Serious question: how was hauling off and kicking a horse in the head that was down, lying on the ground, protecting himself? It really looked like anger to me.
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Considering the fact that he committed suicide, I think he probably had some mental health issues or an ongoing personal crisis before his incident with the colt. If he was suicidal already, the negative media was all it took to push him over the edge.
Just because the horse was feral, does not justify his behavior either. If he was incapable of gelding a feral horse, he shouldn’t have taken the job. The BLM routinely gelds mustangs and I’m certain they don’t resort to this type of behavior.
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A double sad ending. No part of what he did was justified and nothing is gained from the loss of his life. It would be very hard to be a family or friend navigating such a public loss in the recent aftermath of a very public calling out of unethical and behavior that cannot be justified. The messy both/and is one that I think social media rarely handles well. My earnest hope is that there will be some sliver of positive that comes out of this such as increased attention on the mental health of our animal practitioners both large and companion. The statistics on suicide completion are deeply alarming and a far greater number are dipping in and out of the murky waters of mental illness with few resources and so much ongoing social stigma.
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Ultimately his behavior was his choice and his alone, as was his choice to “unalive” himself. No one else’s.
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Has Cause of death been reported yet?
Wonder if he shot himself.
He reportedly owned a gun which has not been found.
Everyone lost here.
Train your horses. Vets shouldn’t be expected to train them. Next time your vet is out, ask them how many on the job broken bones and injuries they’ve had. All because people are too lazy to teach basic manners. Sometimes the vet you call in an emergency might be stressed, tired, aggravated, or just impatient. Your horse needs to be easy to manage every time.
No one should ever strike an animal except to correct. Then, it should be reserved for dangerous behaviors and done with a single slap.
An old cowboy once told me that the first smack is to correct. The second is for revenge. So always stop after the first.
Suicide rates are highest among dentists. But veterinarians, especially large animal vets that deal with a lot of scenarios where they could save an animal if it was handled enough or if the owner was willing to spend money rather than haul the animal to auction, see more death and waste than most.
Many of us are passionate about our horses and we care about our vets. We show up on time for the vet. Our animals are reasonably well behaved. We listen and follow through with treatment. We respect the vet’s opinion over Google. We appreciate it when our vet shows up at odd hours in an emergency. We’re the good clients. We can’t imagine the bad ones unless you’ve ridden along with a vet. I have. You wouldn’t believe some of the crap owners out there. It’s sad.
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Still waiting for an answer.
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Funny enough, I’ve been down in Vegas the last few days. Apologies for not being speedy on a response.
From what I understand he was trying to readjust the colt as he was not breathing after initially laying him down for the procedure. In my experience and others will say, sedating feral horses is difficult as they fight the sedation and can be aggressive. The colt was down and came up after him during repositioning.
So was he not to reposition the colt to breathe properly and not protect himself in the process?
If the colt would of died from asphyxiation because he chose not to reposition, the owner and the internet would of crucified him anyhow.
Again, not condoning abuse. Either way this vet was f’d. If the colt died, the owner would of posted the video. The colt lived but she still posted, now the vet is dead.
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Ugh. This is a sad story all the way around. And we only know a very small part of it, I’m sure. There is no telling what that vet had going on or had been through. Nothing condones abuse, but it’s important to look at the entire picture here: the difficult colt, the vet’s obvious mental/emotional struggles.
I disagree with what he did to the colt, no doubt. But I hate that he took his own life. That says to me there was a lot more to this story than just a vet kicking a feral cold in the chin. It’s awful that his life will probably be boiled down to this one last act.
Mental health is so important.
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With a swift kick in the head. Ok, and thanks for responding.
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Again, from what I understand, he was trying to adjust the colt to breathe, the colt came up after the vet.
Not repositioning with a kick as you are suggesting- protecting himself from an unhandled/ feral colt fighting sedation.
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I’m beginning to realize you didn’t see the video. Please watch it.
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I did watch it. The short clip looks pretty shitty, I agree.
The whole process of getting a feral colt sedated in less than ideal facilities and knowing what it takes to do so and keep everyone safe is lost on most. If I had to guess, the panel in the middle of the pen they had to use as a half assed squeeze to get a needle in to sedate.
Since the colt was not technically halter broke, I imagine the colt was on the fight by time they got him squeezed to sedate, plus him being feral they fight the sedation anyhow.( they don’t sedate like a domestic horse) I’d bet by time they let him out of the panel squeeze thinking he was ready to go down, the colt got on the fight again. Vet laid the colt down, the colt wasn’t breathing, he attempted repositioning, no longer having a panel or anything to protect himself, he did what he did. Plus vet was doing it by himself.
Mistakes were made for sure, but it didn’t require a lynch mob of people from the internet who didn’t know the difference between shit and Shinola putting him on trial.
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How could the colt both not be breathing AND be going after the vet, at the same time?
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Not at the same time. The colt was not breathing so he went to reposition, then colt is breathing and on the fight.
Edit to add for clarification- they will get on the fight even moreso when they have been out of breath.
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All of the fight I saw was aimed squarely at the rope on his neck.
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Plenty of people on the internet know shit from Shinola. Plenty.
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If so, did they offer a better solution for the situation based on experience?
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You did, but I can’t quote you because the Mod felt that your post violated the rules of civility here, and it did.
He’s dead. Is that not enough attrition for either of you? Let it go. The whole thing is a tragedy.
Are you not satisfied yet? You have to keep this going? [Edit]
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Yes, lots that I read did.
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