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Posted on 02/24/2006 9:12:25 AM PST by HairOfTheDog
This is a horse chat thread where we share ideas, ask for input from other horsemen, and talk about our riding and horse-keeping. We have a lot of different kinds of riders and horses, and a lot to share. In the previous threads we have had a great time talking through lessons, training, horse lamenesses, illnesses and pregnancies... and always sharing pictures and stories.
I always have a link to this thread on my profile page, so if you have something to say and can't find the thread in latest posts… look for it there and wake the thread up!
I also have a ping list for horse threads that are of interest, and MissTargets will now be pinging everyone most mornings. Let MissTargets and/or me know if you would like to be on the ping list. As FreeRepublic is a political site, our politics and other issues will probably blend in…. There are many issues for horsemen that touch politics… land use, animal rights/abuse cases that make the news…. Legislation that might affect horse owners.
So... like the previous threads, this is intended as fun place to come and share stories, pictures, questions and chit-chat, unguided and unmoderated and that we come together here as friends. There are lots of ways of doing things and we all have our quirks, tricks and specialties that are neat to learn about.
Previous threads:
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - thread ONE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread TWO!
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread THREE!
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread FOUR
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread FIVE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread SIX
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread SEVEN
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread EIGHT
New folk and occasional posters, jump right in and introduce yourselves, tell us about your horses, and post pictures if you've got them!
I still can't believe you mow your pasture with a PUSHMOWER! Jeez, talk about hardcore! I'm impressed.
If I had a tractor, I'd be even fatter :~)
It's looking very well:) Great job.
Becky
I guess there's something to be said for using a lawn mower as exercise equipment. I kinda do something similar (but not nearly as impressive) by sweeping the whole driveway instead of blowing it. It seems to help keep the turkey wattles under my arms at bay. I don't want to be afraid of taking flight every time I clap my hands. ;o)
It's my only form of exercise. I refuse to walk just for the sake of walking, I've tried, and I never stay with it. But I'll follow the lawnmower anywhere, and walk a lot further than I would without it.
I would report the idiot husband to the owner of the stable. I would ask why on earth someone would do such a thing, but people can be pretty thick.
Sad story out of San Antonio:
Boy, 5, dies after horse kicks him
SAN ANTONIO -- A 5-year-old boy died Monday after the family's horse kicked him in the chest. The boy died before he could be taken to a hospital, Atascosa County Sheriff's Deputy David Soward said. He said no decision had been made regarding what to do with the horse, which the family said had a history of kicking.
Even though I fault the owners for keeping a known kicker, if that were my horse, he'd be at the killers so fast it would make his head spin.
I've run into so many bad mannered people lately that I wish I could just stay home. I think alot of it has to do with the heat. Everyone gets meaner when it's hot and dry and stays hot and dry.
Excellent letter.
I won't fault them based on that alone, they'll have enough guilt, and it could be they'd warned the kid a hundred times to not go in with him, and they weren't around to warn him this time. It might just be a tragedy. Every young horse is a kicker till they are taught not to. It would mean a lot to know if this is a juvenile horse or an old surly one. Maybe it's somewhere in-between.
Most horses I've been around are super careful around kids, but even the good ones can't be depended on. A five year old isn't safe within stepping or kicking range of any horse.
Five years old isn't old enough to understand the dangers of a horse. (Believe me, I have lots of experience in this area). You can warn them until you are blue in the face, they won't understand.
You don't keep a known kicker when you have small children for the same reason you don't have an unfenced swimming pool. Warning them will never be enough.
So is anyone who raises and trains young horses negligent if they have kids? I feel more compassion than blame for them is all. It's a tragic accident. I don't know what 'known kicker' means. Could be the horse had some serious issues, could be he was just young and not yet trained, and has a young horse, had kicked before. They all do, at least once.
I think of my friend Tiff's boy. He has always been fearless, has always taken great risks, and she did the best she could to watch him well enough and yet let him go and do and play.
If he had died young, we might say she should have kept him under better watch. If he lives to adulthood, he'll be the next fighter pilot jet jock. Blessed are the risk takers, and the children. We do the best we can, but sometimes accidents happen. I'm pretty slow to blame parents who have an accident with one of their kids and horses. All of you who are parents took some risk in having them.
"All of you who are parents took some risk in having them."
And, I might add, your children will likely thank you for it, if they grow up to continue to love horses :~D
Man, that's really sad! Things like that can happen so fast, even when you're careful. Kids just don't realize how dangerous horses can be, and they tend to be running around making loud noises and jerkey movements(at least all the kids I've ever been around), which make horses nervous, so I just don't trust any of them around each other. If it's got hooves, it'll kick, and if it's got teeth, it'll bite.
Plus ... if I had a known kicker, I wouldn't let any child (or adult for that matter), close enough to get kicked.
By the parents own admission, their horse was a known kicker. My point is, when you do dangerous sports, minimize the risk as much as possible. Keeping a horse that is known to kick is too much of a risk, imo.
When I was a kid, I kept my horse on a big pasture during the hot summer months. There were probably 50 to 75 horses pastured there and one was a kicker. I rode with a pack of kids and we all avoided that horse like the plague. You got within 15 feet of the back of that horse, he'd come flying backwards to kick you. That's the kind of horse I'm thinking of when the article states, "known kicker."
It might be that kind of horse, and it also might not have been a stallion that might do anything, or just a young unbroke horse. As a horse owner, I would rather err on the side of not blaming horse owners, or parents when bad things happen by accident... too many liability lawyers will take advantage of the natural tendancy to find fault. A kid gets in with yours even though you told him no, and they've got your house.
I can't see a parent leaving a 5 y/o alone with a horse. The parents will probably be their own worst judge and jury. Sadly, occasionally , country kids get hurt or killed by horses, cows, tractors etc. City kids get run over, hit by cars ....All we can do is watch them the best we can and pray.
I would have already put the horse down though. He may have been crazy or just been acting like a horse but I would want to make sure he didn't ever hurt another child.
Very sad.
There just really isn't enough info to know who/if anyone was at fault. Sometimes in life shit happens, no matter how attentive we are.
Becky
Agreed...
Well, got the rest of that section of pasture mowed.
We have these little dark blue on top/orange underneath birds that swoop all around me when I mow. I tried to take pictures of them but they're too fast. At first I worried that I was about to mow over their nest or something and I looked in all the tall grass to make sure I wasn't. I figured out they are maybe swooping around the mower in hopes I am scaring up flying bugs, I think. When I stop mowing, they buzz all over the pasture, just a foot above the ground.
Some kind of sparrow type bird, I don't know... gonna google around and see if I can find it.
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