Need advice

[Marty]

I have no patience for this after you have been so nice and seemed to have done all the right things.

I really like the idea about pretending he is sick.

Can you act? LIke in the movies?

I'd go over there and bang on the door, rant and rave and demand to know what they fed him and blame it on them, and then tell him they are going to pay the $800 vet bill!

Hit them in the pocketbook where it hurts, atleast pretend to.

That will get their attention.

 

[ali]

Oh Marty...you really make me laugh!

Please stop it because most times I'm alone in the office and everyone in the house thinks I've lost it.

I really would not want my neighbour to be my enemy. Politely and firmly tell them that you simply do not appreciate the treats and that their children should stop it.

You understand that they (kids) think it's OK but we ADULTS (which the parents are) should know better. Tell them that you would like to be a friendly neighbour however, if they continue to disrespect your privacy that you will have to wage war! Use those mini horse'd'ouvres and fling them just where the kids are lining up to feed the horses.Hopefully one of the kids will drag it into their house!

Remember to kill with kindness

I'm not be-littling your situation at all

I was in the same boat with my neighbour and she eventually got it.

 

[Jean_B]

OK - I might be considered an ornery old codger - but I do not tolerate ANY kids (or adults for that matter) messing with my horses without my permission.

In this case, it's poorly supervised BRATS and I simply do not tolerate that. I have called neighbor parents and told them that if any horses are damaged by their kids - they will have to pay for the horse....and then I tell them the price tag. Needless to say, the kids have not been back.

And if you have a stallion out there that is getting nippy because of unsupervised BRATS ("kids will be kids" is NOT an excuse for STUPIDITY!) you are asking for a lawsuit unless you get those parents to take control of their kids.

And I would NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER encourage the kids to do DUMB STUPID things by giving them the proper treats to give the horses. Get those kids off your property and back where they belong -- under their parents' supervision. Geez, I hate unsupervised BRATS!!!!!!!

Around my place, kids no matter how old have to earn my trust. That includes family members; nieces, nephews etc. They do something stupid, they aren't allowed any privileges until they do something to earn that trust - like helping me muck stalls for a month without bellyaching.

Geez, I hate unsupervised Brats!!!

Edited to add--Think about it. For many of us, these horses are a business! Would Donald Trump allow some unsupervised kids to mess around in his office? Would Hurst allow some kids to mess around with his printing presses? I THINK NOT.

OK, done venting.

 

[Miniv]

I'd go with the Electric Fence and WARN THEM when you turn it on.

I'd also buy a big bag of carrots and trade that for the sugar cubes with the mom. I'd also invite the kids over every time I saw them and have them help you with the horses!

MA

 

[Sun Runner Stables]

Well as a riding instructor, I run into this ALOT. Needless to say, I Have to be diplomatic about it, but once they have been warned, I am Much grumpier.

My minis are espically at risk, the only ones here at home a my broodmares, who are all shameless pigs.

I have signs on all the gates that say "Please do Not feed treats or YOUR FINGERS to our horses, Thank you"

That combined with the hotwire tends to discourage even my most annoying finger feeders. (we have designated "treat buckets" in the school ponies stalls for just that purpose. I Hate nippy ponies, and nothing get's them there faster then the kids hand feeding them treats!)

For a situation like yours though, Marty and Jean B's post(s) say it all.

High Voltage wire, with ample warnings. Keeping Him off the fence isn't an issue, they may just throw the treats over the fence if he is avoiding. Plus a nasty scare letter, that is a velvet wrapped gun. Very polite, but with BIG teeth.

Hey you could always get your husband involved and set off timed loud firecrackers for when they show up. Scare the tick out of both your horse And the kids. (okay that one's a bad idea, but a nice visual right>?)

 

[midnight star stables]

I had a problem with my neighbour and it use to drive me nuts.  Finally I pulled my horse out of the paddock and stalled him for the day.  Phoned the neighbours and pretended that he was sick, the vet was on his way and I needed to know what they fed him?  It was a white lie of course, but I also warned them that the next vet bill would be theirs!  I would also have to report them if it simply did not stop.  In a nice and mannerly but firm tone!
Then I suggested that when they DID want to feed him that all they had to do was call and let me know.  I would happily supply them with healthy treats that would not make him ill or rot his teeth. 

Hopefully one of the suggestions will work for you.  Neighbours!

505244[/snapback]

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[Valerie]

Boy, we have had a similar problem......and I did try to be overly nice the first few times this happened, I was very polite to people (not just kids, adults like to feed treats as well)...and nobody got the point that I don't want people feeding my horses treats, period. Especially during show season....I explained they are on a

very strict diet and I cannot have them having "extras" that I don't know about or can keep track of, and when I told them one of them did get "sick" (colic), that sorta helped....but lets face it little kids just love the little horseys, they don't pay attention to signs, so we ended up putting an electric wire on the top of the fence and ran another electric wire completely around the pasture on the inside, down ..one wire down low & another wire up closer to the top.... You would think my horses live in some prison compound & we are trying to keep them from busting out, but in reality it's to keep kind hearted strangers from feeding the horses treats & grass along the road. I have also seen people let their dogs (on leashes) run along the fence & try to get the dogs to chase the horses.....another huge no-no in my book.

I can understand trying to be "nice", but let's face it, when the choice comes down to keeping your horse well mannered & healthy, I would chose that over being overly nice to the neighbors. Just my opinion.....hope you can work something out, I totally have been there.

 

[Leeana]

I know how you feel! Beleive me!!!

My sister thinks that since we share a barn now and since she is always down there with her cows and all that she can feed my big horses whenever she wants. She is always throwing 'handfulls' of hay into them and it ticks me off because to sis a handfull is practically a full meal. She only does this with my yearling arab and little filly because there the only ones at that barn ....It makes me so mad i have told her a billion times (twice today) to stop and she just doesnt.

I *LOVE* Marty's idea personally ..i would tell them that you dont want them feeding because miniature horses do not react to nice to sugar or other food and they need a strict HAY ONLY diet. Anything else can hurt or possibly kill them and that if they wany to risk the horses life, then they will have to risk paying a huge vet bill or a nice long talk with someone who ownes a shiny badge and drives a car with lights on top!!!!. I would not stand for this ...its rediculous with some people such as your nabors and my sister.

And what gets you is that no matter what you say they just dont get it ..thats what ticks me off!!!!!!!!!!!!

Leeana

 

[susanne]

I agree and disagree...

I absolutely agree that this is an issue of utmost importance, and the desire to be "nice" pales in comparison. It enrages me when I hear of ignorant or willfully obstinate neighbors who insist that they know better what your horses need.

On the other hand, minis are the ultimate "attractive nuisance" in a community, and their appeal is tremendous. The lure and the dangers are actually very similar to having a swimming pool, and you need to BOTH protect your horses and the kids -- and have a bit of understanding.

I remember so clearly what I did as a kid just to be around horses. I hate to admit it, but I regularly snuck into the pasture of two horses whose absentee owners visited them about once every few months. I was neither a brat nor unsupervised...but this place was on our quiet road on the way to my best friend's house, so I found my ways.

With that in mind, I handled things a bit differently...

We lived in an urban neighborhood when we got Mingus and Thelonius, and our back yard opened onto an alley. Sometimes it seemed the whole neighborhood came by to see him. We were very concerned about the latchkey kids in an apartment building a few blocks away. so we decided to enlist them in helping to keep an eye on our horses. We formed the "Mingus Club." If they wanted to visit the horses, they had to follow our rules, such as never feeding them without our permission and presence. They were never to come onto the property without our permission. They were to tell us if they even heard of someone doing wrong by them...and so forth.

This worked well...even the junior gangsters were in love with the horses and took pride in helping to protect them.

I'm sure we were lucky...things could have been quite different, but I'm so glad we got the chance to explain what was good and bad for a little horse, rather than make enemies out of neglected kids who just wanted to pet a horse for the first time.

Another thing, be sure to talk with the parents. Like so many non-horsey people, they probably have no idea that sugar cubes, lawn clippings, too many apples, etc., are bad for them, but if you explain that such treats can KILL a mini, they can better teach their kids.

 

[Marty]

Well I'm scared of Jean now........lol......gotta love her brat thing she's got going on.

I'm not the one that said High Voltage Fence. You can't do that because you will electrocute the horses and kill yourselves too! Hello?

OK how about this one:

Wear a disguise:

Get a Whoppie Goldberg wig and wear a big long robe, the pour fake blood all over your hands and tell them that the horses just bit your fingers off and would they please call 911 for you?

Did I mention to have a Happy Thanksgiving?

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Do they have a dog?? Get the nastiest, messiest, junkiest dog food you can buy and feed it to their dog. Drop off HUGE blocks of chocolate and cheap, Christmas candy and give it to their kids- and keep doing it. Drop the food for the dog over the fence if they shut it away. After all that is what they are doing isn't it??Make sure the candy is really cheap junk stuff, nothing good.

They'll get the message eventually.

Me??

I'd set the dogs on them, it stopped my horses getting fed over the fence by kids- now I have a lot of nice well behaved people who bring sliced up apple and carrot, I'm OK with all that. I've heard passers by telling newbies not to feed bread, and why, so it does sink in to those who care!!

 

[Sue_C.]

This could get a lot worse than the stallion simply getting a bit "rambuncious".

A good friend of mine had to have her Quarterhorse yearling put down because of severe epiphysitis, that was brought on by overfeeding. After the horse developed the disease, they found out that some neighbouring kids had been regularly coming into her barn, and taking feed out to the horses, when she and her husband were at work.

Unfortunately for this young horse; it was the high protein mare and foal feed, and with the huge amounts he was getting because of this, the severity of the desease was beyond correction. And it can develop FAST! Believe you me...there was no one who ever tried harder to save an animal than this Lady, and her Farrier. And she herself, was a Veterinarian.

There has to be some way that these people can be brought to understand that the death of a horse can be the result of overfeeding...of any kind. If that doesn't work...I would not hesitate to have them fined for trespassing.

I have had a problems too...I once came home to see a stranger struting out in the middle of my field with a camera in hand. He thought he was going to take pictures of my Quarterhorse mare and foal. Lucky guy...that mare's barn name was "Cranky", and yet she didn't even try to kill him...gave him a merry chase across the field, and over the fence though.

 

[Crossbuck Farms]

I have electric fences and it's not a problem. Our problem is people stop on our road which is a bad idea.

 

[Robin1]

An electric fence to keep your stallion back is a good idea.

I would also invite the kids over to learn the proper care of the minis. They are old enough, if they want to give them "your" treats, they can do so after cleaning the barn, grooming the horses, etc. Show them how to weigh the feed so that the horses get just the right amount and tell them why.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Robin

 

[Jean_B]

Well I'm scared of Jean now........lol......gotta love her brat thing she's got going on.

Hey! I'm all smiles and definitely not scarey....until someone messes with my horses! Fired a weekend helper because she threw the hay over the fence instead of getting her boots muddy taking it to the feed bunk. Fired a niece because she didn't show up when she said she would to work the horses. Marched some kids home with my hand FIRMLY on their wrists, lecturing them the entire way, because I caught them coming out of my barn -- in there without my permission (and I know they got one heck of LONG grounding from their parents, too). Told one group of adults that if I EVER saw them parked on the side of the road, getting out of their cars ever again, I was calling 9-1-1...and let them see me writing down their license plate number (this after they were told to leave one other time when I caught them opening a gate to go see the mares & foals!!!!!). For some reason, it was the "Twin City transplants" (people moving to the country from St. Paul) who thought they had the God-given right to see/play with my horses whenever they pleased! Never had that problem from "true country folk" or their kids.

 

[Mercysmom]

Here's another thought - what if the kids feed the horse and get BITTEN? Then you are responsible...and that is not fair since you have warned the kids and parents...but courts have awarded people for more stupid causes here in the US (The "Stella" awards are based on that).

I refuse to show at the NY State Fair after people were feeding my mini and I asked them to stop and the bratty family just picked up nasty pieces of hay/straw/whatever and tried to feed my horse - even throwing it into the stall. We told the people that she COULD bite and showed them her teeth but they were a bit to ignorant to understand.

A thought for those that JUST have to feed horses - maybe we come up with a toy mini that kids can feed "forever", from the comfort of their own homes. You could stuff a play carrot in his mouth, after the toy eats it it could shake its body, whinny, wag its tail then the carrot comes out the rump end and the minis says "OK, thanks for feeding me, now time to clean up!"

It might be a success and we can then add the barn additions and really fancy horses to our farms with our new found wealth....

Denise

Silversong Farm