As usual, I agree with you. IMO, a properly socialized horse is the only kind of horse to bring to a ride. It is our responsibility to train our horses at home to "play nice" in the great sandbox of endurance!
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From: suendavid@xxxxxxx To: ridesalot3@xxxxxxx; ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: RE: [RC] Biting Horse at Ride Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2008 11:58:30 -0800
Speaking only for myself, had I been head vet at that ride and
heard about the incidence, I would have disqualified the horse then and there,
and happily defended my actions to the P&G committee if anyone cared to
take it there.
Susan Garlinghouse, DVM
From:
ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Susan Shook Sent: Monday, January 28, 2008 6:40 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.
