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

The same, whether you agree or not, applies to horses. If you feel happy and confident to walk through safely, then go for it, otherwise don't be silly and turn around and go elsewhere.

I've already said I'd turn around, because I'm scared of strange horses - except for those times when there isn't a clear line of sight and you don't know there are horses in the field until you are halfway across and they are coming towards you.

But much of the problems horsey people have described here arise from non-horsey people who are waaay too confident with strange horses, and won't turn around, because they won't understand that there's a problem until it's too late. And since plenty of horses have already learned bad habits from interactions with the public, this seems like a recipe for all the problems described in this thread to get steadily worse.

Well I happen to own a special breed of horse called a Knobcob. Knobcobs cannot be fed hand treats of any kind because they forget themselves and turn into a cross between the Hulk/Cookie Monster and I value my limbs. Knobcobs love people and gossiping. My poor neighbours merely need to fart and he's bounding over like a 650kg Springer Spaniel to say hello and advise them on their gardening (watching lawn mowing is his favourite activity). Knobcobs need two layers of fencing and enough voltage to fry a badger otherwise they plough through it like spaghetti. Knobcobs jump fences, jump back to show you how they jumped the fence, say hello, then jump back into the lush grass before you can catch them. Knobcobs fail at weight watchers and have to be muzzled like Hannibal Lecter most of the summer and will tell anyone who will listen that they are abused. Knobcob is insured for £30 million public liability insurance and some days I still don't think to his is enough......
I have no PROWs on my land so I don't inflict Knobcob on the general public.
But the point is, he's mine, I love him, I spend blood, sweat, tears and a small fortune protecting him from himself. I'd be very upset if someone thought they knew better than me and fed him without asking. Ultimately it's about respect not knowledge. I'd never enter someone else's garden and start feeding their cat/dog/toddler. I'd never key their car or smash their windows. Why? Because I have no right. My horse is my property and by same logic it should be my right that no-one else damages or interferes with him.
Fortunately for me my neighbours agree my pony is a knob and enjoy his antics from afar.

(The reason I keep coming back to this thread is that I have learned in my professional life, dealing with the general public in many forms, while you are always involved in a constant process or trying to educate, nudge and cajole them into doing what you want them to, when it comes to matters of safety, you always have to base your plans on how people actually behave, and not on how you'd like them to behave.)

when it comes to matters of safety, you always have to base your plans on how people actually behave, and not on how you'd like them to behave.

But as has been explained to you numerous times, that's not always physically possible!

They you have to accept that things will occasionally go wrong, and that both horses and humans may come to harm.

They you have to accept that things will occasionally go wrong, and that both horses and humans may come to harm.

I don't disagree with you in the slightest.

But humans should also be following the countryside code which states that you don't feed animals (including horses) without permission and that you modify your behaviour if necessary to keep everyone safe.

ArcheryAnnie They you have to accept that things will occasionally go wrong, and that both horses and humans may come to harm.

In that case, you have to accept that you might be criminally liable, or be sued for causing damage to property.

I'm not joking. I work with criminals, and this is an attitude that many if not most of them share. The failure to abide my rules and to take responsibility for their own actions, instead blaming others for failure to prevent their actions.

I think with that attitude, you also have to accept that some owners are more on the ball with others at pursuing those who cannot respect private property, whether that be in getting the police involved or in civil law, and your luck may not hold out. Although many with that attitude do already have a criminal record, usually of fairly petty crimes.

One of the biggest problems is that rights of way are historic - the route children took to school, or old families used to get to Church on a Sunday. Often they are not practical in modern terms for walkers with their dogs - they may cross through the middle of an open field for example. In the days when these rights of way were created, the people using them were locals, familiar with the livestock and wildlife in the area and if they knew there were calves or lambs in a field, they would take a diversion. Unfortunately these same paths are now entrenched as footpaths and are being used for a different purpose by people who are unfamiliar with the livestock and wildlife inhabiting them.

It is very difficult, if not impossible for a farmer or landowner to move a footpath to a more suitable route - say round a field so it can be fenced. This needs changing. If footpaths all went between fields, rather than diagonally across them (taking the shortest route possible was logical when you were using it to go to school daily) it may help landowners keep their stock away from walkers. I think a new approach to rights of way is required to serve the best interests of everyone.

I think this really is a situation in which the perfect is the enemy of the good.

And I also think that on the (very probably rare) occasions when a walker is prosecuted after using a right of way and behaving badly (maliciously or through ignorance) towards horses, that won't ease the distress of having a hurt or dead horse, either for the horse or the owner. Better to set up to avoid these situations when at all possible.

And I also think that on the (very probably rare) occasions when a walker is prosecuted after using a right of way and behaving badly (maliciously or through ignorance) towards horses, that won't ease the distress of having a hurt or dead horse, either for the horse or the owner.

Of course it won't ease the distress, but maybe it will make the offender think twice and serve as a lesson to others.

Better to set up to avoid these situations when at all possible.

Well, yes, of course.

But generally that's not possible (or owners would do so) so the public need to take some responsibility too.

Please watch, if you can't /won't believe that horses should NOT be fed ANYTHING by anyone other than their owner/carer...

fb.watch/cwS32bd62c/

ArcheryAnnie And I also think that on the (very probably rare) occasions when a walker is prosecuted after using a right of way and behaving badly (maliciously or through ignorance) towards horses, that won't ease the distress of having a hurt or dead horse, either for the horse or the owner. Better to set up to avoid these situations when at all possible

And, predictably, its onto the "I think I'm likely to get away with it" excuse...

I'm thinking more of walkers with dogs. The local (rural) police really crack down on it around here. But they also crack down on any reports of strangers wandering around looking suspicious, particularly if they have parked a vehicle nearby that can identify them, or in general are acting as if they are trying to see if there is anything worth stealing or someone living alone. They're actually brilliant at responding to such complaints...

FWIW I think fencing off public footpaths, where easily done, is actually quite a good idea. Obviously, you can't fence acres of moorland or massive pasture fields but where its easily done I think I'd rather for peace of mind. Some people are just so stupid, they cannot be trusted out in the countryside and its better to encourage them to be restrained by fencing in some way.

over 800 comments later and some people are still suggesting this post is rude because I didn’t ask nicely for people to stop feeding horses because apparently they didn’t know it’s wrong.

I’m actually concerned at the idea that grown adults don’t understand not to feed another animal they don’t own (whether they think horses can eat grass or not) and think they have to be told that it’s wrong to feed another animal? Do you have to be told not to break into peoples houses? Or told not to feed chocolate to random children at the park? Or told that it’s unacceptable to feed chicken to random dogs in random gardens. No I’m sure you don’t have to be told not to do that, because it’s called common sense and basic manners.

Honestly this thread is baffling. How much hand holding do adults need?

just in case anyone needs to be told, it’s not acceptable to break the law in any way. Apparently we need to tell people this now because they might not know it!

Exactly, but that is precisely what @ArcheryAnnie and others are suggesting we do to protect our animals. It ia also be the best protection from dogs. I have triple fenced my field and planted a hedge to screen my horses and sheep from the public. Unfortunately it also means that walkers will loose the beautiful views from the footpath, but the wildlife and livestock living on my land take priority over walkers..

Although I appreciate your frustration OP I think it might be useful to ask why people assume they can feed horses but not do the other things you mentioned. Now I'm all but certain that some people were trolling and being wilfully obtuse. But there is also something different about horses. They are kept on publicly accessible land, whereas dogs generally aren't. They are left unsupervised for extended periods, often in publicly accessibly areas, whereas dogs and young children aren't.

I suspect these things contribute to the idea that horses are in the public realm and that therefore some of the normal barriers don't apply. Plus horses are very, very good at directing humans to do what they want them to do. Scientists have studied this. Horses are amongst a small group of animals who will point to things that they want. This establishes a communication and connection that's quite rare. Added to which, you only have to go back to my grandparents' generation to find a time when horses were all around us and it was much more common to feed them. They worked incredibly hard and died younger, so laminitis and other metabolic disturbances were less prevalent and less known about.

Yes, people are annoying. But if you start by assuming they're stupid you're not going to win them over.

Billy Congo - your post made me smile. We have one a bit like that. No-one should feed other peoples horses without permission as stated a hundred times on this thread. I have been known to offer the odd friendly stroke in a duly cautious manner though - please dont shoot me! (see user name!).

@WisherWood well said.

Hearts and minds.

FWIW I think fencing off public footpaths, where easily done, is actually quite a good idea. Obviously, you can't fence acres of moorland or massive pasture fields but where its easily done I think I'd rather for peace of mind. Some people are just so stupid, they cannot be trusted out in the countryside and its better to encourage them to be restrained by fencing in some way

Agree with this entirely. It would provide peace of mind both for the owners, and for the people using the paths.

WisherWood what you say makes a lot of sense.

In my experience, paths that CAN be fenced off, are fenced off, but there are so many fields where it just isn't possible to do that, and so landowners and farmers have no choice but to hope the public will use their common sense.

I walk rurally a lot and lots of paths are fenced or divided by hedges and dry stone walls, but in many cases you just can't do that, due to farmers needing access to the whole field (due to where tracks and roads are located), or because the "right of way" goes right through the middle of the field, so installing a path and fence would reduce the field to a size where it's too small to keep livestock safely.

Thanks @ArcheryAnnie I was just mulling over why some of the analogies given, although they seem reasonable to me, weren't actually working for others.

Yes.

I know someone who has done exactly that across a field he owns. Put up fences and created a corridor across the field after he was having problems with people trashing his field, leaving gates open, straying from the ROW, leaving litter and generally being a nuisance.

Now everyone is complaining about it - it spoils the beautiful views across the countryside for walkers, it’s unsightly, it’s horrible to walk through, etc as if it wasn’t entirely as a result of their own actions.

Be careful what you wish for.

I agree. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE watch this.