Owner’s plea as horse dies after being fed by walkers
A DERBYSHIRE horse owner has issued a plea to walkers asking them not to feed animals when out in the countryside.
The woman, who wished not to be named, was left heartbroken after holding one of her five horses, Sassy, in her arms as she died.
Sassy showed no previous signs of distress and was only 10 years old, meaning she should have been in the prime of her life.
Instead, her owner found her on the ground, visibly weak and in dire need of attention – and just 20 minutes later the horse had died.
Following Sassy’s death, her owner claimed she found dozens of carrots dotted around her field, as well as other unhealthy foods such as slices of pizza, which she says had been dumped by passers-by.
She believes this could have been the cause of her death.
Now the owner has asked anyone walking out in the countryside to avoid feeding any animals, as it could have disastrous consequences for livestock, wildlife and people’s pets.
Ross Cooper, a British horseman and equine behaviourist based in Derbyshire, has explained why feeding horses can have such a devastating impact.
“Equines have a very sensitive digestive system which has been unchanged by domestication, leaving them open to a variety of medical conditions,” he said.
“Two commonly associated with feeding include choking, where food substances get stuck and swell in the throat (horses can’t be sick, therefore cannot displace anything stuck) and colic, which is pain within the abdominal or gastrointestinal tract. Both can be life-threatening.
“Horses are designed to ‘trickle feed’ (graze consistently) for 18 hours a day on forage with low nutritional value. A horse’s diet has to be carefully monitored to ensure the correct requirements are met.”
There has been a reported rise in health issues for horses, as lockdown has encouraged people to exercise in local outdoor spaces. This has apparently led to more walkers throwing their unwanted food into fields where there are horses and other domesticated animals.
While walkers may think they are doing something useful by giving food to the animals, Mr Cooper warned that it would likely have the opposite effect.