AIBU to yell at the next person I catch...

[Pleasedontfeedme]

Yes it is a clickbaity title but hopefully what I'm saying might educate people who weren't aware...

AIBU to yell at the next person I catch feeding/throwing food and treats into the field where my old semi-retired pony is supposed to be happily living out the rest of his years?

Ok, I already know I'm being unreasonable but lockdown has made the footpath at runs along the perimeter of the field busier than I have ever known it.
OP (old pony in this instance) has some health complications now and has to have a pretty strict diet these days, he also seems to get fat on thin air and owing to his age and an old injury meaning he can't work off the calories like he used to and so a controlled diet is crucial in keeping him healthy. Yet EVERYONE keeps feeding him, I was only there 30 mins or so today and in that time I spoke (politely I might add) to 2 families giving him apples, carrots and treats, which may seem harmless but each one is akin to giving a toddler and chocolate bar (best comparison I can make). Fine if one person does it, but I'm not their 24/7 to stop everyone else and it's making poor OP a ticking timebomb, I worry I'm going to go see him one day and it's going to be his last, to put it bluntly.
I've got signs around the field saying please don't feed him, I speak to people and try and educate. Some people are really lovely about it and apologetic, others I've asked time and time again. Its not just apples and carrots, some people are throwing random kitchen waste in which is not suitable to be fed to him ( some foods cause colic or horses bolting food down can choke) and some people throw grass clippings In (again can cause colic). Before people suggest, he can't be fenced away from the path, plus from previous experience it doesn't deter people anyway ( I've caught people having a picnic In the field, sharing it with him before).
I just want the public to realise that whilst feeding other peoples people's animals may seem harmless, they might have specific dietary requirements or even just the owner doesn't want you to (some start to bite or it can cause injury if there's a couple of them getting aggressive over food).
I've started posting on local Facebook groups in an attempt to educate (near us one horse has died which was shared widely across Facebook as a result of being fed something she shouldn't have) and yet people are still doing it.
So yes IABU to lose my shit with the next person I see but hopefully the message will reach more people by posting on here.
(Sorry it was a bit of a long winded post!)

Just make sure the signs are as explicit / dramatic as you can be 'this pony will DIE if you don't stop feeding him' etc

Don't know why but I guessed what it would be about before I opened the thread. And ywnbu to scream and swear at the next person. Everyone would understand the anger if you had passers by throwing chocolate, cooked chicken bones and household waste in your garden for your dog to become ill/ injured/ killed by so I have no idea why we are expected to be more reasonable when twats are trying to hurt or kill our horses for their own amusement.

I know that 9/10 it isn't the most constructive method but that doesn't make wanting to shout unreasonable. I'll explain politely, but only because it's more likely to get results, not because I care about offending the entitled cunts.

That said, if I know someone has read the signs or they're throwing random shit in, I'm more likely to go in with 'Hi, please could you stop trying to kill the horses' than a polite explanation when they've clearly already ignored the reasoning on the signs. Repeat offenders, trespassers or anyone that tries arguing I'm not so polite with.

I explained to one woman and her kids that if they kept on feeding him they were going to end up killing him and she replied 'we came to feed him all last summer and he's still alive'... well yes but I also had a very large vets bill last year as a result of him being laminitic, funnily enough she didn't take my bank details so she could contribute.
The signs have got less polite over the years but I don't really want to seem like some crazy stuck up horse person... I try to educate instead but I feel like I'm banging my head against a brick wall

With the return feeders who think it’s ok because they’ve done it before, could you carefully re-word your signs to cover that? Lie a little - say your pony is on meds/has to have daily tests which require an empty stomach, etc, etc.

I wouldn’t risk losing my shit at people because some people are scarily weird. Just try to write signs that most people won’t think it’s ok to ignore. It must be very annoying for you!

Is there a car park that they park in to walk the footpath to feed him?

Maybe a few signs to say there are cameras so you have their number plate and those ignoring the signs and feeding him will be traced and liable for the p, ever increasing, vet bills.

could you put another wire further inside the fence so he doesn't get close and it's too far for kids to throw?

This is a bit random but a friend has had success with putting a plastic box by the gate and a laminated sign. Basically says leave your treats or draw a picture for the pony and leave it in the box and she started a FB page where she posts the pics! She puts tips up too like "today he had 8 apples left, 8 apples = X teaspoons of sugar"

Link
https://www.facebook.com/1187833244729763/posts/1480171505495934/?d=n

Put an electric fence inside the field boundary to keep them away.

Its not my land and I'm not allowed to erect a permanent second fence. I did have a line of electric fencing which OP got wrapped around his legs somehow, then it was all stolen and I don't really want to keep paying to replace it as I'm sure it will happen again.
No car park, all very rural in North Yorkshire, no CCTV, just a very popular walking place. Cant really move OP either, a lot of the land around here has very rich grass on it (that's if I could even find alternative grazing, it's like rocking horse sh*t around here), so even worse for him. The field is otherwise just a patch of unusable land, but it's perfect for him.

It’s so rude and so annoying! We have a footpath through our horse’s field. People pat and possibly feed them, so they now rush up to other people on the footpath expecting fuss/treats. Some people, funnily enough, don’t want four big horses charging at them, and are rightly scared.

Just to add to my previous post, he caught the electric fence around his legs because the battery was stolen and the fence doesn't keep him in with out the threat of a shock if he gets too close. I don't know how many batteries I've had to replace because of theft, before the whole bloody fence was stolen.

I like the idea of a box for his treats, and maybe even a Facebook page as a lot of people seem to know him, he's quite popular because he likes to walk with people along the fence line, they think he's being friendly, in reality he's just greedy and thinks you'll feed him more.

I sympathise honeyroar, about 10 years ago I kept OP and 2 other horses in a field with a foot path running through, I had to fence a walkway through because they kept 'mugging' people trying to walk through.

YAdefinitelyNBU, it gives me the rage. Thankfully, DPony now lives off the beaten track, but we’ve kept ponies near footpaths before and it drove me crazy when people used to feed them!

Could you either set up a mesh or could you build (big job I realise!) an inner fence so that your OP can't actually get near to people and vice versa, so OP can't reach any scraps people throw in?

Sorry cross-posted! There must be a way of keeping OP away from direct contact with people

For the benefit of return feeders, my signs include a sentence referring to the fact that every time their special diet is changed with any extra food their lifespan reduces.

I cured a persistent offender 5/6 years ago when I caught them at it yet again the day after a long night with a touch and go colic caused by someone feeding, and still at the stage where pts was a likely outcome. I didn't hold back at all, and shared the graphic details of the night before and likely outcome, again in detail. I did have enough control to tell it to send its preteen dc out of earshot first, but was quite blunt about the fact my own same age dc hadn't been spared the graphic reality because it was their pet crashing around in agony.

Can you find some literature on laminitis, colic and choke, simple explanations but from a source (like a vets or vet association so it's 'official') online and print it out headed by
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU FEED THIS PONY!
And put them up around the perimeter?
I find people do think it's just horse people being stuck up and precious but with something 'official' they may realise that's not the case and stop.
Also a post on local Facebook pages with something similar.
Shouldn't have to do it because people shouldn't be feeding other people's animals full stop, but I'm reading increasingly that they are and it's causing all sorts of problems.
I think south Tyneside council also did a post on their Facebook site about this, I'll see if I can find it.
Would your vet or someone like that maybe post something online to be shared about?

I definitely agree with putting some 'dramatic' posters up. Something which will really make people stop and think.

'My vet's bill last year was £2000 due to people feeding me. DO NOT FEED ME. I will get sick when you feed me and if it continues I will have to be rehomed for my own health'

The treats box is a very good idea though. That way the posters could be

'My vet's bill last year was £2000 due to people feeding me. DO NOT FEED ME. If you wish to treat me, please leave them in the bucket provided, otherwise, my owner will have to consider rehoming for my health'

I really feel for you. I understand people's urge to feed friendly horses but it can be so bad for their health.

Electric fence, on the feeders side not the horses.

YANBU.. we've caught people throwing bloody bread to ours like they're ducks. Could you do electric fencing but not electrified just inside the fence and put 2 strands of tape really taught? Then people won't be able to reach him and he might be less likely to try and go through it if theres no room the other side. Failing that, signs but sadly they don't stop people doing what they want

Yes, people think they're being nice but they're actually causing so much harm.

I'd put up a sign about laminitis, perhaps with some graphic photos of worse case scenarios?

I agree with the dramatic posters, don't hold back. Print this out;
metro.co.uk/2020/04/28/two-horses-die-fed-mindless-walkers-picnic-field-12621173/

Put electric fencing inside the fence so he can't get near them .

I know nothing about horses so just a general question to horse owners as my kids love feeding them. We only ever give them a few handfuls of the long grass that is out of the horses reach, and there’s no sign saying not to feed them. I’d always assumed this was fine, but is that not ok either? Thanks.