Have just called the RSPCA about a horse in my yard

[elastaghoul]

im on DIY. there is a mare there which has terrible fistulated withers, not being treated. It terribly thin - is never fed by the owner, only by the rest of us, is on a bed of shit and is never let out. i have phoned the RSPCA and kicke dup a stink. It is the 3rd call we have made. they just dont seem interested. Not sure what to do next - I might end up trying to buy the horse from the owner - but dont really want another one- not sure what to do next - any ideas

Am now trying to buy the horse off her. Have offered her £300 cash for it. She wants £1800!!!!

Have you tried calling the ilph i think they can be more hep sometimes. It sound horrid though i wouldnot pay £1800 though. Does she do anything with the horse?

We've had the same experience with the RSPCA (several times actually), they are rubbish. Next time I have to report something I might give the Blue Cross a try.

Happa are much better and respond quickly. Agree the ILPH (who are now called WHW btw)

Please don't offer her cash for the horse as she will think it acceptable to keep in such condition and probably just go out and buy another one and do the same thing with it.

What does the yard owner think or say? What a horrible situation for the horse and hard for you the other liveries

Just looked at the Horse Trust website and saw this:-

"If you are a member of the public concerned about a horse's welfare in your area please telephone 01494 488464 to ensure prompt and immediate action"

Well, I have bought it off her. We all agreed we didnt want her to remove it as we felt she would just leave it to rot where it couldnt be seen. RSPCA werent interested

Now the proud?? owner of an emaciated 8 yr old mare - weatherbys registered TB - with a terrible infection. Got her passport off the girl, who told me she was 4??!!! Not according to her teeth!

She (dottie) is now in an nice clean stable, with a big haynet, has eaten some hardfeed and will be seeing the vet on Monday.

She is a pretty thing under all that shit and probably just over 15hh. Moves nicely and is really kind. Will try to sort her out and then will turn her out in my fields in the spring.

Might even put her in foal once her health picks up

Best of luck with her, lucky horse that there was somebody willing to save her from her awful 'owner' . Can't believe that the RSPCA were so useless .

Not trying to interfere at all elastaghoul, but if she's got a terrible infection perhaps you should get the vet to her immediately rather than waiting until Monday? Just a thought.

hi Jaja,

She has had abcesses on her withers for as long as we can remember, but they are draining and not getting any worse. We are going to bathe them twice a day and take her to vet on monday. She is also due a bath with some warm water tomorrow as she is covered in shit from head to foot and she stinks. I think she will need x-raying them probably some minor surgery to clean them out so we will probably box her up and take her down there - assuming she will load of course

After that I suspect it will be antibiotics for a couple of months and twice daily cleaning. But she is sound, eating well and looks bright enough so we think she will be OK. We are going to turn her out for an hour in the morning with the old girls as it will do her good to move around and get some grass.

All the girls in the yard rallied round and did her bed for me. Everyone was all smiles that at last she is being looked after. I do feel though that I should have taken her off them months ago. She is the poorest horse I've seen for sometime, but not as bad as some of the youngsters we used to buy at the new forest sales.

Poor little thing, thank god you have taken over her care. What has happened to the aforesaid owner?

I bet her feet and teeth are horrendous .

The owner has got a lot of other horses which she moved to another yard. She left this one behind as she was so poor she couldnt take it anywhere, which is why we thought she might abandon it somewhere.

The woman who owns the yard has just rung and was over the moon that I had taken her. she felt very guilty about having her on the yard at all.

Despite being in very poor conditon I think once sorted she will will be fine. Her feet are a mess but are a good shape and although she is skin and bones she has quite good conformation, although I would doubt she can ever be ridden because of the problem with her withers. Not sure she is even broken in.

There is also an outside chance she might already be pregnant as she has a very odd shaped belly for such a thin horse and this girl also has a big warmblood stallion. Will get her tested by the vet just in case.

Have just been to check on her and my other girl. She is happily working her way through her haynet.

Could just be malnutrition, but who knows?

Will find out and let you know. We are all delighted this girl has gone and I have rung the RSPCA to tell them not to bother as I have taken the horse

I am surprised the owner of the yard did not step in tbh. Legally they are culpable if a horse is in such bad condition on their yard, even if they are not the owner. From the yard owners POV it is probably good that the RSPCA did not respond as they could have been prosecuted along with/instead of the owner - rightly or wrongly.

Clearly you are a very kind person, I hope this mare comes round and you all have a wonderful time together, some of the cases are horrendous and it is great to know there are people out there who are willing to do everything they can!

I agree Bella. The yard owner is a neighbour and friend and I am surprised it took her so long to act. But she has a lot on her plate ATM and i think she didnt realise how ill this horse was until people started complaining as she isnt around much and tends to delegate.

Am hoping horse wont cost me a fortune to keep long term as I have quite a lot of very sheltered grazing so once she is well she can live out at ours.

Well new horse has had a good night and a bath today and we have turned her out for a couple of hours. She is as happy as larry, although she has several weeping sores on her shoulders and she cant be rugged, so she will be in if the weather is bad.

Have had loads of messages from people near us, everyone is delighted I took her. Will see what the vet has to say in the morning

Well vet came, I explained about horse and he said 'I hope you didnt pay much for her, He has seen the horse once before and he lanced a terrible abcess on her back but she didnt get the further treatment he advised

He took a quick look and said he couldnt make a judgment on horse without
x raying her withers. It might be straight forward to fix might not. Have set myself a mental limit on vet treatment - she was nearly free - but isnt worth anything.

That said she floated across the field this morning like a fairy - moves beautifully - even though she is so sick and her feet are terrible - and I just want to see how she will be when she is well

So we have dropped her off at the vet hospital to be xrayed in the morning. Felt very embarrased turning nup with such a poor horse - felt the need to explain to the girls there that I had bought her from soemone else on Saturday and please give her lots to eat.

What will you do once you reach your limit? (Not a judgy question, jut wondering what your back-up plan is!)

Hope the x-rays go well tomorrow, poor babe having such a horrible time! I guess she loaded ok though? At least that is a little feather in her cap!

Am going to get a cost for overall treatment from the vet and then decide what to do. If we cant afford to treat her I will have to put her down. Vet knows she is not insured

Have just been researching her breeding through weatherbys on line - she is great grand daughter to Nureyev!! Thought she could move

She did load - took us about 5 mins to pursade her up the ramp - not bad since she was supposed to have fallen off a ramp and damaged her wither. I gave her some sedalin beforehand just in case she was panicked - but she was still as bright as a button and it didnt take effect until she got to her destination - left her sleeping it off at the vets

Any news??

Vet has just put her down. The infection in her spine was so extensive that he said it wasnt treatable and neither he or his partners would consider attempting surgery as there wasnt really any prospect of curing the infection and her making a recovery.

The really sad thing is that the initial injury wasnt all that bad and had she been treated properly when she did it and not left with an infection for over a year she would have been fine. Am for her but at least she has not been left to suffer any further.

Wish I had stepped in earlier

I am so sorry to hear that Dottie had to be put down.

I don't know a thing about horses and everything you said to me might as well have been in a foreign language, but, what did come across was how much you love animals.

I know it may not be any consolation, but, you made her last few hours very happy.

As for the RSPCA, my dad said they have been shite since the day they were formed.

Oh my goodness!

What a shame and a waste. At least she had someone prepared to do what was right for her at the end, well done on giving her that bit of care, she must have been through such a horrible time.

Are you ok?

Very sorry for you & horse,have been following thread. I think you have gone above and beyond - that poor nag at least had ONE human being do the right thing for it, take comfort from that. Absolutely rotten behaviour, hope the original owner's name is spread far and wide in your area so she never gets to mistreat a beast like that again.