Don't Underestimate The Power Of A Horse

[Qweetzy]

I was helping to shoe a horse of a friend of mine the other day and it got a wee bit upset. That darned thing kicked my friend in the stomach and he's down for the count. It didn't hurt him badly but he is laid up for a bit with bruises and having the breath knocked out of him. It wasn't a normally easily upset horse so I don't know what upset it. My friend had turned around to get a piece of equipment and it let him have it. I hate that he got hurt, but I'm glad it wasn't me too.

[AlphaMale]

Ouch!! That's gotta hurt! I was kicked in the leg once and it snapped my femur when I was a teen. They put me in traction and I had to stay in the hospital for 8 weeks. It took forever to get back to normal.

[Susie]

I work with a gal who had horses, and the other day she came in and showed us where her horse bit her. She has a huge bruise from it.

[AlwaysOutdoors]

We have a friend that is a Blacksmith and he can attest to how horsed are. It has made a good living for him but I think he says that he really hates horses!

[calanta]

I have never walked behind a horse or any other large hoofed animal for this very reason. A buddy of ours was feeding hits goats one day, one got a little nutty and off to the hospital the friend went. The goat almost broke his leg.

[Gabbie]

I think you need to be leery with most large animals, no matter how 'gentle' they are suppose to be. Some can get ornery sometimes and you could get seriously hurt without expecting it.

[ppine]

AlphaMale,

I am sorry to hear your story. I broke my femur in 2007 in the saddle after running into a mountain lion.

Horses are prey animals with a lot of flight instinct. They are timebombs waiting to go off (Lee Roser, Mammoth Lakes Pack Outfit). People who work with livestock get hurt all the time. It is part of working with large animals that are afraid of everything.

[wvbreamfisherman]

Funny that no one has mentioned cows. Those nasty critters can kick forward backwards and sideways. I used to milk cows on my uncle's farm, and got kicked numerous times. The b**tards liked to kick over the milk bucket too!

Never suffered any injury beyond some nasty bruises, but I can imagine a cow getting a full-bore rear kick at you could do some serious damage- not least because the split hoof.

[MountainMan22]

Well just look at how they can run and you'll get an idea of the power they have in those bodies. They look like nothing but muscle. I wouldn't advise anyone to walk behind them and maybe even in front of them if you want to be really careful. You don't want to be in their way if they get spooked.

[Grandpa]

Originally Posted by wvbreamfisherman

Funny that no one has mentioned cows. Those nasty critters can kick forward backwards and sideways. I used to milk cows on my uncle's farm, and got kicked numerous times. The b**tards liked to kick over the milk bucket too!

Never suffered any injury beyond some nasty bruises, but I can imagine a cow getting a full-bore rear kick at you could do some serious damage- not least because the split hoof.

Been there done that, I milked cows all my life. In the old days we hobbled them to keep the kicking down. Later, some guy invented a device that hooked in the flank and over the back bone. That stopped the kicking. Any first calf heifer than made it 3 months and still wanted to kick me went for a ride to town.