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Stampeeeedee (Or how I survived a minor Horsepocalypse)
13 years ago
So I was at the Riding place again today for a lesson, partnering up with Ferdinand who is a pretty Boss dude (Fjord Horse master race all the way baby), when shit started to happen that led to unforeseen consequences.
We had a full blown stampede of loose, scared, confused horses outside the riding hall.
Some self-designated horsewhisperer "my horsey loves me so much and I know it" ponce was down at the large roundpen at the far end of the stables (which is about 200 meters from where the actual sheds are where most horses are kept, with a large open space made up of dirt path and pasture inbetween) with her horse (who she was leasing as a shared horse from the owner.). She left the roundpen, closed it, RELEASED THE HORSE (thinking because the horsey loved her soooo much that they would stay right by her side) and then proceeded to do unrelated things, like cleaning her nose.
The Horse thought otherwise, and ran off. It was getting dark, the path was long and the horse got frightened, and by the end was gallopping full tilt towards the stables and squealing for his or her buddies. This caused concern in the horses under the open sheds, concern turned to fear, and fear rapidly devolved into panic as fifteen scared out of their minds geldings began chaotically tearing up and down their enclosures, and quickly ran -through- their fencing and out into the open. So now there are sixteen scared horses galloping all over the place.
At this point, we decide to get off the lesson horses, because they were pretty upset by the noise of the commotion though unable to see it. While the free horses were collected and the fencing repaired, we just led them in circles and walk off the fear and tension. However, by the end, we and them were pretty jacked up. The Horse I usually ride, Asi, got startled as we continued to ride, leapt up into the air causing his rider to loose her balance. She tried to hold on by his reins, which tore up his mouth, which scared him even more so he twisted enough for her to slip down his butt and inbetween his hind legs. He stumbled, which triggered our own Horses. (Falling Horses in the wild are a -bad- sign, and even the most clear headed Horse will be hard pressed to overcome the urge to get the fuck outta there at that point.)
So now we all were on out of control, scared lesson horses. Thankfully, Ferdi was a cool headed dude and by the time we reached the end of the arena, he was listening to me again and slowing down.
However, since I have no clue how to sit a gallop, the seconds right before he went to trot were a tad intimidating.
So, this teaches us a couple of valuable lessons you should -always- heed when working with Horses.
1: Horses get scared. It is in their nature. You cannot make a horse less scared by restraining them, and you cannot control a Horses response to scary stimuli.
2: You do not let a Horse run free when it is outside of an enclosure, and/or far away from points of draw. Latter are anything the Horse is attracted to more than you, the Rider: Food, Pasturemates, more interesting Objects/People.
3: Your Horse is not a Human. They do not love you. They are not able to physically force positive and active thought through instinctual gut-feel type urges and their emotions. They do not plan ahead. They do not remember things unless memories are triggered. They will seek comfort in any way possible, and not consider anything that might happen along the way of attaining it. The person who caused this ignored all of these things, and it was only luck that we didn´t end up with injured horses or people, or at worst bad enough injuries to cause fatalities among the equine friends and long hospital stays for the people.
But, again, Kudos to my lesson Horse. Not only will he teach me how to be a leader (he walks off on people who do not have the balls and wisdom to guide him.), but he also taught me that my reflexes are good enough to catch myself when a horse bolts with only mild forewarning, and that I can stay on despite not knowing how to sit a gallop on an out of a horse bolting out of control at a pretty nice speed.
Suffice to say, the owner of the place was furious, and her yelling at the culprit lifelong horsewhisperer person was audible across the whole stables.
In short, exciting and very educating day, though I think we all could´ve done without all the commotion and excitement, and had a neat riding lesson instead.
We had a full blown stampede of loose, scared, confused horses outside the riding hall.
Some self-designated horsewhisperer "my horsey loves me so much and I know it" ponce was down at the large roundpen at the far end of the stables (which is about 200 meters from where the actual sheds are where most horses are kept, with a large open space made up of dirt path and pasture inbetween) with her horse (who she was leasing as a shared horse from the owner.). She left the roundpen, closed it, RELEASED THE HORSE (thinking because the horsey loved her soooo much that they would stay right by her side) and then proceeded to do unrelated things, like cleaning her nose.
The Horse thought otherwise, and ran off. It was getting dark, the path was long and the horse got frightened, and by the end was gallopping full tilt towards the stables and squealing for his or her buddies. This caused concern in the horses under the open sheds, concern turned to fear, and fear rapidly devolved into panic as fifteen scared out of their minds geldings began chaotically tearing up and down their enclosures, and quickly ran -through- their fencing and out into the open. So now there are sixteen scared horses galloping all over the place.
At this point, we decide to get off the lesson horses, because they were pretty upset by the noise of the commotion though unable to see it. While the free horses were collected and the fencing repaired, we just led them in circles and walk off the fear and tension. However, by the end, we and them were pretty jacked up. The Horse I usually ride, Asi, got startled as we continued to ride, leapt up into the air causing his rider to loose her balance. She tried to hold on by his reins, which tore up his mouth, which scared him even more so he twisted enough for her to slip down his butt and inbetween his hind legs. He stumbled, which triggered our own Horses. (Falling Horses in the wild are a -bad- sign, and even the most clear headed Horse will be hard pressed to overcome the urge to get the fuck outta there at that point.)
So now we all were on out of control, scared lesson horses. Thankfully, Ferdi was a cool headed dude and by the time we reached the end of the arena, he was listening to me again and slowing down.
However, since I have no clue how to sit a gallop, the seconds right before he went to trot were a tad intimidating.
So, this teaches us a couple of valuable lessons you should -always- heed when working with Horses.
1: Horses get scared. It is in their nature. You cannot make a horse less scared by restraining them, and you cannot control a Horses response to scary stimuli.
2: You do not let a Horse run free when it is outside of an enclosure, and/or far away from points of draw. Latter are anything the Horse is attracted to more than you, the Rider: Food, Pasturemates, more interesting Objects/People.
3: Your Horse is not a Human. They do not love you. They are not able to physically force positive and active thought through instinctual gut-feel type urges and their emotions. They do not plan ahead. They do not remember things unless memories are triggered. They will seek comfort in any way possible, and not consider anything that might happen along the way of attaining it. The person who caused this ignored all of these things, and it was only luck that we didn´t end up with injured horses or people, or at worst bad enough injuries to cause fatalities among the equine friends and long hospital stays for the people.
But, again, Kudos to my lesson Horse. Not only will he teach me how to be a leader (he walks off on people who do not have the balls and wisdom to guide him.), but he also taught me that my reflexes are good enough to catch myself when a horse bolts with only mild forewarning, and that I can stay on despite not knowing how to sit a gallop on an out of a horse bolting out of control at a pretty nice speed.
Suffice to say, the owner of the place was furious, and her yelling at the culprit lifelong horsewhisperer person was audible across the whole stables.
In short, exciting and very educating day, though I think we all could´ve done without all the commotion and excitement, and had a neat riding lesson instead.
