Some peolpe shouldnt have horses!!

rascal

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Yesterday morning we went to catch four loose horses, two had been returned to their owner and we caught the other two. Two piebald cob fillies, about 12 months old, maybe a little younger. We took them to where their friend was tethered and put them in someone elses field as there was no where else.
Later we saw them loose on the road again, the moron of an owner trying to get them to follow him by rustling A FAG BOX!! He said that someone had stolen their chains and let them loose, so hubby asked why the otherone was still tethered if someone was stealing the chains,that ones not his pony apparently.
There was a horse killed on the road in this area very recently, but he just lets his horses roam about where they please!!
The council land they are tethered on is covered in half burried barbed wire from a fence that used to be there.
When he said someone stole the horses chains i told him that tethering was a cruel way to keep them, and they should be loose in a field. He gave me a look that could have killed but diddnt say anything, probably didnt want us to take the headcollars off the horses that we had just caught again. Funny they came to us, but walked away from him.
I havnt had chance yet to go and see if the poor things are tethered again.
Makes you wonder why these people have horses at all, they dont give a monkeys what happens to them.
 

piebaldsparkle

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Whilst I don't like seeing horses tethered and 'fly grazing' annoys me (as a law abiding, tax paying citizen), you can't say he doesn't care about them, if he didn't he would not have been trying to move them (however ineffectively), to somewhere safe. - Would he?
 

vieshot

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Nothing wrong with tethering- not ideal but so long as the horse has water and the tether moved every so often then it can hardly go in the category of 'cruel'
 

Starzaan

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Nothing wrong with tethering- not ideal but so long as the horse has water and the tether moved every so often then it can hardly go in the category of 'cruel'

I second this, the guy sounds like a numpty, but there's nothing wrong with tethering if done properly.
 

Sparkles

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I'd be more inclined to be fuming and ranting about 'well meaning' people removing the tether.....Same was as I would be when gates to fields get left open or similar.
 

weebarney

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Yesterday morning we went to catch four loose horses, two had been returned to their owner and we caught the other two. Two piebald cob fillies, about 12 months old, maybe a little younger. We took them to where their friend was tethered and put them in someone elses field as there was no where else.
Later we saw them loose on the road again, the moron of an owner trying to get them to follow him by rustling A FAG BOX!! He said that someone had stolen their chains and let them loose, so hubby asked why the otherone was still tethered if someone was stealing the chains,that ones not his pony apparently.
There was a horse killed on the road in this area very recently, but he just lets his horses roam about where they please!!
The council land they are tethered on is covered in half burried barbed wire from a fence that used to be there.
When he said someone stole the horses chains i told him that tethering was a cruel way to keep them, and they should be loose in a field. He gave me a look that could have killed but diddnt say anything, probably didnt want us to take the headcollars off the horses that we had just caught again. Funny they came to us, but walked away from him.
I havnt had chance yet to go and see if the poor things are tethered again.
Makes you wonder why these people have horses at all, they dont give a monkeys what happens to them.
I dont mind very short term tethering but long term tethering is cruel. Its basically done as the 'owners' don't want to pay for grazing.
 

Dab

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Nothing wrong with tethering- not ideal but so long as the horse has water and the tether moved every so often then it can hardly go in the category of 'cruel'

What about providing the following;

1. Shelter, natural or otherwise
2. Interaction with other horses
3. Ability to flee from perceived danger
4. Ability to find a place of safety to lay down
5. Find a place to have a scratch....etc


Maybe it's ok on a very very short term basis, but for longer periods?
 

Littlelegs

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Tethering is the same as stabling imo. Not ideal, but plenty of us do it overnight in winter because we don't have adequate shelter & dry grazing to keep out 24/7. And at the moment lots of owners are having to keep in most of the day too because of flooding. Ideal? No, but current circumstances dictate there's no choice. Done properly its more natural than a 12x12 stable.
 

Sugar_and_Spice

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JingleDab...

1. Provide a rug if necessary.
2. Other horses tethered nearby is no worse than electric fenced individual turnout paddocks or stabling, as far as interaction goes.
3. A tethered horse can flee far more easily than a stabled horse.
4. If not tethered in kicking range of another horse, then wherever the horse can reach is safe, assuming the horse has been tethered in a suitable place to start with.
5. Teeth and hooves, same as a stabled horse. Additionally a tethered horse can roll.

Maybe you don't agree with stabling or individual turnout, which is fair enough if that's your opinion, but they are generally considered acceptable forms of horse care and the points you have made regarding tethering apply equally to those situations, therefore I don't think those points prove that tethering is cruel.

OP, how frustrating to see the horses in the same situation twice. As well as feeling sorry for the horses, I pity any driver who has a cob coming through their windscreen and ending up in their lap. It's not just the horses lives put at risk when they escape/are let free.
 

lastchancer

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I used to tether colts when we had no turn out for them - and someone did once pinch a chain and turn a 3yo colt loose...
Before the cruelty police start jumping up and down, it was only ever until they were castrated and they much prefer it to staying locked up in a stable.
 

dominobrown

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Why didn't you phone the RSPCA and the police? If the ponies were getting loose on a road it is dangerous for the general public. The police would have done something hopefully.
 

rascal

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Why didn't you phone the RSPCA and the police? If the ponies were getting loose on a road it is dangerous for the general public. The police would have done something hopefully.


No way in a million years would i phone the rspca load of pathetic idiots. Anyway the police (who called us) already had, didnt want to know.
 

Natch

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Actually, I don't know of any equine charity who believes tethering is cruel. The would probably all advise the owner on safe tethering methods instead.

If anything, I would say RSPCA would be the most likely to oppose tethering. And for all you anti-RSPCA naysayers, I know the sentiment but they have their place where equine welfare is concerned. It's always them who handle the prosecutions; the equine charities don't have the expertise or resources.
 

Ibblebibble

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I dont mind very short term tethering but long term tethering is cruel. Its basically done as the 'owners' don't want to pay for grazing.

really?:rolleyes: so the fact that i tethered daughters pony one year in the field i rented means i am cruel and i didn't pay my rent for a year:rolleyes:
It was done to stop the little sod escaping ! he would get out of any pen or field and twice ended up on the road, once he took 2 of the neighbouring ponies with him :eek: He was tethered for his own safety and health (he was a gutsy piglet who would escape to fill his face with forbidden grass), not because i'm a cheapskate or cruel owner!
 

rascal

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Tethering has its uses i suppose, although its something i wouldnt do. If the horses can get out of the wind and rain, and have water then fine, these cant, and dont have water. I have informed a welfare charity of where the horses are and what has been happening, if they choose to go thats up to them. Not you will be pleased to hear the rspca.
 
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