Welfare issue: WWYD?

I reported neglect recently of a 18 month Shetland who was kept in a shed and was deformed, RSPCA were totally and utterly USELESS! WHW took their time to sort the situation out but eventually the pony was pts. Tbh if they are fed, watered and checked on no one will be interested unless they are injured, feet very long etc.
 
Its a no brainer OP, to put your mind at rest OP, you gotto look under the rugs, anyway they could be riddled with rainscald from sweating in this heat under the rugs which is just as bad as anything else.
 
My horses are on bare mud all winter with haynets too - much better than being stabled...
 
To be honest, apart from the bad fencing, is there anything wrong with the ponies?
Do you know if they are in poor condition?

We know how ponies live on fresh air, how do you know these ponied done have a health issue

As for stimulus, do you think horses would prefer to be ridden, or mooch around with their friends?

Contact, rspca again or whw for your own piece of mind.
But i doubt anything needs to be done.
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
Oh dear, yet another "WWYD" welfare issue one.

OK........ so am having to be cautious as I don't want to identify where this is, but shall we say that in one of the places where myself and a friend hack, there are three small ponies in a patch of land which is about half an acre just on the edge of the village.

Apparently the ponies are "seen to" twice a day, and given hay. They are rugged, but oft-times the rugs are either falling off and/or they have patches, holes in them etc.

The "field"/area itself, has no grass, it is just a sea of mud basically, there is not a blade of grass which can be seen, and the ponies have been in this place for the whole of the winter and for some years now, apparently.

The fencing is awful......... the ponies have eaten away a lot of the hedge and there are gaps in it, which have been "mended" by either barbed wire or bailer twine.

Apparently someone/some people in the village where the ponies are near to, have told the RSPCA about this, only to be told, "well, we can't/won't do anything: the ponies have water, they have hay, they are seen to twice daily".

It is hard to establish the condition of the ponies accurately, as they've been rugged up, but they probably could do with worming from a very cursory glance anyway.

The woman that owns the ponies, we have seen her once or twice out hacking, she's got a very nice nippy little car which she drives around in and obviously has the money for that!!! (not a judgement here, merely an observation).

Dunno whether WHW would be any different from the RSPCA????

Hate seeing these ponies like this. They're never ridden or worked, have no stimulus whatsoever, and are left to poddle around on a small, badly fenced area with no grazing whatsoever, and no chance to go to an alternative field either apparently. If the stupid numpty girl who owns them can't be bothered, then IMO then she could at least do the decent thing by them and make the appropriate decision??? OMG this sort of thing makes me SOOOOO bleddy angry.

So WWYD folks; WHW??? In all truth I don't think I can bear to go on riding past their field and continue to ignore TBH.
Click to expand...

You have to be careful here as if you go in and take a rug off you could be done for trespassing and ponies may not be easy to handle.
Your comment are not Surprising from the RSPCA! their

OH if its not broke/dead don't fix it attitude
Well if its getting water or hay "albeit from owner or stranger" p's me off.

I would go to WHW they act on it more as a concerned bystander's report and would check it out via the proper channel.
I would continue to hack past them and keep a mental or actual note of any changes where the ponies deteriorate slightly.


Just read the update above, (I posted without reading)




Its people like you who observe and spot things like this which we need more of, and not the people who turn a blind eye to animal or potential animal neglect. Well done you :)
 
YorksG said:
How many times do we read on here about small ponies on restricted grazing and interfering none horsey people objecting? To suggest that the OP go and take the rugs off is pretty astonishing IMO. The ponies are seen twice a day, have water and hay, ok so no grass, maybe not ideal, but they have freedom to associate with each other and the stimulous of equine company. They do not need to be ridden. Just think of the number of horses kept in stables for 23 hours each day, with no opportunity to socialise, no turnout, just either ridden of put on a horse walker!
Click to expand...

Totally agree with this and another members response, if you're really concerned go and speak to the owner but don't directly tell her outright, as you will more than likely get a sharp response and nothing much else.
You have to be interested in the horses themselves (befriending the owner!?!?) and not how they are kept, if you take it from this angle you could a) find out that there is something to be concerned about, or b) it will put your mind at rest.
Also, It may not be the way you or I would look after our horses but from the sound of the circumstances in which they are kept their are worse cases of mistreatment and neglect out there and those will be priority to welfare charities.
 
OP no name calling from me indeed, but on the face of it, and I haven't seen it in real life, but these are my initial thoughts:

Bare paddock - some ponies (and horses) need this due to lami or other dietary issue;
Hay - fed daily, so forage requirements are met (many horses are stable 24/7 and live on hay);
Eaten hedges - horse like to eat hedges, even when there's plenty of grazing;
Makeshift fence repairs - maybe the field owner won't repair and the ponies' owner is doing what she can? Not ideal, but effective at containing the ponies;
Torn rugs - I know some people are tired of rug rippers and therefore leave torn rugs on horses (so long as they're not causing a trip issue);
Worm burden - unless scrawny necks and huge tummies I'm not sure how you'd spot this on rugged ponies from a distance, but you're more experienced than me so maybe there is a 'tell';
Visited twice a day - as per this Forum, it's the optimum number of visits;
Owner's nice car v. 'poor' land - I have a nice car, but can I heckers like buy or rent a decent field/yard to move my horses, to even though two of them are in a now far less than ideal place.

I'm not decrying your concerns, merely giving possibilities as to why things are as they are. I'd suggest a call to WHW to get their view and make them aware of a possible issue.
 
If someone went into my horses field and removed his rug to get a look at him I think I'd be in jail. How dare someone suggest that!!!

If they have hay and water and are clearly not in need of a vet or farrier then keep your nose out. If it were your horses people were messing with you would be on here going mental.
 
I'm sure people must think I'm terribly cruel, my mare is on a bare track and has to watch the sheep eating down the middle of the paddock, she wears a rug when needed that is torn across the tail flap and has a few patches due to rubbing on tree branches and fences. I've also currently got some fencing tied with baler twine as the sheep were trying to push through it! She is fed hay twice a day in her shelter, but it looks as if she won't have any at all as it is out of sight and eaten pretty quickly. (It isn't me is it?) I also visit twice daily. It is simply just the management that she needs, and would be dead if turned onto decent pasture.

That being said, there are levels of neglect, and I've seen some ponies that are definitely bordering on welfare cases, but aren't bad enough to warrant calling the authorities. I don't envy the organisations that have to deal with neglect, I'm sure that they will have to prioritise, but hopefully op their advice will be heeded by the owner if necessary, and I'm pleased that people care enough to look out for ponies like this.
 
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