WIBU to ring the RSPCA? Would they even care? Horse related.

[ChuckleFucks]

Opposite our house is a field belonging to a large nearby farm. The farmer's son keeps horses there, really beautiful ex racehorses mostly. My 17yr old DD was mad about horses when she was younger and used to go riding, she's less obsessed now but still knows quite a lot about them and generally cares a lot for all animals. The gate to the field is opposite our house, the water trough is there too and it's in a bit of a dip so it gets very very muddy, as in a foot or so of sticky mud.

My DD saw one of the horses struggling in the mud last year out of her window and went round to the farmhouse to tell them, the owner was quite sniffy/patronising with her and DD was rather upset when she got back as she'd basically been told to mind her own business. After that the owner did put some wood chip down over the mud but it didn't help for more than a few days.

Yesterday morning DS (20, just back from uni for Christmas) was up early-ish to walk the dog and found one of the horses lying down thrashing around in the deep mud with a leg stuck in the fence. It had slipped in the mud and couldn't free itself, must have been there hours as it was sunk deep into the mud . DS sat with it trying to calm it down while I got the owner on the phone. It had to be put down there in the gate way 😭 both DS and DD were close to tears over it.

I assumed this would mean they actually sorted the mud out but this afternoon the remaining horses are still there in it! And I'm not talking a little bit of mud, it is really deep. DD and DS want to ring the RSPCA and report them as they are horrified, DD especially as she has literally said more than once that a horse could easily be hurt in mud like that and she tried to talk to the owner about it last year! But the owners are local landowners and very arsey, they have form for being really unpleasant to people locally who have crossed them and if we did report, they'd be sure to guess it was us. Would the RSPCA even care, as the horses are well fed and cared for otherwise? I don't ever want that to happen to another animal though. Just seeing it was really distressing and the thought of how the poor horse must have felt

I would definitely report them to the RSPCA. Poor horses.

I would report.

And I would not care if they knew it was me or not.

Poor horses.

Yes report them....I think the RSPCA are marvellous....I had a pigeon who couldn’t fly in my garden.....they came within the hour and took him ( nothing to do with 🐎 🐴 I know🙄)

I have seen a terrible tragedy with a horse through mud and wet grass. that was racehorse too.

I would absolutely ring the RSPCA

I would be less hesitant if I thought the RSPCA would actually do anything, I suppose is my issue. I've rung them before years ago about someone's dogs (backyard breeders keeping caged dogs stacked up in the garden) and they came out but did nothing at all. The dogs were fed and not too filthy so I suppose that was enough. But the neighbours were furious and I was glad it was a built up area so they never worked out who reported them.

The owners are landed gentry, basically. They own acres and acres of land here, half the houses in the village (not ours, luckily as they have a reputation for being awful landlords too).

Ring the British Horse Society for advice. They have welfare officers.
Good luck!
So sad, thank you and your daughter for looking out for them

Don't thank us, we didn't manage to prevent a tragedy

Sadly, if you look at how bad horses have to get before the RSPCA steps in, I think it's unlikely they would do anything useful. They also have to work within the law. If the horses are in good condition and have access to water there's nothing they can do. The might visit the owner and ask that they make improvements, but if the owner ignores them this doesn't constitute a situation where the horses could be removed.
I wonder how deep the mud is? A lot of horse owners are in a less than ideal situation at this time of the year, but choose turnout over shutting the poor creatures in stables 24/7. Muddy areas aren't that easily "fixed". They probably made it worse putting woodchip down, it rots...

Would really need to see how deep the mud is to know if rspca is warranted - would it come over your wellies if you stood in it? Is it coming over the horses knees? Most yards in the UK have a mud issue, and deep mud wouldn't be uncommon. I'm sorry your kids had to have that experience with that poor horse, it's always heartbreaking

You did everything you could, and you sat with the poor horse and he was out of his misery sooner than he would have been

Is there a horse sanctuary or charity nearby you could call, the RSPCA don’t tend to care about animals.

I agree with the BHS suggestion, or World Horse Welfare.

Near me is a local family whose horses live in a field that ends up entirely as knee deep mud over winter every year. They’ve been reported hundreds of times over the years - RSPCA aren’t interested as they had food, water and shelter.

To be fair, the gate to my horses field ends up quite muddy in winter. It’s only a couple of inches deep as there’s a layer of concrete underneath that stops it from getting completely churned up. We’ve actually got 2 gateways, the second one we use in the winter as it’s at the top of a hill so drains well and doesn’t get muddy. They always stand in the bloody muddy gateway though (or roll in it)

That's awful. The poor horse. Report it.

RSPCA are unlikely to give a shit as the horses are fed & watered.
They barely come out to horses who are skin & bone.

The horse which had to be put down will probably go down as an unfortunate accident. Horrible for you & your children to go through of course.

Without seeing the field I couldn't tell if this was potentially preventable.
Is the trough piped or do they have to fill it?
If piped its harder to corner the mud off & theres not a lot you can do about mud at this time of year..

I've only ever had positive dealings with the RSPCA - helping me catch stray Tom Cats, reporting a case of abuse where I witnessed a dog owner beating his dog etc. Report it.

If a vet was called to put the poor horse to sleep then maybe they could-along with you-report to rspca.

The rspca dont care, all they do is pay a visit and leave a note after months of complaining unless its for a tv programme. .they wouldnt do anything about the mud. Is there a local vet you can call, they may know of more helpful people or pay the owner a visit. I despise the media usually but sometimes seeing something like this on a video makes the owners take action, or the community to offer alternatives..

I would report it. Then at least you know you have done your bit.

The horses shouldn't be out in thick wet mud, there is nothing for them to eat its cold and they should be in stables.

I would ring the local vets & the horse society. I don't have much faith in the RSPCA .

Call the british horse society they close at 5pm

I'm not sure if it's because they're not a small domesticated animal like a bird, cat or dog but I've yet to see a case of equine neglect intervention until the horse is literally skin and bone and on deaths door unfortunately.
Obviously I can't comment on the field without seeing it but even well kept fields can become extremely muddy with the weather we've had lately. The yard my daughter's horse is on is really well maintained but her 16.2h thoroughbred slipped on mud a couple of weeks ago.

@KittenCatcher

The horses shouldn't be out in thick wet mud, there is nothing for them to eat its cold and they should be in stables.

Well rugged and with plenty of hay they would be fine out, as long as the area is safe. Sounds like it isn't safe though

@KittenCatcher please don’t perpetuate the myth that stabled horses are always better off than field kept. There’s a million variables.

Do the horses have any less muddy areas, and hay and any water?