Tethered horses

[Princess16]

Just noticed some travellers on my way to horse with about 10 cobs tethered to the roadside chewing away at Brambles and horse one is down a dip! What are your thoughts on this is it cruel to the horses or do they generally look after them ? Feel so sorry for them because most are tethered facing incoming traffic .

 

[madlady]

The ones I've seen have generally been well cared for. I think as long as they aren't just abandoned on a tether for weeks at a time and are given food and water then there is no issue.

I did report some a couple of years ago who were outside where I work - they had 2 youngsters on tethers - I didn't have an issue with that but what I did have an issue with was that it was really hot and I didn't see a bucket of water anywhere near them all day.

 

[pansymouse]

My childhood pony was regularly tethered on the common and was absolutely fine however her water was checked at least 3 times a day and she came into the home paddock at night.

 

[JasonW]

I believe they tether them next to the road so they will get used to being close to traffic. Really hate to see it though, they must struggle to get much sleep, and sometimes the amount of traffic going past them is insane. A big lorry wizzing past is going to scare anybody.

 

[Orca]

When I first saw tethered horses, I baulked at the concept but on consideration, they were relaxed, looked healthy and well cared for, with no tether injuries.

I've seen horses in fields in worse states, to be honest.

 

[MissTyc]

I see a lot of tethered horses and ponies. They generally get moved around to fresh grass regularly, have access to water - rugs on and off according to the weather. I imagine they are used to it as some are foals. It's all they know, they think that's how horses live and they seem as happy as any other.

Poor care can occur in many different settings, and with horses it is often neglect (dumped in fields) or kept in boxes 24/7 that is problematic.

 

[Princess16]

Gotta say after driving past the last couple of days they do look well cared for - good weights, rugs on and hay on floor so maybe they're not all bad as people usually think of travellers.

 

[honetpot]

I think most forms of confining horses can be cruel and that include keeping them in loose boxes if they have little food and company. When I was a child horses on the farm were still kept in stalls, went to the water trough three times a day and had a bucket overnight, I think only the army keep them that way now.
We have a lot of traveller ponies kept near us tethered and they always look in good condition , the ones that are poor have usually been dumped. Most travellers who still keep ponies like them well covered, my neighbour agrees he keeps his on the fat side.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

I think most forms of confining horses can be cruel and that include keeping them in loose boxes if they have little food and company. When I was a child horses on the farm were still kept in stalls, went to the water trough three times a day and had a bucket overnight, I think only the army keep them that way now.
We have a lot of traveller ponies kept near us tethered and they always look in good condition , the ones that are poor have usually been dumped. Most travellers who still keep ponies like them well covered, my neighbour agrees he keeps his on the fat side.

I digress here but if you could accommodate a bucket overnight in their stalls, why didn't you just give them a bucket for the day also?

 

[Pedantic]

Do they actually care about anything ever except themselves, funny how the police apply this "selective" law enforcement approach.

 

[rachk89]

Gotta
say after driving past the last couple of days they do look well cared for - good weights, rugs on and hay people usually think of travellers.

No not all travellers are horrible people. Only a minority are like how a minority of British people are jerks. I have no issue with them feel sorry for them really as most British people behave horribly to them.

 

[honetpot]

I suppose because when they went to the trough they had a long drink. I am talking the old fashioned thick metal buckets so it they knocked one over it didn't break, I was only a child and I think the bigger horses had two.
There was a sloping cobbled floor so the wet ran into a gully at the back. The stalls that the plough horses had used had a 'swinging bale' a wooden partition on chains so they did not get cast.

 

[eggs]

I remember the swinging bale and also their was a long rope clipped to the halter which had a wooden ball at the end of it to stop the rope looping and the horse getting a leg caught over it.

 

[laura_nash]

I remember the swinging bale and also their was a long rope clipped to the halter which had a wooden ball at the end of it to stop the rope looping and the horse getting a leg caught over it.

They had those at the trekking centre I used to work at, in the stalls where the trekking ponies stayed when they were in for work during the day. Very clever I thought.

I've seen very well kept, happy tethered horses with some gypsy's who used to come by a couple of times a year to our village when we lived in Somerset. I imagine its a fairly good life really, lots of gentle exercise and changes of scenery.

I've also seen some very dangerous tethering of horses, including one obnoxious group in Leeds (who used to come and throw stones at the horses in the stables where I worked). I remember once an un-gelded colt of theirs getting lose with a chain dragging and trying to mount a mare amongst a group I was hacking out with.

There are tethered horses on the rough land on the way into Galway here, some don't look too bad and are rugged, fed etc, others are standing in a circle of mud having obviously not been moved for days.

 

[russianhorse]

To be fair, it's probably best being tethered, if my traditional is anything to go by

I have to keep him in at night, because he escapes and tonight he decided to leave his field to venture for more tasty long grass. These blighters aren't easy to contain, so I've found out 😩

 

[honetpot]

I remember the swinging bale and also their was a long rope clipped to the halter which had a wooden ball at the end of it to stop the rope looping and the horse getting a leg caught over it.

Ah, we used to call it a noggin. I managed to buy one from old Sandon saddlery, never seen a before or since and I have never used it.

 

[FfionWinnie]

Do they tether a lot in Ireland? My cob, which I bought from Ireland, is so safe in traffic, I've always wondered how this was achieved. I expect she has been tethered, she certainly would never fight against being tied up, whatever occurred, so she has learned that lesson somehow.

It is not something I've ever seen in Scotland.

 

[Equi]

If they are kept safe (i.e. not tethered so close to traffic they risk whiplash!) and checked several times a day for water etc then i have no issue with tethering. The only thing is that the land is usually not theirs lol

My ponies are all right beside the road, and the lane up the side is always full of heavy plant so they are all pretty much traffic proofed. It definetly works.

 

[FfionWinnie]

I would think tethering works better than them just being in a field beside a road because it recreates the same trapped feeling they get under saddle in that situation almost exactly.

My cob is exceptional with any sort of heavy traffic passing at any speed very close to us. So tethering as a youngster near traffic would be the answer my question I think.

 

[Princess16]

They have now gone but there is a FB page on them. Pete the grandfather is well respected, they leave the sites where they stay immaculate leaving no rubbish behind. They make and sell handcrafts and Pete organises festivals. The children are all home schooled and the Education Authority checks up on them regularly, in fact they are very bright kids.

Pete has a stallion from which he has bred and now has 8 horses who he has a great passion for. I could see they were well looked after myself.

Everyone who has met them has said how friendly and polite they are.

Just goes to show how people's perceptions of travellers are sometimes so wrong ! Me included to my shame :-(

 

[laura_nash]

Do they tether a lot in Ireland?

I can only speak for the bit of Ireland I'm in, but I wouldn't say they tether a lot generally. Most of the horses around here are either showjumpers / hunters that are stabled or turned out in post and rail, well kept paddocks or broodmares / youngstock owned primarily by farmers and living out semi-wild in normal farm fields.

There is one tethered horse locally (living in the grounds of a derelict house) which is fairly well kept (plenty of hay, water etc) but the place is chock full of ragwort. Other than that just the ones on the rough ground on the way into Galway, don't know if it is lots of different people or one particular group. As I said some seem well kept and others not so much.