Btomkins
Well-Known Member
I feel like I just need to get this out, so sorry for the long depressing post...
Today I spent most of my time on the phone to the RSPCA and various horse rescue charities. A few years ago I attended a riding school that tbh, was not the best, but they looked after their horses and made the riders that attended happy. It was always a little run down and the horses sometimes had to wait a little long for the farrier etc but there wasn't any cruelty.
Fast forward a few years and things have been gradually getting worse. There is only the owner, who has the best intentions, but everything has got on top of her. Gradually the horses care has gotten worse, to the point of being non existent.
The horses are stables in their own muck for weeks on end with out being mucked out. They do not always have access to clean water, or water at all for that matter. They are seriously undernourished to the point you can see every bone in their body - I would rate their body condition score at zero - and yet they are still being ridden. They havent see the farrier/dentist/vet in god knows how long. She does not have the funds to get the vet out, let alone treat her animals or have them put down properly. There is a horse with severe lymphangitous that has a leg swollen to 4 times the size it should be with no treatment. They are just being left to suffer and die a slow painful death. The list goes on but I can't continue
So it has now all come to a head and I have discovered that 4 horses have died there in as many weeks over Xmas
This includes my old favourite, whom I had offered to buy time and time again to get him out of this situation, as I knew the inevitable would happen...and I was right. Unfortunately the owner is very stubborn, and will NOT accept help from anyone else. She rescued a lot of these horses from bad situations in the first place and she has it stuck in her head that if they go else where they will end up worse off - god knows how she thinks this any more!
Any way i know that there is a lot of bad press about the RSPCA ATM, but they are really the only people with any powers to actually force her to do something. The other charities may offer to help or take some horses from her, but I know that she is far too proud to accept help. I have also contacted the local rest home for horses and they are going to try their best to get involved. The local riding inspector has been recently and pulled them off the ABRS list and she is the one that has alerted me to the awful state of the place, as she thought I ought to know.
It has been hard for me to report her, as I feel very loyal and I know that this will upset her so much, but I can't see any other option. 4 horses have died in the past 4 weeks due to various reasons, and yet they are still not receiving proper treatment or a decent amount of feed. I have other sources that have been there and from what I have heard, my old favourite horse died from
Lack of care and malnutrition - and he was even ridden in this state 3 weeks before he died in that condition
Once again, sorry for the depressing post, and any advice on anything else I can do would be greatly appreciated.
Today I spent most of my time on the phone to the RSPCA and various horse rescue charities. A few years ago I attended a riding school that tbh, was not the best, but they looked after their horses and made the riders that attended happy. It was always a little run down and the horses sometimes had to wait a little long for the farrier etc but there wasn't any cruelty.
Fast forward a few years and things have been gradually getting worse. There is only the owner, who has the best intentions, but everything has got on top of her. Gradually the horses care has gotten worse, to the point of being non existent.
The horses are stables in their own muck for weeks on end with out being mucked out. They do not always have access to clean water, or water at all for that matter. They are seriously undernourished to the point you can see every bone in their body - I would rate their body condition score at zero - and yet they are still being ridden. They havent see the farrier/dentist/vet in god knows how long. She does not have the funds to get the vet out, let alone treat her animals or have them put down properly. There is a horse with severe lymphangitous that has a leg swollen to 4 times the size it should be with no treatment. They are just being left to suffer and die a slow painful death. The list goes on but I can't continue
So it has now all come to a head and I have discovered that 4 horses have died there in as many weeks over Xmas
This includes my old favourite, whom I had offered to buy time and time again to get him out of this situation, as I knew the inevitable would happen...and I was right. Unfortunately the owner is very stubborn, and will NOT accept help from anyone else. She rescued a lot of these horses from bad situations in the first place and she has it stuck in her head that if they go else where they will end up worse off - god knows how she thinks this any more!
Any way i know that there is a lot of bad press about the RSPCA ATM, but they are really the only people with any powers to actually force her to do something. The other charities may offer to help or take some horses from her, but I know that she is far too proud to accept help. I have also contacted the local rest home for horses and they are going to try their best to get involved. The local riding inspector has been recently and pulled them off the ABRS list and she is the one that has alerted me to the awful state of the place, as she thought I ought to know.
It has been hard for me to report her, as I feel very loyal and I know that this will upset her so much, but I can't see any other option. 4 horses have died in the past 4 weeks due to various reasons, and yet they are still not receiving proper treatment or a decent amount of feed. I have other sources that have been there and from what I have heard, my old favourite horse died from
Lack of care and malnutrition - and he was even ridden in this state 3 weeks before he died in that condition
Once again, sorry for the depressing post, and any advice on anything else I can do would be greatly appreciated.
