Why do people have horses.......

[pinkcatkin]

Ongoing dilemma. Two horses live at a house on a track where we ride quite often so we see them regularly. One is cobby, unrugged and OK, the other is finer, rugged in very old raggy rug all winter. They were magnificent when they moved there but are now depressed. They are on about 2 acres but never move from there, summer or winter. The finer horse in the summer always looks underweight (and thats in the summer so god knows what it looks like under its rug in the winter).

Owners never poo pick, there is never any grass and they do not exactly have hay coming out of their ears, in fact very often there is no sign of any hay in existence at all.

It makes me want to spit. I have reported them several times to ILPH who always attend but say they can't really do anything other than give advice.

I suppose you could say that the horses aren't intentionally cruelly treated, but this is benign neglect. They hever do anything with them, I wonder why on earth they have them.

Sorry, just wanted to vent about it as it is an ongoing worry.

 

[alicedove]

Propbably some kind of family change or circumstance, such as the previous loving person is not there/ill etc.

Shocking really, why these people don't make the decision to sell and give the horse a chance of a better life beats me. Sometimes I suppose a less knowledgeable person doesn't even know how to go about selling.

Would you risk popping a note on their gate/door to say that you notice they are not in use, would they consider selling with somebody's help, if so email you? Or a phone number you don't mind giving them? Something along those lines.

 

[pinkcatkin]

I suppose I could and I know that several people have put notes through the door as they are all concerned about these horses. I am a coward, though, and the ILPH man told me that the owner was cross about the interference, so I am worried he may be nasty.-

 

[alicedove]

Oh best not then. ILPH have been and chatted then...

horrible for you to stand by and see this going on.

 

[saskia295]

I know what you mean weasel, I have exactly the same situation in a field behind me - so sad. In that case, it's definitely not that the 'loving' owner has mvoed, there never has been one. Those horses have remained in that field for about 5 years and I know one of them is about 7 (my mum knows the farmer who's field it is).

It's so irritating that the ILPH don't do anything

 

[wizzi901]

I am tending to feel like that at the moment!! Have one out on loan to the hunt which is great for him but do miss him, the other rolls all the time like a git, the weenies are lovely but I am sick of winter and ready for summer NOW!!

 

[__Annie__]

That made me cry

When I lived in England I used to look after 2 ponies in return for extra grazing.

We re- fenced, added off set electric tape(always kept taut ) , turned the grazing around, killed off the nettles/thistles/docks and ,despite being surrounded by negligent landowners that allowed Ragwort to seed, never let the Ragwort beat us !

We kept the troughs clean, provided extra shelter, layed the hedges , poo picked twice a day , provided ample hay AND re started the ponies annual vax (with O permission) and stressed to the O the importance of having a farrier to trim their hooves every 8 ish weeks . We wormed them, bathed them, groomed them and arranged for them to go out once a week .

Their owners did nothing for 10 years, I always seeked their approval before spending any money but they still routinely neglected to pay me back. The father was/?is a millionaire, the grown up children were spoilt brats .

My Dad broke his hip last year so I flew over to see him and took the opportunity to re visit the ponies last year.

They had returned to the state they were in when I took them on

Their feet were overgrown, their manes matted, the field was FULL of poo and the aforementioned weeds inc. Ragwort , the fencing broken and the tape all broken and blowing in the wind

There was no sign of all our hardwork with the ponies and the land

It broke my heart

 

[pinkcatkin]

That is so sad Annie. Poor ponies and bloody people.

 

[Shilasdair]

Horses are perfectly happy in a field, not rugged, not groomed....as long as they have adequate food, water, shelter, are treated by the vet for disease, and the opportunity to interact socially with other horses, they are happy.
Horses do not need to work...in fact riding them is very unnatural and could often be viewed as detrimental to their health..with back injuries etc. Rugging them can also cause rubs, sweating up etc. And just look at the unhappy horses who are stabled for many hours a day and turned out on their own....with no opportunity for social contact....and a very unnatural lifestyle - should the ILPH be called about them, too?
Everyone should have the freedom to manage their horse as they see fit, and as long as the 'five freedoms' are met.
I understand why you are concerned, but am just trying to give the other point of view...
S

 

[__Annie__]

[ QUOTE ]
Horses are perfectly happy in a field, not rugged, not groomed....as long as they have adequate food, water, shelter, are treated by the vet for disease, and the opportunity to interact socially with other horses, they are happy.
Horses do not need to work...in fact riding them is very unnatural and could often be viewed as detrimental to their health..with back injuries etc. Rugging them can also cause rubs, sweating up etc. And just look at the unhappy horses who are stabled for many hours a day and turned out on their own....with no opportunity for social contact....and a very unnatural lifestyle - should the ILPH be called about them, too?
Everyone should have the freedom to manage their horse as they see fit, and as long as the 'five freedoms' are met.
I understand why you are concerned, but am just trying to give the other point of view...
S

[/ QUOTE ]


I agree with some of that but not all

With regard to the 'five freedoms' the OP did write 'there is never any grass and they do not exactly have hay coming out of their ears, in fact very often there is no sign of any hay in existence at all'

 

[Capriole]

mmm, i bought 3 new ones this autumn from a previously loving home, where circumstances had changed due to a death in the family, and the horses all looked like crap, no grazing or farrier attention etc., i felt sorry for not buying them all but what can you do

 

[SpruceRI]

Sometimes I wonder if people walk past my field and think the same.

3 soggy ponies all standing there looking miserable. 2 unrugged muddy and hairy. One with a revolting looking rug on.

Theres's a hay rack but you can't see it from the footpath, nor can you see the lovely big field shelter which they never use.

They're not underfed by any stretch of the mark but the rugged one I struggle to keep weight on.

Nobody sees me in daylight cos it's dark morning and night when I attend to them.

Not much grass either

Hope no one calls the ILPH about me!!

 

[Shilasdair]

My bedraggled, neglected three live out too...despite one being a 19yo TB.
Now if you went to visit them (feel free

) at certain times of day, you wouldn't find hay either....as they have eaten it all (they get soaked hay and a slice of haylage each every morning early, and every evening).....
If the ILPH have been to see the horses in the original post, and are unconcerned, it may be because the horses' bodyweights are appropriate, and therefore the lack of visible hay is immaterial.
In the past I have managed a pony who was not allowed anything bar grass...or oats to eat due to previous choke scarring....she was tied on the yard with no food when in to work, chucked in a field with no hay in the winter.....if you'd have hayed her, you'd have killed her

S

 

[__Annie__]

QR

I really don't think this post is about whether horses live out, more to do with them having an owner that looks after them.

There is a difference between horses that 'live' out 24/7 and receive daily care and those that are just left out 24/7 and receive little or no care.

BTW My 3 plus 2 'adopted ponies' lived out 24/7 with care for 10 years !
My horse used her shelter too!