Sadly new horse owners don’t always know things like this. Don’t tie them with a rope halter. Don’t tie them unsupervised if you can avoid it. Don’t turnout in a pasture with a halter on… Rope halters are dangerous unless you are doing groundwork. And so many other little things a beginner wouldn’t know without being taught.
But for a professional to do that. It shouldn’t happen.
I’m so sick of this crap just getting swept under the carpet. They need to have much tougher laws and she should never be able to own horses let alone animals again and an USEF ban.
Here"s the thing about being a judge…I see what you send or ride in the ring’ Then I see your sales ad. Just sayin
@Tackpud is correct. If it is found as abuse, then the USEF could potentially sanction her. The owner and the horse will need their day in court.
I have a Word for her.
But I’ll refrain from that sort of language here 
Maybe Unrepentant 2-Faced Bword instead?
Over many years I have seen “trainers” deal with trailing in such an awful manner…My first trainer sucked at loading horses because she had no clue how to manage the ground work. I then started working with a trainer who came up through pony club and taught me all the basics about loading. It is a daily handling issue and needs to be done correctly.
I watched a “trainer” try to get a horse on a trailer by hitting it with a broom. After an hour of this BS I hooked up my trailer, took the horse and my best helper and got the horse on in 5 minutes. Seriously, poor horsemanship if you think you can beat a horse on to a trailer.
That is good to know!
Well and if he truly is an Irish (Draught) Sport Horse, then it’s double horrible because this breed at this level (tsks loudly) when we are hurting for breed recognition… Not that ANY horse deserves this but it hurts.
Thank you… This makes me nuts, too. Insisting that horses need rope haters because “they won’t break.”
Many years ago, I trailered a leased horse for a friend, and insisted that she switch to a leather halter once the horse was loaded - which luckily was available, because the horse’s actual owner had provided her with one. I think my friend was pretty surprised that I insisted, but it was mostly because if anything happened, I didn’t want my 950 pound mare trapped in a trailer with a 1400 pound WB strangling itself to death.
I notice now that there are rope halters with breakaway crowns, or these little leather breakaway tabs you can put through the loop where you tie the throatlatch knot. (Which reminds me, I do need to order one if those, because I use a rope halter for trail walks, and if somehow the mare and I got separated, I would want her to be able to get out of her halter if she got tangled up.)
Explain to me how one can not "mean any harm"when they savagely tie a horses neck up high, in a rope halter that can break a horses neck, no access to food or water and then LEAVE THE PREMISIS. There is still an undercurrent of brutality in training that people excuse away " for the love of the sport and ribbons " and lies like " a horse needs to know who is boss " and other infantile ideas that have no research basis in how a prey animals brain works- about horses. What I see 50 years after I first sat in a saddle is that there are too many perfect looking riders ( often created again with spurs, bits and force and too much drilling ) and not enough actual horse trainers that are horsemen and understand horses.
One comment here - the article is based solely on the statements within the plaintiff’s complaint. Not on any police report or other fact finding.
I’m not saying that the actions, as described in the complaint, are defensible. But the defendant may present a very different version of the same events in her reply. And I would want to review both, at a minimum, before coming to any judgment here.
[no, I do not know or have a connection to any of the parties to this action]
the article is based solely on the statements within the plaintiff’s complaint.
I was sued once, well actually my company was but all of the allegations were found to be baseless. Reading the plaintiff’s filing one would have thought I intended to kill him
so, yeah I would prefer to see what is brought out in court before making my judgement.
However, when I was working with Saddlehorses, there was a farm that had a small herd that was turned out in pastures, one of those who was turned out in a nylon halter broke its neck after entangling the halter in a fence line. I was part of the search looking for the missing horse.
Nothing we have is ever turned loose wearing a halter, may it be in pasture or a stall
Please don’t put words in my mouth. I didn’t give any opinion on her actual intent (whether it was to punish the horse as suggested by the complaint or just a stupid decision to temporarily tie him while they loaded the other horses and then someone forgot to untie him). I don’t know what she was thinking. Neither does the owner, who from the complaint appears to have heard about this second hand. My impression of Shannon was that she was young and not as experienced as she held herself out to be and somewhat lacking in horsemanship. And that can be a dangerous combination.
Here are three dumb things I’ve seen people do “meaning no harm” that could have ended in tragedy…
Clip the crossties to a horse’s bridle “just for a second” while running into the tack room to grab something the rider forgot.
Tie a horse to the side of a trailer between classes with way too much slack (enough to get tangled in) and a non-quick release knot.
Put a horse in the crossties meaning to load it on the trailer last and then drive off, leaving the horse alone in an empty barn, forgetting to load it.
Each of these could have ended in a horse hanging itself to death. None of these people meant any harm. They did a boneheaded thing and, luckily, the horses didn’t suffer for it.
Horse #1 pulled back and started to panic but other riders noticed and ran over and released it. Horse #2 did get tangled up and panicked and it was really scary but someone with a pocketknife cut the lead rope. I think that horse was injured, but not fatally. It was at a show and it wasn’t my horse. Horse #3 was an angel. Driver turned back around and horse was standing there like an statute and had been for half an hour or so.
These are all examples of someone doing something with terrible horsemanship that was very dangerous but with no ill intent towards the horse.
None of us were there. We don’t know what Shannon was thinking when she tied Cobain. Was she thinking “I’ll just leave him here for a minute while I load the others” and meant to go back and untie him and forgot? Was someone else supposed to untie him and misunderstood the directions? We don’t know. None of us were there. None of us can read minds. We have one version of events, including a speculation as to intent, and that’s all we have to go on.
There could be malice here. But there also could be really gross negligence. Either way, Shannon is responsible for what happened and should be held responsible.
I’m just giving my impression of her (based on my limited interactions). She did not strike me as a malicious person. She did strike me as someone who could do something stupid. She’s not very old and not very experienced and basically jumped right from being a junior rider into a pro running her own barn/program and skipped a lot of life lessons/learning/maturity in the process. She came from a H/J background and from a program in my area. I don’t believe she came from a “yeehaw” cowboy rough type background and that’s not how I observed her behaving.
It’s pretty scary the “trainers” that people trust themselves, and their horses to. Blind faith in someone who may or may not have at least some of the expertise they advertise. Green horse owners don’t know enough to know who to choose to listen to, and who to avoid, and often don’t see warning signs. Some people who claim successes and brilliance and experience are not what they claim to be. Thus, tragedy happens with some regularity. This is how the sexual predators in the equine industry have worked too. Gain trust, expound on their theories, and suck people in and trap them into participating in their plans, whether that is horse care and training and handling, or otherwise. Have seen both happen far too often. Be VERY CAREFUL who you trust. If things don’t seem right, they may not be right. This is why clients need to NOT completely devote themselves to ONLY ONE trainer or coach. Get some different exposure to others in the industry, other experiences, other input into riding, training, horse handling etc. Don’t STAY with only one point of view. Gives you a better bullshit meter, IMO.
What a grisly story.
The problem is that “stupid” in this case involves the life of another creature. There is a reason vets/doctors/surgeons aren’t allowed to practice without extensive training (and we all know even then stupidity still abounds, but there is at least recourse).
She just hit a steep learning curve to responsibility of “stupidity.”
I couldn’t agree more that it’s stupid. Beyond stupid. Probably more like gross negligence. Even if she intended no harm. It’s still very very very STUPID behavior. I’m not arguing otherwise.
Photos of the horse and the court filings are floating around the local facebook groups and its hard not to pass judgment after seeing those. Wish I could unsee them.
The court documents are very interesting for sure.
It is sad that this ‘trainer’ will not even tell the owner where they disposed of the body of their horse.
Yes, and this is where it falls apart for people. If you aren’t consistent in your every day handling, you can’t expect them to do it at the trailer.
Tangent: Before coming to me, my lesson girl got the E in one of her ranch classes due to him failing to load in the trailer. She started working with me, I would point out every time that horse was sluggish off pressure, or other ground work hole (invading space, etc). Fast forward a winter’s worth of work, she asked to practice the trailer loading, because that’s where he got eliminated. I laughed and said “sure, but I guarantee you won’t have an issue…” We loaded that horse first try in I think 4 different trailers - a slant, a straight, another straight with a ramp, and a stock. She was amazed that he did it without hesitation. I told them at the start the trailer is not the problem - everything else is.
I once saw a man tie a rottweiller to a telephone,pole
when asked stated the dog needed to learn a lesson. I couldn/t then or now understand that people use this type of discipline. They should not own animals of any kind. I only hope this young lady responsible for the death of such a magnificent creature has learned a lesson from this, nothing else good will come of it. I cant get used to idea as she left horse tied in such a manner that she must have been in a rage, or very angry, but yet never thought of what it was going to go through before its death as it struggled to get free. No common sense. Never should she be owner of any animals of any kind. Maybe anger management? Or tie her by the neck to the highest post in the stall for a couple of hours on a 90* day with no food or water or way to escape.
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