# A friend doesn't get it



## Amba1027 (Jun 26, 2009)

Tell another horse person who she might listen to, and who is better with confrontation than you are. Have this person tell her what you just told us, that she is not taking good care of her horses. If you don't know anyone who can do this for you, then I would call animal control. Obviously if she is feeding them enough and they have access to water (which I'm assuming they do since you didn't mention it) they aren't going to take the horses away. But hopefully they would come out and look at the animals and tell her what she needs to do to take better care of them. And hopefully, coming from an authority figuer, she would listen and do what they tell her. Now, I don't know if they would actually come out or anything but I think it's worth a shot.


----------



## Lucentael (Apr 5, 2010)

I agree with what Amba said. You can always ask to remain anonymous in either situation. 

Something else I thought of is, if you think it'd do any good, you could write her a letter. That way you will be able to filter what you say more yet get your point across, and you can say what you need to say without her getting the immediate chance to blow up on or interrupt you. 

But if you want to avoid direct confrontation with her, I do think Amba's ideas would be better.


----------



## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

PM me with her e-mail and I'll write her a letter!! Aside from that what can we do?


----------



## Mickey4793 (Sep 24, 2009)

Send her a link to this page via email, so she can read what you think and you won't have to actually say it.


----------



## CharliGirl (Nov 16, 2009)

I'm in a similar situation. Our neighbors feed their horses (lightly molding hay sometimes), and they crudely trim their own hooves (and let them grow out horribly long so they chip and break). Their horses are skinny, and I'm not sure if they get wormed. I've seen them work with them twice in the 2-3 years that they have had them (maybe I've just never seen it...). They are confined to a dusty (or muddy, depending on the weather) round pen. Occasionally they get turned out into a square pasture that isn't much larger than the round pen. I have never seen them graze--their other livestock get that privilege.

I help them out sometimes. They don't know how to adjust bridles or anything...I helped them out quite a bit when they first started out. I'm more than glad to help, but I wish there was more I could do. It's not like I could call animal control or anything...they aren't severely malnourished or anything. Not really anything I can do, except help them when they need it.


----------



## ilovemyPhillip (Apr 4, 2009)

_I think you should send her the link to this page. It may be hard, or even outrageous at this moment in time to do so, but it will in the end help all three horses. I fear for the foal, and mare. There's a stallion turned out with er... What if he becomes aggressive and murders said foal? How awful would that be?_


----------



## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

Email her the link to this thread. If that doesn't work, contact an authority figure and ask to remain anonymous. You have to take the initiative before it gets too late and something happens to the horses when you didn't speak up.


----------



## speedy da fish (May 7, 2009)

really sorry about that, you sound like you know what you are talking about and you friend.... really does sound like she should be owning horses. contact a local welfare organisation if you can espically if the ponies are at risk


----------



## themacpack (Jul 16, 2009)

Contact the authorities and they will evaluate the situation. However, be prepared for the end result to be other than what you think it should be. Provided she is meeting the absolute minimum requirements per your local regulations, they will not just swoop in and save the animals - in fact, even if she is NOT meeting some of those minimums, they may still leave the animals and approach it as a "wait and see" situation wherein they will lay out requirements for change to her and a time limit in which to make the changes. The key thing is that you do have to go into it knowing that often our assessment of what is acceptable or not and the legal assessment are going to be two different things. If that turns out to be the case it won't be because the authorities don't care, but that their hands are tied in what they can/can't consider actionable based on the letter of the regulations they are bound to.
Either way, getting them involved now at least puts the situation on their radar.


----------



## Spyder (Jul 27, 2008)

themacpack said:


> Contact the authorities and they will evaluate the situation.



Exactly that is what the ASPCA is for.


----------



## AlmostThere (Oct 31, 2009)

Another thought. If she is 17 that makes her a minor. Wouldn't these be her parents horses? Wouldn't they be the responsible adults? Maybe she is following their poor example. I agree with the suggestion to get a knowledgeable horse person involved, someone the *parents* would respect and listen to.

Also, Lonannuniel, I think tying the concept of pacifist into not hurting peoples' feelings is going to lead to you living a life as a doormat. I thought pacifists were supposed to speak out about the wrongs they see. Pacifists are against violence - if someone feels bad because you point out that they are hurting an animal, you have done *nothing* violent against them. It is their own durn fault for acting so badly in the first place.


----------

