Any insight into this wreck?

Question

Hi guys, anyone with some insight into this fiasco is welcome to answer. If you are just going to give me bull, or nag me about the use of barbed wire, please save your typing energy for someone else's question.

Two and a half weeks ago my husband and I went out to catch one of our geldings to head to a branding, (he is a roper). While out there we noticed a fresh wire cut on a three year old stallion that he was starting, so we caught him instead. Just as my husband led him through the gate it started to get really windy, rainy and stormy out. Hubby passed studly off to me, as the gate was too tight for me to do up.

Studly was acting rather silly, and I didn't have a chain on him. He was bouncing around (on his three good legs) and calling to his pasture-mates. I responded quickly, backing him up hard to get him out of my space and try to get his attention and verbally reprimanding him. His response was to rear and strike me in the face, breaking my jaw in two places.

Answer 1

Oh wow, I am so sorry for you. I'm glad that the surgery went well and the baby's okay...

When I was pregnant with my youngest daughter I was also really worried about handling one of my younger fillies. She was a yearling a quite a silly one at that. I would steer clear of handling the horses for a bit, at least until the pregnancy's over and you're better. It's tough but better be safe than have another accident.

I wish I had some more comforting words... I wish you luck with everything and hope all else goes well for you!

Answer 2

So sorry to hear about your injuries, and pregnant to boot...but hey, freak things happen...a young horse, a stud on top of that..wind, being separated from the rest of the herd is enough to make  any youngster to act up...It is just one of those things...we all know when a horse is involved be prepared because something is going to happen.  Hope that you are healing and that baby is none the wiser about what has happened.

Answer 3

your hourse got scared,you know my horse Yukito stepped on my foot once and  turned out it was cuz he was backing away from a "snake" he saw, i ended up in the hospital,and yada yada yada

dont worrie even th best make mistakes

Answer 4

Two bad combinations there, the wind, separating him from his buddies.

It could happen to ANYBODY not just YOU!  My 3 yr old AQHA filly ran through a nearly open gate last month.  In my case, one of the boarders thought she'd be NICE to my horse and take her out and hand graze her.  (Something I do not believe in doing because she's not on pasture and NOT used to green stuff outside of her hay and extra feed.).  Anyway, the wind kicked up, the rest of the horses in the arena fired up, the filly spooked and bolted out the partically opened gate and went through a 3 strand barbed wire fence that fenced the parameter.  Needless to say the boarder got to pay the vet bill, my gas and the extra feed the filly got during the medication period fortunately she was not injured.  BUT accidents happen, ESPECIALLY with stud colts!  I had one who struck at me a couple of times and got his tush beat for it too, both times and finally when it dawned on me as a mature stallion he still had his moments, I had the vet come out and apply brain surgery (castration).  

Glad the baby's okay and outside of a broken jaw, you are too!  I'm glad that the owner's castrating the colt as well.

Answer 5

Depending on when he cut himself he had probably been running on adrenalin for a while and was pumped.

You guys getting him out of the pasture and the wind and rain, that just topped him off.

With all due respect though, if I were pregnant or my wife were pregnant I would be very careful what you were doing...I'd never give you a young Stallion to deal with!!! But that's just my opinion!

Glad you and babe are ok though and good luck!

Answer 6

the horse must of already been in pain from the wire and wind exspecially in this time of year makes horses flighty and moody. He is also a stallion and probally didn't want to be separated from his herd and how your describing him he was probally the lead stallion and you were separating him from his mares. But what he did was not called for.

Answer 7

Sometimes things just happen around horses. The bigger the animal, the worse it hurts when they have one of those moments of psychosis.

I work with therapeutic horses on a regular basis at a farm that does therapeutic riding for handicapped children. These horses are basically "bomb-proof" with all the rigorous training we put into them. But every once in a while, they have a moment of stupidity and freak out about something goofy that they've probably seen 1000 times in the past, and never shied away from. It just happens.

There probably is not much to explain the behaviour beyond that. Sounds like you did everything right, but he was obviously flipping out about something that bothered him. Could have been the wind, could have been a stray piece of grass that blew by and he took that moment to lash out at it.

A few months ago, one of our quarterhorses (a 9 yr old gelding) jumped and bucked (student on board) when he was startled by a hula hoop (which he's had thrown from his back multiple thousands of times over the past 4 years). Thankfully our sidewalking volunteers did the right thing when it happened, and nobody got hurt. And he's never done it since then. Things really do just happen sometimes.

I wouldn't worry over what you may have done wrong, because I really doubt that anything could have been done differently and yielded a more positive result. Sure, you could have let him go and had him tear across the pasture at full speed (possibly further injuring himself), but would that have been a happy solution either? No probably not.

Anyhow - I hope it heals up fast for you. Surgery is no fun, and neither are liquid diets (broken jaw when I was 16 and mouth wired shut for 10 weeks - believe me, i feel your pain).

Glad the baby is OK, and I don't feel too bad for mr (soon to be) nutless boy. :)

Good luck, and don't let the experience put you off of horses!

Answer 8

Wind will really stir up a horse as they cannot hear with the acuity that they can when it's still. (no wind).  A three year old stud?  Yup, a handful...am not surprised at his behavior.  (Soon to be the nutless wonder).

I've got a gelding that is very reactive to changes in the weather and barometric pressure.  A sudden snow squall, thunder, or wind driven rain really gets to him.  We know this, he's really a gentle guy and will listen to you, but these things get to him and we're very aware of the weather when we go out to get him.  He'll come to us (he might be driven by jet fuel) but, we open the gate to his paddock and in he goes...we've had him for many years.   I've never felt threatened by him.

I'm very sorry that you had your jaw broken, that sucks.  And pregnant?    I'm glad that everything is "ok" for now...even tho your jaw is in two pieces...no fun having it wired shut is it?  

My only thoughts are again, the wind, which will hype up most horses, and his reduced hearing capacity because of the wind.  Since horses are prey animals he will not be able to hear with the clarity that he normally could for predators.  

The other thing is his age and has he been out a lot as a youngster to acclimate himself to weather changes??

Answer 9

Oh, in hindsight it's easy to chide you for not using a stud chain and a person with unlimited financial resources could easily chide you for barbed wire, but the simple and sometimes very painful reality is that this is an inherently dangerous avocation (or vocation, in your case) we love.  Stuff happens, and you're lucky it wasn't worse.

Truth is, little oversights may happen tens of thousands of times with no problem, but just once it all goes wrong and you get nailed.  It was an accident.  Preventable?  Ok, maybe (not definitely.)  It's possible you could have got your jaw broken if you'd had a stud chain, if you'd had estate fencing, if you'd been messing with your most trusted mare.

To steal from an old joke, it was your turn in the barrel.

Glad you're ok...try EAS shakes for the protein.  The rich dark chocolate, if you pretend hard enough, almost tastes like a chocola.  Almost...

Answer 10

This may be a thing where several factors resulted in his blow up. My friend was leading a horse out of a pasture over barbwire. The gate couldn't be opened so they found a weak spot in the fence and pushed it down to the ground and put weight on it to hold the fence. Some way she led the horse over the fence but half way through the horse freaked and the girl ended up being dragged all over the barb wire and the ground. We think that he was being led away from his buddies and the wire.

But for you, I think it could have been several things

1. the storm, you know how wind affects a horse.

2. being a stud, I'm not saying having a stud is  bad at all, but the extra raging hormones

3. wanting to be with his buddies.

4. being a young horse, he's a baby. My 3 year old will sometimes really blow up about things

I don't think there was really anything else you could have done in that situation. Meaning theres only so much that you can do without a shank. I always have to remind my parents that horses have a mind of their own and there's only so much I can do before i'm screwed.  I'm glad that your doing ok, and having fun with eating food through a straw. My uncle broke his jaw and all he ate through a straw was pizza, that had been put in the blendar and mixed it with coke. He said it was pretty tasty but he thinks everything is tasty

Answer 11

Geez -- first of all -- thank goodness you and baby are OK!

There is no way you could have predicted this, and honestly I probably would have done the same or something similar.  In hindsight, is it the right thing to do with a strange, young stallion?  Maybe not.  I always try to grab a dressage whip if I have to handle a strange horse.  Although I would only strike in an emergency, they find it much more intimidating and tend to mind their Ps & Qs a lot better.

Sending speedy healing and pain-free wishes your way!

Answer 12

That's terrible!  I'm so sorry for you! :(

It's very hard to tell, but it sounds like he may have been scared.  He was probably in a good deal of pain, and then being taken away from his friends... You did the right thing (getting him out of your space and verbally reprimanding him) but he clearly did not have full respect for you.

You say your husband is just starting him - he may need some more groundwork and need to learn to trust his handler in stressful situations....

I wouldn't be too hard on yourself - you tried to do everything right.  And I woudln't be too hard on him - he is a young colt with a lot of horomones, in a stressfull situation.  Unfortunatly, this may be just "one of those things"....

It may be good that they decided to geld him - I (and this is a personal OPINION) feel that unless a horse has the ability to be a GREAT sire, it should be gelded young.  It's like the story about the guy who owned the loudest barn....

A guy owns a barn with 20 stallions.  Everytime you walk into the barn they all start whinning and squealing and kicking the walls.  The owner was upset that the trainer allowed this and he fired him.  He hired a new trainer and said "I will be back in 2 weeks, I don't want to come back to a barn like this" and left.  2 weeks later he came back and the barn was eerily quiet, with the trainer just sitting there.  The owner said "How did you do it?" and the trainer said "You now have a barn with 18 geldings and two Superior Stallions!". :)

I wish you the best while you get better! :)

Answer 13

Ouch!  He was probably excited from a combination of the wind, at being caught and taken away from his buddies, and then he overreacted to you backing him up and getting his attention.  Him being a stud didn't help things either.  Good luck with your other silly studdos.

Answer 14

You just got lucky, pal. That colt could've killed you, not to mention your baby- and he damm near did. Whatever possessed you to try to handle that colt without a chain? That was your first mistake right there. When he started acting up, you were foolish enough to get in his way- and he reared up and struck you for it. I'm glad to hear that this colt's owners had him gelded- they should have done that ages ago, if they weren't planning to breed him. As for you, I hope you consider this to be a lesson well learned. I am not going to condemm you for riding and working while you are pregnant, because I know full well that women who are good horsepeople can do this safely, without risk to either themselves or their babies. The medical establishment likes to perpetuate the myth that riding and work around horses is dangerous during pregnancy because this is a way for them to control women's lives and keep them in their place so to speak. The reality is that a woman who knows her horse well, and who doesn't do foolish or stupid things ( like try to ride a hundred mile endurance race, for example) while she is pregnant is in no more danger on horseback than she would be if she weren't expecting. There are plenty of female competitors in the equestrian world who rode during their pregnancies- one of them, Dutch rider Anky VanGruvenson, actually won an Olympic Gold medal during her first pregnancy, in fact. She was 5 months pregnant during the competition, and her son is perfectly healthy and normal. I can think of another woman who rode while pregnant- namely, Katie Prudent. Prudent rode until she was 7 months pregnant with her son, Adam, and HE is now a senior in college !!! This just goes to show you that women who ride can and do have healthy babies, and that riding as a whole is NOT the dangerous endeavour it's been made out to be.

I am sympathetic for what you are going through- it's not going to be easy to sip enough for two through a straw- but you'll make it, I think.

Answer 15

Random act of fate.  We all know that when we get involved with 1200 lbs of instinct driven animal, its going to happen someday.   Fight or flight is a strong instinct in horses.  And even the most calm, predictable horse will become uncontrolable when the flight instinct kicks in.  

Studly got freaked by the storm,  Freaked more by leaving his pasture mates.. and wanted to flee.. He couldn't with you holding his rope.. which left.. FIGHT.. rearing and striking.   While he may not have specifically wanted to get you.  He did.

Fight or flight left me with a Tib/Fib fracture and external fixation for 6 months..   I knew the risks when I got involved with horses.. not that it made it any easier when I got hurt.

Answer 16

what might have spooked him is that he may have sensed lightning or thunder. it's kinda weird how horses are completely freaked over some little thunder and lightning. he may have been hurting and wanting to go back to his buds. be thankful that he didn't hit your belly. oh gosh, that would be terrible. i'd rather have the broken jaw.  take it easy now, just rest on the couch. you are in my prayers!

Answer 17

Even the usually calm and cool ones can have an insanity moment.  It probably doesn't have to make any sense, and you could rack your brain for the answer but sometimes there is no sure answer.  If he was calling to his mates, it could be as simple as that...he just didn't want to leave them...maybe the storm increased his "need" to be with them??? I think when you backed him he was in a panic of sorts and anything you did would have brought the same result.  But the only one who knows for sure ain't talkin!

I'm so glad this didn't result in greater tragedy...and think of the fun it will be someday when your baby is older to tell this story!!!

Answer 18

Not to sound bad or anything but thats studs for ya. I was raised with my father training studs, he as well as I love working with studs because you can not trun your back on them. I have had studs take hunks out of my side. I have also seen one of my fathers studs disqualify him from a cutting in Reno. Because the calf was beating him so he reached out and picked the calf up by the side. A 600 lbs freaking calf was picked up by its side and thrown infront of the horse. He did not like to be beat. Now this stud could be hitched between two mares in heat and teasing him and he would just stand there. But if he felt he was going to loose he would start chewing his bit. We have 3 snaffle bits that he bit through. Double twisted copper bits bit to where there was no bit in his mouth just the O rings haning from the bridle. I am thankfull that your baby is ok and that everyting came fine. I have been working with studs on my own for only 2 years, I studied with several stud horse trainers before I attempted it on my own. Again I am glad to hear that things worked out that you where not more seriosely hurt, and it is a risk we all run who work with studs.

Ps. I feel a good stud makes an excelent gelding. Exceptional studs are worth their weight in gold. But never turn your back on them.

Answer 19

I'm so glad you and the baby are OK!!  Horses can be so unpredictable, even the best trained ones.  Sounds like you did exactly what I would have done in that situation as far as handling him....so I don't have any insight.   And yup, I'm with you....I wouldn't be feeling too sorry that he's going under the knife either.

Good luck with the new baby.....odds are he/she is going to be a genuine cowboy/girl!