it is possible for a horse to be quite > good in the familiar and controlled setting of an arena and quite dangerous > in the big out-of-doors.
I have been around quite a few 3-day eventing horses which was Teddy's area. Usually they are very forward and incredibly bold - going over jumps that most horses wouldn't get near and gallop full out through field and dale. Usually their weakest part of the 3-day horse is their dressage because to be able to do the long distance of the cross country and to be athletic enough to do the stadium jumping, it's hard when they are that fit to relax them for dressage - that's why it is a very challenging discipline and most 3-day riders like dressage least of all - the cross country and stadium is much more exciting. These are horses are probably exposed to more stuff than at least 90% of horses. That being said, my off the track TB gelding that I took everywhere - through rivers that were more than belly deep, to all kinds of venues, on challenging trail rides, over jumps that were insane - spooked the one and only time with me at a huge log lying on the ground. Somehow I stayed on him (totally not expecting the spook) but if I hadn't I know he would have bolted blindly to who knows where - of all the crazy things he was exposed to, why that log bothered him, I will never know. But we have to remember that horses have different eyesight than we do, they can sense things we are oblivious of and they can sense monsters where we would never guess. I firmly believe that Teddy, even with his extensive training and experience, was just being a horse and that this could happen to any horse - it's just a sad tragedy. Laree in NC Doppa & Mura Simon, Sadie and Sam (the "S" gang) "Yet when all the books have been read and reread, it boils down to the horse, his human companion, and what goes on between them." - William Farley "I ride ponies because heart is not measured in hands." - Steve Edwards
