What would you do???

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Shandys_mum

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A so called friend has had a lame horse for about the last 3 months.

Finally 3 weeks ago the horse was walking on 3 legs, so bought her in and called the vet (friend away abroad for a fortnight).

Vet cut away most of the hoof as she had 2 abscesses and the rest of the hoof was mainly black and dead. Have poulticed regularly and kept horse in, alternating other horses to keep her company, going up the yard twice a day.

Owner has come back, not said thank you for all the extra work put in and now only visiting her horse once a day and keeping their other horse in 24 hours a day to keep her company.

Went out to the yard yesterday and her horses are out in the mud bath field, the lame one minus poulticed and bandaged hoof (it had been sucked off in the mud I think). Today the horse is back on three legs.

Owner is no longer talking to me and has locked the mud bath field gate - it is meant to not be used when muddy as it has several natural springs in it. So I can't remove her horses.

How do I stop this horse from suffering any more at the hands of her owner?
 
Firstly id get a big pair of bolt cutters & remove said horse & secondly id ring WHW & see if they will have a word with her.....she cant leave it like that, the poor thing must be in so much pain!
 
Sounds like whatever you do wont make the situation between her and you any worse so I would second the boltcutters and a call to rspca/world horse welfare. If it is your yard I would put horse in stable (with company if requ.) and inform her that you have done this as you have a care of duty to the horses on your yard. If teenager it may be worth contacting parents with concerns in a very careful way.
 
This is so weird but almost this exact thing happened to a friend of mine recently,I'm afraid though that I don't have any good outcome to report that would help,well not as yet anyway.

As communications seem to have broken down between you and the owner how about a little white lie to got the horse out of the field for now?? Maybe the owner who 'lives abroad' could have been back for a brief visit and seen the the field has gotten muddy and is still in use,and said that horse have to be moved out asap??

Perhaps leave a note explaining this if talking rasonably is not an option with horses owner.

My gut feeling is that harmony between liveries is not going to be an option anytime soon,so a simple solution to get the horse back in the stable might be the best answer for now.

Good luck and hope the youngster in question is back on 4 hooves soon.
 
Were you asked by the owner to look after her horse while she was away ?
While i dont condone any horse being left lame for that amount of time without seeing a vet, she might have wrongly thought field rest was needed for the lameness, she wont be the first or last to make that mistake.
I think without doubt, you have acted in her horses best interests, but it sounds like shes well p****d that you took matters into your own hands. Did you get in touch to let her know what you were doing ?
what shes doing now by not following through with the care after the treatment the horse has had, and leaving a hoof in the condition you describe unprotected in mud is a welfare issue and i would call WHW for advice.
While i would never leave my horse in the position youve described, i would be livid if someone decided to have a vet carry out treatment on my horse without my permission.
 
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