This is unbelievable - pic

Chavhorse said:
As long as I had good documentary evidence of before and after and reliable witness statements then Yes I would (I am though a vindictive sod!).

If not BHS registered then not sure who to report to. I would go to a solicitor and get a letter sent to ask for livery money back unless you know a friendly journalist on the local paper!

Also remember that revenge is really best eaten cold......I moved from a livery yard the day I caught the YO hitting my 3 year old round the face with a lunge cavesson till his teeth rattled, and she insisted on a months notice, I had to pay as she had put a lock on his stabledoor and I just wanted him out of there...all in all a bloody traumatic day.

Now her OH had Just finished building a new block of stables and had happily posed for pictures and video as he gave he-man poses holding up planks of wood and hanging off ladders.....the satisfaction of sending the footage off to the Dept of Works 6 months later who had had him on incapacity benefit for the previous 8 years due to his bad back was wonderful, even better was reading the report in the local paper of the courtcase.

*crawls back under stone"
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Oh jees! Not good to hear about your poor horse. Excellent revenge though. Its so sad what can happen.
 
Irrespective of whether the yard is BHS approved report this.

Report it to trading standards as the service is not of the standard advertised, and report it to the BHS welfare department and ask them to check the care of the horses on the premises. I can't believe that this is an isolated incident and action needs to be taken to stop the safe fate befalling another horse.
 
Katt said:
Irrespective of whether the yard is BHS approved report this.

Report it to trading standards as the service is not of the standard advertised, and report it to the BHS welfare department and ask them to check the care of the horses on the premises. I can't believe that this is an isolated incident and action needs to be taken to stop the safe fate befalling another horse.
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I feel I am partly to blame. If its her teeth that have contributed to this then I should have done something. It was a yr ago since they were checked maybe it that. Mayeb she is ill and its come on all of a sudden. I don't know.
 
Completley off topic but your horse is the spitting image of a mare i used to loan...what's she called??
 
Even so they should have noticed her condition and either contacted you or got the vet out. You pay full livery for them to look after your horse, and they owe your horse a duty of care. Get her all checked out and put your mind at rest but for the sake of other horses report this incident!
 
What is it with some people who own good doers, not realising properly exactly how much a non good doer can loose weight? It's an all too common mistake. Tb's, for example, have hollow legs, especially the older ones.

Well done for taking immediate action and moving her. I take my hat off to you.

Must say though, and please don't take it the wrong way, owning a divvy Tb myself, I know exactly what their upkeep entails, be careful with her getting too hot, if they overheat in a rug, they are trapped in it.

I'd report to BHS with the before and after pictures.
 
Chavhorse said:
As long as I had good documentary evidence of before and after and reliable witness statements then Yes I would (I am though a vindictive sod!).

If not BHS registered then not sure who to report to. I would go to a solicitor and get a letter sent to ask for livery money back unless you know a friendly journalist on the local paper!

Also remember that revenge is really best eaten cold......I moved from a livery yard the day I caught the YO hitting my 3 year old round the face with a lunge cavesson till his teeth rattled, and she insisted on a months notice, I had to pay as she had put a lock on his stabledoor and I just wanted him out of there...all in all a bloody traumatic day.

Now her OH had Just finished building a new block of stables and had happily posed for pictures and video as he gave he-man poses holding up planks of wood and hanging off ladders.....the satisfaction of sending the footage off to the Dept of Works 6 months later who had had him on incapacity benefit for the previous 8 years due to his bad back was wonderful, even better was reading the report in the local paper of the courtcase.

*crawls back under stone"
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Ha Ha good for you..although I would have cropped the bolt off and left them a cheque for £20 to replace it.
 
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Don't stress to much over her weight, it probably is just down to lack of care & its amazing how quickly they can drop weight. I made the mistake of loaning my 21 yr old Arab out last year, & i wont make that mistake again!! Slightly different circumstances to yours i know, but just to show you how quickly weight can drop, these people had had him just under a month, i went to visit him after they had him 2 weeks, he'd dropped a little bit of weight, which i did express my concern at, i then had a call to say they didn't want him 2weeks after i visited him & this is what we went & collected!!! I would also like to point out that he was being kept on a really posh yard as well, the yard owner had my contact details & not once did she try & contact me to let me know how bad my boy was, in fact she was also the riding instructor & was allowing him to be used in lessons....the mind boggles!!!

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(yes i know there's ragwort in the background, that was part of the yard not the field so no access was had by the horses & we were in the middle of clearing it all)

This horse is also a good doer, we usually make jokes about him having triplets!! This is him this year!

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Ive had this horse 8 years & never had problems with his weight! I'm sure yours will be fine with time & lots of TLC from you, i know how your feeling at the mo, so have a hug!!
 
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A reputable livery yard in Kent did this to my 4 year old when he was on full livery because I could not get down to check on him as I was in a wheelchair for 4 months following a serious accident.
I had to move him to Scotland and Eric Gillies almost did not take him because of his condition. I was paying over £100. we later discovered that the reason he was so thin was the livery owner a lazy fat lump called Louise was not replenishing his water daily, as the horse dunked evey mouthful of hay in his water bucket, he was reluctant to drink the water. With no hydration he was then unable to eat hay. The woman said horse would eat his hay!!!
I reported her to the BHS and she got a visit and her application for BHS approval thrown out. My poor horse took ages to gain weight. The next livery yard (a highly respected local place), refused to rug him up adequately despite my requests that he was thin ( I supplied rugs) as she thought he needed to toughen up! and the next place (also in the same region) only brought my horse in to feed when they heard from me to say I was coming up to see him. When I complained about apparently not having a stable or a written contract ( he was on full stabled livery - yet I found school horses in on his bed) I was thrown of the yard at three days notice and YO told me that he would tie my horse to the front gate!!!!!!!
Needless to say I reported them to the BHS too.
Sadly after this horrendous experience of livery in the region where I live ( PM me if you wish to know names and yards) I was forced by circumstances to sell my beautiful horse for a pittance of what he was worth ( he is I must say in a wonderful home for life now) - but I would rather not have lost him in the first place.
Full livery can be a minefield indeed

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Berkeley said:
Ok the convseration was as follows:

Me "Can I speak to you please?"
Her "Why?"
Me "I am concerned about my horse's weight. She has not been given the correct rugs. She is getting on a bit and not a good doer like your horse. I want the mid weight on her. Its very warm and waterproof."
Her "No, its too hot, she will sweat and its not right for her, its too hot"
Me " let me take that risk. Its my decision to make. I want it on. I also want her in by day to eat plenty of hay and I need her feed increased"
Her " I don't like the way you are speaking to me, you are rude and I don't like it"
Me "I think its time we call it a day, this can't go on"
Her "Fine, I *****ing hate you anyway, you are rude and I don't like it. I want 4 weeks notice before you leave"

I walked off the yard on Saturday and took her away today.
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Oh God thats just the kind of converstions I got.............. Glad you stood up to them, it heartbreaking when people do this to your horse and it can put you in a very difficult situation when you are vulnerable as I was ( disabled) or you live in an area with few alternatives. Hope things are better now.
 
OP. you've gone from soundign really angry to sounding like you're now questioning whether it is all their fault or whether you should have noticed a problem (that might or might not exist) before. Don't beat yourself up, it's not your fault at all. You paid these people very good money to make sure your horse is looked after, it's their fault not yours. EVEN IF (and I doubt very much that she has) she does have a problem with teeth and/or illness any decent yard would have noticed her weightloss and taken steps to address it and then let you know as soon as you got back from holiday. I would keep an eye on her for a few days before getting the vet out. She might pick up really well - I hope she does.

My boy was on schooling livery for just 5 days when I was away. He went lame on day 2 vet was called and abcess dealt with before I got back. First I knew of it was a text the day I was due home. YO didn't want to ruin my holiday (but I know he would have phoned if it was really serious) There's no way he would have been left. That's what we pay for - especially when they know we are out of the country.
 
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Goodness, how awful to find your horse in that state. :(

I hope you can get to the bottom of it and that he starts getting better soon.

I remember being at a yard where there was a pony tied up for four hours with no hay or water, the rope got tangled between his legs and I wasn't allowed to un-tangle it, or give him his haynet/water. The standard of care at this yard wasn't particularly high and I left after a few weeks, this was also due to problems with the YO.
 
I just feel awfully guilty that I wasn't there for my girl. i was unhappy last winter with the level of care and general standards. Looking at my new yard I can't believe how filthy the last one was. you don't realise until you experience something else.

The yard I have moved to has txt me 3 times tody to keep me uptodate which is great. They have put her on an Equi-jewel program which should work wonders. They seem to know what they are doing. She now has her own field, a bale of hay per day, 2 feeds and lots of water with company from other horses around her. I feel allot better.

To be honest, she doesn't really seem to care at all!

Fingers crossed!!
 
The new yard sounds fab and I agree with Anna, don't beat yourself up, you paid for and were expecting her care and you trusted the yard she was at. At least now she's out and getting looked after by the new yard. Well done for acting quickly though, that's the main thing. :)
 
navaho said:
Don't stress to much over her weight, it probably is just down to lack of care & its amazing how quickly they can drop weight. I made the mistake of loaning my 21 yr old Arab out last year, & i wont make that mistake again!! Slightly different circumstances to yours i know, but just to show you how quickly weight can drop, these people had had him just under a month, i went to visit him after they had him 2 weeks, he'd dropped a little bit of weight, which i did express my concern at, i then had a call to say they didn't want him 2weeks after i visited him & this is what we went & collected!!! I would also like to point out that he was being kept on a really posh yard as well, the yard owner had my contact details & not once did she try & contact me to let me know how bad my boy was, in fact she was also the riding instructor & was allowing him to be used in lessons....the mind boggles!!!

P1020901.jpg


(yes i know there's ragwort in the background, that was part of the yard not the field so no access was had by the horses & we were in the middle of clearing it all)

This horse is also a good doer, we usually make jokes about him having triplets!! This is him this year!

246-1.jpg


Ive had this horse 8 years & never had problems with his weight! I'm sure yours will be fine with time & lots of TLC from you, i know how your feeling at the mo, so have a hug!!
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Looks the same as my TB at the moment. Its makes me feel sick!!
 
IMO, you've done just thie right thing moving her, and you've every right to be angry. Please get the vet/dentist out and get them to document what they find. It might be nothing more than lack of adequate care (which I suspect) or it might be something else, but at least you'll know where you stand and what you need to do to get her back on her feet.

Once you know that, go in like a sledge hammer with TS/BHS/etc to get the woman closed down. makes me really angry when things like this happen. IMO its good reason for EVERY yard to be registered and checked.
 
i totally know how you feel.
last yard, my horses were on full livery. little matrix had been there a year or so with no problem. they also had a riding school.
out grew matrix, got cloud, and things went wrong, she was left in a muddy field with no hay or feed, and no excersise so she was nutty when i went to ride her. matrix was getting worse, and got ill eventually,
we knew something was horribly wrong, so moved cloud. but matrix wasnt in a position to be moved just then...
cloud had a worm count of over 200, was underweight and miserable :(
and matrix, poor little matrix had been hit, used n their riding school without pemision, had heavy riders on him, and a warm count of 2500- which they ahd charged us all for worming, feed etc. he now has arthritic hocks, and a tender back, and two years later has only really got over it all. it is disgusting, and i felt guilty for a long time. but we both paid good money, and trusted people, and they let us down, i hope your mare has a fab time at the new yard.
some people dont deserve to even be near a horse :mad:
 
I'd be asking for my money back!! They didnt provide the service they should have been and the money now needs to go on more hay, extra feed, and anything else she needs to make a full recovery!

Glad to hear that shes now been moved though.
 
is there nto a professional body you can report these "carers" to - omg im disgusted!!!!!!!!!!1
I would do anything i could to name and shame, stop other horses and owners trusting these "people" - local newpapers whatever - poor horse and you - i am so so sorry xxx
 
I went to see her last night. She was munching away on grass. I called her name as I walked up and the silly mare couldn't spot me at first and started running around the field in search (she had her fly mask on!).

She had her rug off, it was still warm and the sun on her back will do her good. I could see she had eaten loads of hay which was scattered in big piles round her field.

She starts on Equi-Jewel today so hoping it won't be long now. I will take her for a little hack with another horse on Saturday just to get her familiar with her new surroundings. Bless her heart.
 
I do wonder what full livery yard you were at before. Could you please PM the name of the yard or at least the area. I had my horses at a full livery yard quite a few years back now and experienced similar problems. YO refused to put on my horses rugs as they apparently didn’t fit them. As I have a 17hh and 16.1hh she said I should be going by the guides they give in the back of magazines. Said my 17hh who is in a 6’3 stable and 6’6 turnout should be in 6’9 plus rugs and the 16.1 who is in 6’0 stable and 6’3 turnout in 6’6 rugs. They are both TBs so not little chunkies or anything. All of my rugs were apparently too small and YO refused to put them on as it was cruel to the horses but she would buy my mediumweight stable rugs off of me for £15 each as they fitted her horses! She had already tried them on too! Even offering to buy brand new fal rugs that I had bought weeks before for a pittance as apparently they didn’t fit either despite her being there when I tried them on the 2 TBs and her commenting on how nice they were and how well they fitted.

I had doubts that they were being fed as my 17hher was dropping weight and despite me supplying Blue Chip on top for all 4 horses (feed was supposed to be included in the cost) I doubt that it was fed to my horses. The day after I went on holiday she rang my mum to tell her that she thought my 17hher had liver disease and was in a bad way. She doubted that he would survive the weekend and this was her way of explaining the weight loss in him.

I was slowly replacing my rugs as I was worried that with 2 veteran TBs in their late teens and early 20s that the rugs were not doing their job. So bought 2 new rugs from the horse shop the day after I got back from holiday and was so excited with my purchases that I went to the yard quite late and decided to try them on. Got there to find no electric at all and both my stables empty and them out in the field. By this point it was about late October/early November time and she had them out in lightweight sheets as she was now refusing to put on my mediumweight turnouts also didn’t fit.

As I have a bit of a temper when it comes to my horses not being treated well my mum who is far more diplomatic took over and asked where the horses were and that we visited. She was met with a load of abuse and I had to up and move the horses asap. Tried to demand more livery money. My mum hadn’t informed me of my horses apparent liver disease at this point but had bought him some red cell to try to help him pick up a bit while I was on holiday. In the 2 weeks I was away she had gone through a big tub of it so she was either over feeding it to him (which can lead to poisoning) or feeding it to everyone else and her dogs! When my mum took it down to the yard her partner did comment on how it was good stuff and worked wonders on dogs. If I had had more evidence I would have reported her.
 
Flash_28 said:
I do wonder what full livery yard you were at before. Could you please PM the name of the yard or at least the area. I had my horses at a full livery yard quite a few years back now and experienced similar problems. YO refused to put on my horses rugs as they apparently didn’t fit them. As I have a 17hh and 16.1hh she said I should be going by the guides they give in the back of magazines. Said my 17hh who is in a 6’3 stable and 6’6 turnout should be in 6’9 plus rugs and the 16.1 who is in 6’0 stable and 6’3 turnout in 6’6 rugs. They are both TBs so not little chunkies or anything. All of my rugs were apparently too small and YO refused to put them on as it was cruel to the horses but she would buy my mediumweight stable rugs off of me for £15 each as they fitted her horses! She had already tried them on too! Even offering to buy brand new fal rugs that I had bought weeks before for a pittance as apparently they didn’t fit either despite her being there when I tried them on the 2 TBs and her commenting on how nice they were and how well they fitted.

I had doubts that they were being fed as my 17hher was dropping weight and despite me supplying Blue Chip on top for all 4 horses (feed was supposed to be included in the cost) I doubt that it was fed to my horses. The day after I went on holiday she rang my mum to tell her that she thought my 17hher had liver disease and was in a bad way. She doubted that he would survive the weekend and this was her way of explaining the weight loss in him.

I was slowly replacing my rugs as I was worried that with 2 veteran TBs in their late teens and early 20s that the rugs were not doing their job. So bought 2 new rugs from the horse shop the day after I got back from holiday and was so excited with my purchases that I went to the yard quite late and decided to try them on. Got there to find no electric at all and both my stables empty and them out in the field. By this point it was about late October/early November time and she had them out in lightweight sheets as she was now refusing to put on my mediumweight turnouts also didn’t fit.

As I have a bit of a temper when it comes to my horses not being treated well my mum who is far more diplomatic took over and asked where the horses were and that we visited. She was met with a load of abuse and I had to up and move the horses asap. Tried to demand more livery money. My mum hadn’t informed me of my horses apparent liver disease at this point but had bought him some red cell to try to help him pick up a bit while I was on holiday. In the 2 weeks I was away she had gone through a big tub of it so she was either over feeding it to him (which can lead to poisoning) or feeding it to everyone else and her dogs! When my mum took it down to the yard her partner did comment on how it was good stuff and worked wonders on dogs. If I had had more evidence I would have reported her.
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I have PM'd you.
 
Trouble with these semi DIY yards is that they play on the ignorance of the owners.It takes time to acquire "the eye of the feeder". I knew of one Kent yard that had an old horse in on part DIY livery,it was about 14.3, it got turned out every day in a very exposed area,and it`s hay ration PER NIGHT was TWO slices,plus a scoop of chaff.Surprisingly it got very thin,it`s novice owners had never heard of weighing hay nets or amounts required for that size animal..as for shorts,well then of course they could`nt manage it either..so it got none.That "yard" was off the M20 not far from Hawkinge.It was ,however,extremely cheap! :D
Thank God I have my own land and feeding is down to me alone!
 
glad shes looking better now , good job you you didnt leave it anyfurther all livery yards should be licenced and regulated even basic stuff ,its hard though because you cant really do anything , you did best thing and moved her just ignore them
 
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