To take some carrots to the "traveller's" horse?

[WillyWillyWillly]

Poor bloody gypsy horse tied up at the side of the road. It's absolutely filthy, no water, never seems to get fed anything other than grass, constantly being harrassed by kids etc. I've reported it once to the RSPCA who were useless. Blokes who own it are NOT approachable (in fact one of them has just landed himself 6 months in jail). I don't want to cross them but the poor bloody animal.

AIBU to take it some carrots (I keep guinea pigs so have tons) tomorow? I know it's not my animal but I feel sorry for it. Am I likely to cause trouble for myself by doing this?

Who knows if it will cause trouble?

I doubt a few carrots will help the poor thing long term though, so I'd get on to the council and local police if I were you.

I'd also give it a bucket of water in the meantime

I'm calling the council on Monday. They did keep it out of sight for a while when the council had a crack down on tethered horses but the poor sod has been stuck out there day and night on a short tether for the past week. Funnily enough since one of the owners went to jail. The cynic in me is wondering if they've just tied it up there hoping it will die/be taken away

Large quantities of carrots are a really bad idea. If there is no grass then what it needs most of all is hay, and of course water. If you provide this it will never be rescued because the welfare agencies will consider it is being cared for (particularly the RSPCA, who are shite anyway when it comes to this sort of thing).
Is the horse visibly showing bones? Are you sure it never has water and if so for how long has it been left without? There are levels of neglect that have to be seen before horses can be helped, this may be sad but it's fact.
Better welfare organisations, which can easily be Googled, are the BHS welfare and Redwings.

We had a similar situation with two horses in a field near us - they belong to a family of travellers who have settled in a local village, and the horses rarely get fed, watered or any attention.
The RSPCA said that because there is grass in the field, the horses have enough to live on, and because there is a (tumbling down, ricketty) stone lean to there is also shelter, so they wouldn't take any action.
A local vet advised that if any person was seen feeding the animals regularly then they could be deemed to have taken on responsibility for them.
I know a few people DO take food to them, but seemingly under the cover of darkness

Please take the horse some water, and a blanket too, if you can spare it. Hay is what the horse needs.

No to be patronising, but good on you for being concerned. As other posters have said, there may be other agencies than the RSPCA who can take the horse - poor thing :(

The horse isn't very friendly from what I've seen (hardly surprising!) and if truth be told, I'm a little scared of horses so am reluctant to get too close (as regards putting a blanket on it) but it definitely has no water. It used to have water but it would go off in rages and kick the bucket flying - but that's when it used to be left out before. Since it came back it never has any water.

Don't put a blanket on it! A blanket will get damp and the poor horse will greet the morning with a freezing cold, wet lump of material on it. Although hopefully the blanket would fall off anyway. Horses wear rugs, but most hairy traveller-type ponies don't need any covering at all unless they are in poor condition. So far we don't know what condition this horse is in, just that it's dirty and probably has no water.
Please listen, I am involved with a couple of equine rescues and this is a situation I am familiar with. The horse needs to be in poor bodily condition, or without food or water, before anyone can attempt to rescue it. If you can do it safely, take some photos. Then ring one of the agencies I mentioned above and see if you can email them the photos for advice.

We cross-posted. If you want to take it water take it in a bucket, let it drink, then take the water away. Harsh, but if you leave it there it can be taken as evidence that the horse is not without water.
You really need to speak to a good agency about this (not the RSPCA) and get some advice, rather than the mixed help you may get on the internet.

another vote for hay and water, not carrots, or even just water

phone ILPH rather than RSPCA though

It doesn't seem thin though, it's quite well built.

Well I'm off to buy some hay tomorow anyway for the guinea pigs so should I buy an extra sack for the horse? don't want to jeapordise its chances of rescue such a stupid situation, why is it people are allowed to treat horses this way yet with any other animal the RSPCA would be round in a shot!? What's so different about horses? why do they matter less?

Willy, if it's not thin then it's not neglected enough to be rescued. It may even be being given water at intervals during the day. You said yourself that it used to kick it's water bucket over. Some native types can live on surprisingly little, I have one such in my field. If you wanted to get close you could pinch a lump of skin on the neck as a test for dehydration. If the skin springs back then it's getting water from somewhere.

Unless you can see bones, a horse will not be considered to be starved.

Last post because all the info you need has already been typed. Please read the thread. Do NOT leave hay out for the horse. If it needs rescuing you will pretty much knock any chances of that on the head. Really, my advice to you is do nothing at all, just ring experts for help.
(If you were on the Horse and Hound forum rather than Mumsnet you'd get much more consistent advice, but it would be what I am saying to you here).
I have helped Equine Market Watch, Redwings and World Horse Welfare (no longer ILPH) with various neglect cases. I know what I'm talking about.

Ok thanks Lucy, I'll contact the other agencies.

forgot ILPH had new name

how depressing that it could make things worse, giving hay and water, it makes sense though :(

It wasn't my last post .
Look at it this way. The rescue organisations get wasted call-outs all the time. Sometimes from well-meaning people, which they don't particularly mind, also a sadly large number from people who want to cause trouble. So, if a horse is reported to have no food or water, and they drive out to have a look and there it is with a bucket of water and hay on the ground, what can they do? They can only act if they can see there is neglect.
More than that, they have to see evidence of suffering. So the horse must be dehydrated, skinny or ill.

Tethering isn't illegal, although some councils are stronger on stopping it than others. So if you see a tethered horse that isn't showing bones and isn't dehydrated, it's very unlikely to be a welfare case.

p.s. Mud is fine, mud is natural.

Please, please, do not go near the horse.

I have grown up with horses, worked with young and difficult ones, racehorses, eventers etc.

4yrs ago I stopped to help a horse at the side of a busy country road that had got wrapped up in some fencing. I got trampled and broke my leg in 4places requiring surgery. I was pregnant too and lucky my DD was unharmed.

When I looked into it all after the event, there are so many legal loopholes that I could have been done for trespassing and animal abuse (i think it was)

It is not worth it. Some of the travellers seem to have these horses just because they like to have them, not that they are interested in looking after them. Phone up all of the organisations and keep phoning, then they can make that decision.

agree with the other posters.
unless the ribs are sticking out it is probably ok(ish). horses that are used to grass and being outside are pretty hardy.

I used to have a pony as a teenager that was out in the paddok all year round. unless there was no sheaf of grass left at all the pony wouldn't even touch the hay provided. and he was absolutely fine without blanket, just had winterfur that made him look like a bear in cold weather

Poor thing
I would be tempted to feed it too, but you are probably better leaving it alone. Especially if it's not very friendly, it might kick or bite you! Try and keep an eye on it to see if it gets given water at all, and if it is neglected ring for advice