Horse in the road

[RemarkableOwl21]

I came across this unfortunate scene on my way to the barn today. Young horse. Rope tied around the neck and attached to a stake in the ground. No halter. The rope was long and the horse was able to jump the ditch and be in the road. No fencing to speak of. He was getting the rope tangled around his legs.

Another Samaritan and I went to the home to find the owner but no one was home. Called the police and got the horse out of the road. He was a sweetie. Eventually police officers arrived and were able to get in touch with the owner by phone.

I can’t imagine leaving a horse tied up in this way, especially if I was leaving him alone like that.

[TheBigEasy]

So many questions! OMG poor thing!

Makes me wonder if he was dumped? Like some awful humans do with dogs and cats…

Or did someone find him loose and come up with a half baked solution to him running around?

Heck I might have gone and gotten my trailer instead of hunting down the owner!

[RemarkableOwl21]

At first I thought he might have been abandoned too, but the police officers said he belonged to someone who lived at the property. My barn owner had half a mind to go pick him up herself during all this!

[CanteringCarrot]

I feel so sorry for this horse, he shouldn’t have been returned to his owner, if the owner was indeed the person who tied the horse that way. Not much you can do though.

Tethering is a thing, but not quite in that manner.

[RemarkableOwl21]

So, yesterday i drove by the house where the horse was in the road, and the horse had been tethered in the gravel driveway. It seems the owner mainly keeps the horse tethered as there are no pastures or paddocks. It was on and off pouring rain and 37 degrees (quite cold for here). The horse did not have shelter access and no blanket. No food in sight either, not even grass. Three hours later when I drove home he was in the same spot.

I know I overly pamper my horse, but I’m concerned about a horse being stuck in a cold rain for hours without food or access to shelter. Does this warrant a call to the county to possibly investigate?

[trubandloki]

@RemarkableOwl21

So, yesterday i drove by the house where the horse was in the road, and the horse had been tethered in the gravel driveway. It seems the owner mainly keeps the horse tethered as there are no pastures or paddocks. It was on and off pouring rain and 37 degrees (quite cold for here). The horse did not have shelter access and no blanket. No food in sight either, not even grass. Three hours later when I drove home he was in the same spot.

I know I overly pamper my horse, but I’m concerned about a horse being stuck in a cold rain for hours without food or access to shelter. Does this warrant a call to the county to possibly investigate?

What are the laws in your part of the world for proper housing of livestock/horses.

There are places that might surprise you that there is no requirement for shelter for horses.

I too would be worried, but it never hurts to know the rules before you call.

[ThreeWishes]

I’d call. It’s AC’s job to determine the rules or if the concern is warranted. Poor horse.

[eightpondfarm]

i’d steal that horse and take him away and place him with a friend somewhere ‘two-rivers-away’. My vet says this is the closest you should rehome a dog/cat etc that is being treated inhumanely. I’d do it. I would.

[walktrot]

Check your state laws. Maine has statutes that include providing shelter that has enough space for each horse whether it is stalls or sheds. It is in the same section that covers food and water. The U of Maine extension has everything in one publication.

extension.umaine.edu /publications/1011e

[2DogsFarm]

Agree with @trubandloki & @ThreeWishes - at least call AC & ask what the law says.
I’d be tempted to leave hay, but w/o a water source that could cause a colic.
Poor horse

Sorry @eightpondfarm, theft is theft & very likely the Asshat who owns the horse would prosecute or otherwise take revenge.

[eightpondfarm]

@2DogsFarm

Sorry @eightpondfarm, theft is theft & very likely the Asshat who owns the horse would prosecute or otherwise take revenge.

Welllll…maybe if i put him in a box and put the box downstairs in the breezeway in a closet i could get away with it

[ThreeWishes]

I’m also wondering about fencing laws and the tethering of this horse. Not just the danger to the horse but also the liability and danger to people driving if a 1000 animal is in the roadway. It doesn’t make sense. What is wrong with people ?

[2DogsFarm]

@ThreeWishes

What is wrong with people ?

There’s not enough words to explain

@eightpondfarm Only if the box has a haynet & water bucket

[endlessclimb]

The only place I have ever seen animals tethered on the side of the road was in the backwoods of China. Third world country conditions. And the animals were oxen.

What a jerk. I’d call AC just to wake him up a little, if nothing else. Horse looks in sorry condition.

[Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom]

I’d call AC and keep calling them every single time you see that horse being mistreated and staked out. That simply cannot be legal . . . at the very least, it’s a nuisance and could quickly turn into a dangerous situation if the horse gets back on the road.

Eventually the owner will get sick of it - or AC will, and they’ll take the horse.

Or you could do what my aunt did - she stopped and offered her neighbors quite a lot of money for the sorry little mare they kept in a tiny little run (and, they later found out, shot with a BB gun for fun). She was afraid to tell my uncle what she’d done, but he just said, “good, let’s go get her,” and they walked her home that night.

[Hightale]

@endlessclimb

The only place I have ever seen animals tethered on the side of the road was in the backwoods of China.

It happens here in the UK with horses. Most usually those belonging to the travelling community.
Used to pass a couple tethered on a roundabout in a town centre on my journey to work.
They had plenty of grass and a water bucket.

[Night_Flight]

I believe this might happen in Cuba, too. I remember my sister coming home from a vacation and showing me photos of horses tethered to eat grass by the side of the road, and I believe it was Cuba (if not there, then somewhere nearby).

[lenapesadie]

I saw horses and other livestock tethered on the side of the road in Costa Rica. Saw crops planted like that too.

But for OP I’d call AC. Generally speaking, no water is an “easier” reg for them to enforce.

[chestnutmarebeware]

@eightpondfarm

@2DogsFarm

Sorry @eightpondfarm, theft is theft & very likely the Asshat who owns the horse would prosecute or otherwise take revenge.

Welllll…maybe if i put him in a box and put the box downstairs in the breezeway in a closet i could get away with it

I’m with you on stealing him! I catnapped a cat once, years ago, at the request of a co-worker who lived next door to the poor thing. Camille lived with me for the rest of her life, and I never lost a minute’s sleep over depriving her former asshat owners of the burden of feeding her only once a week and of having their children have to practice their kickball skills on an actual ball instead of an animal.

[2DogsFarm]

Good on you for rehoming Camille
But a horse is not nearly so easy to relocate.
Hoping OP can get some help for the poor horse from AC