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Original poster

STOP FEEDING HORSES THAT ARE NOT YOURS

956 replies

Pineapplechickenpizza · 18/04/2022 21:25

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 fieldsSad

OP posts:
fairylightsandwaxmelts · 19/04/2022 21:56

[quote TomRipley]@fairylightsandwaxmelts
I didn't know a cat could be allergic to tuna! It's strange how the things most associate with cats liking can be so harmful to them.
My younger cat is the opposite. I have two young children and he follows them around hoovering up anything they drop on the floor. Be it biscuits, peas, crisp, ice lollies...he'll eat it and be fine. We think he's part dog.[/quote]
I know - I'd never seen it either! Anything with tuna in it just gives him the most horrendous upset stomach Sad

Of course he doesn't make the connection so if I let him out, no doubt well meaning strangers would give him tuna and we'd have to deal with the consequences Grin

My girl on the other hand is just as you describe - she loves everything! My other grumpy boy is a bit fussier but is very partial to the chocolate off hobnobs and pancakes HmmGrin

Not that we let him have chocolate before someone jumps on me for poisoning my own cat Wink

Plantstrees · 19/04/2022 22:09

@ArcheryAnnie

landowners can keep horses on their land regardless of whether it makes me feel unsafe or not

Hasn't this whole thread been about horsey people insisting that it is unsafe - not "feels" unsafe - for horses and the general public to mix, and that it is unsafe both for the humans and for the horses?

But it's irrelevant whether horses are kept for work or leisure

There's been plenty of people banging on about how the countryside is a working landscape, not just for leisure. I was making the point that horses are leisure activities.

it's not your land regardless

It's my right of way.

My horses are not a leisure activity. They are breeding stock and my livelihood. My farm is a working landscape and I have felt the need to plant a hedge and triple fence the footpath to ensure my stock is safe. Some of my ponies live free-roaming on the moor - unfortunately I can't stop people interacting but it is illegal to touch or feed them and I will happily photograph and report to the Police anyone I see doing so.
LovePoppy · 19/04/2022 22:17

@HalfShrunkMoreToGo

Wow.

Only poked my head into this thread as wondered why it had so many posts. Am I reading it right? Are there actually people on this thread who are saying:

'If you don't want me to ignore your signs about how I might be killing your horse by feeding it then you should not just put it in a privately owned space with clear signage, you should also make sure the space is completely impenetrable and the animal not in any way visible because my desire to feed and pet the horse is more important than it's health or your ownership of the land it's on?'

Yup.

They also like to call people who own horses entitled.

lameasahorse · 19/04/2022 22:20

This reply has been withdrawn

Message from MNHQ: This post has been withdrawn

Plantstrees · 19/04/2022 22:35

@lameasahorse

The vast majority of horses are for leisure. Even breeding is usually to provide more horses for leisure.
Breeding horses is the same as farming, just because some of them are later used for leisure is irrelevant. Mine, like many others are a breeding herd and the mares are kept permanently so just the young colts are sold for leisure purposes. Approximately a quarter of a million horses are bred each year, mostly by breeders so it is not an insignificant number.
ArcheryAnnie · 19/04/2022 23:12

People here have plenty of other spaces to walk their dogs round here

That's not your decision, though, derxa. And it's certainly not true of plenty of places in the country, where the choices for walking are, for example, right of way across fields, or terrifying road with no pavement and blind corners, or along a really noisy big road with lorries thundering past .

ArcheryAnnie · 19/04/2022 23:18

My horses are not a leisure activity. They are breeding stock and my livelihood

Plantstrees that's fair enough, but unless you are producing horses for food, you are still part of the leisure industry. People on here have been very sniffy about the countryside being a working landscape, not a playground, but your livelihood is still very much producing at the playground, leisure end of the market, just as if you were breeding show cats, or running a caravan park for tourists.

Marynotsocontrary · 19/04/2022 23:25

@HalfShrunkMoreToGo

Wow.

Only poked my head into this thread as wondered why it had so many posts. Am I reading it right? Are there actually people on this thread who are saying:

'If you don't want me to ignore your signs about how I might be killing your horse by feeding it then you should not just put it in a privately owned space with clear signage, you should also make sure the space is completely impenetrable and the animal not in any way visible because my desire to feed and pet the horse is more important than it's health or your ownership of the land it's on?'

No, they're not.
Pallisers · 19/04/2022 23:40

Plantstrees that's fair enough, but unless you are producing horses for food, you are still part of the leisure industry. People on here have been very sniffy about the countryside being a working landscape, not a playground, but your livelihood is still very much producing at the playground, leisure end of the market, just as if you were breeding show cats, or running a caravan park for tourists.

What does it matter if she is producing for the leisure industry? lots of people have jobs/businesses like accounting or IT or law that might also focus on the "leisure end of the market" does that make them a leisure activity for anyone who strolls by their office? I don't understand why it is at all relevant what she is breeding horses for? People are entitled to a free go on the horse because the horse might be used for recreational riding eventually?

blinder · 19/04/2022 23:44

This thread is making me terrified of all the local ponies, so I guess it’s working!

lameasahorse · 19/04/2022 23:45

This reply has been withdrawn

Message from MNHQ: This post has been withdrawn

blinder · 19/04/2022 23:45

Also even more terrified of all the local pony-owners.

givingupchocolatemonday · 19/04/2022 23:49

Why do we do it?? Because the horses enjoy being fed??

Grumpsy · 19/04/2022 23:53

@Marynotsocontrary well a couple of people are saying that to be fair.

XelaM · 19/04/2022 23:57

@blinder This thread makes me terrified of PEOPLE. My 12-year-old doesn't believe me that there are people on Mumsnet who think it's ok to continue feeding animals that don't belong to them, despite it being repeatedly explained to them how much suffering it could cause to said animal. Wtf is wrong with people?!

I already mentioned her catching people (kids with parents) feeding our pony chocolate raisins and Oreos despite countless signs saying "Do Not Feed or Touch the Horses" and our pony being on a private livery yard - not on a public footpath. People are just awful

XelaM · 20/04/2022 00:00

@HalfShrunkMoreToGo Exactly. Mumsnet is nuts

Lineofconcepcion · 20/04/2022 06:31

Gagaandgag · 18/04/2022 22:41

I can totally understand this as you are protecting your pet! (And your finances)
Also it must be frustrating as lots of horses are accessible to the public without their owner being able to watch them!

But I want to ask…
How do you feel if people just try to stroke or interact with your horse?

My children love horses. It was my daughters 2nd birthday and we asked her how she would like to spend the day “go and visit the horses” was her reply.

There is a woman in our village who has a field with 2 horses and a donkey. We have only been to see them a couple of times. So on her birthday we headed over there as part of a longer walk…just to give them a stroke …

They come running to the fence and they are very friendly. So we stroke them. We don’t and have never fed them! She stood in the field watching and glaring the entire time. She saw that we weren’t feeding them! We shouted hello to her and she stormed off in a huff. I started to feel uncomfortable so we just left.

If she had a problem I wish she would have just spoken to us about it. I know they aren’t our horses but I didn’t think stroking one is unreasonable? Especially if it runs up asking for a bit of attention. We haven’t been back since.

I guess maybe like you she is just so pissed off about people feeding them that she judged us doing the same!

Or maybe she just wanted privacy on her own property without having to interact with strangers.

And don't get me started on the dog allowed to run loose on my property by its passing owner, who took offence at me shouting call your dog, then when my horse kicked it in the head and it was screaming, didn't get that no, I would not be paying his veterinary bill . . .🙄

Plantstrees · 20/04/2022 07:16

Many of us who keep and breed native ponies are doing so for conservation purposes. Some of our native pony breeds are close to extinction and are on the red list: www.rbst.org.uk/pages/category/equine-watchlist?Take=12

To call us leisure breeders is insulting the good work we are trying to do.

SamphirethePogoingStickerist · 20/04/2022 07:25

you need to campaign to change the law surely, not demand that people stop doing perfectly legal things?

Yes. Like keeping horses in fields with a right of way across them. Perfectly legal.

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 20/04/2022 08:02

@SamphirethePogoingStickerist

you need to campaign to change the law surely, not demand that people stop doing perfectly legal things?

Yes. Like keeping horses in fields with a right of way across them. Perfectly legal.

Yes but then the owners can't get arsey if someone strokes their horse when their horse is head butting them for a fuss can they
LouMoo13 · 20/04/2022 08:02

@SamphirethePogoingStickerist

you need to campaign to change the law surely, not demand that people stop doing perfectly legal things?

Yes. Like keeping horses in fields with a right of way across them. Perfectly legal.

It is stated in the Countryside Code not to feed horses and livestock... maybe some people on this thread should read it... Smile Maybe a better use of their time than telling horse owners they're entitled simply because they don't want their horses to come to any harm!
SamphirethePogoingStickerist · 20/04/2022 08:19

Yes but then the owners can't get arsey if someone strokes their horse when their horse is head butting them for a fuss can they

Seriously? You can't just leave someone elses horse alone?

WisherWood · 20/04/2022 09:05

31 pages of 'please don't feed my horse' followed by:

Just keep your horse safe. You must have a minimum of 10,000 acres and must triple fence to keep peasants out. People will always feed your horses unless you keep them safe, so either don't keep them, or have a 3 mile militarised zone around them. And by the way, all horse owners are snobs, who own millions of acres and are mean to people who want to pet their animals. Who aren't actually their animals.

Yes, so anyway. Please don't feed my horse, it could be dangerous to you and him.

SamphirethePogoingStickerist · 20/04/2022 09:16

Now if only the new site had a Like button 😊

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 20/04/2022 09:24

@SamphirethePogoingStickerist

Yes but then the owners can't get arsey if someone strokes their horse when their horse is head butting them for a fuss can they

Seriously? You can't just leave someone elses horse alone?

Do you struggle with comprehension? What part of "head butting them for a fuss" did you not understand?