Would you feed someone else's horse?

[horsegirl]

If the horse in question was quite poor and had been for ages and the owner did not seem to be doing much about it except tell people how great the horse looks now while only giving a couple of wedges of hay to last all night?

 

[Blizzard]

No its no ones place.

If there is a problem the owner should be confronted about it.

 

[AmyMay]

I would possibly put more hay over the door - but would not hard feed it.

It really is a matter for the YO to resolve if the horse is not being looked after properly.

 

[trundle]

No, I wouldn't feed it, but if I was sure of my facts and knowledgeable enough to tell that something was wrong, I would confront the owner (and probably speak to the YO if this was on a livery yard, as the YO has duty of care).

 

[RunToEarth]

One of our livery's used to take hay out of my poor doer's haynet because she said I was over feeding it, it made my blood boil, its not your place to feed someone elses horse, why not speak to the owner?

 

[soph21]

It depends on the situation really, if the horse was in a bad way and un-loved then i would give it food,
But if the owners were nice people and were harmless and did it for the horses own benefit then i wouldn't feed it.

 

[horsegirl]

The problem is the owner is a bit slow and a terrible liar, I don't know whether they genuinely can't tell the difference between truth and fiction or just tell lies

 

[Blizzard]

Doesnt matter, its still no one else's place to feed the horse, the YO should be told and if it is a REAL problem then the ILPH.

 

[jesterfaerie]

I would hold out as long as possible, first try and speak to the owner about it, I would air my concerns as much as possible and if nothing is done about it then I would be prepared to give it a little more hay but still trying to get through to the owner about it.

I have had other people feed my horse before and I cannot stand it, even when I asked her not to do it she would do it behind my back - I was fuming!

 

[amandathepanda]

I agree with SeaSlug - the YO should speak with the owner really and if it is a real welfare problem speak to the ILPH. If you feed the horse yourself and put condition on it you make it harder for the ILPH to do anything as the horse wouldn't look as bad as if you weren't feeding it. I've come across cases like this before where a helpful concerned person started putting hay out to some neglected horses and the horses ended up being hungry for a lot longer because they didn't lose weight so quickly and therefore the ILPH couldn't intervene. Wrong I know but seems to be how it works.

 

[Agent XXX999]

Depends....

I have

a) had to steal hay/feed FROM YO who was starving my horse (his ribs and hips were sticking out) have now left that yard. Also had to steal bedding as he was standing on concrete..not nice. Att this and she is buying herself £12k showjumpers! 3 of them!

b) fed a pony in my barn who has a different sharer every night....often they forget to feed/hay/water him....so I chuck some hay over and make sure he has water.

So in answer to your question yes I would, though I suppose it depends on the circumstances.

 

[GinaB]

No, not my place. Although I would talk to either owner or YO.

 

[charlyan]

Personally I don't think I would feed it, I would however try and enquire with the owner in question/ yard owner. If nothing happened and pony's condition deteriorated then report to the ilph.
I would hate someone else to feed my horse behind my back, tho different circumstances- [Roly Poly is hardly a welfare case (NOT overweight I hasten to add!)] but if, for whatever reason, someone thought he needed extra and fed him I would be furious.
I would however put out water if a horse had none.

 

[Mid]

i wouldn't unless i knew the background ect, incase of allergies or reasons for keeping the weight off.

i i knew it was just someone being tight, i'd throw extra hay over the door... but i'd probably just hint at the owner 'he's looking a bit thin recently' ect...

 

[M_G]

I have in the past fed (hay)and watered one poor horse ...it would be left in for days at a time with no hay and little water..The owner was too busy with her new BF to come to the yard (her words) thankfully she sold the horse to a lovely girl who dotes on it

 

[spaniel]

I wouldnt interfere but would mention it to the YO and then let them take action if needs be.

 

[kick_On]

i would tell YO and keep nose out

i had the reverse done to me, horses were kept in, to reduce waistline in summer (day time only) and someone kept feeding them and even hard food grr.........

Which gave me a very interesting ride, until i caught her doing it!!, and told her to stop or i would put on her on board them!!

Reason given was she felt sorry for them looking at her with their puppy dog eyes! but she was training them to beg!!! grr.....

She still does it but not only with hayledge, so i add this factor in now! and i told her aswell!!!!!!!!!! and before anyone says mine need it look at my siggie and they don't!

 

[Christmas_Kate]

Would hay it buit wouldnt give it hard feed.

 

[crabbymare]

In that case I would get the YO to act as they are held responsible for the welfare of the liveries.

Only time I feed other peoples horses is if I am the only one at the yard and the evening staff tell me someone has not been up yet, if they don't turn up before I lock up I will give the horse hay and water and leave a note so if they do get there later they know what the horse has had.

 

[jumpthemoon]

I used to chuck hay over the door of a horse at a yard I used to be at. The livery included hay, so money wasn't an issue, but the poor thing was really thin - ie ribs sticking out, it was winter, they put it on shavings and used about 1/2 a bale to make it's bed.

I'd get to the yard at about 7pm and they would have gone, horse already finished it's Shetland style net of hay. It's nose was running, it was cold, it looked bloody miserable, the poor thing. No point saying anything, as YO couldn't care less and everyone knew anyway. They only came up once a day, so it would go out 10-2 (TO by staff) and they would ride it then leave it stood in its tack for hours while they sat smoking and chatting

then give it about 1/2 slice hay and clear off.

It may be wrong, but if I could go back in time I'd do it again poor horse

 

[mickey]

I guess there are a number of things that one could do;

1/ Speak to the owner again and express your concern
2/ Speak to the YO
3/Feed the horse extra yourself.

As a general rule, I don't believe in feeding other people's horses. The horse could be allergic to something, or what if you gave it something and it ended up choking or with colic? Then presumably this would be your own fault.

If I saw a horse and it was particularly under-fed, even though I had taken the steps above, I would either report it, or feed some extra chaff or hay myself.......as a last resort.

 

[tabithakat64]

I keep my horses on a small diy yard and everyone leaves some sort of hay/feed out for the first person on the yard to give the horses that are in. If one doesn't have a feed I would give it a handful of chaff/hay or a couple of carrots but not a hard feed and send owner a text saying I had done so. But if this wasn't our routine then no I would make sure they had water but that was it.

 

[Chex]

As a general rule no, but there is exeptions. One being a horse that I knew that owner had no time for, and really needed fed. But I told owner what I was doing. There was no use complaining to YO... it was their horse.

 

[happyhack]

I wouldnt feed it but would have aword with YM or YO or even the owner stating my concernm=s

 

[wattsy]

haven't ticked either - if the horse is in seriously bad condition you should report the matter to the ILPH, or your local animal welfare centre.

 

[Nudibranch]

I have to vote no. I have a lami shetland and in the old field, the neighbour, who was a self proclaimed "expert", kept feeding her concentrate, complaining that her starvation paddock didn't have enough grass! She even claimed she'd shown her vet who had agreed... in the end I had to put in writing that her management was vet-supported, that my vet would be happy to confirm her routine and feed if she wanted to pay for his call out, and that if she had another attack I would be sending her the resulting vet's bill. Not nice.
If you think the horse looks poor, then definitely discuss it with the owner but don't feed behind someone's back, you never know the full story.

 

[maggiehorse]

i havent voted because i wouldnt do either , i would have a word with owner and if no joy with yard owner and if no joy there and hprse was emaciated i,d have a chat with ILPH

 

[vieshot]

I would feed it BUT it would be all the owners feed and hay, i wouldnt use my own.

 

[Puppy]

[ QUOTE ]
its not your place to feed someone elses horse, why not speak to the owner?

[/ QUOTE ]

Quite. I'd never feed anyone elses horse. In fact I'd never interfere with anyone elses horse at all except for an emergency.

I was once at a livery yard which changed hands, and the new owner used to turn out at 5am, which would set my boy off box walking. The new owner would insist on "throwing hay over his door to calm him down" despite the fact the horse never had an empty net of HAYLAGE - he had COPD FFS!

not to mention it cost me a bomb in extra shavings!

Needless to say, I left PDQ!!

 

[berry]

Yes I would, and I have done in the past.
A couple of years ago I used to rent a field with a few friends off a local farmer, down the lane there was a little welsh D who was kept by himself, one day the farmer came up and asked me if I could move the pony into a different field as he wanted to re do all the fencing in the field that it was in, and couldnt get hold of the owner he had left her a number of voicemail messages but she had'nt responded to any of them.
The pony was moved to the field next door to where my mare was (this was in the summer).
By the time winter came I had been there for 8 months and had only saw his owner once, his feet where a mess and he was dropping off really quickly, I got the farmer to try and get hold of his owner but he had no luck so for 8 weeks I was feeding him (just a scoop of hi fi and handful of nuts) and giving him hay, I even put one of my horses rugs on him went it got bitterly cold.
Anyway after a while I decided I couldnt afford to do this so I phoned the RSPCA they eventually got hold of owner and she came up one morning and took him (and my rug)

, leaving her rent unpaid which was I think 500 quid

.