Joe Public is a moron!

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NeilM

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Having had the fields sprayed this spring, we have plenty of grass and as my lad can get fat on fresh air, he has had a muzzle on since spring, which he does not mind and which has worked wonders.

Our lower field has a footpath adjacent to one of our fences. There are a lot of regular dog walkers who stop and chat and who like to say hello to our two horses and the horses often stand close to the fence to say hello in reply.

For the last three or four day, I have arrived at the field in the afternoon, to find H either minus his muzzle or with a strap missing from top, bottom or side (he has a Greenguard muzzle). Now he does get it off from time to time and also the straps do occasionally get broken, but yesterday my suspicion was raised when I realised that not only was a strap missing, but one of the parts of the head collar had without a doubt been tampered with.

Today, again a strap was missing, this time from the side, and while chatting to one of our 'regulars' I spotted two straps, in perfect condition on the floor very close to one another. The spot they were in just happens to be very close to the fence / footpath and one of the spots the horses like to stand.

So, putting 2 and 2 together, I have come to the conclusion that someone, in a misguided attempt to help my horse, has been tampering with his muzzle.

I am going to put some signs on the fence letting people know just what I think of their interfering and will also put some electric tape up to keep the horses a metre back from the fence, but what kind of moron would do something so stupid.

I really do wonder about people sometimes.
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Urgh, how irritating. Can you train your horse to snarl at strangers, then it would seem more like a dog muzzle and they might leave alone!
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What made the penny drop, was seeing a couple of little girls in the village, when my OH and I were out the other day. They happened to mention that H had a 'funny thing on'. I don't think for a second it is anything to do with them or their parents, but it made me realise that some......person thinks the same, and has decided they need to act
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I wish I could teach him to snarl, worst they will get is a big lick in the face
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EDIT: Maybe I should put a sign up that say; BEWARE, THIS HORSE WILL BITE!

Probably get reported to the Council for that!
 
My friend and her mum always thought one of the horses near them wore a fly mask cos he was blind, they didn't realise it was for flies!

Stick a bit of leccy tape up.
 
Sounds like you are right!!! What a pain! They probably think they are trying to help but it's idiotic to meddle with an animal directly instead of talking to the owner.

We used to keep our horses by a very well used bridleway and all through the summer we'd get people running up in a panic because one of the horse's was 'blind'...fly hoods!
 
heh, such is life I'm afraid, I had my fabulous neighbours calling RSPCA to my 'mare in distress' - in the middle of July she was out in the field in the rain with no rug on... mind boggles
 
I told a woman off for feeding my Shettie a bag of apples over the fence. He was in a diet paddock for a reason!

she appeared utterly shocked when I asked her to stop feeding him, as she thought it was her god given right to do so.

she said it was 'only a few apples' - yes my dear, but if every Tom, Dick and Harry comes up here and gives him 'just a few apples' he's going to explode!!!
 
maybe put up a polite notice saying this horse is wearing a muzzle because ..... sometimes people suffer from this thing called kindness kills just becuase they dont understand.... easily done I guess. See it as your chance to educate joe public on the intrancies of horse care!
 
I once heard a small boy asking his dad why my horse had springs on his legs - they were 4 strap woof brushing boots..... you have to wonder why they let the idiots out......
 
We told a neighbour we were off to snowden to fetch puppy and we got back and he came to see us and said that a sheep was poorly and thnking we were still away had phoned trading standards who said phone environmental health who said phone rspca and when we saw it all that needed doing was turning ewe onto feet as she was cast! and now fine
 
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We used to keep our horses by a very well used bridleway and all through the summer we'd get people running up in a panic because one of the horse's was 'blind'...fly hoods!

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My friend was at agricultural college, where they kept pigs very close to the main road. Apparently everytime it rained, people would phone them up in concern because the poor pigs were still out in all the dreadful rain...!
 
i had horse in backyard(3 acres) in Scotland on no grass but hay nets because he was so crippled with laminitis i thought i would lose him i caught woman feeding him lush grass so i put up this horse bites posters i caught her again after posters were up and she said she thought it was up because kids were feeding him i explained and placed posters saying FEEDING THIS HORSE WILL CAUSE DEATH DUE TO A MEDICAL CONDITION CALLED LAMINITIS i kept everyone away from feeding him (had RSPCA out 6 times as well because of it but inspector said hes fine and vet cleared it up that it was vets orders) bite signs do not work tell them the truth
 
we have footpaths running through our fields and a carpark next to them. i had a phone call one day from someone local saying a woman had said that there was somthing sierously wrong with one of the horses as it was lieing out flat on the ground and she new a lot about horses and they didnt do that unless they were really ill. soo dutifuly went and checked dieing horse, who was fast asleep in the sun and was not pleased to be booted up the bum and made to get up.
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I have printed up some signs which I will put up today, pointing out that the muzzle causes him no discomfort and does him no harm. But I am also going to keep them back from the fence for the rest of the summer holidays.

We had to put signs up when my OH's mare contracted stress related laminitis. She was in a small isolation paddock right next to the footpath. We put them up more as a precaution, but they seemed to work.

I just wonder why people with no knowledge think they can interfere.
 
a friend worked at a cotswold riding school and was graced with the pleasure of multiple footpaths across their land. One morning she arrived to find that all the neds had holes cut out of their fly masks so that they could 'see'.

Nuff said!!!
 
I had similar happen last summer, Moo also wears a green guard and it magically disapeared within two hours of being put on one morning. I found it two days later on a tree stump about 300yards from the field. Some one must have been into the field as we already had electric fence up to stop walkers feeding them.
I did put a rather irate notice up explaing how they were interfereing and endangering his life by doing so and added the web address for laminitis trust to satisfy their need to know why my boy looks like hannibal lecter!
I get so many comments about their restricted grazing and asked why they ar'nt in the long grass, my answer is always the same 'they are fat enough where they are, they are all laminitic and I choose to prolong their lives as opposed to shortening it to the next 72 hours by letting them get laminitis'.
 
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I once heard a small boy asking his dad why my horse had springs on his legs - they were 4 strap woof brushing boots..... you have to wonder why they let the idiots out......

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Small boy .....not an idiot
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Indeed - I think that comment is rather sweet.

Anyway, we are all quick to bash the public for ignoring suffering - whenever a cruelty case is reported everyone howls 'surely somebody must have seen something, how could they ignore it' etc. It is not stupidity to know nothing of horse management - I know nothing about astrophysics, but I don't consider myself stupid.

It seems obvious that in the first instance a sign is required explaining the reason for the muzzle. Only if that is ignored would I get really angry.
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I once heard a small boy asking his dad why my horse had springs on his legs - they were 4 strap woof brushing boots..... you have to wonder why they let the idiots out......

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Aww, I think that's cute! He's just being a kid, kids ask daft things, don't be so harsh!
 
That's nothing. I had a visit from the RSPCA because I was starving my horse and preventing him from grazing......he was wearing a muzzle!
 
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I told a woman off for feeding my Shettie a bag of apples over the fence. He was in a diet paddock for a reason!

she appeared utterly shocked when I asked her to stop feeding him, as she thought it was her god given right to do so.

she said it was 'only a few apples' - yes my dear, but if every Tom, Dick and Harry comes up here and gives him 'just a few apples' he's going to explode!!!

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We have various people who bring their kids down "to feed the horses" - cheaper than going to the zoo I suppose
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- and when they are asked not to because it causes fights, encorages them to bite etc get really stroppy!

The classic some years ago was grandparents who sent their toddler under electric fencing with ONE carrot into 6 six horses so they could video him.....they were most disgruntled when they were told (after the child was rescued as 6 half ton horses were about to fight over who's carrot it was) and I was told I was selfish not to share my horse with him
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Yes, you are probably right, but please ... at least these people are showing concern that there may be something wrong. Look at the pictures of Stig the foal and see the result of people's cruelty and other people looking the other way. I'd rather spend a year explaining and educating the unknowing than finding out my horse has suffered because no-one could be bothered.
 
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Yes, you are probably right, but please ... at least these people are showing concern that there may be something wrong. Look at the pictures of Stig the foal and see the result of people's cruelty and other people looking the other way. I'd rather spend a year explaining and educating the unknowing than finding out my horse has suffered because no-one could be bothered.

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Totally agree with this!
 
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we have footpaths running through our fields and a carpark next to them. i had a phone call one day from someone local saying a woman had said that there was somthing sierously wrong with one of the horses as it was lieing out flat on the ground and she new a lot about horses and they didnt do that unless they were really ill. soo dutifuly went and checked dieing horse, who was fast asleep in the sun and was not pleased to be booted up the bum and made to get up.
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LMAO
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I have an electric fence up 2 metres in from the main fence to stop people feeding my beast while he is isolation after his holiday, the large paddock is full of grass, hopefully it also makes it a pain for the cricketers to get their ball back when it goes into our fields, they will insist on not having any nets up
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As the person on the receiving end of such kind concerned citizens I can assure you I am not comforted that someone has been tampering with a muzzle which has been placed onto my horse for his own wellbeing.

I don't want a fat horse and worse I don't want a horse with laminitis. We've had one of these thanks and neither the £1000's needed to return her to health nor the threat of having her PTS were much fun.

My OH has been away for a couple of days. She took a close look at the head collar that the muzzle attaches to and agreed that it had been tampered with. We have moved the horses to the top field until the weekend when we will be putting the electric tape 2 metres back from the fence and sparking it up.

I estimate that it will take a month of hard work and much reduced grass intake to undo the last five days worth of interfering.
 
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