Our Indie is about the most laid back guy in the world. He would never hurt Maddie on purpose. Remember I said on purpose. Last night Maddie had him outside eating grass at the barn we board at. He was perfectly content just grazing away. I was talking to some parents while their kids were burning off some energy. Indie could have cared less what they were doing until he got scared. The 2nd grade daughter hid in the tall grass about 20 feet from him. She was hiding from her brother. Being only 8 she never thought about what jumping out would do. We could all see where she was, but Indie was so busy eating he never paid attention to where she was. She jumped up out of the grass and Indie went into flight mode. He jumped sideways then took of forward running Maddie right over with his 1300 pounds. He landed right on her foot. She was standing off to the side of him which is where she should have been, but when he jumped sideways then ran forward she couldn't get out of his way.
She wasn't hurt badly, thank you Lord, but she did get a broken toe out of it and it scared her really bad. Scared mommy too!
I wanted to remind everyone that horses are dangerous. They could be broke beyond broke but one little thing like jumping out of grass can set them off and it can become dangerous very quickly. Always be alert to the things around you. As parents we need to be alert for our children. I should have thought forward to what would happen if he spooked, but I became to content just visiting. Horses are animals and they ar very unpredictable.
Safety first every time you are with your horse!!
One more thing. Never, never ever wear flip flops or no shoes around your horses. He would have crushed her foot if it wasn't for her boot!
Boy that is good advice about the boots and still adults will wear flip flops around horses. Makes me crazy! But his spooking at the scary jumping kid is why I take horses out on the road and have kids hide in the bushes and jump out and scare the horse while I'm leading her/him from a distance. The first couple times the horses jumps, but after the 4th or 5th time, the spook is pretty much gone from anything that jumps out at them. It works. If you are a road/trail rider, best to use techniques like this as prior and proper preparation.
ReplyDeleteGreat advice!!
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