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RE: [RC] Biting Horse at Ride - Kristen A Fisher

What an awful story. I hope you and your friend recover quickly and with no residual effects.

 

Let me put a different spin on this. What if you took the story below and replaced the word “horse” with the word “dog” [whether or not it was at a ride]. In that case, the victim would be well within their rights to contact the authorities about a dangerous animal and possibly sue the owner for damages.

 

At the minimum, I agree with Beth’s suggestions about what steps to take. Alerting RM may be enough to keep the problem away from rides. I know local RM has warned one rider that if their stallion couldn’t be brought under control they were no longer welcome at rides. I see this as no different. How does she keep the mare from attacking the vets and P&R people?

 

Kristen in TX

 


From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Susan Shook
Sent: Monday, January 28, 2008 8:40 AM
To: Ridecamp
Subject: [RC] Biting Horse at Ride

 

I had a horse bite me at a ride the weekend during a vet check and I would like to get the opinion of others on ridecamp regarding the incident.

 

During the vet check I took my horse to eat with 3 others, one was the horse that he came to the ride with.  As I approached, one rider told me to be careful because her horse (mare) bites.  Normally I take this type of warning to mean that the horse would bite other horses, not people so I put myself in between my gelding and her mare.  We were not crowded.  Next thing I knew her mare lunged and viciously bit me in my side.  I jumped into my horse to get away from the attack which caused my horse to jump into my friend, which resulted in a back injury for her.  The bite resulted in extensive bruising and swelling and my friend ended up driving home early from the ride due to her back pain.  The rider showed absolutely no concern for either of us (never asked if either of us was o.k.), did absolutely nothing to reprimand her horse and finally moved her horse away from the group.

 

Since I know the owner of the biting horse I asked her to look at my side so that she would be aware of how hard her horse was biting.  I told her I was not trying to be ugly about the situation but that I was concerned that the horse has the potential to cause serious injury in the future, especially to children.  Her response was to say "I told you she bites" and that she did not "want to argue" and refused to discuss the matter.  She got mad at me that I even wanted to talk about it.

 

Now 2 days after the ride I am still really shocked that someone would take a horse that bites to a ride and not keep it separated to prevent accidents.  Looking back on it I would still respond the same way to her warning.  What I can't quit thinking about is the potential for this to happen again.

 

Any opinions on what type of action could/should be taken to ensure the safety of riders at future rides?  I don't want to act in a punitive way but the whole thing still bothers me, especially the fact that the owner does not appear to understand the seriousness of the situation and apparently believes that is everyone else's responsibility to avoid her horse. 

 

Susan


Replies
[RC] Biting Horse at Ride, Susan Shook