To ask people to tell everyone they know NOT TO FEED HORSES THAT DON’T BELONG TO THEM

[YeahBabyYeahYeah]

I won’t post the article as it made me cry and may be more triggering for others, but the most beautiful pony is in the papers today. He died because someone ignored “do not feed” signs and fed him a fucking potato.

Why oh why do some people (who in this case clearly know fuck-all about horses if they are feeding them whole potatoes) think it is OK to feed other people’s animals without their permission?

AIBU to think there should be more awareness about this, especially with more people going for walks at the moment. It is never OK to feed a horse unless the owner tells you it is OK and approves the food.

[midgebabe]

Signs saying private are not helpful
Say where to go

An alternative set up is that people see lots of private signs , know there is a right of way somewhere and follow the hard track as they know that won't be damaged by feet , whereas other lines , if wrong, could be badly affected

Not saying that's the case in your example , but it's just as likely as people deliberately trespassing to avoid mud


I have also seen the actual right of way sealed off with barbed wire ... into the river ...which tended to send people on the hard track

And the fence and gate that meant people were going into someone's garden instead ... a big own goal.

[Maverickess]

Owning a horse is a huge responsibility and dealing with people who interfere with horses is sadly part of it.

Yes I agree, it's always been an issue to some degree, but it's been manageable, not as many people out and about.
But the sheer volume of people doing it during the lockdowns has unfortunately, from my experience and others here, has overwhelmed at least me and those on my yard.
Up until about this time last year, you would see a couple of regular dog walkers and maybe a couple of people walking past our farm in the couple of hours I'm there, in summer that might increase by one or two more.
Yesterday, I passed two families, and countless others in small groups or alone as I walked along the lane to the farm (I am within walking distance) because people have no where else to go and nothing else to do right now. They are staying local rather than travelling up to the Moors or down to the beach for a walk. I assume the places they'd normally go are closed, the things they normally entertain their families and themselves with not available.
Also, we have a bit of an issue with gangs of teens (though surprisingly, they seem to be the most receptive and least inclined to bother the horses) because I assume where we are is easy to walk to, but not generally somewhere the police come regularly so they get to socialise and spend time together without the police moving them on in the current climate.
It's great to see people enjoying our local area, it's an amazing place, but some treat it like a playground with the animals and machinery (the guy who delivers our hay and the people faffing with his tractor are a different story entirely!) Being the attractions.
Many who've been facing this increase have dealt with it on a lower scale for years, but it's the sheer numbers that are providing unmanageable at the moment.

[Maverickess]

*proving unmanageable

[HikeForward]

Oh and @hikeforward yea re pony in woods, I could have been more diplomatic but wasn't in a position where explaining nicely was my top priority...

I gathered that. I wasn’t saying you should be more diplomatic in that situation, just give them a warning your pony is out of control before they get close (or let their kid get close) so they have time to get out of your way.

I’ve been in similar situations (mostly on trail hunts when things go a bit haywire. It’s very easy to lose control when other horses are barging past, or you’re jumping fly fences in a group). But we still managed to warn each other of things like wire, ditches, hikers, holes, loose horse ahead etc and that was at a full gallop, sometimes with horses acting up, refusing, bolting etc. I find shouting ‘Move Please’ the most effective way to warn people you can’t stop and need space to regain control.

[Frodont]

@HikeForward

Oh and @hikeforward yea re pony in woods, I could have been more diplomatic but wasn't in a position where explaining nicely was my top priority...

I gathered that. I wasn’t saying you should be more diplomatic in that situation, just give them a warning your pony is out of control before they get close (or let their kid get close) so they have time to get out of your way.

I’ve been in similar situations (mostly on trail hunts when things go a bit haywire. It’s very easy to lose control when other horses are barging past, or you’re jumping fly fences in a group). But we still managed to warn each other of things like wire, ditches, hikers, holes, loose horse ahead etc and that was at a full gallop, sometimes with horses acting up, refusing, bolting etc. I find shouting ‘Move Please’ the most effective way to warn people you can’t stop and need space to regain control.

Did you have an epiphany about horses not liking bits before or after you went hunting?

[HikeForward]

Did you have an epiphany about horses not liking bits before or after you went hunting?

Huh? Where did I say horses don’t like bits? I think you’re confusing me with another poster. How do you ride a horse without a bit? Come to think of it they probably don’t like the bit, even a soft rubber vulcanite one, but the majority of horse owners ride so a suitable bit is essential (unless you ride bareback in the middle of nowhere or something).

A few pages back I said I don’t agree with harsh bits on soft mouthed youngsters, or gag snaffles etc used as back up breaks, or spurs used by novices. I think most horsey people would agree with this?
I mentioned I’ve seen horses treated badly by other riders at times, eg galloped on roads/hard ground deliberately or whipped into jumping fences blind. You see a lot of bad horsemanship on trail hunts, but those days are behind me. And I have no desire to derail the thread as somebody pointed out when I mentioned riders’ reputations before!

[Frodont]

Apologies! I'm sorry, I mixed you up with TheBuffster.

Why have all her posts been deleted?!

[CleanQueen123]

@midgebabe in our case there's a big wooden sign saying "Footpath" pointing straight ahead to the very obvious footpath.

I know people do block them off but we've made it as obvious as possible for people to take the route they should be taking. Or so we thought

[midgebabe]

There does seem to be a problem , mostly this year

[Frodont]

[quote whereismormonjesus]@TheBuffster

You can ask MNHQ to delete your posts on this thread and any replies to them if they are distressing you.

Best wishes to you [/quote]
Christ alive. They didn't do that to me when something similar happened to me a few years ago.

[Bladebladebla]

So, this year I was planning on purchasing some land in our local village with the idea of keeping my daughters pony there and my retired horse.
However given others experiences and the issues with young teenagers around here I decided against it and now have them at livery.
Given the site of the land I could quite see that every Tom dick and Harry on either the school run or their daily exercise would be bringing carrots and apples and grass clippings and whatnot to the ponies. I was also concerned that a certain few individuals may try to hop into the field and try to ride the ponies at night. And I don’t think my fears were unsubstantiated, given the difficulties other horse owners locally have experienced.

A poor horse owner locally to us (about an hour away though) had a small mare in foal (I’m talking a very small child’s pony, about 11hh), and some teenagers went into the field and jumped on it and galloped it around and it miscarried the foal later that night. The poor pony must have been terrified. It’s blinkin awful. The teenagers (boys) filmed themselves riding it, which was how they were caught. But of course nothing happened to them and there’s been no compensation to the owner, not to mention the utter heartbreak and distress to the poor pony and owner.

[CleanQueen123]

@Bladebladebla did that make the news/social media or did it happen to another poor person and that's how I heard about it?

That horrific story sounds incredibly familiar

[Bladebladebla]

Yes it definitely did rounds on social media and local news on the bbc. Not sure about National. But maybe. It was before lockdown. A while ago.

[TheBuffster]

@Frodont did your baby have cp too?
I asked Mumsnet to delete my posts as people constantly saying I was stupid brought back my PTSD relating to my baby's birth and subsequent disability, for which I blame myself. I admit I am not very well and only came on here as a distraction to the terrible things happening in my life. I don't really care much about the thread and it's not worth my mental health.

I would thank you and everyone else not to tag me again.
Thank you.

[Springersrock]

Yes I agree, it's always been an issue to some degree, but it's been manageable, not as many people out and about.

But the sheer volume of people doing it during the lockdowns has unfortunately, from my experience and others here, has overwhelmed at least me and those on my yard

Yes, we’ve always had issues to a degree, but it has been so much worse since the 1st lockdown.

We resorted to moving our ponies back to their winter field in the end last summer as there’s no footpaths nearby, although our yard owner still caught a few trespassers.

It’s caused a huge head ache and has fucked up the land management though. We had to put hay out all summer as there wasn’t enough grass. Their summer field is on clay and gets poached easily so we can’t use it over winter so they stayed put and we are again putting out hay.

Massive hay shortage here this year so we are really struggling to get any and they hay we can get costs nearly double what we usually pay per bale.

Hopefully, we’ll be able to get back to normal this year and let the winter field rest over summer.

All because people can’t leave other people’s animals alone

[Frodont]

I didn't tag you buffster

Hope you feel better soon.

[CleanQueen123]

@Bladebladebla it is the same incident I'm thinking of then. Horsey social media stretches far and wide for things so awful

[user194729573]

I can't quite get my head around people being stupid enough to try and ride random unknown horses without tack, or putting their small child on a random horse.

Do they think it's like a free donkey ride on a beach? Do they just not have a clue how dangerous it is? Do they know but want a thrill?

I don't get it. I've seen threads on here before about people doing it and I don't get it. I really lose faith in the human race sometimes.

[user194729573]

Are beach donkey rides still a thing? I don't know. Just wondering how people could have got the idea that plonking a small child on a random horse was anything other than obscenely dangerous.

[AlmightyBob]

@HikeForward bit OT but bitless bridles are a thing - I think they've been growing in popularity for a while now:

www.horseandhound.co.uk/features/bitless-bridle-673466

[Maverickess]

But of course nothing happened to them and there’s been no compensation to the owner, not to mention the utter heartbreak and distress to the poor pony and owner.

This I think is the root of the problem, there's no recourse for owners who experience this happening even when people are caught.
I wonder if it could be considered criminal damage? Or you could bring a suit for cruelty? A civil suit for damages unfortunately would probably cost more than you'd get, so I think somehow this kind of thing needs to be made a criminal offence, with the punishment being paying the damages resulting and compensation, and a ban on keeping animals themselves.
Owners can do everything within their power to protect their horses, but when people circumnavigate all that and still cause damage, there's no legal recourse, so effectively the message is that it's ok to do.

[whydobirds]

Re bits, people used to say of my pony, 'bit him up, put a Pelham or gag in'. But, he is dds pony and she did not have light enough hands for a Pelham. I schooled him instead and dd did a ton of groundwork and he is perfect in a snaffle now. I have tried him bitless, but whereas in his snaffle he rounds, drops and softens, in a bitless he sets his neck. I think he finds the pressure uncomfortable. Dd now often rides him either with no reins or just in a headcollar, bareback.

Mental Iberian gets ridden in a rope halter at most, and often with no head restraint. Weirdly, he is safer like that.

[CoronaIsWatching]

It was probably a middle class Disney dad

[whydobirds]

@maverickess it does class as criminal damage already but I would imagine it is really hard to get a conviction.

[maxelly]

@HikeForward

Did you have an epiphany about horses not liking bits before or after you went hunting?

Huh? Where did I say horses don’t like bits? I think you’re confusing me with another poster. How do you ride a horse without a bit? Come to think of it they probably don’t like the bit, even a soft rubber vulcanite one, but the majority of horse owners ride so a suitable bit is essential (unless you ride bareback in the middle of nowhere or something).

A few pages back I said I don’t agree with harsh bits on soft mouthed youngsters, or gag snaffles etc used as back up breaks, or spurs used by novices. I think most horsey people would agree with this?
I mentioned I’ve seen horses treated badly by other riders at times, eg galloped on roads/hard ground deliberately or whipped into jumping fences blind. You see a lot of bad horsemanship on trail hunts, but those days are behind me. And I have no desire to derail the thread as somebody pointed out when I mentioned riders’ reputations before!

Yeah hackamores (a bitless bridle that works using poll pressure instead of pressure on the mouth) are a thing. Not dressage legal, but increasingly popular, my friend rides her mare in one as she's got a very soft mouth and gets sores in the corners of her mouth in a normal bit, it seems to work fine for her. If you watch showjumping on the telly you'll see the odd horse going round a grand prix in one so it certainly is possible to have control without a bit!

That being said I wouldn't care to go XC or hunting in one, and in fact I'd never use anything that acts to lower the head on either of mine, as they tend towards the 'head between the knees, sod off' school of thought and definitely need something which raises the poll, not get it further down! But they work fine for some people. I don't know about them necessarily being 'gentler' per se just because there's no bit, for me it's all about correct training and light, soft hands whatever your method of control but they are somewhat popular with the natural horsemanship/parelli acolytes as more 'natural'...