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.

Its not just horses, people should stop feeding other peoples animals full stop. People feeding cats is another big issue that really grates on me, it causes no end of issues.

People referring to ‘safe’ foods. No food is ‘safe’ if the animal has medical or specialist dietary requirements. We have a horse at work that is severely allergic to most ‘safe’ foods including carrots, oats and speedy beet, when we took her on we didn’t know, she nearly died, finding an actual horse feed that she could eat was a chore so even passing by and feeding her generic but specific horse feed could present her with significant problems. You just don’t know a strange animals back ground therefore you should assume nothing is safe.

That's the main problem isn't it, that there are no consequences.

If a few people got fined or sued and word got around I think people would be more cautious.

We've had a horrible spate of animals being killed on the road in the forest recently. Zero consequences for the drivers. The police say they were doing the speed limit so they did nothing wrong, regardless of the road conditions and the fact they know there are free roaming animals.

Last night I logged on to Facebook to see a pony had been found choking by the side of the road on carrots someone had "helpfully" left there.

No sign of who is it was but there wouldn't be any consequences even if they did find them.

It is illegal to feed the forest ponies but the powers that be have no interest in policing the forest to stop it happening or to convict when people are caught.

Hackamores can be really harsh. Lots of people have them too low and they must be very painful as they put pressure on the soft nose under the bone.

There are lots of bitless options tho, and a snaffle can be harsh in the wrong hands?

I once looked after my friends dog for a few weeks while she was away. He went off his food, really had me panicking, very nearly took him to the vets. Turns out while I was at work my neighbour was posting dog treats through my letterbox! The dog just wasn't hungry when I put his dinner out. I was furious, the neighbour didn't see a problem with it either.

@Frodont

Hackamores can be really harsh. Lots of people have them too low and they must be very painful as they put pressure on the soft nose under the bone.

DD loves Micklems.

Bitless for schooling or a mooch up the lane. With a snaffle when she needs more reliable brakes - cross country/bloodhounds, etc.

Her pony has a bit of a sensitive poll and our chiropractor suggested one after she got a bit giraffey in her normal bridle - saw such a difference

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

Thank you, that’s a really interesting article 😊

@Ylfa

There are lots of bitless options tho, and a snaffle can be harsh in the wrong hands?

Absolutely not interested in bitless, I've only ever seen one horse go nicely that way.

@Dotty1219

I once looked after my friends dog for a few weeks while she was away. He went off his food, really had me panicking, very nearly took him to the vets. Turns out while I was at work my neighbour was posting dog treats through my letterbox! The dog just wasn't hungry when I put his dinner out. I was furious, the neighbour didn't see a problem with it either.

That turns this thread upside down! All of those comments that people wouldn't feed strange dogs. Admittedly it wasn't chocolate though.

@DdraigGoch my friend had a similar issue with her cat, the neighbour kept feeding it, regardless off the fact it had a medical collar on, and was on a special diet. The cat ended up pretty poorly. Said neighbour then reported my friend to the RSPCA saying that she was starving the cat and not looking after it 🙄 why people can't leave other peoples animals alone i don't know. Ive literally just seen a post on a local Facebook group asking "does anyone else feed the horses at "local" field".

Don't get meon my neighbours, only there at yhd weekend, who used to tempted fluffy gongermog round with salmon and chicken and then say he wouldn't go round if he was fed properly. 12 years later we still don't speak.

And now a pregnant Clydesdale has died nine months after her foal died as a result of being fed by passers by, and the suspicion is that that has what has killed her too. How many more will do before people stop?

www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/devastation-as-clydesdale-broodmare-dies-nine-months-after-her-colt-from-suspected-public-feeding-736466

Has anyone else noticed this campaign being shared a lot on Facebook and twitter etc? Example below. Fantastic to see, just so sad that so many beautiful horses have died or been injured that it’s necessary. Let’s hope it saves many more from the ignorant.

www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2021/january/behorseaware.html

Covid: Horses 'dying and ill' from lockdown walkers' food www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-55888872

On a positive note, my friend was standing at the side of her field watching her horses this week (very close to where poor Lightening died) and a random lady came over and said “I hope you’re not going to feed them!!” So the message is getting out..

Another example of what we're dealing with:

www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/rider-reported-to-police-after-girl-trying-to-feed-her-ponies-gets-shocked-by-electric-fence-736993?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_content=horseandhound&utm_campaign=socialflow

Shouldn't have been there in the first place but reports the horse owner to the police when their child gets a shock from the electric fence

Legally you have to have signs up saying there’s electric fencing, I think. I hate all the bloody signs we’ve got everywhere- don’t feed the horses! Electric fence! Private property! Looks very ugly, but sadly needed. I was saddened that every field I went through with the dogs on a long walk last week had various signs up - so we’re all clearly experiencing it!

@Honeyroar I think the article said she does have signs and has had for 20 years.

We put up a load more signs at our yard last weekend. This afternoon I watched walkers try to decide which way to go. Two out of the three options are very clearly marked private property and the third option is the public right of way which is also clearly sign posted.

I could tell from the conversation it wasn't that they were lost. It was that they didn't fancy going the way they ought to be

Sara cox has just been telling this to people on BBC radio 2 👏👏👏

www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/derby-news/desperate-plea-issued-horse-dies-5005293

Just a bump because I watched in absolute horror this morning as a party of people I’ve never seen before in my life clambered in and out of paddocks (some containing horses who are potentially extremely dangerous to inexperienced humans) miles and miles from any public right of way - to sit down and have a fucking picnic 😧 I was too far away to do anything but it’s gut churning fear for their safety as well as this visceral sense of violation, like finding a stranger has let themselves into your house. What the fuck. You really have to go out of your way to get into these paddocks and I just don’t understand the mentality of this, at all?

@Ylfa I asked some people to leave our field a while ago and reminded them it was private property.

They claimed they didn't know. Apparently having battle through woodland and then crawl through barbed wire wasn't enough of an indication that it wasn't a right of way.

They also tried to hide behind a bush when they saw I'd spotted them

What the fuck!