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

[quote Widmerpool]@countrygirl99

Presumably you don't want people watering/weeding the flowers etc in your garden if you have one. If you objected would that make you an entitled wanker because people with no garden might get a lot of pleasure from your garden. Whatisthe harm if your drought loving plantsget watered 4 or 5 times s day by different people or those seedlings upu have carefully raised get mistaken for weeds. Silly you for having a garden next to the pavement, what do you expect? Not what I meant, though I agree that my original statement wasn’t explicit. I was trying to feed a baby at the same time.

Not what I meant, though admittedly my comment was pretty cryptic. (I was trying to feed a baby and express my frustration at the same time.) However, I explicitly did NOT say that it was fine to feed random horses.

My comment was about the TONE of the discussion from horse-owners here. Lots of smug eye-rolling about those not in the know, lots of comments about how very, very expensive horses are. And yes, I do understand why people have said that, it just struck me as an unfortunate emphasis.

People need education, not contempt. It was very common in the past for passers-by to feed random horses and think nothing of it. My grandmother kept sugar in her coat pocket for this very purpose, and she herself owned horses and hunted. Nowadays, with more horses in suburban or semi-rural settings where there are more people passing by, there are many more chances for something to go wrong. What hasn’t changed is the understanding from most people that it can be dangerous for the horse to feed them.

Raise awareness, go ahead. Campaign for this to be taught in schools, added to the Countryside Code, write to your MP, whatever. Just don’t expect everyone else to be in the same social media bubble as you and be surprised that they don’t know what you know.[/quote]
If someone is entitled enough to think they have the right to feed another animal (horse, dog, doesn’t matter) that doesn’t belong to them then yeah I will eye roll at that.

Why can’t we expect people to have a bit of common sense? Your average 5 year old probably knows not to feed other peoples dogs in gardens, is it really too much to expect adults to know the same? Its sort of, I don’t know, common sense?

@Pineapplechickenpizza

I know commenters are well intentioned but it’s getting frustrating the number of people suggested extra fences and gates.

Thanks, nearly 20 years of horse ownership and I wouldn’t have thought of that

I appreciate people are trying to be helpful but RTFT for god sake. There are so many posts from other horse owners explaining double fencing, electric fencing, signs etc are clearly not working and people still feel entitled to approach and feed horses and go in the fields.

Is the answer stricter regulations then? Strangers feeding the horse is an external factor that you can try and raise awareness of but evidently cannot actually control, so to keep the horses safe should there be additional requirements as to where they can be kept and in what sort of enclosure?

But evidently no as has been shown can't rely on that, therefore unfortunately the logical answer to protect the horses is for different measures to be in place that remove that risk.

And it isn't simplest to keep horses away from the public. It's simplest if the public don't feed or pet them.

You still aren’t getting it. There will ALWAYS be a small minority of idiots who will ignore these requests. You can’t and won’t stop them trying. As such, they form part of the general hazards in the environment, just like speeding drivers are to cats.

It is therefore your responsibility as a pet owner to put in place preventive and/or remedial treatment for your animal.

@Soubriquet

I paid for my dogs. I pay for their food, toys and vet treatment.I still don’t want you giving my dogs any sort of food whether they can eat it or not. They are not there for the public happiness. They are here for mine.You want a dog to entertain you? Buy one.

I don't want anything to do with dogs or horses, and think that life would be much better for everyone else if not for dog owners, but that's beside the point.

I think you missed my point, which was that poster framed the entire thing as "don't feed my horse because I paid for it and you didn't" rather than "don't feed my horse because it is bad for the horse."

It's very telling.

‘ I appreciate people are trying to be helpful but RTFT for god sake. There are so many posts from other horse owners explaining double fencing, electric fencing, signs etc are clearly not working and people still feel entitled to approach and feed horses and go in the fields.’

Absolutely stunned at the number of people out there who are so determined to feed some random horse that they’re apparently breaking into the equivalent of Colditz!

@MadameHeisenberg

And it isn't simplest to keep horses away from the public. It's simplest if the public don't feed or pet them.

You still aren’t getting it. There will ALWAYS be a small minority of idiots who will ignore these requests. You can’t and won’t stop them trying. As such, they form part of the general hazards in the environment, just like speeding drivers are to cats.

It is therefore your responsibility as a pet owner to put in place preventive and/or remedial treatment for your animal.

Your comments remind me about how some people say women shouldn’t be wearing short skirts or going out at night because there might be some opportunistic pervert who will attack them. You’re veering dangerously close on victim blaming in a way similar to that. To follow your logic, since there’s always going to be a small minority of men who would commit a sex offence, do you think woman should just stay in at night and never wear anything short? No, of course not. That’s victim blaming.

It’s not unreasonable to expect people to follow the law and leave horses alone rather than just put up with them feeding and petting horses that they don’t own.

Why can’t we expect people to have a bit of common sense? Your average 5 year old probably knows not to feed other peoples dogs in gardens, is it really too much to expect adults to know the same? Its sort of, I don’t know, common sense?

To be honest, I think expecting the general
public to have that much awareness is a bit
unrealistic.

I was raised reading books where children would lean over fences and feed horses apples, carrots and polo mints and judging by the thread, I'm not the only one.

I only know that horses get sick from those things because I know work with animals and care for them for a living - I wouldn't expect your average adult who's never been to a stables before to understand how delicate horses are.

Logically speaking, yes you shouldn't feed other peoples animals - but when people are raised on books and TV shows where feeding horses apples, snacks and mints is normal - you can kind of understand where the confusion comes from.

[quote XelaM]@TheOrigRights www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/oldham-horse-pony-dead-sign-19650592.amp[/quote]
Ok, so that's one report in a local paper from over a year ago - that's not media hype.

Horses are entirely different from children, dogs and cats and so comparisons aren't really valid.

@BettyBag

Ahh a horse thread. I love these because they always firmly answer the question "is MN a middle class bubble?".

Anyway, I often feed friendly horses who come close to me a bit of grass. If you don't like it keep you horse somewhere else.

Ah, so it's acceptable to potentially cause an animal pain and suffering because you perceive the owner as living in a middle class bubble?

I'm about as skint as you can get, I look after a horse that is now retired, I looked after him in return for riding him in his younger years when his owner became too unwell to do so, I am attached to him, I have a relationship with him, I've looked after him through thick and thin. I have no financial input into him (I used to have insurance when I rode him that covered me, him, the public) he suffers with a few issues now in his later years that if managed, have minimal impact. Seems pointless though to try and keep him happy and healthy when people have the opinion that he should suffer because of the misguided perception that the rich owner somehow deserves it, and will actually go out of their way to make is a possibility too.
This kind of attitude is what causes the aggression in relation to this topic, why do you think you have the right to potentially hurt an animal to punish someone based on a stereotype that actually isn't largely true anyway? I know many horse owners although I'm not one, some of them are arseholes, some are nice and some are well off. Doesn't mean their horses deserve to be deliberately put at risk so someone else can make a point about their financial standing.

TheOrigRights That's terrible, however the pony died after being fed a potato, not from someone saying hello to it.

@SoftSheen

Horses are entirely different from children, dogs and cats and so comparisons aren't really valid.

Yeah, if anything it’s worse for horses. Unlike dogs, they can’t be sick. Means it’s extra important not to feed them.

It really isn’t rocket science. Someone else’s animal is not yours to feed. It’s not a learning experience for someone’s children. It’s not a nice thing to do to feed them. That’s why petting farms exist, so people without animals can feed them in a safe and controlled way.

@Pineapplechickenpizza

Well no, it isn’t common sense at all - it’s contrary to common sense, as I pointed out upthread. Horses eat grass, it’s literally part of their diet. So people who are uninformed about horses (and that would be most people), would come to the seemingly logical conclusion that giving them some grass could not possibly be harmful. A horse is also usually to be found in a field, so it isn’t obvious who it belongs to (and therefore is not comparable to feeding a dog in someone’s garden).

And if, despite as many signs, fences, remote fields etc. as possible, wilful idiots feeding your horse to the point of illness is still an issue, the you need to raise awareness on a much larger and wider scale. Campaign for it to be in the countryside code/national curriculum. Ask your local council to erect public information signs. And if that still doesn’t work, then contact your MP and see if you can influence the laws of the land.

@Pineapplechickenpizza yes people should listen and not do it, but however much people will that to be the case it isn't. Horses don't have any autonomy over where you keep them, they can't decide whether they're content with the risk or not- and so perhaps there should be tighter restrictions on where they can be kept for their own welfare. It's not victim blaming as absolutely the people feeding them are in the wrong (whether they know its wrong is another matter), but reality is the horse needs to be the one who is centred and they are evidently at risk in some cases.

@BettyBag

Ahh a horse thread. I love these because they always firmly answer the question "is MN a middle class bubble?".

Anyway, I often feed friendly horses who come close to me a bit of grass. If you don't like it keep you horse somewhere else.

I don't understand this mentality, are horses not able to live freely without you feeling you're entitled to feed them? Horses need space, space is a premium now it's not as easy as 'just keep them away' they have the absolute right to live as naturally as is possible for a domesticated horse.

You don't have the right to feed another's animal whatever the animal. Educate yourself on horses, their needs etc and you'll figure out pretty quickly that often feeding them because YOU like to is not only incredibly selfish of you but also potentially very dangerous.

There's nothing middle class about asking people not to feed an animal that isn't yours.

@NetflixMom21

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

If the cat is on a special diet or has allergies etc and is allowed to wander it’s at just as much risk from anything it might pick up off the ground.

[quote MadameHeisenberg]@Pineapplechickenpizza

Well no, it isn’t common sense at all - it’s contrary to common sense, as I pointed out upthread. Horses eat grass, it’s literally part of their diet. So people who are uninformed about horses (and that would be most people), would come to the seemingly logical conclusion that giving them some grass could not possibly be harmful. A horse is also usually to be found in a field, so it isn’t obvious who it belongs to (and therefore is not comparable to feeding a dog in someone’s garden).

And if, despite as many signs, fences, remote fields etc. as possible, wilful idiots feeding your horse to the point of illness is still an issue, the you need to raise awareness on a much larger and wider scale. Campaign for it to be in the countryside code/national curriculum. Ask your local council to erect public information signs. And if that still doesn’t work, then contact your MP and see if you can influence the laws of the land.[/quote]
You’re spectacularly missing the point.

I don’t expect people to know why grass can be harmful to some horses. That’s not really common knowledge and a bit confusing so I would never expect anyone to know the ins and outs of laminitis. Nobody has ever called people entitled for not knowing that.

What is entitled is thinking you have the right to feed anyone’s animal, even if it is just grass and you think it’s harmless. Don’t touch or feed or interact with someone else’s animal. At all. You don’t have the right. Because it’s not your animal.

My friend didn’t realise that some dogs can’t eat dairy. She wasn’t putting cheese into peoples back gardens to feed their dogs just because she thought they liked it and could safely eat it. It’s acceptable to think an animal likes to eat something without physically going over and feeding it

If you can't protect your horse don't own one. It's not the publics problem it's yours.

Horse ownership isn't a right.

@BettyBag

If you can't protect your horse don't own one. It's not the publics problem it's yours.

Horse ownership isn't a right.

How are we supposed to protect our horses from entitled people like yourself who previously said they will continue to feed them regardless of all the information about how sick it can make them? When we are trying to deal with that sort of mentality, what are we expected to do?

@BettyBag

If you can't protect your horse don't own one. It's not the publics problem it's yours.

Horse ownership isn't a right.

Feeding an animal you don’t own is your right either.

@Pineapplechickenpizza

Trying to compare this situation to women being raped is offensive in the extreme. Shame on you.

Woman are not property, unlike horses, as some of you are so keen to inform us. Owners of property have some responsibility to protect it from environmental hazards. It is reasonable to expect you lock your house to prevent thieves.

@DorritLittle

I completely sympathise but think a clear sign would be more effective than relying on people knowing about this via social media/the news (I presume you mean local news?)

Sadly it really isn't. My neighbour has signs on the gate to the footpath crossing one of her paddocks. They are rightness to the catch. They are big and brightly coloured and you can'tmiss them but people not only feed her horses they will walk several metres away from the path to a different field to do so.

@Pineapplechickenpizza but as PP said it’s not common knowledge that horses shouldn’t be fed! Movies, books, TV, feeding a horse a bit of sugar, or an apple is everywhere.

Ignoring signs is a different matter, but these are the same twats who wouldn’t pay attention in school, or any sort of countryside education program anyway.

You can never get rid of twats. So what exactly are you moaning about?

I’d personally be getting a cameras, naming and shaming these people. The things are really cheap now, and will probably be more effective than just signs