Horse - worried about no shelter

[estweyn 10]

Theres is a horse in a field on Primrose Lane Killamarsh, he apparently escaped when they were rounding up the rest to go wherever they were taking them, he is on his own. There is no visable hay, no shelter, he is wet through, covered in mud. I have given him some carrots today but dont know anything about horses , he does not look malnourished so must have some food source somewhere but I cant see any. Is this acceptable and if not who do I report it to.

[srtaylo0 22]

A friend of mine spent a small fortune on a field shelter for their horses. The horses refuse to go in them, preferring to stand in the rain ! All that said they are brought into stable at night.

[denlin 12]

Theres is a horse in a field on Primrose Lane Killamarsh, he apparently escaped when they were rounding up the rest to go wherever they were taking them, he is on his own. There is no visable hay, no shelter, he is wet through, covered in mud. I have given him some carrots today but dont know anything about horses , he does not look malnourished so must have some food source somewhere but I cant see any. Is this acceptable and if not who do I report it to.

 

RSPCA if you can get them to go out but you will have to keep on at them, your local supermarket will let you have carrots that have reached sell by date

[estweyn 10]

rspca have been informed, I hope they will go out, it does sound hopeful that they will but its a call centre and they can tell you anything.

 

---------- Post added 24-12-2012 at 13:57 ----------

 

a friend has suggested throwing a bale of hay over for him, I dont want to do this yet as the rspca need to see he has no food, thats if they turn up. Does anyone know where to get a bale of hay on Christmas eve at Killamarsh?

[DaisyBoo 10]

try the various stables in killamarsh, ken swaines at the top of station road.

[estweyn 10]

No show for RSPCA or at least they have not been in touch as promised. Will check tomorrow and if no sign of food I will contact the stables on station road.

[Bethie 10]

If there is any grass in the field then the horse has some food . Whether the grass is enough food by itself without any supplemental feeding (hay or concentrate feed that goes in a bucket) depends on the individual horse. It may be that there is hay left out somewhere in the field you can't see from the road/path or that hay is being put out one or more times a day but has been eaten when you go past, or similarly that the horse is getting a bucket feed at a time that you don't see. In horse terms, carrots are a high sugar feed and feeding lots of them can cause illness, some horses with a predisposition to being ill can't take them at all. It isn't really a good idea to feed a horse anything without its owner's knowledge.

 

If there is any hedging, trees or walls then there is sufficient shelter. Many horses will choose to stand outside being soaked, its more hot sun that makes them seek shelter a lot of the time.

 

Next time you go past have a look at the horse and see if through the mud you can actually see the individual ribs, if its spine is prominent rather than rounded, if the neck looks very thin and weak, and if the hindquarters are hollow and angular rather than rounded. All these would be pointers that the horse is too thin. Most horses have problems with being too fat though, much like people , and naturally should drop the weight that they put on in the summer over the winter - this keeps their metabolism functioning and prevents problems similar to diabetes in humans from occuring. Most types of horse will also grow a coat designed to deal with winter conditions without human intervention being necessary.

[willman 10]

The horse doesn't need shelter it's wearing a thick coat. Fur

[estweyn 10]

thank you for your helpful replies. There is only one entrance to the field and when the horses were all in there the hay was left just inside the gate area, there is no evidence of any hay being in that area at all recently. The horse may well be recieving a bucket feed, I did not consider this. Main concern is the mud, the horses feet and legs are caked in mud. I will just monitor the situation from now, I do not have any knowledge of horses and how they are kept and perhaps I expected that there would be some shelter provided for the bad weather.

[denlin 12]

Never mind what others say, keep on at the RSPCA. Horses need food and shelter, grass isn't enough.

[Elizabeth13 10]

Never mind what others say, keep on at the RSPCA. Horses need food and shelter, grass isn't enough.

 

And mud is not a good thing for a horse to stand in 24/7.

It will weaken and rot the hoof, and cause all kinds of problems that can result in fatality.

[Amyrach 10]

mine are living out 24/7 in the mud and like willman says if its cobby it will have thick fur you dont know if this horse is getting bucket feeds

i have a heavyweight cob who refuses to be stabled and will not wear a rug

if there is natural shelter then he has shelter

the rspca will not doing anything