Is the hitching area the primary grooming/tacking up area? If so (and really if not) I think the mare and mare’s owner had the “right of way” they were there first and gelding was lead to the area. Gelding’s owner IMO would assume risk by walking behind the unattended horse. Gelding owner should just thank her stars that nothing happened…after all the human could’ve gotten kicked and hurt just as easily.
my horse who was being shown by my trainer was rear-end by running away/uncontrolled horse is a class… my mare’s response was to kick out so she was ejected from the class
Trainer was pissed, I told him I would rather my mare defend herself so don’t worry… I am the one paying the bills
But from that day forward the mare never was at complete ease with a horse approaching her from directly behind her.
I can’t speak to the financial issue legally, but I’ve paid plenty of vet bills on my girls that were caused by other people’s horses. My horses are injured, I pay the bills. End of story. I’m sure my girls have inflicted a bite or two to other horses that may have resulted in vet bills to their owners.
(I’m not talking about negligence on the part of the barn causing injury, just those boo-boos that come from horses being horses.)
You stated that The mare was tied in a hitching post tie area ?
So the area is established as purpose to tie horses. The girl should of been MORE cautious. Her actions prove her to be vulnerable to potential situations , ignorance of horse behavior & a danger to (herself, her horse & others).
She made a bad choice. Perhas she is lazy & that personality is typical to blame others while justifying own actions. She could of went alternate route. She could have waited for owner to return. IMO She didn’t have the experience to foresee the dangerous situation (nor) was she capable of taking control of situation to prevent it from happening. Such as interacting w/tied mare (clicking,swinging lead rope, etc) to move the mares hind quarter other direction.
Nobody forced her to walk behind a horse - she chose to do it. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem as she’s learned a lesson here either.
But seriously WHAT DRAMA over something that never even happened to be serious !?!?
Don’t leave a witchy mare unattended. She may not have kicked before, but if she’s crabby in general or in certain situations involving personal space than it’s also your responsibility NOT to leave that horse unsupervised in an area also known that you also have to squeeze horses through .
In the same breath, if you know that mare is crabby/witchy or reactive then you aren’t too sharp leading a horse so close.
I do not agree with any horse reacting and kicking out when ties with another horse being in-hand. It’s one thing if it’s a loose horse and directly harassing the horse. Passing by? No.
So… they’re arguing over a theoretical thing, that could have happened but DIDN’T?
My mare kicked another gelding out in the pasture, and the owner apologized to ME because her gelding was being a pest.
These are supposed to be adults? Who cares who’s fault it is, sh*t happens!
I try to never leave my horse unattended for more than the time it takes me to do a quick pee! And our crossties are grooming stalls so no one can sneak behind us. If someone does need to pass in the aisle, the owner has to unclip one crosstie and shove the horse against the wall, using themselves as a protective barrier.
I did know two different women who used to put their horses on crossties to “cool out” and then forget about them. I’d put the horses away and then 45 minutes later they’d come running into the barn saying “OMG! I forgot to put my horses away!”. It happened more than a few times, often with both horses blocking the whole barn until someone noticed that the owner was long gone.
We leave our horses tied and unattended all the time - out in the wilderness even. I think that’s pretty much the purpose of tying a horse, so they’ll be there when you return. It does sound like a bad arrangement of space, if there is any “squeeze” between the spot where horses are tied and a place where horses are expected to be led.
Define “unattended.”
If you’ve tied the horse appropriately then there’s no problem in heading back to the tack room or trailer or car trunk to get stuff you need. If you have a confirmed “kicker” then it’s incumbent on you to tie the red ribbon in the tail. If not, then not.
Even long term tieing to a trailer or hitching system is not necessarily leaving them “unattended.” If you tie to your trailer, get drunk, pass out, and sleep for three or four hours then you’re a sorry horseman as well as a sot. If you’re sitting around a campfire swapping lies while your horses are tied and eating off a hay net I don’t see a problem. Or just standing tied without a hay net.
In the OPs story the “victim” horse’s handler failed to follow basic good horsemanship in moving around another horse. This analysis might change if the “aggressor” horse were tied in a normally traveled area and others were forced to maneuver around it for an unreasonable time. It might change if there were no reasonable opportunity to move around the tied horse with reasonable distance.
G.
