I surely hope that when I am in the most stressful and dangerous situation in my lifetime that I don’t have the superior moral judgement of COTH heaped upon my head for the mistakes I might have made under such trying and dreadful circumstances. But hey, maybe that’s just me.
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subk,
Perhaps you should read the official documents about the event, as well as statements from neighboring barns, boarders and the press as to the reality of the situation before questioning the so-called "moral judgment " of those of us who are appalled at the criminal negligence of the barn owners. There are no extenuating circumstances here, despite what the owners are claiming. Even the fundraising efforts started early on by those sucked into the first version of the story are being shut down. The owners had plenty of time to open stalls but chose not to.
This same stables, by the way, regularly held rodeos that featured horse-tripping for entertainment. But you go right ahead and defend them.
This past October I faced an emergency wildfire evacuation of my property with zero warning at 4:30 in the morning. With flames in sight, I was able to safely get my horses out of their stalls and into irrigated pastures.
I do, therefore, get to judge these barn owners if for no other reason than they had multiple padlocked stalls. Imagine being a firefighter trying to break open a padlock while a barn is starting to collapse … yet the owners are nowhere in sight, having safely evacuated.
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Heartbreaking, tragic, disgusting, criminal, horrific, devastating…:no::(
:mad:
The reason I will never have my horses in stalls without back doors that open to runs…
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No doubt if was horrific. Are you suggesting they intentionally locked those horse up knowing they would die? Because I’m just not so cynical that I would believe that of someone without understanding first they are psychopaths. Or are you suggesting they were ignorant as to what they were doing? We would be in a much better place in the this country if people would stop assigning hateful intentions to people who are less educated or informed. If you think they were ignorant and you condemn them for their ignorance, than yes you are being morally superior.
I happen to think there are a lot a ways to discuss this incident without calling for the death penalty.
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I said they were criminally negligent, not that they deserved the death penalty. Their actions reflect many things, ignorance not being one of them. People had begged them to stop locking the stalls yet they chose to do so. Despite the fire warning from the previous night, they did nothing to ensure the horses’ safety. They, themselves, chose to leave their property enough in advance that fire crews and Animal Control were the ones trying to save horses. Where were they? I would gladly have let my entire house burn down in October instead of taking the time to move my horses across the road to safety. I guess I am morally superior horse lover … and proud of it.
If 300+ race horses could be set free with little warning, so could these horses. If a barn of some 500 horses less than a mile away — with the same fire warnings — could evacuate the entire facility, these horses surely could have had the padlocks removed the night before when the first warnings came and the barn owners could have at least opened the damn stall doors when the flames were approaching since they had no evacuation plan.
Godspeed to all the horses who perished at this barn and the best way to honor their memories is to help ensure such things never happen again. There’s activity both in the press and on social media — especially in Southern CA — to not let this quietly go away. No need to argue the case here. We’re all horse lovers and all heartbroken at what has happened in Southern CA. And for those of us with personal experience of wildfires, this is especially painful.
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I’m going to go with people who hold rodeos that include tripping probably aren’t the poster barns for the example of how to care for horses well, and that while the padlocks might not have been intentionally left on to kill the horses, the awareness that it could lead to their gruesome death, or any thought with regard to the horse who relied on them at all… also might be another symptom of their ‘don’t give a $hit’ wrt horses or animals [they also left behind a puppy?] along the lines of the tripping garbage.
ETA that if you juxtapose this situation against that at LDR, it shows you the two ends of the spectrum… those who care so much for horses that they risk their lives to save them any way they can… and those who don’t give a BLEEP.
There’s no excuse for the latter, sorry.
And no, you never padlock a horse in a barn, never, ever. No matter who owes you what. That is just not on the table if you are any kind of horseman. Period.
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A slight nit. Not all states have capital punishment and of those that do, it applies only to murders where the victim is a human, not animals.
Clearly there is missing information on which to base an informed opinion but I personally question if locks ever belong on a stall door. If I boarded my horse at a place where I felt a lock was necessary for any reason, I’d be moving my horse.
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The absurd quantity of padlocks was my first question as well. How were they attained? I would be interested to know if they were ordered on Amazon a few days before, or maybe she went around to all the sporting goods stores in the area and cleared their shelves. I can’t imagine someone having 30 padlocks to begin with. This BO was clearly prepared to lock horses in stalls for one reason or another - but in a fire?!??!!?!?! Heartbreaking. 
:no: :mad:
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I guess I just don’t understand why when they knew there was fire in the area, they left the padlocks on the stalls (I wouldn’t have had them on there to begin with, but that’s another topic). When I first moved to Socal, there was a fire 30 miles away and I was already lining up an evacuation barn and ride. It makes no sense to me. I read this quote from the owner - "All I could think about was the horses, the horses, the horses. And they were like, ‘Get out, get out, get out,’ " said Patricia Padilla, whose family owns the ranch. “The structures can get rebuilt, but the lives of the horses can’t. … That’s my biggest heartbreak.” and I think to myself, if the horses were your greatest concern, why weren’t the stalls unlocked from the first moment you knew there was fire in the AREA, let alone your property. SMH.
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My guess is that the horses are always padlocked in their stalls? But maybe I’m wrong? I haven’t seen anything further with regards to it.
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I think you all are missing an important point in your cross burning. It was NOT the barn owner, but the boarders themselves who put the padlocks on the corrals. Not uncommon in some types of boarding situations here in SoCal… because of the other idiots on the premise. Carry on
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I am guessing that it is true that the owners, for whatever reason, put padlocks on the stalls. My suspicion would be that all of the padlocks were different.
I don’t live in a fire prone area, but I did have a traumatic experience with a fire so I am very sensitive to the barn fire issue. I just hope that ALL horse owners, barn owners, etc. will understand that as this county says, horse stalls should not be padlocked under any circumstances. In the judgment-free world everything is relative but IMHO this should be an absolute. In the best of circumstances barns are prone to fires and so stalls shouldn’t be padlocked. I would never board at a barn that allowed anyone to padlock a stall. It just tells me that they don’t understand basic fire precautions.
It used to drive me batty when a woman that leased my horse would misplace the lead rope so he wouldn’t have a halter and a lead rope on his stall at all times. Fire safety is a huge issue for me. However, as I said my own experience has caused me to be that way.
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This person should have to run the front loader …
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If you (generic you) had been one of the officers, would you have shot the horses you couldn’t get out, if you had had time? Less horrific death.
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Owning horses is a privileged. Taking care of any other living thing is a privilege. If you are less educated or informed you shouldn’t be providing care for a living thing, let alone being paid for it. That’s not being morally superior, that’s just being logical. Do you go to a doctor when you’re sick ? That’s because they are more educated on the subject of health. I do have “hateful intentions” for people who take money to care for horses and don’t do it well for whatever reason, be it less educated, lazy or evil. I don’t know which one this barn owner was, but it doesn’t make the situation any less tragic for the animals.
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Can either of you support your statements?
“People had begged them to stop locking the stalls yet they chose to do so” - was this the BO or boarders locking stalls, and who was begging?
“It was NOT the barn owner, but the boarders themselves who put the padlocks on the corrals” I know this can happen at barns, but are you certain about this one, in this situation?
Out of four local recent barn fires (2 to 15 miles away; one 40 miles away), all the deaths occurred when there was only one door to the stall. Worst was six horses lost,value $300K. Well-run h/j sales barn, possibly electric. No hydrant.
Earlier one was a lovely Hackney driving pony who was stalled in a hay barn (not legal in Calif.).Thing went up like a bomb, we watched it from our barn across town. I watched a fire at the local eventing barn via the TV news helicopter. Firemen spent precious time knocking down pipe pen stall runs and freed all the horses.The owner was busy on the tractor, trying to establish defensible space.
Most recent was WB breeder who lived next door to the fire chief. Possibly electric; the explosion (they think it was the bbq propane tanks stored in the barn) woke him at 1:30 am. He rushed over with his pipe cutters and freed the horses by cutting open the pipe pen stall runs. But the barn owner had to listen to the frantic screams of her favorite, oldest stallion as he burned to death. His stall had no run or exit door.
I feel there should be some sort of punishment for the Sylmar BO, if only for educational purposes. My point here is make sure your own barn is not a potential disaster. We just don’t always think about stalls needing two doors; defensible space; checking the wiring that’s been working for 30 yrs; water source, etc. Sorry this is so long, I’m sick with the very idea of a padlocked stall.
Oh yeah, Kelly, the stallion in the Buck movie? No worries, he was turned out in his pasture with his buds and is still there as far as I know. Haven’t been up that way for about 4 yrs.
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Tough question but calls into question the use of the word ‘would’ vs ‘could’.
LE have to report every single time they fire their weapon in the line of duty… putting animals out of their misery included. I would also question if LE was really the right individual to make that call to put a horse down vs ‘getting a horse out’. If the animal was clearly dying, different issue.
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I have never been to or heard of this ranch, so I cannot speak to their circumstances and whether it was the barn owner or the boarders who padlocked the stalls.
BUT…
I once boarded somewhere where the stalls were padlocked (this was many years ago). I moved in without knowing this, and was handed my lock and key. I was told that all stalls were locked “for safety” and to prevent anyone from moving someone else horse without prior authorization. I must have looked quite alarmed because I was assured that all keys opened all locks (then what’s the point, couldn’t I just take neighbor horse for a stroll if I so chose??). Now this barn is not a top-end barn, but is by no means a low-end place either. Very beautiful, well-kept, serene location. Also near the end of a dead-end canyon road that burned to a crisp in 2003. It’s a fire trap. I made arrangements that week to move my horse and was out the following weekend. I was out a month’s board, but that doesn’t matter. I did not live close and I felt that my horse’s very life was at stake if something were to happen.
My point in this story is that barn owners around here- I live in San Diego county- can and DO padlock stalls for asinine reasons. We are in the thick of wildfire country, and I will absolutely 100% judge anyone who chooses to put a lock on a horses stall for any reason. Those fires come up so quickly that sometimes you barely have time to throw open a stall door, as evidenced by the tragedy at SLR Training Center. So how can you be so stupid as to say “all the locks are the same, so it’s perfectly safe in the event of a fire”? No, it really isn’t. Never put a lock on a horse stall. Never ever ever.
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Wow Katenreno, I could have written your post word for word. I too was in this same barn a couple of years ago and quickly left. To anyone reading this thread her post is absolutely true word for word.
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