STOP FEEDING HORSES THAT ARE NOT YOURS

[Pineapplechickenpizza]

Unbelievable that this is still a problem after all the hype on social media and the news but unfortunately it is.

Why do people think it’s acceptable to feed an animal that isn’t there’s? I don’t care if it’s an apple or carrot or just a few blades of grass. They’re not your horses- DONT FEED THEM ANYTHING.

If you feed horses in fields that are not yours, honestly, why do you do it?? Do you realise how your ignorance could make someones horse unwell?

Dreading summer holidays when more people are out for walks and think it’s acceptable to feed the horses in the fields

Completely agree - it drives me mad when people feed other people’s cats too. The cat could be on a special diet, have an allergy or medical condition etc

I think if people see horses in a field that's razed to the ground, and the horse is straining to get some grass under their electric fence, the passer-by may offer them some without knowing about laminitis etc?

I don't.

*grazed to the ground!

Agree with you OP - if it’s not yours, don’t feed it. If there’s a welfare issue, then giving it a few carrots isn’t going to help.

Not a chance l'm putting my fingers near those oversized gnashers.

Oh god we had this with our laminitis prone mare... She also had arthritis and weight management was key to keeping her comfortable and at reduced risk

The amount of even other horse owners who refilled her hay net or fed her apples or carrots - then told me they fed her as she was starving as we hadn't been up to see her.

No she was a typical greedy welsh cob who could demolish any haynet in 30 minutes flat. Therefore if we fed at 7am and they arrived at 9am every mouthful was long gone.

She was fed 4 nets at regular intervals and grazed in hand for 15 minutes 4 times a day when she had to be kept in.

In the end her door sign read...
Attention
I am under veterinary services and need careful management to keep me well.
My owners are not neglectful but my diet is carefully managed to prevent my untimely death.
Please support this instead of being the cause of it.

Drives me absolutely round the bend. I've busted people doing it with mine despite signs...I've got one on a very strict diet being borderline laminitic at one point. Picking fresh grass from outside the fence to feed her is still a problem, even though it's grass (I know this is confusing to non horsey people). I've found apples thrown into the field before, found a random grandma and grandson IN the stable yard patting and feeding the horses. Some local doofus went through a period of chucking grass clippings from his lawnmower in (incredibly dangerous). Its amazing how many people just totally ignore the signs. I had to electric fence in front of the gate to deter people.

I genuinely had no idea this was a problem until another MN thread a year or two ago. As a kid I was taught by grown ups how to feed grass to horses keeping my hand flat, there were loads of references in children’s (and some adults’) books about feeding apples to horses as a lovely thing to do. So as a city dweller it took me until my early 40s to find out that you shouldn’t do it and why. Lots of people don’t know. Maybe it should be taught in schools? I remember learning ‘shut gates you open, don’t leave litter etc’.

Oh and even putting up signs with information about laminitis doesn't deter all pony patters sadly!

A pony will not get laminitis from a child feeding it a couple of handfuls of grass. Not every child has the luxury of regular contact with horses, or animals generally, and this is a nice thing for them to be able to do.

Giving armfuls of hay/buckets of carrots- obviously YANBU.

I DON’T

Definitely YANBU

@SoftSheen

A pony will not get laminitis from a child feeding it a couple of handfuls of grass. Not every child has the luxury of regular contact with horses, or animals generally, and this is a nice thing for them to be able to do.

Giving armfuls of hay/buckets of carrots- obviously YANBU.

My horses don't exist to bring joy to someone else's kid at the expense of their own health and my vet bills. You want your kids to enjoy animals, look over the fence. No need to feed anything. Take them to a farm park or an open day if they want closer interaction.

@SoftSheen

A pony will not get laminitis from a child feeding it a couple of handfuls of grass. Not every child has the luxury of regular contact with horses, or animals generally, and this is a nice thing for them to be able to do.

Giving armfuls of hay/buckets of carrots- obviously YANBU.

What about when the next 100 children come along and feed it ‘a couple of handfuls of grass’? Suddenly the laminitic pony is getting a LOT of grass.

I actually don’t care if it’s a nice thing to do. It’s my horse and nobody has the right to feed it or give it anything. He’s not an opportunity for people to learn about horses or interact with animals. He's my horse. He has the right to be in his field without having strangers try to feed him things that could potentially be very dangerous.

I’m sure they won’t want the ‘luxury of contact with horses’ when they’re left with the $$$$s vet bill from a horse becoming seriously unwell thanks to them feeding it. I’m sure they’ll want absolutely nothing to do with horses when they’re given an invoice for that bill!

@SoftSheen

A pony will not get laminitis from a child feeding it a couple of handfuls of grass. Not every child has the luxury of regular contact with horses, or animals generally, and this is a nice thing for them to be able to do.

Giving armfuls of hay/buckets of carrots- obviously YANBU.

But that's one child. Then the next, and the next, and the next On a busy day if the field is on a footpath? Imagine how much grass they could be getting Just don't feed them

@SoftSheen

A pony will not get laminitis from a child feeding it a couple of handfuls of grass. Not every child has the luxury of regular contact with horses, or animals generally, and this is a nice thing for them to be able to do.

Giving armfuls of hay/buckets of carrots- obviously YANBU.

Does that mean it’s ok for a random child free adult who doesn’t get much contact with kids to come up to your toddler in the playground, give them a cuddle and hand them a bag of haribo? Of course not. Same thing with horses.

It’s dead simple - not your animal, leave it alone, whether it’s a pony, a dog or a llama. You have no idea what it can safely eat, its veterinary needs, its behaviour….

Good tip for signage which I did find made a difference...put something up about biting. You won't find people so keen if they think they won't have any fingers left. You still might get people chucking stuff in but hopefully will be less tempting. Fencing off the gate area helped although it's a pain negotiating two gates.

One apple to a horse might not make it laminitic, but there are so many other issues at play too:

Herd dynamics that can lead to bullying weaker fieldmates.
Inappropriate food items - leading to potential choking, teeth and diet issues and at the extreme end - colic and twisted gut.
Seeing humans as food providers and therefore encouraging aggressive behaviours such as biting/nipping and rushing to the gate.

It's honestly not a nice thing to do when the horse isn't yours, no problem with enjoying watching them, but not to try feeding them anything

I dont know why anyone would let their child stick their hand in to feed a horse anyway, the teeth!

I'm not sure how old I was when I found out why you shouldn't feed horses, probably fairly old but we were always taught not to feed other people's animals anyway and that's what I always taught my older children.

Secondary inner fence and double gate.

£££ and a PITA but worth it.

Won't stop the throwers but will stop hand feeding.

During Lockdown I made signs for the field fences that said 'Some of these horses have equine diabetes. Even a carrot could make them ill'. We have 2 x EMS and several lami-prone and it definitely helped cut down on people feeding them.

@Eaumyword

One apple to a horse might not make it laminitic, but there are so many other issues at play too:

Herd dynamics that can lead to bullying weaker fieldmates.
Inappropriate food items - leading to potential choking, teeth and diet issues and at the extreme end - colic and twisted gut.
Seeing humans as food providers and therefore encouraging aggressive behaviours such as biting/nipping and rushing to the gate.

It's honestly not a nice thing to do when the horse isn't yours, no problem with enjoying watching them, but not to try feeding them anything

Exactly. Field dynamics can be a nightmare with feeing treats over the fence -getting your horse in when they are bottom of the pecking order can be bloody difficult and dangerous at times, this is not helped by creating a tit-bit greed at the gate.

Unfortunately little people are completely horse obsessed. I’ll admit to ripping out handfuls of “just outside the field” fresh grass for ponies that lived in a field of mud when I was a teenager. Because I was obsessed with horses and I walked my dog past it every day.

No idea I was doing wrong, just wanted to talk to the ponies and as the field was beside a major walking path for my town I had absolutely no idea it was wrong.

If the public can be near your field put ups lots and lots of notices or move them to a field where the public aren’t walking past multiple times a day