Don't Underestimate The Power Of A Horse

[oldsarge]

Last November, my brother-in-law was walking his horse back to the stable. Upon entering, his horse spooked another horse to the right of him. His horse turned further to the right to avoid being kicked by the spooked horse. This put my brother-in-law right in front of the horse doing the kicking. He took both rear legs to the chest and face. Lifted him over ten feet in the air where he landed on his head. End result...broken jaw in three places, three broken ribs & numerous cracked, A large goose egg on his head and several cuts to the face and head. He is still dealing with some brain damage in the form of dizziness and memory loss.

[Grandpa]

That is terrible Sarge, I sure feel for the guy. When we used to have the big elk hunting pack trips, all these strange horses would be thrown together. We all took 3 horses each because of the distance we packed in. I learned real quick never to trust another mans horse and not to trust my own too far in that environment. Most of the horses would get along okay but it was inevitable that at least one knot head would be in the mix. Throw in an occasional wolf or bear scent and we had some nervous horses.

[ppine]

If you can get through the first hour with a new unknown packstring you're doing good. Figuring out the order to tie them in is really important. Timebombs waiting to go off. Kickers become tail mules and horses.

Mules rarely miss what they are aiming at. Sometimes they'll send a warning shot with a hind leg and touch a person's clothing without hitting them.

Sack em out, expose them to everything you can think of. Lead other critters when you ride. Rub em down with animal fur. Don't drop your guard. The truth will come with 10,000 miles in the saddle.

[Cottontail]

I think it's very easy for folks to underestimate how strong hoofed animals can be. There was a story that was floating around on the internet a few years back about this guy who tried to rope a deer, and it beat the tar out of him.

[DMan]

The best way to avoid being kicked too hard is to stay close to the animal. The farther away, the more leverage he can get. And if you are walking behind, place your hand on his rump so he knows you're there and doesn't get startled.

[Pathfinder1]

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.

Hi...


I've seen that happen many times myself. Fortunately, I was only an onlooker at my neighbor's dairy farm. That was when such farming was still done with horses.

I always enjoyed exploring their barn, too.

[OldSole]

Ouch! Been there, done that with the milk cows and the mules. We used to farm when I was a kid and teenager and I've milked my share of old heathens that just wanted to kick the living daylights out of me. Mules-the same since we plowed with mules all of the time. The horses were just riding horses and I never had any trouble with them, but then I didn't shoe or trim their hooves. Cows are truly evil sometimes.