Moonshine gets hit by a car
Posted by Bill on Apr 16 2008 at 02:47 pm | Tagged as: Horse Health
I don’t have all the details yet but Mikki called a little while ago to tell me Moonshine was tied up at the trainer’s barn and suddenly went berserk, bucking continually all the way down his long driveway and into the road where she met a car. No one was hurt and it appears Moonshine sustained only minor injuries. The car, apparently, was no so fortunate. I’m told the impact dented a door and broke a window.
Obviously this raises several concerns and questions:
- Is Moonshine really OK? Time will tell.
- Why did she suddenly go nuts, bucking down a half mile driveway? Is she safe to ride? Was she stung by a bee or something?
- Who is responsible for the damage to the car?
We have LOTS of other things to write about but obviously this gets the most attention first.
More when I get more info.
Holy cow!!! I hope everyone turns out to be alright!!!
I have to ask the question, if she has been there for training because you’re having difficulty with her, why was she not tied within say a training pen or in the barn or within some sort of fenced area? I hope the horse and everyone involved is ok. I personally would be pissed at the trainer and this would raise a lot of questions for me as well. Good Luck with this one, cuz someone will have to pay for the car.
I wish I were there to kiss her owies and make them better. Can you fill in for me, Bill?
Bill and Mikki - glad Moonshine seems to ok. The first thing that cross my mind was: why was he able to get on the road? This is an issue that I have with the barn where I am boarded. There are too many “openings”, and a loose horse could easily run onto the road (we are right on a fairly busy one), or out onto the creek and be really far away into the woods in short time. Horses are faster and stronger that we are, and it seems to be a basic safety measure to keep gates, etc shut so that they can’t escape the property. Good luck.
O goodness! I bet you are so worried and upset, especially since you can’t be there to find out all the facts. I know I would.
In my opinion, it would seem that, even though Moonshine is your ‘property’, since your ‘property’ was in the care and responsibility of someone who took on said responsibility, that the trainer would be liable for paying the damages caused by Moonshine.
I agree with Callie. Why didn’t the trainer have Moonshine in a completely fenced in area? He is liable for any vet bills and dammages to the car, if he didn’t ensure the safety of the public and the horses by making sure all gates were closed and fence was in repair, etc.
You entrusted Moonshine with the trainer and it as his job to make sure she stayed safe and kept others from being injured.
When you dropped off Moonshine at the Trainers’ did you sign any type of contract? That is something that would explain alot.
I’d also be questioning what exactly did take place, and if there were other witnesses?
The reason I mention this is because something similar happened to my neighbor and one of her 3 horses when a farrier came by too early to trim them without anyone being there to assist.
I happened to be home and can see about half of her barn and stalls. I was surprised to see one of her mares bucking, rearing and generally acting very upset, so I kept my eye on what was happening and then finally called my neighbor, who happened to be on her way home from work, to help the farrier (if he had bothered to come at the time he was supposed to).
The farrier had tied this mare, who was never happy about that while being trimmed or shoed. And the more upset she became, he kept going at her, even though he could have left her for after he completed the other two horses.
And at one point, he had tied the halter up tight against the pipe fencing, where she couldn’t move, and then she went down and was choking.
When he finally was able to release her, she was so worked up that she reared and came down hard with her front legs, over the pipe fence.
Now the really frustrating thing is, that if I had not called my neighbor to alert her to what was happening, the farrier would not have told my neighbor what happened. He had no intention of telling my neighbor of any of the troubles he had with her horse.
And my neighbor, letting her horses out the following day, would not have known why her horse had went lame.
Her legs and one knee were very swollen and she was extremely high strung, tense and nervous the next day…and the next couple days afterwards.
I also wonder how she will do the next time she needs a trim?
So, to reiterate, please find out if there are any witnesses so you can be sure what really happened.
Most horses just don’t go ballistic for not reason at all.
(And please post an update as soon as you can. We miss reading your blog every week)