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RE: [RC] BIting Horse at Ride - heidiKatrina, you make good points, and to a large extent I do agree with you. Having been told that the horse bites, the prudent thing is Not To Go There. However, the fact remains that the rider HAS A RESPONSIBILITY to monitor her horse's behavior and to take appropriate disciplinary steps. To not in any way take corrective action when a horse displays that kind of antisocial behavior in a public setting is totally unacceptable. I've ridden stallions for years, and each one has had his own individual "comfort zone" for maintaining appropriate public behavior. It is MY responsibility to know what that "comfort zone" is, and if other riders infringe on it, even after I have warned them that this is a stallion, it is MY responsibility to remove my horse and myself from the setting before an incident happens. Prudence and common sense will not prevent all incidents from occurring, but will forestall most incidents. That said, when one miscalculates and the horse responds inappropriately, there is STILL a responsibility to "remind" the horse that its behavior was not appropriate and to remove it from whatever it thought it was defending. If one does not do so, the problem will simply continue to get worse in future outings. Heidi I'm afraid I disagree somewhat with the majority on this matter. When I'm trying to visualize the picture, I see the (soon to be)biting horse on one side, another horse/rider (the OP's friends)on the other side. All are eating. Right there is a red flag -- horses are EATING. Then the OP and her horse came up and put herself in the middle. The owner said "Be careful, she bites," but the OP still put herself in the middle. Then she turns herself away (exposing her side)...basically turning her back on a strange horse who she has just been told BITES AND is eating. Gosh, guys... Bites means...BITES! Rather than mull over exactly what the mare bites and when, I would have simply taken my horse on the other side or to another location entirely. Of course, the owner of the mare should have taken HER mare away when someone ignored her warning, and I suspect she will do so in the future. But, in terms of education, people need to be educated about how to conduct themselves around strange horses (this includes children), just like they should be taught how to conduct themselves around strange dogs. Unless I know the horse well, I give wide berth to ALL strange horses -- both the front end and the back end. And I keep my horse away from them as well. As several people have pointed out, horses are inherently dangerous, and we must never, EVER forget that. You can get hurt by even "well-socialized" equines. The OP says "we weren't crowded," but what people consider "crowded" and what horses consider crowded can differ. What is acceptable "horse space" is generally bigger than people space. A smart horseman knows this. The owner told the OP the horse bites -- why in heaven's name did the OP continue to put herself in such close quarters (close quarters defined as "the horse can reach me from here")? AND there was food involved (horse food)-- always a potenial for conflict. Horses are large, powerful creatures. They are not toy poodles. You should ALWAYS be on guard when around them. And you can get hurt. Don't trust the horse to take care of you -- the HUMAN is suppose to be the smarter of the two. And when the owner tells you to beware, BEWARE! Something similar happened to me afew years ago. I had to board a broodmare and her foal at a local stable while I went away for 3 weeks because the foal needed regular attention. I told the owner, a man who fancied himself as quite a horse whisperer, that the mare was rather aloof and to just leave her be -- someone constantly trying to "mess" with her and be her friend just seemed to annoy her. I'd had this mare for several years and we had done fine together. When I came back I noticed a large scrape on the man's face, right on his cheekbone. You guessed it -- he insisted on petting and fussing with the mare while she was eating her grain and she turned and whacked him one with her teeth. I had zero sympathy for him. (for the record, she had never done that with me -- the worst she'd ever done was pin her ears). Why not just consider this a lesson learned (by the OP)? No permanent damage was done, and if this is the only time she suffers a horse-related ouchy she should consider herself pretty lucky, or if there is an informal way to let the owner know that she simply needs to keep her mare away from everyone, especially those that do not heed her warnings, then that might be an option. I think the safety of other riders at rides can best be served by paying attention when the owner of a horse warns you away... Katrina =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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