Re: Trail Riding Safety

["Laura Hayes" <mark@madbbs.com>]

Marv, I had an incident a few days ago where I was riding through a field
with golden rod about five feet tall.  All of a sudden my horse stopped and
shook a hind leg.  It was caught in a rusty woven wire fence.  When he shook
his leg the fence made the golden rod shake for ten feet in either
direction - and this horse has been known to come unglued from a rabbit
bolting away from him through the weeds.

My heart stopped for a second and I got him to stop stock still while I
dismounted.  I knew that if he were to try and move, he would get scared,
and possibly spin around and  really get caught.  I worked the wire off the
leg he was still holding up in the air, and then went around the front, to
keep him from moving forward, creeped to the back, and removed the wire
around his other hind leg.

I walked him away from there just sick to my stomach.  I can only imagine
the damage that could have been caused.  A year ago, he probably would not
have trusted me enough to stand with his hind leg up, the wire shaking the
weeds, and then letting me unwind both hind feet.

I am sticking to the well worn paths from now on!

Laura Hayes  AERC #2741  NE
----- Original Message -----
From: "Marv Walker" <Marv@MarvWalker.com>
To: <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Sent: Sunday, August 19, 2001 3:24 PM
Subject: RC: Trail Riding Safety


> I have been contacted by Fox Network Television about doing a segment for
> one of their programs.  The premise is going to be "Surviving On The
Trail."
>
> Of course, the producers know little about horses other than they "rode a
> little
> when they were a kid," but in researching segment possibilities they were
> stunned by the horse injury / death figures.
>
> And television being what it is, it could go anywhere from dropped where
it
> sits
> to becoming Fox's Horse Authority Talking Head (stop laughing, it's TV,
for
> Pete's
> sake).
>
> What I'm looking for are safety dos & don'ts, ideas, examples and stories
of
> things that have gone bad on *your* trail (any ride outside of an enclosed
> area)
> rides and the rides of those you are personally aware of who have had bad
> experiences trail riding.
>
> Marv "Well, yes, galloping down that slope while wearing my one man band
> outfit
> and doing 'Stars & Stripes Forever' would be a spectacular example of a
> trail ride
> gone bad.  Make up!!!" Walker
>
>
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