What to do about people feeding horses

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coloredred

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I keep my horse on a large livery yard. He's in in the fatty paddock with three others. This is the only field that has gardens backing on to it and unfortunately one of the residents was found giving bread to the horses. He was asked to stop and a week later I found cabbage scraps next to his garden instead which I threw back over the fence. Didn't see anything else for a while so thought he'd got the hint. Today I went to bring my horse in and found a pile of runner beans and cabbage in front of a different garden, a bit further down I found a couple of tomatoes and then near the other end of the row of houses I found a load of plums! Some had gone really mouldy and others had been eaten as stones were left on the floor. The man who's garden I found the beans in front of came out to see what I was doing so I asked him if he'd been feeding them and if so could he please stop because they are in this field for health reasons. He denied feeding them anything even though the beans couldn't have come from anywhere else and didn't really seem interested in what I was saying. He just kept saying that if they are hungry then they'll eat what people give them and he wanted to know if I owed the yard. I asked him to let his neighbours know that we don't want the horses being fed but I have a feeling it will keep happening. Is there anything else that can be done about it? It's already double fenced but they throw the food for them. My horse has had a bit of an upset stomach the last couple of weeks and the amount of fruit and veg been given to a pony that usually gets less than a carrot a month is probably the reason for it. any suggestions are welcome. My friend is thinking of writing a letter to give to all the houses.
 
Since you know where they live, you could compile some information about laminitis and what is suitable for horses to eat, and drop it through their doors. Make it something quite 'proper' - obtain nice concise leaflets from WHW or someone recognisable, and write a fairly polite note with it like 'it has come to my attention that some people are feeding the horses. These horses are on a restricted diet and eating the wrong foods could cause serious health problems such as laminitis, please see information enclosed' and maybe say that they are welcome to contact you or YO with any concerns.

I feel your pain, people do this to ours too.
 
Thank you for your replies, as much as I'd love to do that EffyCorsten, I don't think it would go down too well :lol:

Giving them some leaflets might actually work, trying to describe laminitis myself to someone none horsey is probably a little impossible. I was trying to explain the ems ponies to him but he just sort of zoned out.
 
Add on that if a horse has an illness (therefore vet bill) due to being fed over the fence, the offending household will be responsible for paying vet bills. Or put a sign on the fence closest to the horses saying that
:) might stop them :)
 
Good idea Toz. If money is possibly involved then they might give up. Lots of the food was mouldy too which makes it worse. I wonder if it could be classed as dumping as it's technically rubbish?
 
An electric fence placed far enough back that they can't reach the horses, it won't stop them throwing stuff but will make hand feeding difficult.

Personally I'd print the same letter to all the home owners advising that the horses must not be hand fed, that the horses are not hungry, but are at risk of terrible pain and possible death if they develop laminitis - lay it on thick, be dramatic and paint a gory story. Include some dramatic pics, horse leaning back to take weight off front feet, and maybe one of a foot with the pedal bone poking through. Shock tactics may work better than being nice.
 
We tried the electric tape but the shetland and section A in the field destroyed it in minutes. Some of the food was thrown so far into the field that I don't think it would stop them trying. I'm going to talk to my friend tomorrow to see what exactly is going to be included in the letter. Some photos might help Tnavas, thank you.
 
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