Kitchen Garden Forum

There is in my mind absolutely no doubt about it, not only is there far too many dogs and cats in this country, but far too many bloody horses as well. It is not that I have any particular dislike (or fondness) of these animals but it is a fact that too many are in existence being so called cared for by irresponsible people.

A few years ago a woman bought some land and a ménage near to my son who lives in the next hamlet to me, she kept 16 horses and it soon became apparent that the condition of them started to deteroriate. Knowing a little about horses, I was asked to have a look at them, my suggestion that she should sell most of them for horse meat did not go down too well. Later she had trouble with an old ex race horse and a vet was called and he and my son advised that it should be put down and after some time it was. The vet was so appalled at the condition of the other horses that the RSPCA and BHS were involved and they paid my son to haul hay to the site to build up the horses’ condition. Prior to this my son had sold the lady hay which she could not pay for so she signed over two horses in lieu of payment and I sent them for horse meat. The other horses have now been removed by RSPCA etc..

A month ago two other horses just turned up in a field that I rent and after contacting the police I was advised that I could not just turn them out but had to keep them and place a notice on the gates to inform the owner ( Ican not trace any owner) that if they were not removed before two weeks then they would be sold. The proceeds of which should be returned to the owner minus any cost incurred. What a palaver, but there is nothing that I can do about it, the police do not want to know as it is a civil matter, but I have to be careful to follow the law in the way I deal with this nuisance. Before I can even sell them I have to get horse passports for them from the correct breed society. I now wish that I had just borrowed a bolt gun from the local hunt and punched a bolt in the horses' skulls than try and follow the correct procedures. Where do these horses come from? They are both thoroughbreds but in my view the cost of keeping horses have escalated recently and I suppose the owner can no longer afford to keep them and instead of selling them for meat they hang on in the thought that they are being kind to them. I have to water them, feed them my hay and spend my time sorting out this problem- damn animals and damn so called animal lovers.

Now I have been instructed by the trading standards people that when I do come to sell them, I can't just sell them to someone to cover my costs but have to ensure that I sell them at the market rate for the age, condition and breed of horses so that the owner (who Ihave yet to trace) gets the true market value for the beasts.

I should have just turned them out onto the road.

Barney

Put a big security notice on the gate hinting how valuable these thoroughbred animals are and apologising to walkers for locking the gate.

Fit a big lock and chain, then accidentally just lock it firmly around the gatepost only....

Hi Barney,
Following Peter's thread. Years ago I read of somebody who had tried for months to get rid of two armchairs for free and somebody said try and sell them so she put them out on a sunny day at £10 each and some bugger pinched them. Job done!
Same meat different gravy Peter.
JB.

Although they are thoroughbreeds they are passed racing and like retired greyhounds are not worth much. I had them valued as fetching around £150-200 each if I'm lucky. The man confirmed that there are many abandoned horses about now due to the increase price of feed and nobody wants them. I will have to contact a horse charity since I can't use the field with them in it and I can't sell them for meat and it is costing me time and money. Ironically I'd recently sold both my twin horse boxes on e-bay so now will have to pay for their transport. Whoever owns theses horses must have known that in law I can't do much about it since they cut my padlocked chain to the field and replaced it with their padlock!

The law on trespass is very weak and if someone comes onto your land there is little you can do about it. Years ago most gateways in Somereset were blocked by large blocks of concrete to prevent entry after New Age Travellers invaded a lot of fields following the Glastonbury Pop Show.

Once on the land (or in a vacated house) both people and their possessions are very difficult to move. The law seems to protect the trespasser since it is a civil matter and very expensive to take them to court.

Ho Hum!

Barney

I sympathise. In trying to be kind, you have landed yourself with an enormous problem, and with the current econmic conditions and the rising price of animal food and care, the problem of stray horses, dogs and cats will only become worse. Our local RSPCA are overwhelmed with stray pets being abandoned.

Do you have a village green in your area? If so, why not lead any future stray horses there after dark and tie them to a nearby tree. Your parish council can then have the problem of sorting them them out.

I watched a programme fairly recently about wild ponies on Dartmoor. Apparently there are far too many of them too, and hundreds of them are having to be rounded up and shot.

And once YOU have dealt with the problem there is the possibility of the same unscrupulous persons or others doing it again.

Well I've now been able to trace these horses and my assumptions regarding their ages were very wrong. I now know the original breeders who have advised me that the horses are approx 2 1/2 years old and one is a pure Thoroughbreed and the other is a 3/4 Thoroughbreed with 1/4 Arab. We had one hell of a job loading them ( I kept out of the way for most of the time) with much punching them in the ribs which worked so we think they may have been ridden. The crossbreed was bred as a racing trotting horse and now I have passports for both of them. I have them grazing on a friend's field with other horses but can't afford to keep them so I hope to sell them soon which is a pity since they are looking better already. If I had some stabling I would be tempted to keep them.

Barney

I've often threatened to make some sticky labels to keep in the car that say "WITH CHIPS" to put on all those irritating signs you see "THINK HORSE".