To ask you not to feed horses you don’t know

[lastqueenofscotland]

With the weather improving and the government giving us the green light to travel to other places. If you are off walking around where horses are kept please don’t feed them without the permission of the owner.

Some horses have laminitis and you feeding them treats can cause this to flare up and in some cases cause them to need to be put to sleep.
Some things you feed them could disagree with them, horses can’t be sick, this could literally kill them.
Horses can be territorial around food and incredibly aggressive. This is dangerous for you or if they decide they are jealous of their field mate getting fed and decide to beat them up.

Please please please just leave other people’s animals alone unless you’ve permission from the owners.

I live in a city and have never fed a horse. I read somewhere that turnips can kill some horses - is that correct? That's a real worry if so.

All parts of an avocado are lethal to horses, a couple died recently after being fed some by picnickers.
Horses can't vomit if they eat something toxic, so its a nasty way to die.

My auntie owned a horse when I was young and the field she owed was right beside my house and my dad was always having to go out and tell people to piss off and not to feed the horse. The fact some people think it’s ok to feed someone’s horse blows my mind, if you don’t own the horse or have permission to feed it then piss off away from it.

It’s exactly the same as me walking to a crowd of mothers at the school gates and shoving chocolate into their offspring’s mouths without asking.

My friend’s horse had to have a colic operation this week because someone fed it veg it shouldn’t have eaten. Three days in the vet hospital and several thousand pounds later it’s pulled through, after a lot of pain.

My own horses are charging at walkers on the footpath (and scaring some people) because they think they’ve got treats. Fencing off the footpath also means that they can’t get to the stream for drinking water.

People are idiots. There was a thread here not long ago where a farmer became abusive because the owner asked him not to allow his children to feed her horses, claiming he had the 'right'. The ignorance and sense of entitlement is obviously strong in some people.

Anyone who truly loves horses would not want to risk putting them in harm's way: I live in dread of colic and have lost at least one of the horses I ride because of it. I don't think people realise how potentially lethal that condition is in a horse; that, or they care more about their own pleasure in feeding it potentially deadly food.

I'm guessing these are the same kinds of berks who think approaching a herd of cows in any circumstance is a good idea. I was SO happy to be in the vicinity when one group learned a nice little lesson to the contrary. I've never seen anyone hightail it over a fence so fast. It's just a pity they saw fit to put their children in harm's way too.

Ignorant morons.

Sorry - above should read FATHER. Not Farmer.

@Mustfly You are either a troll (hopefully...) or an idiot and you clearly know absolutely nothing about horses. The risk of laminitis is highest at this time of year particularly for native type breeds. If you did not understand this sentence, perhaps that should tell you something.

Do NOT feed horses unless invited to do so by the owner.

@britnay I have never in my life used appalling language like that against another human being. It simply wouldn't occur to me. I have three lovely children who I bring up to be similarly polite and amongst their homework, chores and daily exercise I allow them to feed a local horse the odd carrot. It's not every day, not even every week. No I wouldn't mind if my neighbour gave my cat the odd treat...it's just in people to express affection through food. If it's really a problem, a nicely worded sign on the fence would deter the vast majority of people. No need for the aggression and disparaging comments about a well meant gesture.

I once read a book which advised carrying sugar lumps in your handbag at all times in case you met a horse.

I have never followed this advise. because I'm not keen on horses or sugar

I'm pleased to read here I haven't been doing life all wrong.

When you say 'advised' ... was it Enid Blyton?

No, it was a book about child care written by a nanny.

It also advised tying 9 month old babies to a table leg while sitting them on a potty.

I didn't do that either, but the rest of the book was quite good, especially the bit about having an afternoon nap while the children did, and then refreshing yourself with a cup of tea, before going out for a walk with sugar cube in your handbag.

If it's really a problem, a nicely worded sign on the fence would deter the vast majority of people.

Actually, most people ignore the nicely worded signs. That's why people like the OP are starting to get more overt and less "nice" in trying to stop people feeding their horses.

And it's not a well meant gesture from many people, they just see it as their right to feed, because they want to. It's about self-gratification, nothing more.

Actually I think it’s the owner’s responsibility to make sure their animals are safe, and if that means having a double fence then that’s what they should do
You could build a twenty foot fence, a moat filled with crocodiles and a huge nicely written poster stating exactly why you should touch/feed/annoy the animals and people would still do it because "life's little pleasures" or no one tells me what to do or they just see the countryside as some kind of Disneyland where anything goes and it's just grumpy farmers being awkward when they ask them not to do X, y, z.

Mustfly you really can’t be as stupid as you’re trying to appear, surely??

My friends uncle used to hire kids to throw stones at anyone who tried to feed his. It was easy money - he’d organise a picnic and the stones and then pay you a fiver after lol

And it's not a well meant gesture from many people, they just see it as their right to feed, because they want to. It's about self-gratification, nothing more.

Spot on.

It’s the combination of total ignorance and entitlement which is so bloody infuriating .

Wow, I don't know how you didn't throw that book across the room! I always wanted to punch people who said 'have a nap when the baby naps'. But YY, I can imagine the person who wrote that writing about sugar cubes for horses. It's very Edwardian Nanny.

I don't get why on earth people think they have the right to feed other people's livestock.
If I walked into your garden and lobbed Mars bars at your dog or sat on your car bonnet in Tesco car park there would be uproar. What if I said, well yes but it makes me happy to feed dogs chocolate and if you will leave your car in a public place without security what do you expect? I needed a sign saying I couldn't sit on it!

People can and do cause serious damage and illness to other people's property through reckless feeding and feel they are perfectly entitled to do so just because its a horse and it makes them happy!! It is very simple. If you don't own it, you don't pay for it, leave it the fuck alone!!

@Mustfly if the owner has given you permission that’s fine, but otherwise you are being unreasonable beyond belief.

One of my mum’s ponies is a huge laminitis risk. Ponies die from laminitis. If a handful of people a week feed him apples because they think it’s a nice experience for their children, they’re putting his life at risk.

It is the peak of entitlement for you to think that it’s acceptable for you to risk a pony’s life because you think it’s nice for your children.

So stick to feeding ponies whose owners have given you explicit permission to feed them and have told you exactly what food is acceptable, or just don’t do it.

www.advertiserandtimes.co.uk/new-forest-pony-feed

If it's really a problem, a nicely worded sign on the fence would deter the vast majority of people

Actually, it doesn’t. We’ve put up signs. Nice polite ones explaining why, more blunt ones, ones graphically explaining why. We even left a bucket out asking people to put their treats in there and we’ll give them to the ponies later.

Most people ignored them. Some people tore the signs down and left them on the ground

We’ve put up double rows of electric fence - and had complaints from people who have had electric shocks from it despite the massive, yellow warning signs. We’ve had someone climb over a gate, pull electric fence posts out of the ground - which is fucking dangerous for the horses as they can get their legs caught in it.

We’ve moved our horses to fields away from public footpaths - but our yard owner is still finding members of the public trespassing and receiving abuse and threats.

The only other option is to keep them locked in their stables 24/7 - which would mean our old retiree would be put to sleep - she has severe arthritis and needs to be free to bumble around as she pleases which she can’t do if she’s shut in her stable

Mustfly, you do understand that the world doesn't revolve around your children, don't you? The animals you feed cost their owners a huge amount of time and money to keep, they are not yours to do with as you wish. Not your animal, don't touch it, quite simple really. As someone who claims to pride themselves on good manners and on instilling the same in their offspring, perhaps you could remember that? If signs worked, horse owners wouldn't have to start threads like this.

I feel your pain. My elderly mare had just had a bout of colic, it was touch and go for her, the only thing we can think is that she was in the field next to the footpath and was fed something. Normally we only see a few walkers a week, since lockdown there have been dozens per day☹️

I despair when I read the sort of comments that Mustfly and the other irresponsible posters have written. My friend nearly lost her beautiful retired arabian horse only last week because people ignored the signs around the field and fed him. He's pulled through but looks like a hat rack he's been so poorly. Do people need to see the photos of the dead horses that die? How would it be to do the regular trip to ignore signs and feed if the parents and children were faced with a photo of the horse that died on the fence?
As for double fencing - why should anyone sacrifice the grazing to do that? Why leave a strip to go wild when it's part of the horse's forage? And you know what happens when double fencing goes up? Either people climb over the first fence to go up to it, or they drop their children over, or they throw the food to the horses.

My old mare had to have colic surgery due to passerby’s throwing treats in the field. One of the worst experiencing I’ve ever had and the £8000 vet bill was a further kick in the teeth. Just don’t feed them no matter how harmless you think it may be.