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.

@Fiadh79

I don't feed horses anyway, as I'm too scared. But can you more knowledgeable people explain, surely the horse is in the field eating grass from the ground, so what's wrong with feeding them grass? Is it the quantity with it being grass clippings?

@Fiadh79 grass clippings ferment and can cause colic in horses which can be fatal (and a horrible way for them to die because it's horribly painful.)

There’s a paddock in a council owned nature reserve / park we walk our dog who has a similar problem. She even added a second fence as a buffer because everyone was ignoring the signs saying please do not feed this horse or it will die! I saw her one day and she was picking bits of old sandwiches and crap people had threw towards the horses... honestly people are just horrible, I can only think they were trying to kill the horse as they couldn’t have missed the massive signs. What is wrong with people!

This drove me insane during the first lockdown.

We have a public footpath running through our livery yard and the sheer amount of people feeding our horses was mad.

We ended up moving the horses back to their winter fields as they are out of the way - meaning we had to put hay out as there wasn’t enough grass. It cost a fortune and we’re now struggling with hay shortages.

We tried all sorts of signs - nice and polite, nice ones explaining why we people shouldn’t feed them, blunt ones, graphic ones. Signs were at best ignored, at worst, pulled down.

We even left out a bucket with a sign asking people to put treats in there and we would give them to the horses with their tea - the bucket was nicked.

Ours get bolshy when given too many treats. Being mugged for treats by a half tonne animal is not fun. Plus, they fight if one thinks the other is getting something they aren’t.

I did catch someone feeding mine a sausage roll once. I was very polite about it and asked them not to. Was told to fuck off, they’d do what I want and that I was a stuck up bitch 🤷‍♀️.

I don’t know what it is about horses that people think they have the right to touch/feed them. People would hate it if I started feeding their pets inappropriate food and made it worse by ignoring them when I was asked not to

There was a FB post a couple of days ago on a local community group complaining they’d been bitten by a horse and they were trying to find the owner. Lots of replies were along the lines of “why were you interfering with someone else’s animal?” The original OP wasn’t happy, accused everyone else of victim blaming and simply didn’t accept she should leave other people’s property alone.

@mediciempire

can you stroke horses you come across? i don't but sometimes i think i'd like to but i don't know if it would upset them or if they'd bite.

I don't know what others would say, mine enjoy a fuss on the whole and would quickly withdraw themselves if they weren't up for it, I don't mind them getting some non-food related attention. So I'd say patting is OK providing you and any DC with you know the basics of how to pat a horse safely, ie approach quietly, no screeching or shouting (more relevant for DC than adults!), flat hand, no fingers sticking out as these can be mistaken for carrots, stroke the neck or shoulder gently, avoid going near eyes or ears as horses are sensitive there. Also be aware of the signs that a horse is unhappy or frightened e.g. putting ears back, and be very cautious with your fingers and toes(and keep any DC too little to do so away from the horse).

And of course, it should go without saying, but if there are signs around saying not to approach or pat the horse, or the owner has constructed a barrier using fencing or electrical tape to keep the horses out of arms reach of the fence, PLEASE, PLEASE (sorry to shout) do not dangle your DC over the fence, climb over to get to the horses, let your DC chase them around or plonk your DC up for a 'pony ride' (yes all these things have happened on our yard!)

I don't have horses but I know you don't feed horses any old thing. Genuine question though: would it be okay to pick some of the grass that the horse was eating anyway and give them that? I think there is probably a good reason why not but I would be interested to know. Incidentally, when I was a kid, we were told horses loved polo mints. Fortunately, so did I...

Sometimes I really really hate the British public. I think we need to introduce an 'only exercise from your front door' law as the amount of people who seem to have no idea how to interact with animals and nature is jaw dropping.

@UmmH

Crumbs, I had no idea potatoes were poisonous to horses. Not that I was planning to feed one to a horse, but good to know anyway. Are there any other toxic foods for certain animals we should know about?

I know that rats shouldn't eat apple pips, so be careful if you are feeding apples to your pet rats.

Dogs - poisons include chocolate, alliums (onions, garlic), quite a lot of common cut flowers (lilies are especially bad). There's quite a long list of things that are poisonous to dogs - basically if it's a friend's pet staying with you, ask (even if it's a safe food, they may not want behaviours like begging for food reinforced by accident), if it's a dog you don't know, don't feed it at all. I had to "rehome" quite a lot of my pot plants when we got our dog.

Cats - lilies, alliums, quite a lot of other plants.

Do not feed a neighbourhood cat, no matter how big its eyes are, and how good it is at the hypnotise the humans routine of "I am starving, no, really, look into my lovely big eyes and ignore the nice round tummy." Best case scenario you are effectively stealing someone's beloved pet, worst case scenario, it has a medical condition and needs special food, and you could kill it.

I agree people shouldn’t feed horses, but sadly signs won’t stop everyone! Lots of people ignore signs or don’t see them or don’t know it’s dangerous to feed a horse or what the consequences can be.

It would be much safer for the horses if the owners built a double fence (the outer fence preventing people from being able to reach the inner fence) like in a zoo. I’ve seen horses in fields where the outer fence is electric! Or keep them in fields that don’t back on to footpaths or residential areas.

It’s unrealistic to expect everyone to obey the signs or understand them. Yes they should obey them but many don’t. ‘Educating’ people only goes so far. Horse owners need to make their fields and paddocks inaccessible to walkers. Many people feed potatoes and turnips to cows/pigs etc and don’t understand the danger for horses.

Can I just repeat - advice is that Covid can be transmitted via animal fur. So don't even stroke horses during the pandemic!
I turned down the offer of a lovely field at only £3k per annum (absolute bargain!) recently. Because it has a public footpath running through the middle... bad enough people getting access over the one fence where I am now that adjoins a lane.

I think one of the problems is petting farms. People are encouraged to shovel treats into the animals. Some people that aren’t used to animals don’t have any other experience of animals so if they come across animals in fields they think it’s ok. It’s also a way of persuading the animals to come near to the fence so their children can see them.

Just leave them alone. They are in their field for some horse time, not to have to perform for parents trying to entertain their kids.

Fwiw, I had one of mine outside my house the ither day, giving him a brush, waiting for dd to finish lessons to ride him. A lady with a little girl was admiring him from a distance so I asked them if they wanted to.come and give him a pat, they did and I told them his name etc. All fine as he was in "work mode", tied up in aheadcollar and I was there.

can you stroke horses you come across? i don't but sometimes i think i'd like to but i don't know if it would upset them or if they'd bite

Mine love a fuss, so I don’t really have a problem with it in theory.

However, horses do bite so it’s entirely at your own risk.

Problem with random people feeding them is that they think they’re going to be fed by everyone so someone who just wants to make a fuss of them is likely to get mugged as well

Also, our field has electric fencing (clearly signed) so don’t go knocking on the yard owners front door to complain you’ve got a shock from it - as has happened far too many times to count 🤦‍♀️ 😂

@Isadora2007

YABU as this was amply covered in the first lockdown for some reason. Sorry.

I didn't see it so it's not BU - Ian sure there are lots of others who didn't. Perfectly fine to start a new thread if someone feels it's still an issue, which it clearly is.

@HikeForward

I agree people shouldn’t feed horses, but sadly signs won’t stop everyone! Lots of people ignore signs or don’t see them or don’t know it’s dangerous to feed a horse or what the consequences can be.

It would be much safer for the horses if the owners built a double fence (the outer fence preventing people from being able to reach the inner fence) like in a zoo. I’ve seen horses in fields where the outer fence is electric! Or keep them in fields that don’t back on to footpaths or residential areas.

It’s unrealistic to expect everyone to obey the signs or understand them. Yes they should obey them but many don’t. ‘Educating’ people only goes so far. Horse owners need to make their fields and paddocks inaccessible to walkers. Many people feed potatoes and turnips to cows/pigs etc and don’t understand the danger for horses.

Double fence - so we run a line of electric fence a few feet inside the boundary fence. We waste grazing. It develops into a mess of nettles because it's not getting eaten down. And people throw their apples, carrots and other crap over it anyway. Keep them in fields that don't back on to footpaths or residential areas... well wouldn't that be a luxury? Where are all these fields away from civilisation? My herd get fed over a fence that isn't in a residential area or backing on to a footpath by the way. We should make our fields and paddocks inaccessible to walkers. How exactly?

@Willowkins

I don't have horses but I know you don't feed horses any old thing. Genuine question though: would it be okay to pick some of the grass that the horse was eating anyway and give them that? I think there is probably a good reason why not but I would be interested to know. Incidentally, when I was a kid, we were told horses loved polo mints. Fortunately, so did I...

This was answered above by a few people, so look at previous posts for more detail, but in a nutshell, no, please don't feed them anything at all, even grass, or things like carrots or polos which are safe and nice treats in small quantities, even if there's no signs telling you not to. It's for your own safety and that of the horses.

Anyone reading this who is really sad that us horsey folk are essentially saying to stay away, don't touch etc., please don't be. We're not saying it to be snobby or elitist. If you are keen to learn about and spend time with these lovely animals, nearly every riding school, riding for the disabled centre and rescue shelter or horse charity is keen for volunteers to come and help with chores and they will usually be happy to teach you the basics of horse care and let you stroke, fuss and maybe even feed (shock horror!) the horses for free in exchange for some help. Covid may be making it difficult right now, and there are age limits on children doing this for safety reasons. Obviously actually learning to ride can be beyond most people's reach financially but spending time with the animals in a safe and controlled way is possible for most...

I’ve seen horses in fields where the outer fence is electric! Or keep them in fields that don’t back on to footpaths or residential areas

Wow, that's a great idea, I don't expect many horse owners know about electric fences and don't realise there are so many fields available they should just turn down unsuitable ones!

Yes, sorry, heavily sarcastic!

I have fed an apple to a horse once - is this wrong?

@tillyandmilly

I have fed an apple to a horse once - is this wrong?

Yes. Unless the owner had specifically said you could.

Well said. Unfortunately there have been a few this year already and we're only 19 days in.

and @Isadora2007 ODFOD

@tillyandmilly

I have fed an apple to a horse once - is this wrong?

If it wasn't yours and owner hadn't said ok yes Fruit equals sugar which is not good for horses Hand feeding encourages bad habits too

@tillyandmilly

I have fed an apple to a horse once - is this wrong?

Was it your horse? If not, don't feed it. You don't know the medical history of the horse. It might be at risk of laminitis, so sugar could be bad for it. It might start biting or pushing you for more apples, or it might start an argument with other horses in the field where they could end of kicking each other.

Grass clippings are the worst. I think that people just don't understand what the issue is. As horses eat grass, they logically think that they are being kind. Who on earth would feed a horse a bloody potato though!

If it is the little white pony dead on the ground in his blue rug I cried and cried at the pictures on Facebook, and just feel so terrible about the pain and anguish his owner is feeling. It needs saying and saying until everyone gets the message. YANBU at all, the idiots just don't believe the message, that is the problem.

Luckily my horse is at livery on a farm where the general public can't get at it but the neighbouring farmer lost three sheep because someone kept driving past and dumping buckets of fermenting kitchen waste in their field. He came across the sheep foaming at the mouth. It was awful.

It doesn't happen so much now with AI but reading this thread you start to understand why farmers occasionally put bulls in fields where there are public footpaths.

Thanks everyone for explaining that to me. Very good to know.