What would you do???? Say nothing or fall out with everyone!

I would be tempted to put a notice up as someone else has sugested with a note just saying 'I'm up at about 8pm most evenings and many of the horses have finished their night's rations so if you'd like me to pop a bit extra in to keep them going into the night, please let me know.'

I think it's worth mentioning that you've noticed many of the horses are out of hay so that people have a little think about what you're saying...
 
CBFan said:
I would be tempted to put a notice up as someone else has sugested with a note just saying 'I'm up at about 8pm most evenings and many of the horses have finished their night's rations so if you'd like me to pop a bit extra in to keep them going into the night, please let me know.'

I think it's worth mentioning that you've noticed many of the horses are out of hay so that people have a little think about what you're saying...
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I'd say this :)
 
Definitely say something - it is so dangerous for a horse to be without forage for so long. You owe it to the horse to remind the owner that forage should always be fed ad lib.
 
It depends if you have the time or want to go round putting more hay in for people. If you don't mind then I would either put a note up, like others have said, or speak to people individually saying that as you are up later than them, would they like to say give them half their ration when they go up and you can pop the other in when you leave, so they don't run out too quickly? Just say you aren't interfering, you just noticed that the majority in the barn including their horse had finished all hay/haylage by the time that you go up there - which is at x oclock.
 
Seth said:
Definitely say something - it is so dangerous for a horse to be without forage for so long. You owe it to the horse to remind the owner that forage should always be fed ad lib.
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are you kidding? in that case someone call the RSPCA out to my pony, clearly i am abusing him! have you ever managed a Laminitic pony before? sorry but completely disagree with that, what a load of tosh.
 
yes there are a few people at my yard who leave their horses all night with no hay and dont even bother to tend to them. I just get a big handful of hay and stick it over their door- iv told the YO before and shes quite aware of the situation, i dont care if anyone gets mad, at the end if the day i would rather someone feel out with me than the horse got sick- i cant walk away from the yard at 9pm knowing there are horses kicking their doors for hay. If there has ever been an occassion where my horse is short of hay and i have recieved a text from another livery saying they have given her some hay i am nothing but grateful.
 
elsazzo said:
yes there are a few people at my yard who leave their horses all night with no hay and dont even bother to tend to them. I just get a big handful of hay and stick it over their door- iv told the YO before and shes quite aware of the situation, i dont care if anyone gets mad, at the end if the day i would rather someone feel out with me than the horse got sick- i cant walk away from the yard at 9pm knowing there are horses kicking their doors for hay. If there has ever been an occassion where my horse is short of hay and i have recieved a text from another livery saying they have given her some hay i am nothing but grateful.
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So what happens if the horse gets sick through you feeding it hay when your not supposed tto? bet you would feel bad then?
 
bensababy said:
So what happens if the horse gets sick through you feeding it hay when your not supposed tto? bet you would feel bad then?
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a handful of hay given to a horse that kicking its door down for food is not likely to affect it detrimentally. I woudlnt feed any other horse hay- just the ones who i know the owners really dont give a monkeys and dont turn up for days at a time. Obviously if said horse was a laminitic i would leave it.
 
Seth said:
Definitely say something - it is so dangerous for a horse to be without forage for so long. You owe it to the horse to remind the owner that forage should always be fed ad lib.
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rubbish! In an ideal world where hay contains no calories that would be lovely! But in the meantime my fat pony will be fed 1.5% BW hay I'm afraid!
 
elsazzo said:
a handful of hay given to a horse that kicking its door down for food is not likely to affect it detrimentally. I woudlnt feed any other horse hay- just the ones who i know the owners really dont give a monkeys and dont turn up for days at a time. Obviously if said horse was a laminitic i would leave it.
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same as that "handful" of hay wont make much of a difference to it being hungry. Its down to the YO to make sure horses are being cared for in the correct way. I had some idiot give my Lammi grass cuttings over his stable door while on box rest thinking he was "starved of grass".. i dont agree with people interfering, the YO clearly isnt doing their job properly if horses are not tended to for days.. i would be taking it up with them.
 
bensababy said:
same as that "handful" of hay wont make much of a difference to it being hungry. Its down to the YO to make sure horses are being cared for in the correct way. I had some idiot give my Lammi grass cuttings over his stable door while on box rest thinking he was "starved of grass".. i dont agree with people interfering, the YO clearly isnt doing their job properly if horses are not tended to for days.. i would be taking it up with them.
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thanks for comparing me to some 'idiot' giving grass cuttings over stable door.
 
I would agree with going with the note. if someone told me my horse had eaten everything by 7pm, and someone offered to give the horses an odd section later in the evening, I would be grateful.
 
what about typing up a message like "This horse finishes his hay by 7pm and stands for 12 hours with nothing to eat. Do something about it please" then photocopy and pin to every door, in secret so no -one knows who it is.
 
Notjustforxmas said:
what about typing up a message like "This horse finishes his hay by 7pm and stands for 12 hours with nothing to eat. Do something about it please" then photocopy and pin to every door, in secret so no -one knows who it is.
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LOL, or better still you could put the letter in 'poison pen' form and scare them into feeding their horses! :-D
 
I bring my horses in at about 4pm (now it is dark so early), and don't go back until 9am in the morning. The big ones have 4/5 sections of hay and the pony has 2 small ones. Sometimes, they have hay left, but often they don't....and I'm sure, if it is a bale they like, they will have scoffed it in the evening.....they are not bedded on straw....

However, they are all in good condition....they all have gleaming coats, their stables aren't box walked and they all carry plenty of weight (though I personally don't think too much)....

Sometimes, it isn't possible to give horses ad-lib hay.....If my mare has a bale that she likes, she would literally eat the entire bale in a night! (Less if she doesn't like the bale so much!)

Unless the horses appear to be underweight, I wouldn't say anything....
 
bensababy said:
So what happens if the horse gets sick through you feeding it hay when your not supposed tto? bet you would feel bad then?
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I absolutely agree, I weigh my hay for a reason, the ponies weight is good & they don't have laminitis. If someone took it upon themselves to go around putting "a big handful of hay over the door" I would be absolutely livid. Horses require 2/2.5% of their total bodyweight daily to maintain their current weight, 1.5% will help them lose weight, this amount includes grass. Many horses are obese & suffer the associated health problems, & this stems from peoples obsession with over feeding their horses & other peoples. Perhaps the other owners give this amount of hay for a reason, rather than because they don't care. I do care, which is why I don't have overfed overweight ponies, oh & they don't get colic or have ulcers either.
 
Grrrrrrrr!

how many times do i have to say I wasn not implying i would feed hay to a laminitic or a horse on restricted intake! i am talking about a particular horse at my yard who isnt well cared for & just gets left.
 
I would be livid (and have been, many times unfortunately) if anyone fed my horse without asking me first. And that includes forage, hard feed or treats. It's such a stupid thing to do. My gelding has gut problems and is always at huge risk of colic, so chucking forage over could kill him. Think about that. Always ask the owner first.

OP I'd tell them.
 
If all the horses concerned look well & are being well looked after, then don't mention a thing, there is nothing worse than a unhappy yard atmosphere if someone takes it the wrong way!
 
Ive not read the other replies, but the other owners may not know that their horses have run out of hay!
I was told by another livery a while back that when she came up the yard at about 9pm one of mine had eaten all his hay and I was very greatful for her telling me, coz if she hadnt of told me how the hell would I have known!
I spose everyone is different and I am a very approachable person and didnt see it as being told how to look after my horses at all.
We are a friendly little bunch at my yard though and are always looking out for eachothers horses. Its quite handy having people go up at all different times really.
 
Its tricky, personally if horse was looking well id say nothing but if i was concerned over anything whatso ever its the yo/manager s duty , end of so would have a chat to them first i would never leave letters on doors in a nasty way that breeds nastiness if you in all goodness feed someone elses horse in good faith, hay over the door etc,how is the owner going to know horse is ok when it looks like its doing well on hay given ?You dont know the feeding or medical history neither and could potentially doing harm than good in some cases ,if someone fed my horses anything without my knowledge id not be happy ,full stop especially when im there twice a day i have been leaving my horses 3-4 haynets large each and a few slabs on floor in this awful weather and there are usually hay left in mornings even when i havent managed to get through until 10am they have a net each ,at least or more one has put weight on and i was hoping the other would drop a wee bit weight as hes unrugged and fine ish built and hes thriving so id approach the y/o and if you have the time to feed extra feeds every night for yard horses im sure youll get lots of takers but takes time away from your own horse ?
 
I thought mine was well fed and so very spoilt with a bucket of food and a ton of hay until I paid her a late night visit and discovered she was out of hay by 9pm, fairplay that pony can eat :eek: I'd of been greatful if someone had spotted it and told me rather than finding out that way as she'd been going all night without food :)
 
The problem is not the total amount of food each horse should have but the fact that these horses are getting it all too early and its not being spread evenly throughout the day/night. Its awful for a horse to be left so long without food. Someone should be appointed to do a late check/feed/water and all rations should be split so there is some left over for last thing, if ad lib forage is not ok for every horse. Its hardly fair to top some up and not others.Good luck, I hope you find a tactful solution!
 
I'd tell them :)

If you know that person and how they are likely to react, that'd probably help with how to tell the owner. I've said it a number of times to owners on our yard and they've all had no idea how quickly they've eaten it - so give a section more or just put it into haynets rather than on floor etc.
 
Look - I have a 15hh who can eat for england.
She'll clear 40lb of hay in under 3 hours - yes - 3 hours when in a stable with every last scrap hoovered up, and was is not just 1 night but consistently.

She's happy to scoff about 10lb in less than 40 mins (50 mins if in small doubled up horseage net!)

She doesn't need that much tho as she is a very good doer:eek:

I am not able to drop in & out of the yard to suit her on a twice a night basis, so she gets her night hay ration of 18-23lb & thats her done with over night.
 
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