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

How do you think horses manage in the wild?

@Sarahlou63, with respect, "wild" horses are not bound by fencing so would move to drier land when possible. I doubt very much if they would choose to wade through mud as it's hard going and slippery, which makes them more vulnerable to predators. Of course, our pet horses don't have predators and their lives are far removed from their wild cousins, so they're not really comparable.

They could reasonably put road surface material down near the trough to provide a firmer footing. Poor horse.

Yes ring the BHS who at least try to educate neglectful owners.

RSPCA just prosecutes and won’t do anything unless a very high statutory welfare bar is breached.

Don't waste your time with the RSPCA. About as useful as a chocolate teapot unless there is a camera around.
You'd be better off speaking to the BHS, ILPH or another local rescue e.g. HAPPA if you're North West

@BrightYellowDaffodil

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 appreciate you mean well but horses in fields in winter means mud, almost inevitably. I’ve had horses at yards where the mud was so deep in places you’d struggle not to lose a boot in it but honestly, just because humans would like to be in snug warm houses does not mean that horses feel the same. They are designed, physically and mentally, to be outside and moving around. It is perfectly possible for horses to be living out, even when it’s muddy, as long as they are warm, fed and watered. As a PP says, how do you think wild horses cope?

My horse doesn’t cope well with being in too much, she gets stressed and her legs puff up (due to the lack of relative movement). So no, she shouldn’t be “in a stable” any more than is necessary.

It’s very sad about the horse that had to be put down but I’ve seen and dealt with similar accidents, even in dry and mud free fields. It happens, because the alternative is wrapping them up in cotton wool which isn’t fair on them.

Anthropomorphism doesn’t help anything. Nor does assuming owners don’t care because they’re “landed gentry types”.

Yes, totally!

RSPCA don't give a shit about horses. Near me it took a massive campaign to sort out some very neglected horses www.northantstelegraph.co.uk/news/people/remember-wellingboroughs-abandoned-horses-find-out-how-theyre-getting-on-now-2899855

See I have had good experience with them. Very sad they can pick and choose what to help. Why aren't they all singing off the same sheet?

@BrightYellowDaffodil

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 appreciate you mean well but horses in fields in winter means mud, almost inevitably. I’ve had horses at yards where the mud was so deep in places you’d struggle not to lose a boot in it but honestly, just because humans would like to be in snug warm houses does not mean that horses feel the same. They are designed, physically and mentally, to be outside and moving around. It is perfectly possible for horses to be living out, even when it’s muddy, as long as they are warm, fed and watered. As a PP says, how do you think wild horses cope?

My horse doesn’t cope well with being in too much, she gets stressed and her legs puff up (due to the lack of relative movement). So no, she shouldn’t be “in a stable” any more than is necessary.

It’s very sad about the horse that had to be put down but I’ve seen and dealt with similar accidents, even in dry and mud free fields. It happens, because the alternative is wrapping them up in cotton wool which isn’t fair on them.

Anthropomorphism doesn’t help anything. Nor does assuming owners don’t care because they’re “landed gentry types”.

Yes, I agree.

Mine do come in at night in the winter, but I personally think that months of no turn out is a far bigger animal welfare issue than a muddy field.

I think there's mud and there's... mud (I'm horsey!)
When I was about 16 the donkey on the yard I was on, was lying down which wasn't unusual. Went to leave that evening and checked as still lying down. Except he wasn't, he was belly deep in mud and stuck fast. The fire brigade came out but sadly he was PTS a few days later
Normal, might lose a welly occasionally mud
with dry bits is fine but some fields have (like the donkeys field above) really deep boggy bits which a smaller or older horse can get stuck in and if there's no dry standing at all it's pretty miserable