Horse People - Article on a horse drowning

[WisconsinChick]

For those of you that dont know what the Omak Suicide Race is, Here is a link.


http://video.organization.org/?fr_story=e00baaf2fd1774f3eeca9511b91d984bb11a6941&rf=sitemap

 

[GwenFarms]

We ride in the water with our horses tacked too. This was just one of those fluke accidents that happens. It sounds like it got caught in the reins, which acted like a tie down and kept his head under. A novice rider bought a horse from a friend of mine. He didn't know any better and rode the horse across a river with a tie down on and, as you can imagine, the horse drowned. It was a hard lesson learned.

 

[horsejody]

Quote:
I know what it is. It's cruel. They pass it off as cultural and won't outlaw it. Some say it would be bad for the local Indian population if it were outlawed. However, people need to understand that it was devised by a shoe salesman less than 100 years ago as a advertising gimmick.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Yup. When I first moved here, I was appaled. I went once to it (didn't pay to get in, but watched from the highway). Saw a horse break it's leg, fall down and then the guy beat the tar outta it to get it to stand up so they could take it outside of the fairgrounds and shoot it. It was heartbreaking. We just stock up on lots of groceries and stay way away from town for the week that's happening.

 

[Their Other Mother]

Quote:
This was my first thought too. I witnessed an aquaintance of ours do the same thing - run into a pond fully saddled with a tie down. Horse was in trouble real fast. Fortunatly my other friend had a sharp knife and was able to cut the tie down so everyone was ok. We eventually quit riding with that person because too many "accidents" occured. All could have been prevented but he "Knew it all"

It's hard enough to loose a horse but in a freak accident... WOW.. God Bless Her!

 

[Buff Hooligans]

Here's the follow-up article in today's paper:


Owner blames self for horse's death
July 09, 2008
BARNSTABLE — The young woman whose horse drowned in an accident off Sandy Neck Beach Monday afternoon said yesterday she wished she had reacted differently when the animal got into trouble.

"I feel like it's all my fault," said Johnelle Roderick of Acushnet, sobbing. "I should have done something more, even if I did get hurt."

But riding companion Sheri Gentili said Roderick was smart to get away from the panicky horse.

"A lot of people have said, 'There was nothing you can do,'" Gentili said. "You never, ever want to get underneath a horse when it's thrashing in the water like that."

In a few feet of water, Roderick's horse, Dodge, either fell or tried to roll over, pulling her underwater, Roderick said. Panicking, Roderick said her only thought was to get off the horse.

"She let go of the reins and somehow the reins got caught around one of his legs," Gentili said.

The horse's head was held underwater by the reins, and it took in a lot of water very quickly. The horse eventually broke free but panicked and started swimming away from shore.

"I couldn't catch up to him," Roderick said. "He was just swimming way too fast."

"I was trying to call him and swim out to him," said Roderick, adding she also screamed to her friends for help. "We were all too late.

"The next thing you knew, he just went under."

Roderick said she was using short reins to minimize the risk of entanglement.

According to Gentili, all three women are experienced riders, and the accident was a fluke. A rider always needs reins of some sort, she said, regardless of whether he or she is riding with a saddle.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

That's so sad. Poor girl and poor horse.

 

[Oblio13]

There used to be horse-powered barges on the lake we live on, and there's an island named "Horse Island" where according to local legend one of them sank and it's horse drowned. A couple years ago divers found an old-style horseshoe off it's shore.

I had somebody else's fancy dressage horse die under me once - some sort of cardiovascular accident - so I kinda know how that girl feels.

ETA and she was smart to get away from those steel shoes going like the Hammers of Hell.

 

[kbarrett]

Poor girl! What a horrible experience!
Growing up we would ride our horses to the pond on hot summer days...always bareback, usually just a halter & lead. They wallowed (complete with groans) more than they would swim. I cringe now when I think of the stuff we did while they stood there soaking which included using them as diving boards, slides and swimming under them. It never even occured to me back then what a danger a horse can be and the danger they can be in when in water. Years later I was at a TB Swimming place waiting for our turn when there was all sorts of yelling, I ran to the pool area to see an attendant jump in the pool with the horse. They had a lunge line on it as well as the wooden pole (6' long, snaps on the halter to help keep them off the wall) somehow or another the attendant dropped the pole and I don't know if it was the weight/ awkwardness of it or the horse just understandably panicked but it started to go under. I still haven't figured out how he got the pole up to us at the edge of the pool without getting struck by thrashing hooves. I didn't know who to be more worried about man or horse. It was over within seconds, minutes at most. It turned out well but was just another reminder how quickly situations can turn dangerous.