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.

 

[coldsteelva]

I didn't do to much extra digging, but in Texas it MAY actually be a crime to NOT REPORT suspected neglect. If you share a property line with these folks, you could be culpable for not reporting/preventing their neglect.

 

[M5farms]

mind your own Dadgum business

 

[FTG-05]

Call now!
Try animal control but to me they are worthless.

I would contact a local horse rescue group and the local news station.

They love stories like this and it seems to get things resolved.

THIS!

Two very good advantages:

- A horse rescue place won't let a horse be neglected for long. Their like a starving dog that's been given a bone; give them the bone (anonymously) and let them go to work.

- As stated above several times, horses can look neglected but not be neglected. Who do you think is going to know the difference - a typical SPCA worker or a horse expert (never mind some "news" reporter). They'll suss out whether or not the horses are really neglected and take appropriate action.

Call horse rescue group ASAP.

Good luck!

 

[citytransplant]

"mind you own Dadgum business"

We have a dozen or so chickens. One died during the night. They do die, by the way. Next morning, wife tossed the carcass by the trail next to the barn knowing I'd take it out back in the woods later in the day, dig a hole, adios, thanks for the eggs. That morning a nice couple pull into our barn driveway, exit vehicle and come to the gate. My wife greets them. Guy happens to be the man who sold me my tractor (Farmtrac, he's no longer in the business). The have questions about our milk goats. My wife opens fence and gives them a tour of the barn. Next day State Agriculture inspector is at our door with "anonymous" report of dead chickens on our property. My wife knew the inspector from attending previous workshops she (inspector) facilitated. After a quick look-see and a few chuckles, the inspector was on her way.

Since then, I rarely allow outsiders on my property.

With that said, if wifey died and I went senile or for whatever reason began neglecting my animals, I hope there'd be some outside intervention.

 

[TractorGuy]

I would advise AGAINST calling the sheriff. Call a local horse rescue or animal control and ask them to inspect but ask them to leave you out of it. They will have the knowledge to look at the animals and determine if there is neglect.

My daughter was involved in horse rescue for a while but has stepped back due to some tense moments. One such moment involved a rescue where the animal owner left town indefinetly and didn't have anyone take care of the animals. The rescue organization asked the sheriff to get involved and they wanted the person charged with abuse. The sheriff supervised the removal and rescue of the animals but was friends with the owner. At one point he threatened my daughter to drop any suggestions of prosecution or else.

 

[QRTRHRS]

How many horses are we talking about? Let's say for example that there are five. Likely those five will vary in age. If all five look to be in bad shape then you may be correct. How much land do they have? Is it overgrazed? Do you ever see hay put out? Fresh water? You don't have to be an expert to understand the basics. If things don't look right, make the call.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

How many horses are we talking about? Let's say for example that there are five. Likely those five will vary in age. If all five look to be in bad shape then you may be correct. How much land do they have? Is it overgrazed? Do you ever see hay put out? Fresh water? You don't have to be an expert to understand the basics. If things don't look right, make the call.

I agree with this post. It's "horses" not "horse", and they are all "declining". And to **** with the owner's "feelings" about it. It takes a special kind of low life to neglect animals. Even if raising animals for slaughter (which we did when I was a kid). They were always well tended, even up to slaughter day.

I for one, would not be able to sit by and watch animals decline like that.

"Mind our own business"...

Like bloody ****. What a Godless statement.

If I was on good terms with the neighbors, and I knew it was a lack of money thing, I'd be out there feeding them, either with or without the neighbor's knowing (if it was a pride thing, I'd do it quietly just to not embarrass the neighbors). I've done it before, and am helping my neighbor with 2 horses now. He's a good guy and wants to do right, just needs a bit of help. So we're quietly helping him. No big deal, and we're not going to turn it into one. Guy just needs a little help, so what?

But it sounds like the OP is not on good terms, so just call it in to the sheriff then. Hopefully the county will step in and remove them.

 

[TheMan419]

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.

Maybe instead of calling right away you should observe a few things first. You say you can walk up to the feed pan. Observe that and see if the owners are using it. Horse can be very pushy when they think someone will give them a treat. Do they have a good source of grass or hay. A horse only needs 1 to 2% of their weight per day, but can dump around 50# of manure and urine a day. Is their water clean and not green or frozen? You say they probably need a farrier for their hoofs. Are they so long that they curl back under? I've always wondered who does the wild horses feet.

If all this checks out maybe you could have someone talk to them about senior horse diets. Maybe suggest wetting their hay down to make it more palatable or using chopped forage. Or testing for worms and start a good deworming program. But the real truth of the matter is if these horses are 27years old or older they are lucky to have a place to stand and live the rest of their lives. Lots of horses in today's economy have become disposable,abandoned or sold to kill buyers.

He said he can see ribs and hips. That is a body condition of 3 or less. Call someone now.

Even if the answer is they need teeth floated it is still neglect.

 

[Spindifferent]

Contact Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society. Great organization. We have fostered several and adopted one. Report neglect here:

Make a Difference :: Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society

 

[Spiros]

Like a man said in another thread, a picture is worth a thousand words.