To contact RSPCA about poor conditions for horses ?

[maggie61]

Should I mind my own business, nearby to a place a go walking there are some horses in a field that has no grass , the horses are standing on soil or mud when the weather is bad, would you contact the RSPCA ?

No, report the appalling conditions and then they can look into the situation

Report. They can do a drive by and then look into it further if they agree.

They shouldnt be standing in mud and they should have shelter.

Its possible they are only let out for a bit and spend the rest of the time stabled and fed on dry food/hay but RSPCA can find that out.

I would but I wouldn't expect them to do much. As a result I would be asking everyone I knew to arm themselves with all necessary information - number of horses, description of them and of conditions, FULL address of the area (including postcode of the road off of which the field lies) and to ring the RSPCA about it too.

I would also enlist the support of someone like Hillside Animal Sanctuary, who are known to have worked alongside the RSPCA, and ask them to apply some pressure upon support my quest in contacting the RSPCA.

If that failed I'd make my request for help across a wider section of the animal welfare and animal rights community.

Ifyou don't get any joy from the RSPCA (who are notoriously slow even IF they do decide to take a look at the horses) and you'd like any help with any of the above please let me know the details by pm. I'm a rescuer/animal rights campaigner and supporter and have probably all the contacts you'd need.

PS, Maggie, diarise everything you see and take photos. If necessary I can get them emailed over to the RSPCA HQ and to one of their lawyers, who can in turn pass them on to the right department.

I presume you walk there regularly (dog walking or somesuch?) and can keep a log of conditions, difference times and length of time the horses are left out there?

Also (am preparing to be flamed here but don't give a monkeys because it DOES affect how the RSPCA respond to such a complaint), is there any chance that these are travellers' horses?

• "different", not "difference"!

Tsk!

Thank you for all the replies, it is not somewhere close to my house, it is on a walk my mum does regularly and I go with her when I visit, she has mentioned it before, and yesterday we walked that way.
It is a good point that it maybe only for a short time each day that they are allowed out, therefore not stood on the groung for prolonged periods.
I will pass info on to my mum and see what she thinks, thanks once again.

Oh meant to add no not travellers horses.

I'd definitely report it! But as Valhalla says, do be prepared for the RSPCA to drag their feet about responding.

I once reported an abandoned horse - a pregnant mare who'd been left tethered in the field opposite my house with no food or water. My neighbours and I were feeding her for three days before the RSPCA turned up, and I'm certain they only did so then because my midwife (just given birth to DS) also made a very vociferous complaint. If you can get someone else (a local councilor or police officer) to back up your report they might be more speedy. Alternatively, see if there is a horse rescue group in your area who would be willing to help.

OP - do you know enough about horses to tell from the way they look whether they are healthy and well fed? The fact that they are standing in a muddy field with no grass by no means necessarily indicates any ill treatment. The grass has only just started to grow (doesn't grow hardly at all in the winter) and it has been very wet recently. So long as their owner is checking that they arn't getting mud fever on their legs, standing in mud won't do them any harm.

If they are in at night it is probably better for them to be out during the day than standing in a stable almost 24hrs a day.

Are they horses or actually ponies? Are they fine coated slender-legged things or hairy thickset animals? Moorland type animals are fine outside in all weathers as long as they have a hedge to shelter under and enough to eat.

Do you know someone who knows about horses? If so I'd ask them to take a look before you go reporting to RSPCA...

I'm another one with little time for the RSPCA. When we lived in England I reported some peacocks to them. The poor birds, were I think, being bred. They had tiny cages and were really cramped without any shelter.
After several phone calls with no improvement I phoned my MP.
I don't know what happened after that, we left England, but do feel that the RSPCA are hopeless.

Tbh its hard to stop fiels becoming incredibly muddy and churned up at this time of year. Do the horses have hay? If they don't look underfed and uncared for, it is very possible that their owner is just chucking them out for a few hours a day, and imo its better that they are out for a bit, albeit in a muddy field that stabled 24/7. I also second what Musieb said, in that if they are natives they are unlikely to be suffering in bad weather, and as long as their legs are being checked regularly and they have food and water they are unlikely to be suffering. Would also add that in my experience, the rspca wait until horses are at death's door before they'll intervene...

I agree that a horse being in a field without grass isnt alone an indicator of ill-treatment.

You need to also consider whether they are native-type ponies (if their coats look thick and they are quite stocky) then they will be fine outside. Are they thin (if not, they are probably being brought in to be fed or are given hay in the field). Are there any injuries or do they look distressed?

It may be that they are being turned out for some fresh air.

If you still feel concerned then by reporting them, you are doing a good thing.

Again thanks for all your replies, the horses do appear alright it is purely the churned up mud/soil they have to stand in that concerns me, i would of thought prevention of disease to their legs was better than treating it when it occurs.

Ditto MusieB and others. It's incredibly hard to avoid churned-up ground at this time of year and if they have hay and water then they won't come to a lick of harm from standing on bare soil or mud for a while.

Our fields are incredibly muddy at the moment - we're in the bottom of a valley on heavy clay - and the horses are stabled at night and chucked out in the muddy paddock for a few hours each day. I'd hate to think that someone walking past thought they were being abused and neglected, they are anything but!

It is also the case that some horses cannot have free access to grass and they may be on a bare paddock on purpose, to prevent laminitis when the spring grass comes through shortly.

If they are very thin, there's no evidence of clean water and you don't think they are receiving forage daily then I'd contact World Horse Welfare over the RSPCA. That said, if it's literally just the mud that concerns you, keep your beak out!

There are some horses in a field by Heathrow airport which is surrounded by motorway and dual carraige ways. The field is muddy, full of rubbish and the fence surrounding is falling to pieces. These horses could literally walk onto the motorway at any moment.

I find it hard to believe with the thousands of people who drive past every day that no one has reported it, so I assume the RSPCA are aware and it is fine. But then again I haven't reported it so perhaps no one has :(

Mud is not 'appalling conditions'! Ask any horse or pony if they would rather be in a stable 24 hrs a day or spend time in mud with their friends, most will opt for the mud over being confined.

Obviously report if you are worried that they don't have hay or water or if the field doesn't look safe or secure or if they look visibly undernourished (though they might be laminitic) but probably ILPH or whatever they call themselves these days rather than RSPCA as latter don't always understand concept of starvation paddocks etc

Also you could prevent mud fever by keeping them in (and maybe zinc supplements?) but you have to balance physical wellbeing against psychological health. It's been a long winter, it always is, no turnout at all is a greater cruelty than scabby heels in my opinion.

am a bit worried that mitchiest said ask the horse and see what they opt for.

Horses dont talk in my world

'Horses dont talk in my world'

really? they have a pretty rich vocabulary

Blimey, we are on a hilltop on chalk downland but we still have deep mud atm! Nowhere will have grass this time of year so I wouldn't say the conditions you describe are 'appalling' just normal for the time of year unfortunately.

However, if you think the horses look neglected physically then that is a different matter. If that is the case (and bear in mind that hairy and scruffy isn't neglect, you don't over-groom in winter as they need the oils in the coat for protection from the elements), then I second trying someone other than the RSPCA if you can, as they are utterly useless (In my personal experience).

Hi I'm with the others if you're concerned about the horse talk to a horse rescue charity rather than the RSPCA. From what I've seen with them they are only interested if it's high profile or they can gain funds out of what they are asked to deal with.

There used to be nothing the RSPCA could do unless an animal was actually coming to harm. However the law has changed for the better so that owners now have a "duty of care" to their animals. This means the RSPCA can intervene sooner than they would have been able to at one time.

Here's a link to the RSPCA website page about Duty of Care to horses

It says "Make sure that where your horse lives is secure and free from hazards, this includes ensuring fences are in good condition and escape-proof." So jeanvaljean it's not OK that the fence is falling down.

And it says "Living in cold, wet or muddy conditions without good shelter or dry areas to stand or rest upon can lead to discomfort, cause a horse to suffer and become ill."

I'm of the opinion (like a number of others on this thread) that if you are in doubt, contact an animal welfare organisation to have a look. They are placed to make a judgement call on whether the horses are being kept correctly.

Having said that, I have a number of horses, all of whom live out all year round and in the winter they are not rugged, but instead rely on their winter coats. They are in a muddy field, yes, but they are near our house (I can see them from the window) and they have safe fences, water, food and shelter. There is a public footpath going through their field and because they are not rugged and one in particular looks like he's been dragged through a hedge backwards, forwards and sideways, (he likes mud), on 2 occasions, the RSPCA has been notified by members of the public walking through the field who think the horses are neglected.

I would rather the RSPCA came so that I could explain, than someone not call the RSPCA because they don't want to get involved, IYSWIM. It could be that they were neglected and they need advocates to speak up for them.

Having had experience of the RSCPA's incompetance to recognise an animal (especially horses!) that are ill or in distress, I would wonder how much they would be able to do, tbh. They simply don't always have the knowledge.

A friend who is a riding instructor once had an RSPCA inspector come into her yard and ask her if she'd mind helping him with a horse in a nearby field that had a 'damaged eye'. She went to help and the horse concerned actually had a wall eye, which is not an injury at all and quite common, yet the inspector hadn't heard of it.

I agree that standing in a muddy field doesn't automatically equal neglect, especially if the horses aren't visably thin or ill looking.

MitchiestInge I am not sure why you are saying 'appalling conditions', I have not said that, I just wanted some advise, I still think it is wrong to not have some grassed area, I know grass doesnt grow at low temperatures, but wet mud can,t be healthy for them. My mum walks past at 7 and they are out then, so it is not just a short period they are out for.
I can appreaciate there are alot worse conditions than I have mentioned.But just wanted the record straight .