Would you do / say anything??

M

MyLuckyStar

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A woman on my yard has 2 horses, I know she doesn't spend a lot of money on her horses (but shes out every night of the week!).

Over the past few days her horses have had less and less bedding to the point where they were nearly down to the floor and her one horse was lying on the floor the other night as there was no bedding.

She only feeds them once a day (they are tbs and used to 2 feeds a day through winter), gives themm a small amount of hay and never ever changes their rugs.

I'm not rolling in money but always make sure my horse has a nice thick bed and plenty of food and water.

Its horrible seeing them they way they are
 
Talk to the YO about how you are worried about them and see what they say. It could be that the YO has seen what is going on and is thinking of having a word anyway and you saying something will let them know others have seen it too


Good luck




Edited as just seen your new post.

Not really sure what to suggest
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How well do you know the other livery? Well enough to say that you are concerned?
 
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The YO doesn't have anything to do with the horse side of things

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He actually has a duty of care - so very much has to have something to do with it.

Speak to him initially about your concerns, and go from there. Does she have a good friend on the yard who could help advise her??


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I don't think he will to be honest, he has nothing to do with the horsey side of things - everyone is left to get on with it.

A couple of other liveries have commented on the state of their beds etc but haven't said anything the the woman who owns the horses
 

Still he has responsibility for the horses welfare if they are kept on his property surely?, guess its hard if he's not horsey but you never know, its still worth a mention to him.

Can't you drop it into conversation when you see this lady (in a nice way) and drop some hints? I know its not nice to become the 'interfer' but when it comes to feed/warmth etc then something should be said.
 
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I don't think he will to be honest, he has nothing to do with the horsey side of things - everyone is left to get on with it.

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As I said, he has a duty of care for the animals on his premisis. And he'll soon have something to do with it if welfare organisations start sniffing around. Talk to him in the first instance, and then go from there.

Good luck.


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I'm sure the farmer/YO does have some responsibility for duty of care but by the sounds of things it isn't at the point of any legal obligation.

The horses has food, water, rugs, shelter and although I'd agree they sound like they are being kept in less than ideal circumstances they probably are not classified as welfare cases.

That said I'd still mention concerns to farmer/YO and knowing me would probably drop into conversation with the horses owner. There may be things happening in their personal life that you are not aware of so maybe don't be too quick to judge.
 
I know what you're saying SallySmith, but is a thin bed really cause for suggesting the YO could be liable to prosecution?

Try being the YO and going around instructing each livery on how their beds should be made.
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I know what you're saying SallySmith, but is a thin bed really cause for suggesting the YO could be liable to prosecution?

Try being the YO and going around instructing each livery on how their beds should be made.
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Absolutly take your point Patches - and totally agree.

Was just trying to give the OP some direction as to where to direct her concerns. Horse is probably as right as rain, but if not then it's up to the YO to speak to his livery.


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Have a quite 'incidental' word with the horse owner. You can always ask her if anything is wrong/if she has run out of bedding or something rather than directly accusing her of neglect. If she doesn't say (and do!) anything reassuring talk to the YO. You can approach it from an 'I know we're DIY but as you have a duty of care I thought you should know before it gets out of hand and you get into trouble...' kind of way. Sort of trying to be helpful rather than agressive if that makes sense?

Then leave it for a week or two (assuming nothing gets worse) before considering calling the BHS/WHW or similar for advice. TBH I wouldn't be too concerned about the 1 feed/day issue if they aren't ridden much but lack of forage is bad. And lack of bedding is too on a hard floor. Although if they were /really/ dirty & uncomfortable you'd probably find that the horse wouldn't be lying down at all.
 
Definitely say something - if another horse owner at the yard accompanies you, it would be even better as she couldn't turn around and accuse you of being vindictive. At the end of the day, the horses' welfare must come first and it's very wrong to not say anything at all as the horses depend on us to do the right thing.
 
To be fair, our gelding has almost no bed (like, literally a cover to soak up his wee) because he makes the most almighty mess when he has a proper bed down. Its not killed him yet! (and we might have done had I come and found his bed up the walls again!!!!!)

If the horse has hay, water, then keep your nose out. Its her horse and although it sounds like we'd all do it very differently, the horse isn't really being neglected....

xxxx
 
I see your point about the bed - if the horse box walks or just messes it up generally then it'll look like there's not a lot of bedding; however, the post did say that the horses' rugs aren't changed and they're only fed once a day as wel as only getting a small amount of hay. Obviously, we can only comment on the post having not seen the horses for ourselves but it still seems that the horses aren't being cared for as best as they could be... this may not be neglect as such, but it still isn't the best care for the benefit of the horses. I've witnessed this a few times at private yards where the owner can find the money and the time to go out every night but can't find the same for their horses. The fundamental needs of the horses, i.e. bedding, food and comfort are clearly not being see to.
 
What is on the floor underneath the bedding? if it is rubber mats, then many people use the sparsest of bedding with them. I agree, as you are concerned, you need to have a quiet word with theYO.
 
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