Advice sought from horse owners/stable owners

[DancingInTheCellar]

Hi, I wasn't sure where to post this, but I'm avoiding AIBU as I don't want to be flamed and told to mind my own business. I have concerns about a horse at a stables near me and would be grateful if any experienced horse owners or stable owners could allay my concerns.

About once a week I walk my dog along a public footpath that cuts through a large riding stables near where I live. For a few months now I've noticed a horse kept in a paddock away from the main areas. It is alone in a sectioned off area (electric fence) of a larger paddock. There is another paddock alongside but it's always empty when I've walked past. The horse cannot see any other horses and few walkers use that footpath. The sectioned off area of paddock that it is fenced into is now devoid of grass where the horse paces the perimeter. The horse has a waterproof blanket on, and appears to have water and hay.

Yesterday I could hear the horse whinnying before I could see it. The wind was very strong and the trees that stretch up along an embankment behind the paddock were whipping around. I don't know if the horse was distressed by that. When I reached the point where I could see the horse it was trotting backwards and forwards along the perimeter of its enclosure in what, to me, was an agitated manner. I called 'Hi' to the horse, as I always do, and drew its attention. I then spoke to it for a few minutes. Actually it's more shouting as I can't get close to it without crossing the paddock to its fenced off area, which I wouldn't do as I wouldn't want to risk distressing it.

I've wondered about this horse for a while now. It seems cruel to me to keep a horse in solitary confinement with no other animals in sight and very few people using the footpath. Is this normal? I was quite upset when I walked away from him/her yesterday. Surely horses are herd animals? Obviously I don't know much about horses and I'm sure there are reasons a horse would be kept separate from others, but I can't stop thinking about this horse and what a lonely and dull life it appears to live.

If any of you are experienced in how stables are run, I would really appreciate you telling me this is nothing to worry about. I'm very tempted to email the stables, but I don't want to if there's a sensible reason for how this horse is treated.

Thanks.

Try re-posting this in the MN specific topic for horses - The Tack Room www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_tack_room

Is it maybe turned out in the paddock while the owner is mucking out? I have paddocks with hay and water in that I put one of my mares in while I'm mucking out as she's on box rest. It's a small section as she's recovering from a leg injury.

Thanks Heuschrecke, I've reposted on The Tack Room.

It is possible that it can't be kept with other horses, some are just antisocial. Also it maybe isolated for a period of time (if it's new to the yard etc). With regards to grass it's fairly common at this time of year and as long as it has hay then it's fine. Its often preferable to keep horses away from footpaths as well meaning people feed horses food that can inadvertently cause illness (also dog poop bags can get thrown into the field). If it's on your route why not pop into the yard one day, if nothing else you can put a name to your friend

Hi, horse owner here, happy to try and help. So nice of you to care about this horse, many people don't.

First things first, horses should not be kept entirely alone, they are herd animals and many are utterly miserable without other horses nearby, or at least another animal such as a donkey, goat or sheep for companionship.

However, do you walk your dog past at (roughly) the same time every day? Is it a livery as well as a riding school, and is it a DIY livery (where owners are 100% responsible for the care of their animals) or an assisted livery - where staff look after the horses at least partially?

The way many livery stables in particular are run can mean that horses are sometimes on their own for short periods of the day which while not ideal is not terrible if unavoidable. A bit like leaving dogs along in the house - most dogs would probably prefer companionship all the time but most cope with short periods alone. But all day all the time - not good.

E.g. my mare is currently out in the daytime with 2 others for companionship, her fieldmates belong to another lady who usually comes by to bring them in to their stables after school, so usually 4pm ish - if she has her kids with her as an extra pair of hands she'll bring mine in as well, but if not then my mare has to be left behind. On 2-3 days a week I can't get there until after work at 5.30ish so for a few hours my mare's on her own - as far as I can tell she isn't worried at all by this (means she gets the best grass patches to herself!) but she can be a drama queen so if something upset her she might possibly pace up and down or call to others briefly but she'd not be really traumatised or anything. Most 'DIY' liveries leave it up to owners to arrange when their horses come in and out between themselves in this way so it's really really common for horses to be alone for short periods.

If I were you I might try and walk by at a few different times of day to see if he's really always alone. If so then perhaps email the stables although I wouldn't guarantee they'll respond. Other ports of call could be the RSPCA or another animal charity who might be able to track down the owner and speak to them, or if there's widespread poor practice at the stables you could report them to whoever licenses them, the council or the British Horse Society if they have accreditation but this is a bit of a nuclear option so I'd try and make sure the horse is really being neglected first...

Hope this helps!

If it's in a sectioned off bit of a larger paddock I would wonder if the horse is recovering from injury or possibly laminitic and needs to be kept on a smaller, bare paddock. Is the horse a stallion? They are generally kept away from the mares fields, especially if the owner only has electric fencing.

What Witchery says about injury recovery is a possibility of why he's kept in a separate section, or it could possibly be a valuable competition horse and the owner doesn't want to risk a field injury. But in either of those cases I would say the horse should be able to at least see other horses and ideally interact e.g. groom each other over the fence, even if kept separate by a fence or electric tape. OP says there are no other horses in sight.

Fair enough if the livery/yard owner can't immediately set this up (splitting up fields can be a pain) but OP says this has been going on for months. Not good enough IMO if it is all day every day.

It does seem odd to keep it completely isolated for so long. But it's maybe in a small paddock due to an injury it has.

Maybe go and ask someone at the yard. Just don't make it seem like you're upset about it, but just ask about the horse as you walk past it every day and talk to it. To be honest some horses just hate other horses and attack them for little reason. I've seen a few like that and they get segregated although they can still see other horses.

Thanks so much for your replies. I've been on their website and they don't offer livery as far as I can see. It's a very large riding centre in 90 acres with a couple of indoor arenas and outdoor arenas. It looks like a very well run place, great facilities and very tidy and clean.

I only walk past in the morning, any time between 9am and midday, and for I would say 3 months I've seen this horse every time (I do this walk about once a week), on its own without another horse in sight. If there were other horses in the adjacent paddock I wouldn't worry, but it just seems so cruel to me, even if the horse has an injury or laminitis, to keep it in isolation. I always shout to him and have a chat like a mental woman and he/she always comes to the closest point to look at me. I just felt so upset walking away yesterday and decided I would email the stables, but then I thought 'Mumsnet!' ask Mumsnet before you go making a fool of yourself.

I think from what a few of you are saying I will email, and I'll perhaps walk that path more often than once a week and maybe at a different time to see if things are different at other times of the day.

Thank you all for your advice, I'm glad I posted.

It's entirely possible that's it's recovering from injury. My horse was on 7 months box rest and when first turned out was in a tiny fenced off area away from other horses so they wouldn't wind her up. She was like that for an hour or so daily for a month.

Just a quick update for those of you who took the time to offer me some advice. I emailed the stables this evening and received a lovely reply within a couple of hours. They fully understood my concerns and were happy to explain the situation. The horse has rather a sad history (ex racing horse, never turned out) and two attempts to integrate him into a herd have been unsuccessful. At the moment his behavioural problems mean he poses a risk to himself and others so is kept in isolation. I was relieved to hear there are 2 other horses regularly turned out in the adjacent paddock, but I have obviously not walked past at a time to see them.

I now have an invitation to visit the stables and follow the progress of this lovely horse. I'm so glad I contacted them as now when I walk the footpath I can greet him across the paddock and walk on knowing he is being well cared for.

Thanks again for your advice.

Ah good makes sense. He was probably distressed when you saw him because they had just taken the other horses away.

People will generally be nice in the horse world as long as you are polite. We only take offence if told we are wrong and cruel by people who don't know anything.