07/31/2026
Please don’t feed other people’s horses! Our horse Heffalump died from being overfed treats provided by visitors. Still heat broken and crying almost every day.
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“Please Don’t Feed Us”
A Horse’s Story of Life, Loss, and the Humans Who Care
We don’t ask for much.
Just green grass beneath our hooves. Open space to roam. Fresh air. Clean water. The comfort of our herd.
For generations, we have lived this way, thriving on the land that has always provided everything we need. We are built to graze, wander, and survive in nature.
But in recent years, something has changed.
More people visit our forests, commons, and moorlands. Many arrive with the best intentions—and with pockets full of treats.
They want to be kind.
They want to help.
But sometimes, that kindness costs us our lives.
We Don't Know What's Safe
When you stretch out your hand, we'll often come to you.
Not because we're hungry.
Because we're curious.
Because we've learned to trust people.
Because we don't know the food you're offering could harm us.
We don't understand that a carrot can become lodged in our throat.
We don't know that bread, biscuits, sweets, fruit, grass cuttings, or vegetable peelings can upset our delicate digestive system or cause life-threatening colic.
To us, it simply smells like food.
And horses do what horses have always done.
We eat.
Sometimes, that natural instinct is all it takes for tragedy to happen.
A Life Lost to a Simple Treat
One mare never made it home.
Someone had left chopped carrots for her.
As she ate, pieces became lodged in her throat.
She struggled to swallow.
She struggled to breathe.
Despite every effort to save her, the damage was too severe.
She died because of a gift that was meant to be kind.
Her herd lost a companion.
Her carers lost a beloved horse.
And all because someone thought they were helping.
Harmony's Story
Harmony was a Cleveland Bay mare—one of Britain's rarest native horse breeds.
She was carrying a foal, representing another precious generation of an endangered bloodline.
Someone believed she looked hungry and threw food into her field.
The food was unsuitable for horses.
Harmony died.
So did her unborn foal.
The loss reached far beyond one field. It was a heartbreaking blow to the future of a rare breed and a reminder that even well-meant actions can have devastating consequences.
Feeding Us Changes More Than Our Diet
Even when the food doesn't make us sick, it changes how we behave.
We begin waiting beside roads instead of grazing naturally.
We approach cars and people expecting treats, putting ourselves at risk of traffic accidents.
We lose our natural caution around strangers.
Some people are gentle.
Others are not.
Regular feeding also disrupts our normal grazing behaviour, encouraging us to rely on handouts instead of the forage our bodies are designed to digest.
Nature Already Provides Everything We Need
Healthy horses living freely do not need snacks from visitors.
The grasses, herbs, shrubs, and plants growing around us provide the nutrition we've evolved to eat.
What we need most isn't extra food.
It's space.
Peace.
And the chance to live naturally.
If You Truly Love Horses…
Please admire us from a respectful distance.
Take photographs.
Watch us graze.
Share the moment with your children.
But please don't feed us.
Not carrots.
Not apples.
Not bread.
Not biscuits.
Not fruit.
Not vegetable peelings.
Not grass cuttings.
Not anything at all.
The greatest kindness you can show is allowing us to remain healthy, wild, and safe.
Help us raise our foals.
Help us grow old with our herd.
Help protect the horses you came to see.
Please don't feed us.
Sometimes, the kindest thing you can do... is simply let us be horses.
