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20<br />
Rein It In<br />
A Billinge horse owner is asking<br />
members of the public not<br />
to feed horses whilst out and<br />
about.<br />
With country walks on the<br />
increase during the pandemic,<br />
horse owners across the UK<br />
have reported incidents where<br />
horses and ponies have suffered<br />
and died due to well-meaning<br />
passers-by feeding them<br />
without permission.<br />
Jenny Walsh, along with fellow<br />
horse owners on the same<br />
Billinge yard, is the latest horse<br />
owner to take action to stop<br />
these incidents happening.<br />
Jenny said, “We have put new<br />
signs on the field fences and<br />
gates and have posted messages about this issue on<br />
local community blogs, but some people continue to<br />
disregard all this.”<br />
“Horses have delicate digestive systems and are unable<br />
to be sick, so ingesting something that their body cannot<br />
deal with can often lead to a very painful and distressing<br />
death”.<br />
“Just as you wouldn’t give a child some sweets without<br />
permission or feed a dog a treat<br />
without asking its owner, don’t<br />
feed a horse or pony”.<br />
“Look at the horses and take<br />
pictures, but please don’t touch<br />
or feed them. I know people<br />
mean well but, whilst they can<br />
just walk away after feeding<br />
horses, owners can be left<br />
with vet’s bills for thousands of<br />
pounds because of their actions”.<br />
Fellow horse owner Tracey<br />
Holland, pictured with 11-yearold<br />
Troy, also warned against<br />
petting horses. “If you pet horses<br />
at the gate, they think that<br />
they are being fed, so they can<br />
bite your fingers”, said Tracey,<br />
admitting that her own horse<br />
Troy had even bitten her a few times.<br />
The campaign to stop the public from feeding horses<br />
gathers momentum, with extensive coverage in national<br />
magazine, Horse and Hound, and the campaign has<br />
also reached social media. ‘Stop Feeding our Horses’ is a<br />
Facebook group consisting of almost 10,000 members<br />
and was created by former horse-owner Hannah<br />
Johnstone whose Welsh gelding Lightning died after he<br />
was fed a raw potato.<br />
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