Can someone have two horses in their unfenced backyard?
Horses are tethered  to a stake in the ground.
There are no stables.
I've tried reading the agriculture code but I can't get my head round it.

Texas is a big place..............

Bad idea even if legal.

I get the willies when I see a mare or gelding tied to a stake along side the road. I just know someone will come speeding along and slip off the road.



Animals aren't meant to be tethered all the time. It's not right if you ask me. Do they look healthy and have plenty of fresh water, hay and feed? Any shelter?

On the plus side:
Looks healthy.
Appear to have feed.
Very long tether.

On the negative side
Zero shelter
Yard full of junk which could injure the animal

Are they within 100 feet of someone elses house?

No law against it, as long as the animal has access to food and water.  You can stretch the definition of "shelter" a goodly bit.

That said, I'd never do that to a horse for more than a few minutes.

Sadly, we may see more of this. The horse business is easy to get into... but hard to get out of when the economy sucks.

Can also depend on where it's at.  Some areas/neighborhoods have restrictions on the number of animals per acre.  Friend of mine lives out "in the country" near La Vernia and the neighborhood that was deleloped there has a maximum of one large animal (horse or cow) per acre.

Technically they are in a residential sub-division, so yes, two other houses within 100 feet.

It's a horrible idea. They can get tangled up, then they will freak out, then they will injure themselves quite badly. You can build a horse fence quite cheaply, and if you can't put up a fence, you can't afford the horse(s).  Also, keeping them in a small residential backyard is not enough room for them.

We lived on a couple acres, but had neigbhors within a 100 feet of where we kept our horse. The city made us move them saying the where to close. Just a thought.

Check with the local SPCA. Shelter is a must. Unless they bring them into something when it rains they can get a problem called rain rot on their coats.They will need shade as it gets hotter. Not a good idea. Can't leave a dog outside without some kind of shelter.

Unless a horse knows how to be tethered, and even then it's a bad idea. Even a tether savvy horse can and will get tangled eventually and end up on the ground. They'll thrash and kick and the rope will saw into their fetlocks.

Clear out the junk, build a pen and give them some shelter, especially during the summer.

Let me guess, you sleep with your cat?

Sorry if I was unclear on this point.
I don't own the horse. The people next to me do.
Having read some of the above posts, I now have multiple concerns for the horse.
It has no shelter, unless you consider trees to be shelter.
It rained here REALLY hard two days ago. So hard that I thought it was hail.
Horse can't do anything but walk around - aren't horses meant to run about?
If the peg comes out of the ground it could wander 200 feet to a busy highway because there is no fence around the property.
These people do not believe laws apply to them, so contacting the SPCA will be futile because even if SPCA did pay a visit, these people would tell them to fvck off.
Unless there is a specific enforceable law they are breaking, then this horse is screwed.
-J

Horses have been out in the rain, heat, snow, you name it, for millions of years.  It hasn't killed them off yet.  They're a lot tougher than you think.  

Did you know, there are horses that live out in Nevada, in the foothills of the Sierras, that have no one to feed them?  That's right, they exist by eating weeds and grass.  They are actually wild.  

Why don't you mind your own business.  Spend more time improving yourself, and less of it worrying about what the neighbors horse is doing.

Contacting the SPCA is far from futile. While that initial visit may not bring down the immediate wrath of the animal cops it will put the owners on their radar.  The SPCA mission is to prevent cruelty to animals and will investigate. If it isn't cruelty, they'll do nothing.

1. This is Texas, not Nevada.
2. Those are wild horses, not tethered to a stake.
3. Horses get seized all the time by SPCA/LEO that are malnourished, starved, sick or mistreated.
4. Being next door makes it his business. Funny, child abusers think the neighbors should butt out too.
5. Telling the OP to "spend more time improving yourself" is condescending and makes you look like a jerk.

When I was kid I used to sleep the horse I was breaking, seriously.

+1. I'm surrounded by horse's and the only time I see them out of the rain ,even a storm, is during feeding time.

You don't know what the fuck you're talking about. Improving yourself? You need to move a rung up on the food chain.
You sound like the kind of trash that would live next door to a neglected, starving horse and not notice much less care when it finally collapsed, as long as you can find a good deal in a buddy's junk yard on a used 94' Impala transmission and have beer, cigarette money.

Feral, not wild horses and burros have been free ranging on the open plains since the Spanish. But they have access to water and miles of graze and still they are sub healthy by a modern horses. Horses do not like being rained on and if they get caught in it with no shelter they will break loose if they can and go back to their barn. Being penned, staked out in the cold and snow with no shelter, shit. If you had a garage I bet you'd put your Chevy Nova in it when it sleets, snows.

Thoroughbreds will go to sleep standing in the summer sun if there's any breeze rather than go in a hot, dark stall but we're getting into something you wouldn't know or care about...

livestock does not require shelter under state law, nor is tethering illegal


the only thing you may be able to get them on are code violations per what ever city you reside in

§ 42.09. Cruelty to Livestock Animals

(a) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally or knowingly:

(1) tortures a livestock animal;

(2) fails unreasonably to provide necessary food, water, or care for a livestock animal in the person's custody;

(3) abandons unreasonably a livestock animal in the person's custody;

(4) transports or confines a livestock animal in a cruel and unusual manner;

(5) administers poison to a livestock animal, other than cattle, horses, sheep, swine, or goats, belonging to another without legal authority or the owner's effective consent;

(6) causes one livestock animal to fight with another livestock animal or with an animal as defined by Section 42.092;

(7) uses a live livestock animal as a lure in dog race training or in dog coursing on a racetrack;

(8) trips a horse; or

(9) seriously overworks a livestock animal.

(b) In this section:

(1) “Abandon” includes abandoning a livestock animal in the person's custody without making reasonable arrangements for assumption of custody by another person.

(2) “Cruel manner” includes a manner that causes or permits unjustified or unwarranted pain or suffering.

(3) “Custody” includes responsibility for the health, safety, and welfare of a livestock animal subject to the person's care and control, regardless of ownership of the livestock animal.

(4) “Depredation” has the meaning assigned by Section 71.001, Parks and Wildlife Code.

(5) “Livestock animal” means:

(A) cattle, sheep, swine, goats, ratites, or poultry commonly raised for human consumption;

(B) a horse, pony, mule, donkey, or hinny;

(C) native or nonnative hoofstock raised under agriculture practices; or

(D) native or nonnative fowl commonly raised under agricultural practices.

(6) “Necessary food, water, or care” includes food, water, or care provided to the extent required to maintain the livestock animal in a state of good health.

(7) “Torture” includes any act that causes unjustifiable pain or suffering.

(8) “Trip” means to use an object to cause a horse to fall or lose its balance.

(c) An offense under Subsection (a)(2), (3), (4), or (9) is a Class A misdemeanor, except that the offense is a state jail felony if the person has previously been convicted two times under this section, two times under Section 42.092, or one time under this section and one time under Section 42.092. An offense under Subsection (a)(1), (5), (6), (7), or (8) is a state jail felony, except that the offense is a felony of the third degree if the person has previously been convicted two times under this section, two times under Section 42.092, or one time under this section and one time under Section 42.092.

(d) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a)(8) that the actor tripped the horse for the purpose of identifying the ownership of the horse or giving veterinary care to the horse.

(e) It is a defense to prosecution for an offense under this section that the actor was engaged in bona fide experimentation for scientific research.

(f) It is an exception to the application of this section that the conduct engaged in by the actor is a generally accepted and otherwise lawful:

(1) form of conduct occurring solely for the purpose of or in support of:

(A) fishing, hunting, or trapping; or

(B) wildlife management, wildlife or depredation control, or shooting preserve practices as regulated by state and federal law; or

(2) animal husbandry or agriculture practice involving livestock animals.

(g) This section does not create a civil cause of action for damages or enforcement of this section.

CREDIT(S)

Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., p. 883, ch. 399, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1974. Amended by Acts 1975, 64th Leg., p. 917, ch. 342, § 12, eff. Sept. 1, 1975; Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 549, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1985; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 78, § 1, eff. Aug. 26, 1991. Renumbered from V.T.C.A., Penal Code § 42.11 and amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 900, § 1.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1994. Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 318, § 15, eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1283, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 54, § 3, eff. Sept. 1, 2001; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 450, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2001; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1275, § 2(116), eff. Sept. 1, 2003; Acts 2007, 80th Leg., ch. 886, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2007

op already stated that the horse appears to be healthy and has a food supply
from what i am reading, there is no violation here
just because you would keep your horse one way does not mean you set a state wide standard on how others should keep theirs

look i have no doubt as to the trashiness of your neighbors, and i would not treat my horses this way or recommend they be treated in such a way. from what i am understanding from your posts, there are no laws being broken. that does not mean you shouldn't keep a watchful eye on the property as i have seen these types of situations deteriorate rapidly. you may not like what you see,at the same time what you see may not be illegal.

I would never do that to my horses and I know most here wouldn't either. However, I've seen it done quite a bit overseas.

But not tethered. You forgot the bit on restricted mobility.