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

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)

Can I ask why this is? I’d never feed a horse carrots / apples etc but wouldn’t think there is anything wrong with a handful of grass if the horse eats it off the field? (Will know for the next time though!)

YANBU

As the former owner of a cob who could and would eat anything, I would have had something to say to anyone feeding him anything that they hadn't okayed with me first, passersby and liveries alike. Luckily he wasn't the type to come to the gate for people he didn't know and we mostly benefited from grazing away from footpaths.

I did have more than one person ask to ride him though.

He was sadly PTS after a car accident after someone opened multiple gates to his field and he escaped on to a motorway (he was out on full loan). So as far as I'm concerned the general public should stay as far away from horses that are nothing to do with them as possible. My boy would be 11 in may if they had.

@Pineapplechickenpizza agree entirely

Would extend it to say do not feed ANY animal that is not yours.

We have cows, being given all sorts of crap, because they are super lovely and inquisitive, until they have a calf of course and then they might kill you.

Sheep. My best story. A hill walker picking up a sleeping newborn lamb, we are hill farmers. Lamb outside. Carrying it down a two mile track, knocking on my door, I was in lambing shed. I go to house and find him trying to give it cows milk, from his flask bag, from a saucer. On my lawn.

Dogs, don't feed them, don't approach kennels and give them your sandwiches, biscuits, chocolate.

I could go on.....

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….

This 100%. @SoftSheen - there’s just no justification. None. Just don’t allow it to happen.

Re: biting signs above, when I took my horse to a big show where the public could access the stables, I made a door sign that said 'please don't feed me, I can't tell the difference between fingers and food'

@ForeverLooking

My horses don't exist to bring joy to someone else's kid at the expense of their own health and my vet bills.

What do they exist for? Why do you have horses?

@AProperStinging I have a horse for myself. Not for others to feed.

@AProperStinging to bring joy to the people who are paying thousands of pounds a year for the horses upkeep. Not to bring joy to people who pay absolutely nothing towards the horse and don’t own it but yet think they have the right to interact with it and feed it

Can I ask why this is? I’d never feed a horse carrots / apples etc but wouldn’t think there is anything wrong with a handful of grass if the horse eats it off the field? (Will know for the next time though!)

I'd like to know this, too - although I personally wouldn't get any closer to a horse than absolutely necessary and can't say I'm a big fan of them (so NO PROBLEM, SHOUTY OP).

I learned about this quite a few years ago on Facebook. But I do quite like to stroke horses that come over to the wall or fence (probably to see I am packing snacks) we were on a nice walk one day and a horse tried to eat MILs scarf 🤣 the horse wasn't too pleased he had to let it go.

YANBU OP.

I used to work with someone who had a very very elderly horse. Despite being very very old it was happy wandering about (slowly) in its field. But because it was old and looked underweight every person and his dog that passed kept trying to feed it. Or call the RSPCA on her. Or both. She caught one person feeding it a packed lunch one day, literally sandwiches and fruit. Unbelievable.

Last summer we were walking near here, and passed a field with horses. There was a big sign saying in big red capital letters 'please don't feed the horses anything under any circumstances'

Pretty clear no? Except there were 2 families when we passed offering over clumps of grass. I pointed out the sign they shrugged and made out they didn't speak English. Which was odd as their kids were speaking English to them as we'd approached.

I never realised it was harmful to feed a bit of picked grass to a horse. I knew you shouldnt feed them grass cuttings, but feeding a horse a bit of grass thats right near is a nice feeling as I might get to stroke his nose and talk to him. Its a nice moment. I wouldnt do it to any great extent.
The person above who said ' my horses dont exist to give your child pleasure' - what a strange thing to say. They dont exist to give you pleasure either. Put an extra fence up maybe so people cant reach if they cant even eat grass.
Theyre not my ducks at the local pond either. I stroke the cats I see in the street. I honestly dont give a thought about who owns an animal when I try and interact with one.
I will make sure not to give any future horses I see any dandelion leaves in future or grass etc, even if we are sharing a moment

YANBU and some of the replies on this thread are mental.

If a horse is in a field which is “grazed to the ground” they may well be in a “starvation paddock” because they have laminitis.

Asking someone why they bought a horse if not to bring joy to other people’s children?! Really?! WTAF is the matter with people

Love the analogy of being childfree and going to a playground hugging a child to get their joy 😃

Ffs you shouldn’t be sharing a moment WITH SOMEONE ELSE’S PET. Honestly wtf

The only thing I do when I see horses is say good afternoon to them in a posh voice. It's the law.

[quote AProperStinging]@ForeverLooking

My horses don't exist to bring joy to someone else's kid at the expense of their own health and my vet bills.

What do they exist for? Why do you have horses?[/quote]
I paid for them, pay for them and look after them every day, spent the money and time breeding them and keep them healthy and happy. They have a happy and healthy life and I don't want them to suffer from colic, laminitis, choke or poisoning from people feeding them shite over the fence which would cause them terrible pain and possible death. I didn't buy them to entertain the neighbourhood kids. They are on private land and I'm not a zoo. You want to feed and look after a horse, invest and buy your own, or at the very least ask. Or pay and visit a farm park where the animals ARE there for your entertainment.
I wouldn't stroll into your garden because my kids thought it looked nice and I fancied a look round or a pick of your flowers because some kids don't get to see flowers often. Look by all means. Don't feed other people's animals.

I hope everyone going and petting random horses in the field gets their fingertips bitten off. It’s such a weird and entitled thing to do. I wouldn’t pet someone’s dog without asking, why would you think it’s ok with a horse?!

Local to me there is a really good sign which I have just one problem with. It says please don't feed the horses anything, not even grass. Once horse has already died. Your kindness can kill.

I would not have said kindness as there is no kindness in feeding the horses and it could confuse some.

@ForeverLooking

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[quote Pineapplechickenpizza]@AProperStinging to bring joy to the people who are paying thousands of pounds a year for the horses upkeep. Not to bring joy to people who pay absolutely nothing towards the horse and don’t own it but yet think they have the right to interact with it and feed it[/quote]
So it's a large, intelligent, long-lived mammal whose entire purpose in being alive, in your view, is just to be an animate toy that "brings joy" to an exceptionally wealthy human?

If you're really rich, it's OK to keep animals in captivity purely for your own entertainment and pleasure?

That's really sad.

Double fencing and a big sign warning that these horses BITE is really the only way to keep horses safe from the well-meaning these days, I find. Its a right bugger, and its expensive, but not as expensive as vet bills.

@Branleuse

I never realised it was harmful to feed a bit of picked grass to a horse. I knew you shouldnt feed them grass cuttings, but feeding a horse a bit of grass thats right near is a nice feeling as I might get to stroke his nose and talk to him. Its a nice moment. I wouldnt do it to any great extent. The person above who said ' my horses dont exist to give your child pleasure' - what a strange thing to say. They dont exist to give you pleasure either. Put an extra fence up maybe so people cant reach if they cant even eat grass. Theyre not my ducks at the local pond either. I stroke the cats I see in the street. I honestly dont give a thought about who owns an animal when I try and interact with one. I will make sure not to give any future horses I see any dandelion leaves in future or grass etc, even if we are sharing a moment

I’m glad it’s a nice feeling for you.

It’s not a nice feeling for a pony to be crippled by laminitis after well meaning people feed it grass.

It’s not a nice feeling for your well behaved horse who normally isn’t mouthy to start biting because of people feeding it handfuls of grass.

It isn’t a nice feeling for your horse to be kicked by another horse in the field which can result in life-ending injuries because the herd dynamic changes and they can become aggressive when well intentioned people feed them over the fences.

But hey as long as it’s a nice feeling for you that’s great feel free to ‘share a moment’ with a horse when it’s being treated by the vet, or when the owner is paying for the bill. I’m sure you won’t want to share a moment then!

And for what it’s worth, most people have double fences, gates, hundreds of signs. Unfortunately people still feed the horses! My pony 15 years ago used to have chocolate and all sorts thrown in her field. It’s almost unbelievable that people would do it and unfortunately things haven’t improved much since then.

It’s not about being pedantic. My horse loves cuddles and attention and I’m happy for him to get it from anyone. I’m not happy for him or anyone else to get hurt because of ignorant people who can’t leave the horses alone.

And to compare horses which are owned and payed for by people to wild ducks in the local pond😂 Jesus wept.

@Branleuse

I never realised it was harmful to feed a bit of picked grass to a horse. I knew you shouldnt feed them grass cuttings, but feeding a horse a bit of grass thats right near is a nice feeling as I might get to stroke his nose and talk to him. Its a nice moment. I wouldnt do it to any great extent. The person above who said ' my horses dont exist to give your child pleasure' - what a strange thing to say. They dont exist to give you pleasure either. Put an extra fence up maybe so people cant reach if they cant even eat grass. Theyre not my ducks at the local pond either. I stroke the cats I see in the street. I honestly dont give a thought about who owns an animal when I try and interact with one. I will make sure not to give any future horses I see any dandelion leaves in future or grass etc, even if we are sharing a moment

Let’s hope you don’t feed a horse some ragwort while you are ‘sharing a moment’

@ForeverLooking

i paid for them, pay for them and look after them every day, spent the money and time breeding them and keep them healthy and happy. They have a happy and healthy life and I don't want them to suffer from colic, laminitis, choke or poisoning from people feeding them shite over the fence which would cause them terrible pain and possible death. I didn't buy them to entertain the neighbourhood kids. They are on private land and I'm not a zoo. You want to feed and look after a horse, invest and buy your own, or at the very least ask. Or pay and visit a farm park where the animals ARE there for your entertainment.
I wouldn't stroll into your garden because my kids thought it looked nice and I fancied a look round or a pick of your flowers because some kids don't get to see flowers often. Look by all means. Don't feed other people's animals.

I could not be less interested in feeding or looking at any horses.

I don't treat large, intelligent mammals as playthings for my own amusement, and I don't think that having lots of money makes it ok to do so either.

It's very telling how many financial references you made in just that one post.

The problem with feeding even a handful of grass to a horse isn't so much the few bits of grass, its the behaviour of the horse afterwards.

I've got three horses in a field together and they're fine and happy all day until they think one of them has a treat and the others don't. Herd dynamics are interesting but effectively, what happens is if you feed one, the others will rush up and barge the first one out of the way. Lots of wheeling around and kicking can ensue, which is dangerous especially in a muddy field. Think of them as a bunch of feral kids with no manners. So then you've got horses that are het up and cross, and likely to snatch and bite next time there is a treat on offer.

These are my beloved horses and I never take treats into the field with me as it is frankly dangerous.