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 ?

Sorry, maybe I was responding to 2nd or 3rd post on thread? I read it somewhere here. Defensive because we have a lot of mud, although there are acres of grass there too it's the mud they like rolling in and they are careful to churn up as much of thevgood grassy bits as they can to make more mud. Mine are out 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

It's obviously better to risk inconveniencing or offending people than to turn a blind eye to possible neglect, on balance I'd do the same - just saying the actual mud and lack of grass does not necessarily mean these horses are being mistreated. Can you ask around and find out who they belong to?

Hi there. I totally appreciate you posting this because, IMO, not enough people notice horses wellbeing.

However, as other people have posted, it depends on what kind of horse you have noticed being in the field. Were they 'native' ponies or horses. By that I mean did they look heavier with longer hair and very long hair over their hooves? Did they look 'chunkier'? Did they look like This ?

I used to own a Thorougbred and they were a nightmare to keep in winter. The weight used to fall off him (he was also an older horse). He was out in the "field" for a few hours a day and if anyone had seen him in winter without his rugs and in his "field" they would have called the RSPCA - purely because he burned off so much energy (waaaaay more than a native pony/horse).

Fields always get muddy during the winter as horses have hooves with metal shoes on them that dig up the ground. Most farmers don't like to keep horses on their land and prefer to keep cows/sheep and other animals as the land doesn't get carved up so much.