look in a really sorry, sorry state.

Does the old YO have contact details that could call to try and buy them.
 
Tempting as it must be to steal them it could get you in a heap of trouble. I would speak to the ILPH. I think they will want full details before they come and have a look but I think they would definitely consider that mare to be underweight, and her muzzle looks very sore. You never know, a bit of hassle from the ILPH might persuade the owner to sell them.
 
We know where the owner lives, but he's a very hard, nasty man! One of the other gypsies suggested £5000 for the pair - i just cant afford that. I so need to win the lottery!

Should i email the pics and the info to the ILPH and/or ring them? x
 
[ QUOTE ]
We're in cheshire. I've been debating finding a far-away field for them, but i'd be scared of them being re-stolen! Even my mum (who is as hard as nails) said that she'd take them if only our yard wasnt so close to the gypsies. I just cant leave them like this. They're planning on putting the filly in foal as soon as she's 1.
mad.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

I have a hidden field but only til 20th sept so they would have to go by then ...

BTW I have removed a yearling from a feild before now that was skin and bone and full of worms.. and the RSPCA did sod all
 
Hello

would ring ILPH - would be concearnd about taking them to your friends new house incase they find out were they are and trash the place

If the foal is by the real Lion King - which is in america and has been for a while it will be easy worth 5K the Lion Kings stud fee is huge!! I doubt its the real Lion King Tho - he is worth tens of thousands.

I am sorry for the horses - but deffo call a charity and maybe call police as police hate gypsies and might come and try and move them? Good luck
 
Oh my God. you poor thing having to deal with this, who owns the field? I would clear the ragwort anyway and look after those sores.Go with cash and a receipt ,they are not worth anywhere near £5000 ,go with what you think in cash and get them freezemarked and gone quickly.
I hope you can have them
 
I knoew someone who has bought and 'liberated' about 20 gypsy horses, he was even found out a few times, but the police or RSPCA could do nothing, the gypsies had no proof the horses were theirs' dont exactly passport them do they!
 
LOL @ liberating the horses. The police are a heap of horse poo anyway - people who kill horses get a matter of months - so I doubt even if you DID get found out they police would do much anyway, as ST'B has said above I bet they arent passported etc.
Not saying anything but Im sure whatever you do for these horses will be a great help to them!
 
Guys - you would be suprised at how many gypsies do have passports for the horses - I have lots of gypsy friends and they all have them for their horses - they have them because police are always stopping them and asking for passports of horses and car insurance etc - so they have them most of the time just to shove in a coppers face - police do actually bother doing checks from time to time lol - I suppose it fills their day instead of solving all the murders and burgalries!
grin.gif
grin.gif
grin.gif


I hope you get them.
 
Is there no reasoning with said owner? if i were him id want to make a small amount of cash and looked after rather than have them taken away by RSPCA and the like
 
they really are worth that much to the gypsies, my sister buys and sells coloured vanners like that for more than I could get for a half decent riding horse!!!!!
To be brutally honest, they dont look emaciated from those pictures, but they do look very wormy, if you cant afford to buy them then console yourself with doing whatever you can to make them more comfortable while they are there.
The rspca are useless, the ilph will probably not get involved unless there is achance of prosecution and the police? Haa haa!
 
Well i've just spoken to the ILPH and emailed them the photos. They're sending someone out, but it's gonna be a few days because they're inspector is in Norfolk at the mo. Such a shame that they cant afford more inspectors.
frown.gif
I'm just gonna keep an eye on them, go on a ragwort mission, and treat her muzzle. Would you bother feeding them with anything at all, or just leave it?

Thank you to everyone who's replied and PMed.

Lou. x
 
As hard as it might be... try to do nothing for them. I know it sounds awful but the worse they/the field looks on a rrival the more seriously the ilph will take it hopefully.
 
sounds bad but i wouldn't do anything to the field until the ILPH inspector has come around. If they are to have any sort of case then the conditions need to be as bad as they get and in their case, the more ragwort etc. the better for when they come to see the horses. Ditto with worming them, etc. as if you end up making the horses look even a bit better then the case will be weakened if the inspectors decide to act on it. Regarding her nose - ideally you SHOULD leave it for them to see BUT as it looks so sore I would let my heart prevail and put something on it BUT take extensive photos of it at its worse.
 
Hi,

Forget the stealing idea, I am sure you weren't serious about that. Walls have eyes and all that! You have probably done as much as you can reporting them and putting some salve on the sunburn, it won't hurt to keep doing that. Maybe water too if there really isn't any there to be seen. I would be wary of doing too much in case the owner does take offence at what he may see as meddling.

The stallion and the other mare don't look that bad weightwise, but pictures can be deceiving, and their feet don't look as bad as some you see. As for the lactating mare, she may be doing the foal very well and taking the flesh off herself in the process, with not a lot of food for herself. My arab mare looks like a rescue case and it isn't for want of food and care either, everything she eats goes directly to her udder, she's like a milk cow.

Good Luck with the Inspectors.
 
mmm poor gees, they do look in a sorry state
frown.gif

I supose if the gate was left open they could wonder off into another field far away where they couldnt be found, its quite amazing how far stray horses can travel, you know
smirk.gif
wink.gif

Debs x
 
Apart from the burned muzzle and obvious worm burden, they don't look too bad in my opinion. If the mare were wormed she would pile on the weight in no time.

Well you aren't going to be stealing them LOL!! I guess if you don't have the dosh to buy them (and I think that is about the right price to be honest) then you will just have to wait till the ILPH do their stuff......but I doubt very much they will do anything apart from telling the owner to pull up the ragwort and worm the mare.
 
Unless its changed the Inspector who covers Cheshire is also the Chief Inspector so probably has to spend time at head office. I would disagree that ILPH aren't interested unless they can prosecute, their attitude is that they would rather educate people to look after horses better rather than prosecute. I would agree though that hard as it is you are best not improving the horses condition in anyway - perhaps a little cream on the mares nose but the ILPH do need to see them as they are now. Good luck anyway. By the way most of the ILPH inspectors are ex police officers so might be best not to mention the "liberating" plan!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Apart from the burned muzzle and obvious worm burden, they don't look too bad in my opinion.

[/ QUOTE ]

Really?! God, i must be a big softy!! I've just never seen an underweight cob before! Plenty of obese ones, but never a skinny one - even with a foal.

To be honest, i know there are plenty of worse-off horses condition-wise, but i just hate the owner so much!! He's a nasty piece of work and he doesnt give a s**t about the welfare of his horses. As long as they can carry him and 2 of his fat mates on a 40 mile round trip to the pub every sunday on the trap, that's all that matters!
mad.gif
The mare is such a gentle girl and i feel sorry for her furture - she's only about 2 or 3 years old.
frown.gif
 
Well the stallion is ok, as the first mare is very average, and the mare with the nose is not anything great - not good quality at all. Sorry to sound harsh but this is maybe why the guy isn't looking after them that well.

Good gypsy breeders do worm and look after their horses very well but there are good breeders with high value horses and then there are ones like this chap, average horses and uncaring.

The stallion may be related to the Lion King - but he has been in the US for several years and you won't believe how much he cost - telephone numbers! If the foal is related and she can be DNA tested for his DNA, she may turn out nice. £5,000 would be a reasonable price for the pair if they were in good condition and the filly was Lion King bloodline.

You may get him down to £2,500 for the pair if you offered cash as is - any idea of the mare's age? Days of offering a few hundred quid for these horses is long gone. He would have no problem getting this price if shipped to the US.

If you can afford to buy her and the filly and then clean them up, worm them and sell them - you should break even/make a profit if you don't keep them too long.

Don't think the ILPH will be able to do much as they look a bit sad, but apart from the nose, are not in that bad condition - mare could be putting everything into the foal.

Hope all turns out well for them, so upsetting to see such a nice easy going breed treated like this - gypsy horses are so forgiving.
 
They are aren't they.

The mare is more of a filly really! About 2 or 3 years old.

Lion King is the name of the stallion in the pics. As far as i know, none of them are of any relation to the 'proper' Lion King.

I know that the mare is probably skinny because of the foal, but is that an excuse? I've seen plenty of broodmares, and none of them have ever been like this. Especially not the cobby ones. He should be compensating what is being drained out of her shouldn't he?
confused.gif
 
Here is a mare with an 8 day old foal at foot, on the day I bought her and brought her home to my farm back in April 2005. I don't know if you can see just how skinny she is, but all of her ribs were showing, her shoulder blades and you could see every vertebrae on her spine.

04.jpg


05.jpg


This is her 15 days later after a good worming and some good feed:
April2005011.jpg


And this is her 11 months later:

dakota002.jpg


Now she was by no means a rescue case at any point - just a mare burdened with worms and having no access to good grazing and feed. The mare you have found will scrub up well in no time and I expect the owners know this, hence the price tag.
 
Yes, probably. It is just so irritating that that's all it probably is! I mean, wormers arent that expensive are they? Nor is hard feed - i'd imagine that she was a good-doer at some point, so it shouldnt take much. And if you own horses, you should accept the responsibilities that come with them. And there are plenty of nicer fields that they could squat on!!!

I do still wonder about the long-term effects of the st. john's wort poisoning though, and the damage it may have done to her liver.
confused.gif


Wonderful job of your mare though! Do you still have her?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top