This poor horse

Jeezus! Well done you for spotting it, and doing something.
As there isn't a sign up explaining the condition of these horses, you have to assume the worst! Email these pics to WHW and the RSPCA and hopefully they'll make it a priority.


Did you see any water in their field? There could be explanations as to the state of them, such as the horses might have been recently rescued or this little person could be suffering from something and is being veterinary treated, but I would have thought if that was the case, there'd be a notice up explaining the condition, so members of the public didn't assume what looks like obvious starvation and neglect...
 
Does seem strange that the paddock is poo picked and ragworted (and yes I know there is ragwort there but not a huge amount) and yet this horse is so underweight which does, IMO, lean towards this horse being ill. However, I would expect that if it had been ill or rescued they would have a rug on it keeping it warm at the very least?
 
lubuzz said:
Maybe if someone had taken them of your poor horse a few months ago it could of prevented her from looking the same way, albeit she wasnt quite as bad.

I dont think you are in any position to make comments like that on weight and other people interfereing and taking photos. It might save this ponys life.
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sharp answer, but I was thinking the same as I read the comment. Well said. J&L it is far better to report such an incident and find out that the horse is already being cared for than to bury one's head in the sand - ostrich style.
 
Sharp Intake of breath at those pics :( If your horse was as poor/ ill as this..you would be nursing him in a stable , or a small private paddock where he didn't have to compete for grazing at the very least, with constant access to nourishing feed...doesn't make any sense why he is turned out like a 'normal' horse...mind you, with some of the ignorant morons around, some of who have asked me for advice on their horse recently (poor thing wouldn't lift his head, had no spirit, not as poor as this but obviously a very old weak lad..and the advice given by morons even more moronic mother was to 'tap him on the nose if he won't walk with you, he is trying it on :( ) nothing would surprise me in horses now :(

Hope the facts of this case come out, I can't in all honesty , see why the horse in the OP is turned out like that, if the owner is aware of how poor he is or not...no excuse.

I ended up calling the vet myself to the poor old lad I was asked to see...they only asked me because they were still trying to ride the poor thing and didn't know why he wouldn't move! Whatever the sensibilities involved in horses, I would do the same as the OP without any hesitation. A horse looking this poor is what matters to me and most horse lovers..not the politics and sensitivities of the owner..if a reasonable, caring person she would understand peoples concerns, seeing as the very poor looking horse is turned out in public view! Depending where in the country this little unfortunate is, HAPPA is the best horse welfare group in my experience, and will drop everything to come out same day.
 
For those of you that remember Carrot and Spud, the horses were as thin as this but the RSPCA did NOTHING until there was a huge outcry on here! Let's get cracking again. What area is this and, if the RSPCA do not get onto this, then it will be a case of contacting some other horse welfare organisations, press, MPs etc. some may think this is OTT but it literally saved the lives of Carrot and Spud. Members of this forum actually went to the field and offered assistance. We are a great lot en mass!!!

Obviously there is the possibility that the horse has just been rescued as others have said, but if that if the case it shouldn't be out unrugged in that condition, but receiving some proper rehabilitation.
 
those pictures are painful to look at:(
Keep on top of it OP, pester every welfare group and organisation that you can until something is done, and if it needs the HHO massive to kick up a fuss i don't think you'll have a problem getting volunteers!
 
Maybe, next to the big sign on the gate saying the owner is into NH, there could (should) be an equally visible sign giving a valid reason for the condition of that particular horse and that it is under the care of a vet (with number to confirm)?

I have to say the pictures show a section of good fencing, and what appears to be a well-maintained property. I can't actually see any ragwort, which should be flowering now?
 
Poor horse, what terrible condition :(

Well donr OP for contacting WHW and RSPCA. As been suggested, could you email the pics to them or other welfare places?

Hope that something will be done for the horse.
 
That is disgusting, that poor poor horse! How on earth has it been in the field like that for so long without anyone doing anything about it?! It takes time for a horse to get that bad...bless him :(
 
fidleyspromise said:
Its possible they'll have to investigaste and see if there are any underlying treatments for this, if horse is being treated by a vet etc. It could possibly have been recently purchased? Have they recently appeared in the field?

That is just a rack of bones and hopefully something will be done for the poor creature, especially if there's tons of ragwort and no grass. Not sure why anyone would advertise that they do natural horsemanship on a gate though.

Keep in touch and let us know what happens with it.
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Bleddy hell! I agree with this but if my horse were in this condition due to medical issues it would be put to sleep. Hopefully it may have been recently purchased and is under medical and vet supervision.

Can you find out who owns them? Definately report because at least if there is any, significant reason that the horse is like that then moves will be made to monitor and rectify. Poor horse though, I bet it is painful just to lie down on a body like that, does it have a shelter and a bed to to lie down on?
 
From the back ground the fields and stables look quite tidy and grass not that bad from the pics.Just the bag of bones horse is awful. Are the other horses like this too?

Would love to know how old it is... firstly? If its got any teeth in its head? Is it age related and the owner cant bear to have it PTS?

But if its a case of blatent neglect would the police not get the RSPCA etc down quicker?

Ps I think its right to post the pics as its having a duty to care.
 
lubuzz said:
Well if i recall correctly it did happen to her!! Admittadly SHE took the photos herself and posted them, thinking how well her horse was looking, when it reality it was another poor old hat rack. Disgusting.
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Her mare NEVER looked like this. Wrap up!
 
Does look in a bad way, poor thing.

I think I would have tried to find out a bit more before posting and getting everyone to jump off the deep end.

There may well be an explanation for the condition and it may well be being treated.

Personally, I would have tried to speak to the person in charge of it before making too many assumptions which may be way off the mark.

However, if I thought it was a neglect/abuse case I would report it.
 


Aww bless him, he is in a pretty bad way isnt he?!

Although it should be remembered that there are 2 sides to every story...I know a pony who looks very similar to that in weight, hes about 36 and is constantly being checked by vets who continue to give him the all clear and put his weight issue purely down to his teeth...or lack of!!

It would be extremely interesting to find out how old this particular horse is.
However I do agree it was in his best interests to report it...better to seek forgiveness than ask permission I say!
 
My rescue horse looked like this. I was always scared someone would report me until i could get some weight on him. I did put a sign on my gate with phone number if anyone wanted to contact me regarding the horse happy to talk. I didnt get one phone call until he was better and put loads of weight on phone rang of the hook telling me how well i done and how good he looked made me feel so proud. I hope something can be done for this poor horse to be honest i think it has a major health problem.
 
Of course lots of horses can be rescues and if so there is nothing to hide from a visit from a welfare org is there? Otherwise, I'm sorry, unless I knew the people personally I would report (People can lie). Unless that horse has a decent bed to lie down in, medical or recently rescued or not then it must be bloody painful to lie down on hard ground and short grass.
 
I would report it without a second thought and probably pay a visit to the owner if I could find them too. If it is a rescue or is being treated by a vet then they won't get into any trouble but it seems a bit too unlikely as others have said you would expect a horse in this condition to be stabled with short periods of individual turnout and careful feeding. And if its been there for three years!? Poor thing is in a dreadful state, it makes me sick to think this has been caused by neglect. A few comments have been made about there not being 'much' ragwort in the field. IMO there is NO excuse for a horse owner to allow there to be ANY ragwort in a field grazed by horses ever, COME ON! I feel my blood boil when driving along I see horses with ragwort in their fields. Any horse owner that leaves ragwort in a field with their horses grazing is no better than one that starved or neglects their horse! :mad:
 
We cared for an old horse (27) while his owner worked abroad, in his last year he lost condition and his weight yo yoed, his appearance changed from day to day, but he looked like the horse in the photos much of the time.
He was monitored by the vet, but was still enjoying life, eating like a horse, albeit slowly, having a roll in the mud, following his friends round the field and going for a walk down the bridlepath, when his owner returned, she was shocked by his appearance, but had to admit he changed daily, it was agreed that he was unlikely to survive another winter, but we would let him enjoy the rest of the summer, the day he was PTS he enjoyed a meal of his favourite foods, had a roll and was in the field with his friends, he went quietly surrounded by those that loved him.
I could be wrong but my first thought was that's an old horse
 
flirtygerty said:
We cared for an old horse (27) while his owner worked abroad, in his last year he lost condition and his weight yo yoed, his appearance changed from day to day, but he looked like the horse in the photos much of the time.
He was monitored by the vet, but was still enjoying life, eating like a horse, albeit slowly, having a roll in the mud, following his friends round the field and going for a walk down the bridlepath, when his owner returned, she was shocked by his appearance, but had to admit he changed daily, it was agreed that he was unlikely to survive another winter, but we would let him enjoy the rest of the summer, the day he was PTS he enjoyed a meal of his favourite foods, had a roll and was in the field with his friends, he went quietly surrounded by those that loved him.
I could be wrong but my first thought was that's an old horse
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So your old horse looked like that???? Are you justifying it?? None of mine would get to that extent. Disgusting and cruel.
 
My first thoughts were perhaps they have rescued it, with them being a natural horsemanship place but then thought hmmm surely you would rug it so all its food went to fat rather than heat... then saw you said 3 yrs :-( absolutely disgusting!

Poor poor horse!! Well done for reporting, lets hope something is done immediately!! No horse should ever look like that even if its being monitored by a Vet, thats gone too far! xXxx
 
Well done you for having the compassion to go back & check on him. A good owner would have nothing to fear from a visit. Please keep this thread updated with any feedback/news you get from RSPCA or WHW. Unfortunately their first step is to meet with owner, which can take weeks (experience having reported a vastly underweight horse myself which died 2 weeks after they met with owner & proclaimed himto be ok). Don't give up, if he doesn't improve keep reporting it, there is no reason for being so undeweight. If he were looking like this in Egypt we'd be horrified, so that it's in the uk doesn't make it acceptable.
 
AshTay said:
Do you know how long they've been there? They look to have a reasonable amount of grass (I've seen fields with much less than that) and the grazing looks pretty clean from the angles of the photos so maybe they've been rescued already from somewhere else or this particular horse has a problem and is already under the care of a vet, hence not been removed.
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exactly what I was about to type

x
 
The rspca have given an update and said we did the right thing by calling them, the horse will be taken if the owner doesn't come up with proof that the horse is being treated by a vet. even though the owner had said its not been seen by a vet for over a year. there is lots of ragwort in the field, all in the corners and in flower.
 
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