My YO has totally lost the plot!

Ferdinase514

Ferdinase514

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Went to turn Finn and Star out this evening to find my YO in the mare's field, with the mares, topping it with tractor. Leaving all cut grass in there for them to munch on.

Not many things pee me off, but this really did...mainly because Finn gets such terrible colic.

Any way, I go to chat with him about it, am very polite and he just grumps about having to do it now, or he'll have to pay an F-ing contractor. One of the horses came to sniff tractor, so he tore off across the field THROUGH the elctric fence. Dumped tractor, got in landrover and left yard gate, on to main road wide open.

I stood agast. Fence everywhere!

What a c**k. He obviously has no regard for us as liveries and was basically demonstrating this. Had to trudge back to yard, turn off electric and patch fence, as i doubt he'll be back to mend it.

6 weeks until i leave...and counting
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how long was the grass?

though im sure cut grass of any length should never be fed unless in the case of hay etc when its dry...

sugars etc?
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We have always topped the fields while the horses are in them. The very short grass clippings forment which couses the problems. Long grass has always been ok.
 
well even if you were wrong it seems a bit drastic of him to drive through the fence! - instead of simply letting you know he disagreed and why...
 
I personally would never take the risk of letting my horses eat the cut grass after it had been topped. But topping does not bruise the grass like a lawnmower does and as the cut grass is usually longer, the risk is not as high. Lawn cuttings are bruised and short and can ball and ferment in the horse's stomach and digestive system.
 
You are right, don't let your horse eat the grass cuttings...they do 'heat up' (ferment) and cause colic. If you leave them on the ground for a few days, they usually become unpalatable...
Your YO sounds like a delight!
S
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We top with the horses in the field and they have been fine, to be honest the grass was mostly very long so would have been hard for it to ferment. I was more worried about them getting run over by the tractor.... not taking into account that they have a brain and just mooched over to the furthest part of the field!!!
 
I think you were right about the grass. My ned is a hopeless grazers so regularly has to have his field topped and I always keep him off is for at least a day. Once it dries out a bit I turn him out. Or if its too long (or he can't stay in) I rake it all up.

Sounds like its great that you are geting out of there soon xx
 
As fellow witness to yesterday's 'delightful' YO activity and livery there, it wasn't very pleasant.
Unfortunately some of us aren't swanning off to the country in 6 weeks though
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The grass isn't all long in the field at all - having been grazed for two months - and the cuttings yesterday were short, rich, green grass - unsurprising, given the recent weather.
Maybe this wouldn't be such a problem normally, but the grass is extra rich this year, and with one colic attack already this week, there's really no point risking another.

It was a very bizarre incident......am now starting to think we hadn't bothered clearing up after it Ms McCoul - should have left it to the people whose horses were out there, and left ours in.......
 
What? What a strange man! (Slight understatement there) I would have worried about the cut grass too, my field is being topped this week and I am more than slightly concerned about the cut grass already.
 
I wouldn't like mine to be eating grass cuttings or to be in a field with a tractor going round! (although this has happened in the past with mine) Sounds like the bloke is totally unreasonable and the sooner you're out of there, the better!
 
As most people are well aware, grass cuttings do pose danger even if not in the 'straight out of the back of a garden Flymo' sense.....unfortunately seems to be a yard with a very warped sense of priorities/knowledge!
Having known a horse die from cutting-induced colic before (local people thought they were being 'helpful' by feeding the horses), it is entirely possible.

Mind you, the horses at our yard all seemed to have survived the excessive ragwort in the fields, so maybe their stomachs are expected to be hardened to grass cuttings?!
 
Badly managed yards - they just seem to take your money and not give a stuff about you or your horse! This is why I am leaving my yard too, going to a nice professionally run yard where the horses are the main priority. I go on Saturday and can't wait!!
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And you
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Moving yards as well as house etc is very scary (I know I did it in April!) but things do tend to work out eventually (crosses fingers).
 
Mmmm, Twiglet is incensed enough to return for one day only using work's internet.....have it all squidged in a tiny corner of the screen - why does the H&H banner have to be so big and red???

Have been at the yard for nearly 3 years, and never seen any behaviour like I did yesterday - was totally shocking.

Unfortunately, not many yards in the area with hacking to compare.......so means putting up with the dubious pasture management, general mess and more petty politics than some City trading floors I've worked on!!

The best bit is that I'm now getting blamed for the YO's bizarre reaction.....which is quite odd, seeing as I'd had a perfectly pleasant conversation with him 10 minutes before, and have never had cross words with him in the past.
Nothing like liveries with too much time on their hands to sh*t stir is there?!

I reckon Finn McCoul should sneak me and the equine Twiglet in her suitcase to go to Bucks?!
 
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