Travellers' Horse

[whoopsivechangedagain]

Hi,

A close relative has a farm. Two weeks ago he was approached by travellers and asked in their horse could graze on his land for a few days. My relative agreed. He knows that travellers are in a dire situation at the moment and he thought it would be best for the horse and his relationship with the travelling community, if he allowed the animal to graze.

The horse is a beautiful animal. However, on the first day, it escaped and made its way, after bolting several fences, to the cattle feed. Since then, I have been buying horse feed and the horse has shown itself to be a lovely friendly, if spirited, creature.

The problem is that it does not look like the travellers will be taking the horse back in the near future. My brother is concerned because he is not insured for the animal (e.g. if the horse or anyone is injured).

The travellers come every day, and we supplement the feed.

My relative contacted the police after the horse broke out and the police made clear that he had to give an ultimatum, either the animal was taken away or it would be destroyed. Yet, I do not think the travellers have the facilities to keep the horse at the moment and it is a healthy and (frankly) lovely animal which should in no way be destroyed as a result of these unfortunate circumstances.

My relative is loathe to contact animal welfare groups because he thinks their response will be similar to that of the police, and he does not want repercussions (he lives alone with his very elderly mother).

AIBU to advise my relative to keep the horse on the farm until this lock-down relaxes a little and the travellers can reunite with the horse and take it with them?

Sorry for the long post

It’s kind thing you are doing OP (I’m not going to even acknowledge the racist posts about travellers on this thread) but do you and your brother know how to care for a horse? If the owners visit each day you shouldn’t need to feed or do anything else. Ask them what future plans are, talk to them.

Thank you. There are quite a mixture of responses. However, I think it is unanimous that we should stop feeding the horse, which is something we can do straight away.

I will also contact the BHS helpline.

I hope the link below works because the article explains why we think the travellers are in a dire situation:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52556488.

I do agree that my brother has perhaps been taken for a ride (no pun intended), but it is equally possible that their really is nowhere else for the horse to go.

It is not a stallion and looks like a half draught horse, so, yes it is probably worth quite a bit of money.

I started feeding it because I assumed the animal was hungry since it made a bolt for the cattle nuts..

The field is fenced and off the road, but it is obviously not horse proof.

Thank you again for the advice.

Is it coloured? It probably worth peanuts, it if wasn’t they wouldn’t have left it with you.

Where do travellers normally keep their horses? Just wondering.

Thanks for sharing that article OP- v informative.

It is a dark brown colour with a white blaze on its face. It seems to be about 16 hands, perhaps slightly more. Normally, the travellers keep the horses by the side of the road, but I think restrictions on movement and difficulties with access to water may have made this difficult.

As long as horse has grass and water it should be ok. Re insurance, if you are concerned, you can get third party liability insurance if you join BHS gold membership. (www.bhs.org.uk/membership/types-of-memberships/gold-membership) I think I pay about £6 a month and it provides legal advice and the insurance too.

@KingOfDogShite where are you that coloured cobs go for peanuts? They go for a fortune where I am. And the gypsys don’t give two fucks where they get left. Just proves a point how much disposable money they have

They haven't abandoned it, they obviously still have an interest in it. At the end of lockdown he needs to firmly ask them to remove it BY THE END OF THIS WEEK.
Goodluck !

Travelers have been tethering a horse on the local football pitch. I walked through this morning and today there are 9 horses and a herd of fifteen goats all grazing. I would definitely be asking them to move their horse or you may well end up with more animals and caravans not moving for months.

@hiredandsqueak exactly what crossed my mind. It won’t just stay the one horse..,

They'll be coming from miles around once word gets out.

The horse market is dead currently. There will be many poor things for sale in a few months when people lose their jobs

Gypsy cobs are hardly worth anything, £200 or so. The rescue centres are full of them

There is ‘fly grazing’ legislation in force in some areas because of horses being dumped on people’s property. Try to contact the council as more horses may turn up possibly with foals.

Is this horse destroying you relation’s hay or silage crops?

Before you know it they will be living in the field with the horse and a few more! 🤣
This.

Absolutely ask them to move it, else before you know it you'll have a camp on the field with all the problems that will entail. You've done a kind thing but I wouldn't get involved in any way with travellers.

It is certainly from the description a valuable competition horse, no one is going to pay £40,000 for it as they do for talented warmbloods.

Sadly horses suffer because the police and councils allow people to treat then badly.