This message is from: "Laurie Pittman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
I have a real horror story about tying horses. I friend of mine had
a niece who would get tired of holding her horse, so she would tie it to
her self. She thought he would never do anything to hurt her. Well, I
probably don't have to tell you what happened, but he did spook one day,
and dragged the girl to her death. I was horrified when I heard this.
Then I found that I was angry. It was just so senseless. The parents
knew that she did this and told her not to, but never did anything (or
at least not enough) to stop her. What a waste.
Another story was about a green broke, scared of everything, 3 year
old gelding. The owners were new to horses as well. Bad combination.
They put him in the cross ties after a ride one day but after taking off
the bridle, they just left the halter around his neck. Just as they
loosened the girth, something spooked the horse. In the process of
throwing a major tantrum, the saddle slipped under his belly and then he
ended up falling down, the halter still around his neck. When he managed
to get back up, he slipped out of the halter and got out of the barn. He
then proceeded to make a few laps around the yard, going through
everything in his path, falling twice. They think he broke his leg on
the first fall. On the second fall he broke it off. Yes, you read that
right. Every time I think of this, I wonder, what if.......what if the
halter had been put on right.......what if the barn had been
closed......what if there hadn't been so much junk around the
barn........what if......
It really worries me when I see or hear about people being less
than careful with their horses just because they're fjords. Even fjords
can do stupid things sometimes. (No, these two weren't fjords).
Jean, about gates, I bought a heavy duty livestock gate (pipe, not
panel) made by HiQual. The reason I got it is because the gate hangers
are part of the gate. The is no way that the gate can be removed from
the hinges. The bolts do have to go all the way through the gate post (I
used a railroad tie), they can not be screwed into the post. Tor hasn't
put a dent in it.
Laurie
