Long rant cos I'm properly annoyed!!

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Parly

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About four years ago a cob appeared in a field near our house and never seemed to have anyone doing anything with her. Bit of a bag and could nip and be naughty but I asked around and found out a local chap and his friend owned her. Knew one quite well so offered to nip up and give her a brush and just spend time if he liked.

"Yeah that'd be grand she could do with someone spending time with her really. We paid someone a grand and had her broken to ride / drive and she was out on the cart most weekends in summer but it's tailed off so she could do with a fuss making. You can ride her in the field she has a bridle hung up in the stable"

Day or two after my daughter and I went up and decided to get Loo out of the field, lead her onto the yard and give her a good top to toe scrub and spa and were warned by the farmer to be careful because she could be very hard work and in a habit of kicking and biting. She was good as gold.

She was good as gold each time we went up and got playful and daft giddy and would chase around after a giant football and canter down to the gate when she heard the whistle that meant we were there and really showed a fun side to her. I asked her owner if he'd mind us taking her off the farm just for a short walk down the lane to see how she behaved outside. Got on well with her and really felt she would / could be a belting horse with just a bit of work but wasn't willing to get on her until she'd been outside the farm and on neutral territory if you will.

Flat out no. She can be hard work / has run off and needed several people to catch her / it's too risky. I could ride her round the field though she has a bridle hanging up in the stable...

She could have her odd moment and was still being a bag in the field and frightening members of public / bullying the life out of geldings in the field but underneath all that she was a good horse that needed more time and attention. If you didn't let her get away with being a witch and handled her with confidence she wasn't a bit of bother but most people were scared to death of her and she knew it.

Over the next year or so I offered to spend time with her, loan her, buy her straight out but her owners wouldn't entertain me. No idea why because they didn't touch her.

Put it to them it was a waste of the grand they'd spent but I'd help get her going for when spring arrived and they could take her out on the cart. :) Nope. Not interested. :blue:

Just kept paying rent every month and letting the farmer and other horse owners deal with the fallout.

One afternoon I find half the field fenced off with the geldings safely on one side and Loo on the other. Farmer had decided it was too risky and felt she might do one of the other horses or owners an injury.

From that point on she got worse and would nip and bite and be quite aggressive towards people just walking dogs along the path on the other side. I'd go up and she'd hurtle towards us and be playful and gentle and it really annoyed and upset me that she was wasted and isolated and totally neglected.

For safety the farmer moved her into another fu@king field so she couldn't be stroked or bite people. Owners never went near so farmer felt increasing need to keep her at arms length which is understandable but frustrated the hell out of me.

Didn't see her for a while until I went to pick up some hay tonight. Wandered around looking for the farmer and right at the back of the yard spotted “DANGER! ELECTRIC FENCE”

There stood this forlorn, fed up and filthy cob surrounded by electric fencing and although she recognised me, she stood perfectly still in the middle of all this fence and wouldn't move. Not even for mint treats or apple I went and got from the car.

“Well she got worse and it was getting dangerous you see.. can't risk her doing an injury to herself or others but she's got used to it” :(

FOUR YEARS they've kept that horse from having any sort of life or attention and affection and now she lives in a square of electricity in a sodden field right out of the way of everything and everyone.

I'm absolutely ripping. :mad: :mad:
 
Dave's Mam said:
Abandonment order & do the time & take her?
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The owners pay rent and the farmer does what he can in terms of field maintenance and will contact them if she's injured or there's any problem. To that end she's well cared for. They don't object to paying for anything over and above the basic field rent either so when farrier visits they pay farmer and when she was injured once they repaid farmer the amount for vet etc.

That's what makes it all the more frustrating. Why keep paying month and month for a horse they don't use, don't seem bothered about and ignore the offer to have someone take off their hands and care for / bring her on and if nothing else raise her value??

Feel bad for the farmer too cos he's a good bloke and felt bad when he saw me looking at Loo from the back field. There was an apologetic tone to his voice but he has nothing to apologise for. If I were him I'd have opened the gate and let me wander off with that horse at 2am and reckoned not to have heard a thing.

I'm totally baffled as to why they've spent four years refusing all offers of cash / help and won't let that horse enjoy a decent quality of life. She was so much fun and had a big heart and there she was in that back field with nothing to her :(
 
Dave's Mam said:
Could you just leave a big note on the gate offering to help, take her for a walk or owt? Poor lass.
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Honestly I can't tell you how many notes I've left through their front door, pinned up at the farm and on the field gate or how many different offers I've made over the last four years. There is literally nothing left to do but nick her straight from the field which wouldn't be any good if I did. Our land is less than a mile away and the two farmers are great friends. My daughter even wrote a note for the farmer asking if Loo was for loan or sale because I wasn't sure whether owners had an issue with me personally or what.

Farmer was good enough to ring her and say no sorry... not for sale or loan her owners are happy keeping her on as she is so it's not as if I've done something at them. It's not me it's them. They're simple.

Decided one night I was going to just go up and lead her off the farm anyway whether they liked it or not but my husband was ever the voice of reason and said if she freaked out and legged it or caused any damage we were up **** creek and even if she turned out be brilliant and let me ride her for miles and miles – they still wouldn't let me have her. All it would do is frustrate me more. He was right too so I had to let it go.

Last time was via a Facebook group message I sent to the owner and his two daughters in April just to say I wasn't spending any more time with Loo but could they let me know / give me first refusal if ever they decide to sell because I would have her in a heartbeat.

Not one of them replied.
 
Not sure if you'll be able to view this cos not all pictures seem to take when I've posted before but this is my then 15yr old daughter with Loo at the field gate where she'd hurtle down towards when she heard the whistle. Note the dog picking up whatever bits of banana she dropped :D

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That dirty sod of a dog in the photo just rolled head to toe in Godawful ***** of some description and I've had to bath her outside in the dark at 2am!!! NOW I'M MORE ANNOYED ARGH!! :mad::mad::mad::mad:
 
If see actual owner offer him the cash, have physical cash in your hand and a note of sale for him to sign as proof of sale. She looks lovely but beware laminitis as she does look rather too well!!
 
meesha said:
If see actual owner offer him the cash, have physical cash in your hand and a note of sale for him to sign as proof of sale. She looks lovely but beware laminitis as she does look rather too well!!
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Offered him cash and said I'd buy her straight from the field no questions no comeback I'll take her as she is and deal with whatever might reveal itself. Not interested. Even offered considerably more than she's worth too and at the price similar cobs that didn't need any work were going for and they still weren't interested.

Offered to loan her over winter and keep her where she is. Not interested.

Offered to pay the land rent and cover costs for stabling and sort insurance and everything else without the commitment or formality of a loan if they would just let me take her out and do what I would if she were ours. That way I could bring her on and do something with her and then when spring arrived they'd have a half decent horse they could take out on the cart again or even sell and get more money. Not interested.

That picture was taken a while ago when she was still in the main field and not yet confined and hidden away behind sheds or trapped inside an electric fence. She's built like a tank generally but doesn't look as stocky and beefy now as she did then.

Why they want to just keep her up there festering and rotting and doing nothing I will never know.
 
I remember seeing this a year or two back and thinking “Loo would be a cracking horse like that” because she's bombproof beyond bombproof and when you know how to handle her so obliging and will do for you no problem. Despite the size and build of her she can shift and when we used to play and get daft giddy in the field she'd set off galloping and bucking and jumping and it amazed me how high she could get.

Have always thought with a bit of work she'd be ideal for my daughter to start doing more with like this.

Now she's just a sodden, filthy cob and a shell it's criminal.

[video=youtube_share;xRPED4vw8Sk]https://youtu.be/xRPED4vw8Sk[/video]
 
Anyway you know what? I need to let this go now there's nothing I can do but hope one day I get a knock at the door asking if I'm still interested. Have a spotty horse to go sort so I'm off to sort him and focus on that.
 
Maybe he is fed up with being pestered? I appreciate its not how everyone would do things but it is their horse, it is not how everyone would choose to keep a horse, maybe it is electric fenced to try and keep the weight off, it looks rather chunky. I am being devils advocate!
 
jrp204 said:
Maybe he is fed up with being pestered? I appreciate its not how everyone would do things but it is their horse, it is not how everyone would choose to keep a horse, maybe it is electric fenced to try and keep the weight off, it looks rather chunky. I am being devils advocate!
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My thoughts entirely. It's his horse, it sounds well provided for.
Maybe go and buy your own and then you can choose how you want to keep a horse. There's far worse fates for a horse than living out and not being brushed!
 
jrp204 said:
Maybe he is fed up with being pestered? I appreciate its not how everyone would do things but it is their horse, it is not how everyone would choose to keep a horse, maybe it is electric fenced to try and keep the weight off, it looks rather chunky. I am being devils advocate!
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You could well be right he probably is fed up of being pestered but it wasn't in a constant nagging bugging him sort of way. I've known him for a long time and all this was over the course of four years but he wanted me to just jump on and ride her in the field and didn't get why I wasn't able to do much if I couldn't take her out of the field or even off the farm. Then he'd pull a face as if to say "Oh.. thought you said you wanted to do a bit and fuss over her"

It was put to him more as a suggestion and in a way that might sound appealing (he's as tight as a duck's arse so I thought the idea of it making her worth a bit more would appeal but he doesn't have insurance so didn't want to risk having anything go wrong outside)

That's when I suggested getting our own to cover her if he wanted. Everything was said to make him realise it was in his interests as well as hers.

He did get fired into over time by a few others that told him straight. One lass was terrified to go in and catch her own horse because Loo would go for her and moved him to another farm in the end because she was so sick of having to run the gauntlet.

Then when she nipped someone at the gate I believe they went up asking the farmer who owned her because they wanted to speak with him and he probably got grief left right and centre. It's a shame the farmer didn't tell them to sort something out and force their hand in a way because the more he tried to keep things smoothed over and everyone safe the less her owners bothered.

Electric fencing was the end result of her being kept further and further at arm's length because of the behaviour. That's an absolute certain. She was moved from one field to another and another because the farmer didn't want her biting people or kicking other horses and of course the more she was kept away and stopped from being able to interact with any other horses or people the worse the got.

That's why he was apologetic when he said there was no other choice but to use the electric fencing.

Anyway that seems to have done the trick she certainly won't bite or kick or bother anyone in there.
 
TheMule said:
My thoughts entirely. It's his horse, it sounds well provided for.
Maybe go and buy your own and then you can choose how you want to keep a horse. There's far worse fates for a horse than living out and not being brushed!
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Yeah I suppose. Living out and alone all year round without any normal interaction with horses or humans isn't that bad when you can have a square of white tape around you.
 
Why not get your husband to go see the owner. Get him to spin a story that you are besotted with the horse and that he would really like to buy it for you as a birthday/christmas present. The owner might feel you are judging his care, whereas if your husband goes trying to earn brownie points, then the owner might feel more inclined to allow the horse to go.
 
Perhaps take emotion, assumption and opinion out of the situation and assess what is actually happening.

If an owner chooses to do nothing with the horse but provides the needs as required under the animal welfare act, no offence has taken place.

Makes an assessment, taking each aspect of the Act into consideration and if there is a reason (proven, not assumption) that there is cruelty, neglect, harm or fear taking place you need to work alongside the relevant authorities to make an improvement to this particular horse.
 
I don't understand why you didn't take what was offered and ride her in the field? What's the big deal with having to take her off the farm first to see how she reacts? It doesn't matter how she reacts off the farm, you were going to be riding *on* the farm, in the field, so as long as she's quiet enough there, what's the problem?

You've got yourself too involved with someone elses horse, tried to tell them how to keep it and alienated them in the process. Not sure how any of that has helped the horse really. With your talk about stealing the horse and your ranting, I can see why the owners have distanced themselves from you. You might not have ranted at *them* or said anything to them about taking the horse for a walk without their permission, but they can possibly sense your "intensity" (sorry maybe not the right word) about the situation with their horse and with the repeated offers to buy, though they've said they don't want to sell, it could be making them uncomfortable.

If you'd wanted to do something for her you should have taken what was offered, which was a pretty good opportunity and something I'd have snapped up as a horseless child and been grateful for. Then you'd be riding her, the horse would be happier and have some interaction. With some regular work to occupy her mind she might not have been such a beggar in the field and ended up totally isolated.

If you didn't want to be involved, didn't want to ride in the field for some reason, fair enough. I agree with you that what the owners have done isn't very nice to the horse, but some people keep a horse for "status" and don't much care about it beyond that, as long as she's looked after physically in a basic way it's not illegal. The farmer just wants his livery money and not to get sued/see someone get hurt, so his actions are understandable, of course he's going to put his business and people's safety before the mental wellbeing of a horse. I do understand your rant to an exent, but you had the power to do something to change this horses life (within the confines of what the owners would allow) and you chose not to. So you're right, you need to let it go.
 
Sorry to say but you got far too involved in another persons horse. If she has food, water and shelter then there isn't anything being done wrong. As frustrating as it is, it's not your horse and the owners don't want to sell her to you. No point getting in a flap about it, she isn't for sale and you've had some fun with her. She may have potential, but that's for the owners to decide on.
Sorry if that sounds blunt but that's just what I see from this.
 
How do you know there isnt a genuine problem? Most happy, sound, sane horses dont bite and kick people for fun. Why do you assume that the owners arent telling you the truth when they say shes not safe to take out? Maybe they are doing the one thing they should be doing, and keeping an unsafe horse out of the hands of someone who would get hurt?

I wish people would leave other peoples horses alone unless theres a genuine welfare concern
 
This is out of context but just to show how things can be drive horse owners nuts at times:

My ex neighbour had someone banging on her door one morning, a woman was ranting about how cruel she was as my neighbour had deliberately tied a bucket to a ponies head and face, it was quite an event :) It was a grazing muzzle!

I think it was the same woman but not too sure! I was approached by a woman saying how cruel I was to keep a pony on its own, I looked around wondering what the hell she was on about, that brown one she shouted its cruel it is on its own you are making it miserable! :) Oh dear there are actually 2 *Brown ones* and you are only seeing one at a time and although they are half brothers who happily live together they actually don't even look identical (At that point both *brown* ones appeared around the corner together)
Wish I had taken a photo of her dashing off looking and probably feeling rather stupid........ what a total time waster!

I actually wonder if the two *Brown* ones were winding her up, now you see me now you don't..........
 
She's dead. Found at 4.30am.

Haven't had chance to read through replies and won't be home until late eve but if any admins are online you can delete thread in its entirety. It matters very little now anyway.
 
So sorry to hear this. At least you have closure and there is really nothing you can do now. Remind yourself that you gave her that time of happiness. Poor thing :(
 
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