Was I interfering or was she being irresponsible?

Demolition_Derby

Demolition_Derby

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There is a woman at my yard who has two horses. I get on ok with her although I think her behaviour is a little foolish at times
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(such as riding in the pitch black with no hi-viz clothing etc and I have posted about that before). She has owned both these horses for a year and before that she had weekly riding lessons on a 19yr old cob (that she bought and which is one of her horses now) for about a year or so
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. This mare is so placid and laid back and quite a good horse for her standard of riding. About a month after buying her she bought a 6yr old 17.2 TB
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that had broken down in a race but was sound as a hack (I won’t even start on the fact that she bought this animal which has proved to be completely unsuitable for her
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).

Anyway, to last nights events! When she takes the TB into the yard the cob WALKS up and down the fence neighing. She will happily go and munch for a while then will go back to the gate shout for a few minutes then wander off again. She is not at all ‘distressed’, doesn’t sweat, break into a trot or anything like that. She can also see all the other horses and can touch them over the fence if she wants to
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. Last night the woman decided to take her TB out for a ride round the farm (I will also add here that her husband was leading her on a lead rein as that is only way she will ride him
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I got to the yard to find that she had tied her cob up in the yard whilst she had gone out for a ride
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. She had tied her to a metal post that was cemented into the ground (we use it for hanging haynets to drain) and had tied her directly to it, no string
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etc. The yard is completely isolated as the stables face the back of a barn which is a ‘L’ shape and we walk through another barn to get to the stables so it is literally a square with just four big barns all around. Anyway the mare was so wound up, she was literally dripping with sweat, screaming her head off non-stop and had broken her hooves (she is barefoot anyway but she had been scraping the floor so frantically that she had broken bits of her feet off). I gave her a haynet to try and calm her down whilst I went to find YO but she wasn’t at all interested in it. I found him, he is farmer and doesn’t really know anything about horses but I took him down to the yard and he agreed that she was clearly distressed and that we couldn’t leave her as she was
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. We tried calling the woman’s mobile but there was no answer. We decided to turn her back out in her field. She did trot around at first but settled really quickly and was a lot happier. Anyway, the woman came back and I explained what had happened and she had such a go at me and the farmer, telling us that it was none of our business what she does with her horses and that she is on DIY so no one has the right to touch her horses
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etc. We tried to explain the reasons why we did it and how dangerous it was to leave a horse unattended, especially tied to a metal post but she was having none of it. She was swearing and shouting (more at me than the farmer) that I had interfered with her horse and that the cob was better off in the yard as she hates being in the field on her own.
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I was quite annoyed and actually a bit upset as the horse was so distressed being in the yard and I was trying to do the best thing for it
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. I never give her my opinion and we have our own separate fields etc so I was really surprised that she thought I was interfering
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.

I just wanted to know what you guys think, should I of let her knowing that actually the woman wouldn’t be riding for more than 30/40mins anyway and that at the end of the day, it wasn’t be the death of her or was I right to do what I did? What would you of done in that situation?

Sorry for such a long post, Ben & Jerrys if you got to the end!!!!
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*Takes Ben and Jerrys*
Course you were't interfering, not when the welfare of a horse is at stake. The way she acted was irresponsible and she was probably just feeling guilty because of what she had done, realising the mistake she had made but not wanting to own up to it, so she shouted at you instead. I am someone who hates people interfering, as a 16yo I quite often get adults telling me how to ride or what to do with my horse, but even I think you were well within your rights to do what you did for the horse's best interests. Well done you I say!
 
Sounds ike she doesnt have a clue when it comes to horses, if something had happended to her horse whilst she was out she probably would have kicked off with you for not doing anyhting! Damned if you do, damned if you dont with idiots like that...
 
That's awful! I would have told her she wants to think herself lucky you didn't call the RSPCA!
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What a ridiculous thing to do. Each individual act was irresponsible, never mind the whole lot put together. Grrr. I think you did entirely the right thing. If it were me, I'd have done it then and I'd do it again despite her shouting at me!! Good for you!
 
Trouble is, when you help people, they always turn on you. I have had a bit of a similar thing this week, & sad as it may seem, won't be offering help again, so I would have left it there & got on with my horses.
 
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What did the farmer say? If he had any wit he should have cut her down to size.

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He was trying to explain to her that the horse was really worked up and that he was not happy about her doing what she did but she wasn't listening
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. Also because he knows nothing about horses it was hard for him to really understand and say much. He did stand up for our actions though however I feel it fell on deaf ears
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This is a difficult one because by putting the mare away you've removed the evidence, if you like (a sweating, screaming, distressed mare) and now all the owner would see was a calm, quiet mare happily eating in her paddock, so she may think that you were exaggerating to justify your choice of actions.

If she does this again then I would advise taking a video of the mare, and then waiting with the her until the owner comes back. That way if something truly dreadful happens you're there, and if the mare just continues to sweat/scream/shout then when her owner returns you have all the evidence you need. I would then calmly tell her you have a video of it, and with luck, knowing that someone has a video of her horse who is in distress through her own actions should be enough to make her think twice before doing anything like that again. (It would also be very useful if anything horrible happened to the mare and you need evidence of how it came about.)
 
i agree with chilli dragon above - very good idea! at least then the woman can see the mess she was leaving her horse to get into and it would probably make her think hard about it knowing that you could go to rspca or equivelant with evidence of the horse being left like that!
 
I was once blasted for giving someone's horse water and a slab of hay, when she decided to have a lie in (til 12 pm I hasten to add) Saying he was used to getting his brekkie at this time on a sunday!! WTF people should have to take an intelligence test before being allowed a horse!!
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"the cob was better off in the yard as she hates being in the field on her own"

Not tied to a concrete post with no baler twine or other string attached, she wasn't. I'd have done exactly the same, and would do so again. I care less about upsetting idiot people like this than living with my conscience if something tragic had happened. Hopefully she was embarrassed and on the defensive, and this won't happen again.
 
I totally agree but most people who are dopey enough to tie a horse to a metal pole won't learn their lesson from this. GRRRR!!!! Let's hope she does though. I think the most important thing is that the horse isn't suffering unnecessarily!
 
Its always difficult knowing what to do for the best in these situations but you did what you thought was best for the horse. I have to say I would probably have done the same.

Hopefully now she has calmed down and you can ask her to hear you out and explain why you did what you did. I don't meanthat you should have to justify yourself, but that she needs to learn why you shouldn't tie a horse to a metal post and why the action you took was necessary.

If she's rude to you again you'll have to walk away, but its worth a go for the horse's sake.
 
Yep she was wrong, you were right and I'm afraid it wouldn't have been her blasting me for it, but the other way round whether she liked it or not!

Stupid woman

Perhaps you ought to print this out and post it on her stable!
 
she was being an ungrateful idiot
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and she may not like it but the farmer DOES have the right to move the horse, as owner of the land he is ultimately responsible for all the animals kept on it so tell her to stick that in her pipe and smoke it next time she kicks off and actgs like she owns the place rather than renting a small piece of it
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Both! I would have done the same though and totally agree with chillidragon.
 
She was dead wrong. Tying her up that way was just asking for catastrophe and frankly is was a good job you were on hand to calm her or it sounds as though she would have done herself further mischief
 
I think in this instance it was correct to move the mare out of danger, however your other comments on this lady sound quite interfering and 'busybody' ish. I would just let her get on with it, as it seems you disaprove of a lot if what she does. I don't understand why it has anything to do with you, unless its a welfare issue for one of the horses - which being led is certainly not. If you spoke to her with the same attitude as you wrote the OP, then I am not suprised you got her back up
 
It sounds as though she was being aggresive and over defensive because she felt as guilty as hell and she got caught out doing something stupid.

You did the right thing. I bet she won't do it again.
 
I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. You acted in the best interests of the horse, she didn't.
 
Was the horse in any actual danger? What could it have injured itself on? If the answer is yes that it was in danger of injury then action should have been taken. If it was simply upset but was not in danger of injury then I'd have kept an eye on it but left it there, where the owner placed it.

I can't stand horses that won't stand quietly when tied up, so if this horse were mine, I would also tie it up for a period of time (although by the sounds of it, for different reasons) while keeping an eye on it; I wouldn't have gone off riding. I would never ever consider tying any of my horses to something that breaks (twine/rope/string etc), mine are always tied to something that will not give or move.

Each to their own I say. I think you were trying to help and for that you definitely shouldn't have been treated in such a manner by her. She should have explained to you why she was doing what she was doing, and should not have simply blown up at you. I can see it from both angles; you were doing what you thought was right; she was wrong to go off and leave the horse unattended. I'd have been irritated had anyone untied a horse of mine, however I would have been close to the horse so this situation wouldn't have arisen.
 
I would've done the same, to reiterate points above, the welfare of the horse is much more important that this woman's feelings. The mare was in grave danger of injuring herself as she was tied to an immovable metal post, I would never tie my horses up with bailing twine, even when I am standing with them, I have seen so many horses get scared and break it - I dread to think what would've happened if they were just tied to a post.
As also said above if the horse had hurt itself then she would've probably had a go at you for not seeing it..
IMO the horse was lucky you were there and the farmer should have something to say about it as he decides what happens on his land.
 
If a horse jumps back or falls when tied to an immoveable object they can do a very, very serious amount of damage to their head and neck, especially the poll, and the atlas and axis bones. Also if they go down whilst tied up thus it can be very dangerous for a person to try to get close enough to get them loose.
 
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I would've done the same, to reiterate points above, the welfare of the horse is much more important that this woman's feelings. The mare was in grave danger of injuring herself as she was tied to an immovable metal post, I would never tie my horses up with bailing twine, even when I am standing with them, I have seen so many horses get scared and break it - I dread to think what would've happened if they were just tied to a post.
As also said above if the horse had hurt itself then she would've probably had a go at you for not seeing it..
IMO the horse was lucky you were there and the farmer should have something to say about it as he decides what happens on his land.

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OOpps , I meant to say..I would never tie my horses up WITHOUT bailing twine! Think I was typing too fast.
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