Is anyone else heartily sick and fed up

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FairyLights

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with all the unwanted horses and ponies, all the overbreeding,all the neglect? And then there is the less-than-goodenough owners (there are at least 3 locally),horses fed only just enough through the winter,barbed wire ,broken fencing,old scrap in the fields,never poo-picked,reduced to hat racks every winter and covered in a rug to hide it. if only they would sell up most of their animals and just keep one or 2 and do them well. The others,the competition riders,the huters,who,at home dont use bedding because it costs money. horses layed on rubber mats with no other bedding,horses on earths floors and not cleaned out except once a week, fed miminal hay.Horses washed on cold days to look smart and left shivering. Horses giving their best for their owners and treated like this. I gave up breeding years ago. I just cannot stand the way,in Britain in the 21st century horses are treated like this.
 
Probably everyone. But if you're not a breeder yourself, then there's not a great deal you can do, except support the work the charities like EMW do.
Even then, it's a dangerous line to walk, I was talking to someone involved in horse welfare in Spain, who said they have to be careful if they try to buy horses out of bad situations, as the owners oftern highly inflate the price, knowing this will be found if these concerned people cannot bear to leave the abused animal.
 
Yes. But there's not a massive amount I can do apart from make sure that my two boys are well cared for, and that my Shetland is in a good loan home (bought from the meat man 16 years ago in a terrible state)

I donate money when and where I can to help others help other horses, my sheathe was a rescue, and my horse, snip, was bought in a terrible state from a dealer and has a medical condition that makes him unsaleable.

Rhythm came from a good home (he's a Janet George baby) so will never know the unkindness that the other two have known....but i see it as my job to keep it that way!

If only everyone thought the same, then there would BE no neglected horses
 
I agree that it is shocking how unscrupulous and heartless people can be. However your post does make some quite massive generalisations and it's good to remember that the vast majority of horse owners care a lot about their animals and do their best for them in return. FWIW I'm sure that lots of competition riders and hunters give their horses very nice deep beds...
 
scatty_mare said:
FWIW I'm sure that lots of competition riders and hunters give their horses very nice deep beds...
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And the turn out that nature intended them to have. :( It's heart breaking it really is. At the very start of this year we managed to get a horse back from deaths door twice after it had been neglected, sadly the YO wouldnt report the owner to the RSPCA so the poor creature ended up going back to his land. Only to be sold again recently, however at least it has a better chance than it had. We tried desperatley to buy the mare off the owner but he wanted £1500 for her and as I say she almost died twice.
 
Horsesforever1: you've said it all for me. I couldn't agree more. I gave up breeding, despite having 2 champion, quality broodmares. I kept my last foals (2+ years old now) because I couldn't bear the possibility of them being sold on and on. Having Shires, as I do, necessitates larger paddocks, higher fencing (I will not tolerate barbed wire on our property), greater quantities of forage, larger muck heaps/muck trailers, plus-size indoor accommodation (we house them in winter in a huge, purpose-made pole barn) and vast amounts of bedding. While I realise many Shires are not housed in winter, mine are and they love it and thrive. The work load is considerable, given the volume of dung each horse produces, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

I'm not indicting anyone who does it differently, but the number of unwanted, uncared-for horses in present-day Britain (much less the rest of the world) is heartbreaking and scandalous. While I support many equine charities, the most important work I do is that which nurtures, protects and provides for my herd.
 
Horsesforever1 said:
with all the unwanted horses and ponies, all the overbreeding,all the neglect? And then there is the less-than-goodenough owners (there are at least 3 locally),horses fed only just enough through the winter,barbed wire ,broken fencing,old scrap in the fields,never poo-picked,reduced to hat racks every winter and covered in a rug to hide it. .
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I completely agree. Interestingly enough though the worse case I have seen of this recently was actually a horse sanctuary. I will admit we are in a fairly well off area though.

I dont particularly like barbed wire, though if its in good condition and not rusty and sagging I have never had any problems with it if the horses have plenty of land and food and its not used between paddocks.

Stock fencing however is my worst nightmare, nasty stuff which horses seem to love putting their feet through and ripping shoes off, and I cant count the number of other peoples sheep I have freed after sticking their heads through if the stuff is damaged and the holes are a bit too big.
 
It's so hard to turn the other cheek , only the other day there was a thread about some poor donkey being crushed by a digger in some god forsaken hell - hole where even human life seems to hold no value - there seems to be no answer to the cruelty of animals and i can only be comforted by the way i treat my own , with plenty of full turn out over a large amount of land where they can live as nature intended , in return we have the most willing loving healthy well rounded horses i've ever owned - you have to do the best you can for your ' family 'even though it's so hard to stand by , theres animals not a stones throw from me that have a sad existance - want can you do...!?
 
I agree Horsesforever1 - that why I hang on to all mine through thick and thin.

I also contribute to charities and when i see cruelty try and stand up for the poor animal, even if it means being a little bit braver than I would like!!

While on the subject, please please would everyone sign the Mablethorpe Donkey's link. This may not be the worst case of neglect, but it really isn't great ... and I just think that if the ELDC (East Lindsey District Council) can get away with doing nothing when it is so public they really would all be Ostriches if it were less visible!! All they have to do is insist on the operator sticking to the Donkey Sanctuary Code of Practice like every other Beach Donkey in the Country.

Will look up the link and post here!!
 
Well a pony of mine is sensitive to dust & just has rubber mat to lie on when in at night during winter (he is turned out at all other times). He has a shavings area to pee on in his attached yard (free access). In the summer do you look at a field of short grass with hard ground & say to yourself 'that is far too hard for him to lie on I must put shavings down' !!! The rubber mats are softer than that scenario.
 
scatty_mare said:
I agree that it is shocking how unscrupulous and heartless people can be. However your post does make some quite massive generalisations and it's good to remember that the vast majority of horse owners care a lot about their animals and do their best for them in return. FWIW I'm sure that lots of competition riders and hunters give their horses very nice deep beds...
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This^^^ I'm a competition rider that gives lovely deep beds.

I do bath on cold days with warm water (just as much for me as him) but he is clipped I have enough rugs etc to make sure he is dry quickly then swapped into nice dry stable rug.

Doesn't it cost a lot of money to breed? So surely the breeder wouldn't do it if there wasn't a call for it or worth their while?

I have no idea what would solve the problem :confused:

There are crap people in all aspects of life.
 
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