wow, thats quite bad if you asked him not to a bit extreme too!

Where I was walking it would take me miles more to get to their house and I wouldnt go through the field, even though I'm at the other side when walking Loui, maybe when I have a car I will drive past and if I see someone out, I'll tell them how lovely their horses characters are and ask if they mind me giving them treats and if they don't, what they would like me to give.

Still, I'll go and see them this week sometime as I will be taking Loui along anyway. Loui likes him too, he was hanging about the gate sniffing around before I realised he was standing there. Loui always likes to hang about with children, puppies and now it seems young horses too So it seems anything young and he wants to hang around with them, he doesnt actually interact with them he just likes to chill out amongst them, he does make me laugh sometimes Equally they never seem to bother about him either and neither did those horses mind him. 'funny' eh?!

an absolute hate of mine people feeding my horses as you dont know if there is something it cannot have in diet etc, stalk the owner and ask them you never know they may let you go down with them and let you hang about a bit to get use to them

I have to agree with everyone else, that it isn't a good idea to feed horses that aren't your own (for a variety of reasons).

Nothing wrong with a fuss though My mare was very cuddly and would stand and be stroked for ages.

NO never feed someone else's animals. Someone fed my horse whole apples & as a result he would dig his TEETH into any treat as if it was an apple, which was a worry as lots of children past his field, & I had to re-train him to take treats from the hand.

Just adding another no to the ones you have, I have had to yell at people to not feed my horse after catching them handing over all sorts of rubbish (crisps, and a huge bag of moldy bread!), and unsafe treats (apples and carrots not cut up)

But saying that I was approached by a nice older lady years ago that liked to stop and say hello to my boy she asked very nicely if she could bring him treats, since he was one that could be hand fed without mugging or biting, I said yes but only cut up apples and sliced up carrots showing her how they needed to be cut and explaining why (uncut they can block the throat and cause choke) also I told her my horse was the only one she would be allowed to treat as the others were not suitable for hand feeding. So if you ask the owner there is a chance that they might say it is ok and tell you what you can bring.

You know its odd, and not something I have done in years
But as kids we always, if horses seemed friendly gave them some grass, never had anything else to give them, and of course they could get their own grass easy enough but it was just sometyhing we always did
Never even thought about it

Can you find the owner? I`m sure many owners would love to have someone who would be willing to keep an eye on their horses occasionally.

Maybe if you spoke to the owner she'd be willing to let you, but it turns so many bad mannered! Especially the youngster, it's really tricky to change a horse once it's picked up bad manners.

I think the youngster might turn into a hug mugger if ppl let him lol I stop petting him when he leans in a bit much, case he knocks anyone over for a rub lol

Nope, definitely a no-no. If you know what you're doing, bored and/or lonely horses and ponies really appreciate some attention - some, but not all, love their polls scratched, although you need to do this very gently as sadly many horses are head-shy. They love their manes "nibbled" using your fingers, imagine your fingers are teeth and "nibble" up and down their manes. Some love their foreheads scratched, and some love their nostrils gently blown up - but be very careful doing this, as horses can and do bite. If they seem to want to come and say hello, but are very nervous, turn your back on them and keep still - within minutes their curiosity will encourage them to come and say hello and you will suddenly feel hot breath on the back of your neck! Don't look them in the eye and keep movements steady and low - never approach from behind, horses cannot see directly behind them.

But never feed - it makes them nappy and nippy, and it hurts like hell to be bitten by a horse!