Was I Wrong to Freak Out?

[rodriguezpoultry]

There is a new person at the barn, a very sweet lady who has some horse experience. Issue is..she has a stud.

Now, I'm OK with studs as long as they are as far away from me as possible. I have heard horror stories and have seen them first hand at shows in the past.

I went into the arena to get my slicker for Max (who is now clean!

). I opened the gate and hear thundering hooves and this loud "screeching" noise. I look up and the stud is running at me, ears back and mouth open. I scream "HEY!!!!!" and wave my arms. He turns at the last possible second and comes back for a second charge after kicking at me. I opened the gate and closed it in record time.

What the heck was it's problem? The owner was cleaning out the stall...that's the reason he was loose. Was there anything I could have done differently? I honestly did not even SEE the horse loose in the arena before I walked in.

I told the owners of the barn and they spoke with her about it. I know she is ticked as heck at me over it...

 

[PineappleMama]

The fact that she didn't say a word when it was happening indicates to me that it's nothing new For Her. However she, and the owners, should have done the SMART, n'mind good mannered, thing and told all other folks about the knew guy, what he was like, even better a meet and greet so that in the new place he wouldn't be quite so... well whatever you call what he did, if there's a single word for that.

JMO, I do NOT have a horse... never even ridden one, though I have ridden an elephant (yeah, explain that one)... but it's what I would do if I was going to have my animal around other animals AND people.

 

[Akane]

Most likely it's just a result of poor training on the owner's part. Stallions take some extra attention toward keeping them from trying to be boss. Most people have issues accomplishing this with a mare or gelding which is where a lot of the stallion horror stories come from. Then there are plenty of stallions who just aren't mentally stable enough to be stallions which accounts for the rest of the horror stories. Either way it nearly always comes down to the owners fault unless another person was working directly with the horse and messed up. I think I'd geld a horse on the spot if it randomly charged people just for opening a gate. Kind of like roosters. There are far too many good ones to keep the bad ones. If they show any aggression toward people at my place they end up missing their heads so a better rooster can take their place. I've seen plenty of very nice stallions. Individuals with common sense and good handling can be wonderful to work with and around. It's the few idiots (both horse and human) that cause all the problems.

 

[redhen]

Wow! Glad he didnt kick you! That can be fatal!

That lady needs to get a better handle on that horse..or something!

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Supposedly he's getting gelded as soon as the weather gets cooler.

 

[Godsgrl]

Shouldn't the horse have been tied to the fence, since he acts so aggressively to people? Could you possibly institute a new rule at the barn which states you have to put a sign on the gate for loose horse, or hook a halter or lead rope to it so people know a horse is in there loose? Just some thoughts. What a dangerous situation I"m glad you weren't hurt. What if you had your horse beside you, preparing to enter the arena and ride? How scary, good luck with this situation.

 

[ranchhand]

He was loose? Huh. There's a liability nightmare.

Haltered and cross tied at a minimum. You did nothing wrong, IMO.

ETA, owner needs to take better care of him. He could have been hurt, too.

 

[country freedom]

Quote:
Yeah - I second this - this stud should have been tethered.
Plain and simple - Point blank.

 

[Bunnylady]

She's ticked at you - for what? Her horse charged you; you didn't do anything to her horse. You didn't go in there to challenge her horse; you blundered in because you didn't know he was there. If this animal is so hot-headed that he's going to attack anyone that enters the space he's in, he is too dangerous to be in a boarding stable. What if it had been a child instead of you? I know she can't be everywhere, but she needs to be where this horse is at all times if she wants to avoid incidents like this. Her fault, not yours!

Sounds like it can't be too soon for this dude to have "brain surgery." He's got wa-ay too much attitude to be allowed to keep those jewels. In the meantime, I'd be very, very concerned about the safety of any male horse on the property, particularly if there are any mares around. I have known quite a few studly geldings that were a real pain to have around, and they at least knew well enough to behave with people. Last year, a friend had to put a pony gelding down after another gelding broke through a pasture fence and attacked it.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

He was charging you to assert dominance. Our gelding did that a few times in the round pen when we first started training, but a few cracks of the whip fixed that problem real fast! What you did is probably what I would have done too! Making noise makes it appear that you are the bigger "animal", that's probably why he turned at the last second. When you turned and ran (which is OUR natural response, and the right one in your case!) it made it look to him like you were backing down. Turning your back on a horse can be a very rude thing to do to a dominant horse in the horse world!

In the future, you might want to carry a small dressage whip or crop in your pocket. That is a useful extension of your arm in cases like this, especially if you know you may have to work near that stallion. Also, I would talk to the owner about the incident and make it clear that his actions were dangerous and unexpected. Sounds a lot like this stallion has not been trained properly. I've met many a nice, calm stallion, but all of them have had excellent training and were owned by responsible, knowledgeable people.

Good luck! I'm glad you weren't hurt!