I’ve seen a bunch of threads on here about how to stop people (neighbors, people driving by) from feeding people’s horses at the homes, but today I encountered a situation and am wondering what others would have done. I recently switched jobs and one of the routes that I can drive home travels past a backyard-type barn with the pasture that goes up to the road. I do not know the people who own the property/animals. Today I was driving by and saw a car stopped on the shoulder and people out petting the horses, and, I assume (from the min/pony chewing) that they were feeding them. I paused for a moment and considered stopping and talking to them, but it’s a narrow, windy road and there was a car behind me and traffic oncoming, so I kept going. WWYD? On the one hand, I know that the horses could have been on strict diets, particularly the pony/mini and a mini donkey who I assume are air ferns. But, maybe these people know the owners? Maybe the owners are OK with people feeding the animals? Who knows. So, a case of MYOB or would you have gently (or not gently?) intervened? I can see both sides of the argument…
Until you meet the land/horse owners and discuss this with them, I think you need to MYOB.
The folks in the car could be family, friends, or the pony’s owner for all you know.
Exactly. I’ve been mistaken for being a stranger at my own farm. (When I was out for a run, and someone had stopped their car to look at them.)
Nothing bad happened, but it was a “would be nice to have these beautiful things to look at every day, wouldn’t it?” I wanted to say something like “not so much fun in the winter, actually.” but decided to just agree and continue on.
Anyone who has horses along a road knows that they might be fed/petted/watched/photographed. In general, I don’t freak out about it. I had someone stop on a daily basis for a few weeks to watch mine and sometimes pet them. I didn’t observe her doing anything crazy so I decided to let it go. Maybe it was the best part of her day…?
What csaper58 said.
Can you drive onto the property & make yourself known to the owners?
I’d appreciate anyone telling me my horses were being fed by random strangers, or if the feeders were known to me I could assure them it was okay.
In that situation I would let it go, or take 2DogsFarm suggestion and approach the owners.
Somewhat different situation: I board at a very large facility with lots of people coming and going, and there are signs up saying it is a private facility, but no gates. It is surrounded by housing so we still get folks wandering through just to pet the horses.
If I don’t recognize the people I ask if they are the owners of the horse - “Oh, Hi! are you Dobbin’s owner?” If they aren’t and are just petting and feeding random horses I let them know it is not a public facility and ask them to leave. “I am sorry, but you can’t be here - this is a private facility and having you here is potentially dangerous for the horses and for you.” They get huffy, but generally leave right away.
Once it actually WAS the absentee owner of a horse rehabbing with my trainer. She was quite happy to hear other boarders were looking out for her horse’s best interest.
You could approach the owners.
once upon a time, 12 or 13 years ago, I approached four young people who were ON the 50 acres next to me, feeding the horses. At that time there were no buildings on the property, just a big pond, a lot of woods, and half dozen horses.
when I asked if they had permission to be on the property, feeding the horses, one young man stepped forward and very politely told me he was the owner’s son, the other three his girlfriend, her sister and sister’s boyfriend. One of the sisters was a very experienced horse woman who showed:)
The property/horse owner’s son married that girl, they now live on ten acres of that property and he is a deputy sheriff in my county, lollollol
sooooooo, get acquainted with the owner of the horses before you say anything to anyone standing beside the fence, lollol
Unless they are your animals or a friends who asked you to take a lookout I wouldn’t waste my time on it.
Thanks for the feedback- I was erring on the side of ‘MYOB’ but good to hear from others. Will let it go and assume they’ve got it covered.
