So angry and hurt.

PM some details about her disco, I'll keep a looksy out for her
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bleddy cheek of the woman, luckily people like her are in the minority and there are far more genuinely interested people around that will endeavour to help/advise if required.

(((((((((((Hugs))))))))))))
xx
 
Katy, this isn't a go at you, I promise, but I just wanted to say, hey hang on a minute to everybody else.

Let's turn this around for a moment and imagine a regular and well like poster said they had been out in their car and seen an overweight shetland being taken out and allowed to graze the verges, etc, etc.
The forum would be up in arms, people would be condemning the pony owner, suggesting calling the ILPH and various other things. They might even have suggested challenging the owner.

The simple fact is a casual onlooker can never know all the circumstances as to why a horse is fat, or underwieght, or lame and still being ridden. The way she did it might not have been right, and in this case she is clearly mistaken, but we only know that because we know your side.

The day concerned people stop challenging animal neglect and cruelty it will be a sad world, of course in that you will encounter ignorance, busybodies and the occasional rant..but I would hate for the world to just give up on this subject because of the idiots.
 
Cheeky cow! I would absolutely flip iof someone was that rude to me and started handling my horse. Shetlands are notorious for being rather good doers, you are doing the best you can, surely the fact she has seen the pony being exercised twice suggests that you are doing something about his weight!?
 
I can see what you are saying, the_watcher, but being rude and abusive isn't the way to go about it. xxKatyxx has already said if the lady had come over and started talking normally then she could have explained that they hadn't had the pony long and it was already losing weight. I can't believe the comment about him having fat legs - it makes it obvious that she hasn't got a clue!
 
hi ya,
i had same trouble but for oppoiste reasons, i took on an old ex racer as his owner said you have him or i'll put him down, he had been neglected as his owner and her husband spilt up and neither bothered with him, but to top it off she had decided he was over weight when she bought him, i've seen pics and he was perfect! anyway she put him on a diet. when i got him he was so thin you could see every rib, his hips and so on, i spent the year i had him until i lost him to illness, tyring every food product etc going to help him back to the right weight, the number of people who told me i was cruel and was going to report me for starving him was unreal, even though he was stood in a field with 2 cobs and a youngster who were fine.
these people only spoke AT me though, the women had no right to touch your pony, and as for beeping the horn, you should ahve took her reg number and reported her to the police.
as for the shouting in field, some horses do, my tb was one of them, lol and my mare shouts to the geldings surrounding us when shes in season even though shes in field with 3 other horses, so take no notice.
you do what you wnat with your pony and forget everyone else
cat x
 
Fiona C... I'll pm you.

The Watcher.... I would never dream of speaking to anyone like that, or touching their animal without permission. Fact is, he is a shetland, he doesnt have the best conformation, and he does trot a little funny at times, as he's a bit bow legged at the back, but he's not lame or anything. ATM he does have c*** feet, but that's something we're sorting out. It will take time, hopefully with my farrier we can sort out his feet and maybe his legs. But It doesnt affect him being walked out and trotted lightly. I bought him after seeing him just once, and didnt have him vetted. I wanted a pony who would look after my children, and his personality outshone any other faults he had. His last owners loved him to bits, and none of this was their fault, just an accumilation of things, which I readily accept and am happy to spend time and money on.
The fact is, as someone else said, the ILPH are inundated with false claims of neglected horses, and people really should find out their facts before they jump in.

Yorkshirecat...... He is a very noisy pony. I think one of the biggest characters I have known, he will shout all day long just to make sure he gets attention. He even shouts if he sees a starnger walking past, so they'll come and fuss him.
I'm no expert on equine care, I don't claim to be, and if someone wanted to offer me advice or another view on things I'd quite happily take it on board. But as you said, when people speak AT you, it does nothing but grate.
 
Sorry that you had to put up with this! Some people are so blooming ignorant.

You have nothing to feel bad about. You are doing what you can.

This is what I meant about people who just phone or threaten RSPCA or ILPH without first gathering some facts!

Feel sorry for this woman, can you imagine going through your life being that uptight, close minded and vile? Not a pleasnt though huh?
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Chin up gal, You can take this on the chin and go back for more, I know you can
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Angry on your behalf katy...
People should gather the correct info first before going off and calling various bodies......

Presumptions are a dangerous thing....
 
I had the same as you Angel. I loaned a 19 year old tb, and in the winter he dropped condition - looked quite ribby and poor but was rugged up to the nines, unclipped, not in heavy work and eating masses of feed and haylage.

When his owner [who was a right cow anyway] came to take him back she practically accused us of abusing him, it made me so angry - there's only so much you can do!
 
QR -

I have only once in my life had someone say something to me. When I had the "love of my life" TB sj mare; she was VERY nutty, was totally incapable of walking for many years, jogged everywhere, reared frequently, had head up in clouds and tail was up there most of the time too. The horse was constantly lathered in sweat pretty much from the moment you got onboard.

Anyway, most people in my area knew her well. We rode out for 3 hours every single day for almost all the 16 years I owned her, so we were a well known site around the villages. One day I met a lady who was plodding along on some old geriatric cobby thing and my girl became incredibly excited seeing this horse coming towards us.......fairy liquid type white bubbles appeared on her neck, she was drenched in sweat even though we had only been jogging the whole ride. I have to say, she probably did look like she had been ridden really hard, but then I was used to this as she was always like this. My horse then started to do her rearing stuff, flung her tail in the air and pranced towards lady. As we passed her I smiled and said hello in my exasperated but smiley voice. Well just as we had ridden past each other, the lady muttered under her breath "that's disgusting".

Of course, me being me, turned my horse around and pranced alongside her and said, again with a smile "Pardon?" I think she almost died....poor woman. I continued to slowly jog alongside her (haahaa she couldn't get rid of me) and explained what sort of a horse I had, why she was the way she was and why she constantly looked like she had been run through the mill, even though she was rarely cantered and in fact I spent my whole time trying to get her to walk. Within about 5 minutes the lady could clearly see why my horse looked so sweated up and she apologised. She said she hadn't realised - I gave her advice not to always judge what you see without having any proof to back it up. She totally understood and apologised again saying she was new to the area.

I met her many more times after that whilst we were out riding and every time my horse was exactly the same the moment she saw her horse and she always smiled and had an understanding word to say to me.

I never get annoyed with anything anyone says to me.....however I would never allow them to go away without kindly explaining to them the reason why the horse is the way it is.

And here's a picture of my old girl.....she died a few years ago and went out the way she came in....broke her leg rearing in the field; bless her.

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