Recently I went for a walk in the woods that occupy my backyard, and when i got to the edge of my property I came across a pen that our neighbors were keeping a horse in.I am not sure if the ground is so sludge like because it just rained or if it the pen just hasnt been cleaned for that long.(keep in mind my neighbors are not clean people,leaving trash everywhere is not below them)The horse has only hay and i dont know anything about the dietary needs of a horse but i am fairly sure that that is not all that a horse should have to eat.It did have water, though it wasnt very fresh,leaves were in it. I removed them.
Im very concerned for this horse.Are there signs that i should be looking for to see if it is not properly being cared for?Like I said i know very little about horses but I dont believe that this is a correct environment for a horse.Please let me know what you kids think.

(i will be going down and taking pics later)

How large is the pen? Is there any grass in the pen. I would go back on a dry day to see if it was mud or feces in the pen. Recheck the water. Can you see ribs on this horse? Can you see hip bones? Is his neck full and muscular. What is the condition of his coat. Does he look well groomed? It may be OK for just hay to be in the pen. We fed our horses grain twice a day and that was when they were is the barn. Does he have shelter? Is there debris in the pen (garbage) These are some things to look for. I hope this helps.
Tumeria

the pen is not very large,as i said in above posts that i am going to go over and take some pictures of her.she is not incredibly thin she looks to be an okay weight,no ribs and no hips showing, however, she does not seem very clean. I am going to check on her pen conditions today after i clean up my dogs.she has a thing sort of like a car port on the back side of her pen.there is in fact garbage everywhere,the main part of it being beer bottles and cans.thank you for letting me know what to look for

Hi Tashapoison,
If you use a digital camera and can send me the photos I would be happy to take a look. Tumeria33@yahoo.com
I would be very concerned with bottles in the pen as she could cut herself. Keep me posted.

i was not able to go down and take pics today or yesterday because they were down their drinking and they are rather unpleasant.as soon as i get pics of it i wi8ll send them to you.thank you so much for your help

Dear Tashapoison,

Also is the water clean? Is the horse walking around with his/her head lowered? And if you can,can you look at the gums, just to see if the water is good or if the horse is drinking it, or haveing enough to eat, if they are a close color or even white, contact the vet, and eyes, if the are red, you may want to contact a vet or even the owners,too and SOON. And hay, no,no,NO a horse needs nutrients. Yes hay is good but still, just hay WILL starve a horse!!! Please keep us in contact, I am sorry.

Care in Colorado,
JulFire
(Or DayFire)

Okay good news.The horses pen has been cleaned and expanded, fresh hay has been put out and she has been cleaned and the bear bottles have been removed from the area.It's a pretty big relief.Thanks for all your help.