Under-fed horses...at what point should I do something?

[plowhog]

Buckeye,

Same thing happened to my neighbor. His horse was 25+ years old. Someone reported an underfed horse (not me) and animal control showed up. My neighbor is the scruffy defiant-of-authority type. His first comment (at the front porch) was that if the horse was maltreated he would get his gun and immediately to shoot it RIGHT NOW and put it out of its misery.

The animal control people pleaded with him not to do that. (I think he was just messing with them.) Then he said they could witness to put-down to ensure it was humane and said he was going to retrieve his gun.

They insisted on seeing the horse first. They quickly proclaimed it fit and healthy and made a beeline off the property. The horse lived for several years after that ...

 

[David P]

Outside of contacting the authorities perhaps it's a good idea to ask someone who knows horses to drop by your place sometime for a look. If they determine that the horses are in poor health, call the authorities. If not then you saved your neighbors a little hassle and perhaps yourself and your neighbors a fair amount of stress.

 

[kf4uda]

Outside of contacting the authorities perhaps it's a good idea to ask someone who knows horses to drop by your place sometime for a look. If they determine that the horses are in poor health, call the authorities. If not then you saved your neighbors a little hassle and perhaps yourself and your neighbors a fair amount of stress.

I do not have “horse knowledge “, so to me this sounds like an excellent idea.

 

[WM75Guy]

I would call the SO if you are in the county or the PD if you are in the city limits. They should have an animal control officer or know who to contact. The situation will only get worse as time goes on and the weather gets colder. You didn't mention how many horses or how many acres is the pasture. With the lack of recent rains and the cold temperatures edible pasture grass is dwindling rapidly. My three have at least an acre each to graze that will support them during growing season without turning it into bare ground. They still get grain and hay twice a day to maintain their weight but they are dressage performance horses that do get worked.

 

[Code54]

I would call and let someone with more knowledge take a look. If someone called saying my animals were not healthy I won't really worry about it. Anyone can come out and check anytime I could careless. Heck they are better taken care of than some peoples children!

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Or you could just start feeding them yourself, that's probably what I would do.

That or just call it in. If the guy gets pissy about it, he should probably not have them in the first place.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

People can be really ignorant. When I bought my 90 acres, including about 15 acres of pasture, the previous owner wanted to leave their granddaughter's horse here until they found a place for it. We bought in August, and the pasture was drought dormant. The horse ate it nearly to bare dirt, and when the rains came it didn't recover. By December the horse was skin and bones. I contacted the previous owner and told them either feed the horse or I was calling animal control. They insisted there was plenty of pasture, I told them to look at the horse, which was obviously starving. They started feeding daily hay and grain, and the horse recovered nicely. As soon as granddaughter found she was going to have to pay to feed the horse, she sold it.

Some people know nothing about livestock. They can't look at an animal and tell if it is healthy or sick. My dad was that way; he was a great grain farmer, but he had no business owning animals.

 

[Phillip w]

I had a hey hoo call the sheriff on me my dog. I was not home and note was left on my door. I call the individual and told them being they thought they need to be in the middle of things to come on up, the sheriff is on the way. I talked to the sheriff maybe 30 minutes or so and everything was fine. Moral of the story: my neighbor made an enemy and wasted both mine and the sheriff's time. I'd follow walking horses advice. I did chores for a guy and he had a horse over 30. The horse looked like a rack of bones. We babied and pampered him. We fed him omelene, wheat brand and alfalfa pellets. We fed him alfalfa hay. We had to keep him by himself cause he was so docile and a slow eater. The horse finally died. The guy said he was 36 when he died.

 

[gsganzer]

As one who has been called on, I can tell you there are many reasons for a skinny horse. In the horse world there are two types. Easy keepers and hard keepers. With easy keepers a pad of hay and a cup of feed will keep them mud fat. Hard keepers can stand over a round bale 24/7 and never gain anymore than a hay belly,making them look pregnant.

You mention declining health,so I guess they are Sr horses. As a horse ages they tend to have dental problems that don't always get taken care of. A horse needs their teeth floated a minimum of every two years. A horses teeth continue to grow and their gums recede. Biting rocks and the abrasive nature of their diet creates points on their teeth,making it hard to chew,and causing dropped and wasted feed. This by te way is where the saying long in the tooth comes from.

Another factor could be the breed of horse. Gaited horses are built with high withers, protruding hips,and a light cover of fat over the ribs. These features along with age cause a horse past their prime to be miserable looking creatures.

This is very true. I have a 30 year old quarter/thoroughbred mare that I keep fearing someone will call about. Every year it's harder and harder to get her through the winter. Having some thoroughbred in her, she's lanky by nature. Her teeth have declined to the point where the vet can't float them anymore. She has 7 acres of fertilized coastal bermuda, plus a free-range round bale when the pasture goes dormant. On top of that, she gets 2 scoops of purina senior feed 2x/day with weigh booster sprinkled over it. Plus she gets a mixed scoop of beet pulp/alfalfa pellets soaked in water 2x/day. We can't do much more than that. Eventually they all get to the point that the combination of their teeth and gut efficiency become a problem.

Make sure it's just not an old horse. But with your description of poor hoof maintenance, I suspect you're right and they're lacking care.

 

[aeblank]

Interesting conversation. I don't agree with calling the cops on everything, but I don't agree with staying out of everything either.
I bet you could beg a vet or someone to stop by and have a look.